Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1862-01-18

To- IVY! nurrah mother! You shall hav
1ne ana good things to eat, besides nice war;
) eiess ana stout shoes, nowm shouted q chubby
I,a1 eyeo poy OF, IL may be, twelve years, ola
- sne humble gsrb Of poverty, finging wild
SpeI lne uoot ana bounding into small, com
fortless apartment, on the third floor ~ Ain
gy looking old wooden building. near tha 70 hal
In the then village of Cleveland, Ohio. GComs
nurrah, mother, put away that slave work AM
90 ana get You nice dinner right Off" contip
ued the little fellow, approaching d pale, delioat
woman, scantily clad In thin dre.s, her fac
blue with cold i5'iII5i1' =. ,SSf''0A 'n''
'Why, what do you mean, my child7" sai,
the woman, looking wondefingly up from be
work. "Do you know have no money to hn,
anything to eat, and Unjust finish tbis yest be
iore can get even a stick Of wood for our Are
which is almost out7p 'ai era ~ .TJilNT
|gj"Nonsense, mother! Let the old vest 90 %
some poor woman, that has no stout boy like
me 10 earn money for her. You shan't work
tnls way any longer, mother! Look heren'
AND the little fellow flung down on the table bis
TWO hands full Of half dollars, With roeuisb
Smile III upon his handsome face as he beheld
his mothers look Of wonder. 10 ~ TT
did you" g N ~ - i'iA'N'ii0 r"'' 9
"All right, mother! interrupted the boy.. And
down went another handful of bright silver; I,il
tell you all about it, mother. You see went
70 get my pay Of Mr.. Dennison to-day, for two
montns' cooking on board the Aurora. Well.
ne PAID me $2O In all these pieces, and then he
asked me u would 60 for month, In his new
schooner, for $l5. | told him | woodland
tnen wnen he heard me tell how hard you have
70 work, and how poor and almost sick Won Are,
ne gave me $lO more, and said you must get
another room and stop working so hard: besides.
ne says If III stay all winter in the echooper,
and take care of her, shall have $I2 every
month, to bepaid weekly to you. So, hurra6.
mother, we'll have big fire and nice dinner,
and-well Mr.. Dennison is good man, after
all, if he is rich old batch, as that crab-appIe
old maid, Aunt Hetty Johnson, calls him."
heaVen bless you, my noble boy" sobbed
out the widow, as she clasped her arms about
ner chiid's neck, bowed her head upon his
shoulders, and Wept like very child herself,
ior loