Aunt Cynthias
I
Easter
By FRANK H SWEET
1 r e I
NEW minister
lmd come to slow
moving out of
the way Spruce
Hill mid with
his coming had
appeared n spirit
of change and im
provement He
was fresh from
hl theological
course and eager
with- youth and
love for the
work
Hitherto the
church had beeu
to Spruce Hill a
plnce of solemnity only to be visited
nt required intervals and as a duty
Now under the ministrations of thia
young zealot It gradually came about
that duty could be approached from
many directions and not all of them
were necessarily thorny or narrow
Among other innovations were the
Easter sermon and church decoration
The new minister made the announce-
i1 r LI L
x NW If
n
I dont think Ive had tite pleasukh
OP MEETING MIS BRAY
ment one Thursday evening after pray
er meeting and added that he hoped
all would be present and that the la
dies of the church would arrange for a
tasteful and appropriate decoration
After service the women stood about
irresolutely looking at each other with
blank questioning faces
I guess youll have to excuse me
Mr Kent one of them said at last
bluntly I aint got any flowers an
besides I dont know anything about
decoratin
Nor me Nor me Nor me
came in rapid succession and in evi
dent relief from the other women
Taint time yet for flowers to bloom
Cant we find a few callus and Eas
ter lilies and narcissuses and perhaps
some other white flowers asked the
minister with less confidence in his
voice
All the houses in the neighborhood
cant scare up white posies enough for
a buttonhole bouquet declared one
woman aggressively As for Easter
lilies I aint never seen one an narcis
sus I aint even heard of The idea o
decoratin a whole church at this time
o year
Ive heard Mis Bray speak o nar
cissus said a woman reflectively
she that was the florists wife you
know An come to think shes likely
a master hand at this decoratin busi
ness
Who is ilrs Bray asked the min
ister quickly Perhaps she can help
me out with this Curious I have not
beard of her before
Oh I dont know dryly folks sort
o die a way from the world after they
go into the poorhouse Mis Brays
husband was for gettin on so he went
to the city an learned the florists
trade For a time he done well Then
his business broke an he died An
bis wifo come back here an lived up
what little she had After that there
was nothin but the poorhouse
Well we will find her eagerly
Will you go with me Mrs Perry
Why yes I dont mind if I do
Cynthia Bray was as much of a lady
as anybody round
The next afternoon the ministers
buckboard stopped in front of the
poorhouse and he and Mrs Perry
alighted Several men and boys were
slouching about the yard and on a
bench near the door were four or five
old women Mrs Perry looked them
over critically
Not there she declared concisely
Cynthia wouldnt grow to look like
jthat Well go in
In answer to their knock a hard fea
tured woman came to the door
Mis Bray she repeated Oh
JAunt Cynthia as we call her is a good
worker so we keep her in the kitchen
I dont spose shes had a visitor afore
In five years Wont you come in
They entered Five minutes passed
then a little old woman with a depre
catory manner stole softly into the
room
Did did you wish to see me she
asked tremulously
Mrs Perry sprang forward in quick
tnrcottnhMa of thn lmwignrnhp
tnnco which lay between Her social po
sition and the poorhouse
Why you poor soul she cried sym
pathetically how old youve grown
My hnlr aint begun to turn yet an1
here yourn Is perfectly white
Its been a long time since you and
I were young answered the old wo
man gently Then she colored with
sudden remembrance and drew herself
up stlflly
Is there anything I can do for you
she asked
Come Cynthia dont talk that
way remonstrated Mrs Perry You
know farmers wives are always work
in an an its a good piece from our
place to the
Poorhouse said the old woman
calmiy
Well yes poorhouse deprecating
ly But never mind all that Ive
brung the minister
I dont think Ive had the pleasure
of meeting Mrs Bray before said the
minister rising and yet Ive called
hero several times
No we havent met acquiesced
the old woman I generally stay in
the kitchen
I must acknowledge this visit is
mostly a business one Mrs Bray lip
said resuming his scat You see I
am planning to have the church deco
rated for Eastei but the ladies of my
congregation assure me that such a
thing is utterly impossible I have
come to you as a last resort Can you
help me
The old woman looked from one tn
the other with a sudden yearning in
her eyes Then a soft flush began to
steal over her face
It isnt easy to decorate without
anything to decorate with she said
tremulously In the city we used to
have palms and Easter lilies and no
end of ferns and delicate things to
bank with
But there are the woods suggest
ed the minister desperately I notice
lots of pretty things on my walks
Do you mean for me to take charge
of the decorating she asked
Yes but of course with plenty of
help
lie turned hastily and glanced
through the window Something rap
turous in the expression on the old
womans face made him lose command
of himself for a moment
Well I shall need help in gathering
the decorations she was saying as
he turned back There will be things
to cut and bring home and boxes and
boards to build up for the banking
There are some bubhes along rht
creek that I can fix up to look very
much like palms at a little distance
and that dark moss below the ledge
will make a beautiful bank on which
we can arrange the early Avhite flow
ers
But there breaking into a low
joyous laugh whicli apparently fright
ened her for she stopped suddenly and
looked about in a scared tremulous
sort of way
I was only going to say she went
on deprecatingly that I havent seen
the church yet I ought to go there
first and look around
Of course We will take you there
this afternoon volunteered the minis
ter beaming
And you can have my horse and
wagon every afternoon if you like
added Mrs Perry warmly Then
there is my boy Tommy You can
have him to drive you
The old womans face was now ab
solutely radiant
She was not thinking of the decora
tion now but of the beautiful thing of
not being forgotten God is good to
have remembered me so lovingly
The minister gazed at her a moment
then turned again to the window
There will be no failure in the church
decoration he remarked to Mrs Per
ry
Nor was there nor in the beautiful
thing that had come to the little old
woman During the decorating she
i ilM ft
wWmm
I tnt I f
I CANNOT TEIiTi YOU HOW irOCU YOU HAVE
HELPED ME
was like a different creature When it
was all over the minister went to her
impulsively and grasped both her
hands
I cannot tell you how much you
have helped me he said earnestly
The decoration has beeu a perfect
success and It is all owing to you
But there is another thing I wish to
speak about My housekeeper is about
to leave and I need some one to take
her place Will you come and look
after the parsonage and me too for
that matter
So the beautiful thing which had
come to her was not of a day but wa3
to last through all the remainder oi
fter yeass
LXMrfiglfa T fxasBeaS
SSiftag -
The First Electric Lights
John llollingshtjid was the first man
to use electric- light in London In
18TS he installed six arc lamps at the
old Gaiety theater and startled the
Strand The price of -gas shares fell
immediately The cost of the lamps
was SHOO a week and he ran them for
nine mouths An attempt to plant one
inside the theater at the foot of the
grand staircase was a failure The
women objected to the fierceness of
the light One of them for Instance
nretended to be very anxious that the
secret of her soft complexion should
not be discovered Professor Eras
mus Wilson said of electric light at
that time With regard to the electric
light much has been said for and
against it but I think I may say with
out fear of contradiction that when
the Paris exhibition closes the electric
light will close with it and very little
more will be heard about It Mr
Ilollingshead by the way had fitted
up the Gaiety as early as 1S09 with
an electric searchlight which flashed
the length of the Strand But he soon
withdrew that for fear of scaring the
horses
To Find Your Affinity
Your affinity is your mate but un
less you know the six types of happy
married folks on Olympus up to date
you may miss yours Jupiter king of
heaven ruler of men house and busi
ness must marry Juno the queenly
woman plump domestic wise as Mi
uerva yet loving as Venus Venus
should mate with Apollo but being
fond of all men and usually pretty a
Venus woman marries any one often
several times Marry and be petted
and adored she must or die Minerva
on the contrary can be happy only
with a Vulcan a man her counterpart
wise lofty patient a reformer teach
er and philosopher Both have con
tempt for frivolity and meanness and
vice Most all of the elderly single
women in the world especially those
descendants from Puritan or Calvauis
tic stock are single just because they
are the Minerva type and too wise to
marry any one but Vulcans And Vul
can men being the best of their sex
are scarce Nautilis
Not What It Was For
When Miss Julia Bryant daughter
of William Cullen Bryant was a little
child an aged lady who was for a
time a neighbor of the poet and his
family had been shown into the par
lor of the house where she was mak
ing her first call She found the small
Julia seated on the floor with an illus
trated volume of Milton in her lap Al
though she knew of course that it
must be the artist not the author in
whom at that early age the child was
interested she asked genially by way
of beginning au acquaintance
Reading poetry already little girl
Julia looked up and regarded her
gravely Then she explained with an
air of politely correcting inexcusable
ignorance
People dont read poetry Papas
write poetry and mammas sing po
etry and little girls learn to say po
etry but nobody reads poetry That
Isnt what its for
Then He Landed
Beauty is a womans most impor
tant attribute said a New York
beauty doctor She who increases
beauty is womans greatest benefactor
Husbands brothers evou fathers in
their inmost hearts beauty is the thing
they desire most to see in their femi
nine relations Only the other day a
gray fat old gentleman entered a
newspaper office and said
Are you the managing editor
Yes was the reply
I suppose that on you then said
the visitor rests the responsibility for
this mornings reference to my daugh
ter Patty as Fatty Take that
An Ungallant Rascal
I suppose said the angular spin
ster that you never had a romance
Dats where youse is wrong re
plied the uulauudered hobo 1 wuust
had a sweetheart wot wuz a dead
ringer for youse
And did she die asked the angu
lar spinster as she helped him to an
other hunk of pie
No maam answered the hobo
When leap year come round she
asked me t marry her an 1 run away
from home Chicago News
Dead Heat
A schoolmaster who is in the habit
of selecting extracts from his morning
newspaper for dictation exercise read
the other day a passage in which oc
curred the term dead heat
Jones said he addressing an in
attentive pupil what do you mean
by dead heat
Please sir the youngster replied
its the heat of the place bad people
go to when theyre dead London
Schoolmaster
Giving Advice
Professor What is the matter with
Mr
Learned Student He is seriously af
flicted with a paroxysmal inflamma
tion of the vermiform appendix
Voice From the Rear Seat Aw cut
it out
Caustic
Does your representative In con
gress entertain much
No answered the caustic constitu
ent he doesnt entertain he only
amuses Washington Star
His Definition
Pa what is an interior decorator
Im not quite sure Wilfred but 1
think Its n cook New York Times
Every individual is a marvel of un
known and unrealized possibilities
Jordan
rn
Witchcraft
The sixteenth and seventeenth cen
turies said John Flske were the
flourishing ages of the witchcraft de
lusion Witchcraft in the tvirly ages
was considered one of the greatest of
crimes as much so as murder robbery
or any other serious offense agsiiust
the law and the belief In it was shared
by the whole human race until the lat
ter part of the seventeenth century
In England in 1UJ4 two women
were tried before Sir Matthew Hale
charged witli bewitching several girls
and a baby and they were put to
death for at that time the evidence
seemed perfectly rational In 1U15 in
Genoa 500 people were burned to death
on the charge of witchcraft It was
tho proud boast of a noted executiouej
In northern Italy at this time that In
fifteen years he had assisted in burn
ing 900 persons charged with sorcery
In Scotland between lf00 and 1000
8000 people were put to death an
average of 200 a year The last exe
cution for witchcraft In England took
place in 1712 in Scotland in 1722 in
Germany in 17 19 and in Spain in 1781
Crime and the Telephone
From the beginning to the end of a
transaction in crime the telephone
comes into use serviug both sides
with equal fidelity says a writer in
Appletons Magazine The thief uses
it to determine which house he may
safely rob The man next door sees
the burglar and calls up the police
The police arrive catcli the burglar
and telephone for the Black Maria to
take him to jail The thief telephones
a lawyer to defend him The lawyer
telephones for the bondsman to bail
out his client and the banker tele
phones the sheriff that the bondsmans
check is good When the day of trial
comes the clerk of the court being a
kind gentleman telephones to tho
burglars lawyer the sheriff telephones
witnesses to be present When the
burglar is convicted and sentenced the
sheriff uses long distance to tell the
warden of the penitentiary when his
prisoner will be delivered After that
the telephone line is kept hot by in
fluential politicians petitioning the gov
ernor for a pardon
An Embarrassing Moment
The author of Collections and Rec
ollections relates a personal experi
ence of having said a thing one would
rather have left unsaid Even after
the lapse of twenty years he adds
the recollection of the sensations of
the moment turns him hot with cha
grin
A remarkably pompous clergyman a
diocesan inspector of schools once
showed me a theme on a Scriptural
subject written by a girl who was
trying to pass from the rank of a pupil
teacher to the rank of schoolmistress
The theme was full of absurd mis
takes over which the inspector laugh
ed uproariously
Well what do you think of that
he inquired when I handed back the
paper
Oil said I in perfectly good faith
the mistakes are bad enough but the
writing is far worse It really is a
disgrace
The writing What my writing
said the inspector I copied the
theme out myself
The Bread and Pipe Baker
The lecturer at the cooking school
sometimes enlivened her remarks with
an anecdote
The eighteenth century baker she
said was a pipe cleaner as well just
as the barber a little earlier was a
surgeon Everybody in those days
smoked clay pipes provided the same
as cups or spoons by the coffee houses
Well each morning a waiter carried
his masters stock of pipes some hun
dred perhaps to the nearest bakery
The baker would boil them out then
dip them in liquid lime then bake
them dry They came out of the oven
as sweet and white as new New
Orleans Times Democrat
A Popular Dye
A small boy was one day sent for a
pennyworth of indigo dye ne stopped
to play marbles on the way and quite
forgot what he was sent for As he
was determined to get it he went into
the chemists shop and said to the as
sistant
What have people been dyeing with
lately please
Influenza was the answer
Ah That must be it said the boy
Tlease give me a pennorth London
Illustrated Rits
Saves Trouble
Why dont you come in occasional
ly between drinks demanded the
wife and see the play
I dont need to replied the bibulous
husband The bartender is familiar
with the plot imitates the actors and
also knows a lot of gossip about their
personal and family affairs Philadel
phia Bulletin
Enlightened
We all make blunders I thought
once I was a square peg when I was
really a round one
How did you find out your mis
take
I got into a hole Boston Tran
script
The Drummer
I sometimes think remarked the
regular patron that the suare drum
mer should be the best musician in
the theater orchestra
He usually Is said the drummer
Chicago Tribune
Nothing
Jenkins declares that where he was
In Switzerland the mercury often
dropped to zero at night
Thats nothing
Whats nothing
Zero
H
JKBL r4i
1 fS
HfSW
f
your clothes are made
THAT all wool fabric is
an important thing to look out
for even when paying high
prices
It is doubly important in clothes
at 1000 to 2500
GLOTHGRAFT is the only line
in America at those prices made
exclusively of pure all wool
THE reason pure woo fabric is so isiportant
is because clothes made from it hold their
shape best and wear longest la CLOTHCILAFT
CLOTHES for rceii and young men tho high
standard o all wool fabric b maintained
CUARAHTEEDJEilfF
ALL VfOOL
in every other feature c iie Warmest
in style fit linings and
work
3a
tduniliin
fegri
taj
C L DeGroff Co
ssaEssss
mmaBMmmmmmsaaJimaaswmiMBaMXaBBKmMmmamammmaBmBKaaBmmmmiMmmmMmKmmvmmmmmaammummmmmmaamimmmm
THE SEATLE EXPOSITION Very low excursion rates will
make it possible for you to make the most interesting railroad journey
in the world at an extremely reasonable cost only slightly higher
through California PLAN NOW
ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESORTS After June ist very low
round trip rates will be made to the delightful resorts of Scenic
Colorado to the Big Horn Mountains including Eaton Bros famous
ranch resort at Wolf Wyo near Sheridan the Yellowstone Park
either via Cody Gardner or Yellowstone Gateway Hot Springs of
South Dakota Big Horn Basin points Thermopolis Basin and
Worland PLAN NOW
TO THE EAST An extensive scheme of excursion rates to
the Lakes Canada and eastern sea board resorts will be announced
prior to June ist PLAN NOW
Information in response to inquiries will be furnished at the
earliest date Do not hesitate to write us for information and pub
lications State definitely what you want to know It will be a
V FRAHKUU
pleasure to assist you to include all available at
tractions in your tour east or west
D F IIostettek Ticket Agent McCook Neb
L W Wakelev G P A Omaha
qlGils9ssfibsb ssvssAim
V IrmNKLfrc PRESIDENT A C EBEKT CASHIER
JAS S DOYLE Vice President
THR
Oysters
taste right have all the peculiar
delicacy of oysters 3 ou get at the
shore because no ice or water
touches them no preservative is
used or needed
The ice is packed around the
sealed galvanized steel cans
Sealshipt Oysters are clean
fresh thoroughly palatable always
New ways of preparing oysters are
pven in Sealshipt Sense an interest
ing book about oysters Ask any of the
following dealers for a copy and try a
pint of Sealshipt Oysters today
Ko water All solid meats
f TT7FNS I
JAS S DOYLE
RANK
rf m t iy - jl ja
OF MeCOOK NEB
a s a b
JL f JL i
Paid Up Capital 50000 Surplus 20000
a a a a
DIRECTORS
A 0 EBERT
5WVVifcakfi9w yttirji
s in the Packing
Soak a juicy sirloin in Ice water
a -week then cook and serve it
Would it taste as it should Neither
do oj stera treated that way
tABBra SYSTl L N gi
RODGERS MODRELL
SFrss5rsTrsift
illJS
u i T3HBBB
The genuine Sealshipt Oysters are always sold from s
White Porcelain Display Case bearing the Sealshipt trade
mark in blue This is for your protection look for it
The Sealshint Pflrripr Sirctm ia Tottd TttUni
ments will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law
NATIONAL OYSTER CARRIER COMPANY
SoutH Norwalk Connecticut a
4
r
A
fci
V
-
ri
A
t
4
i
V5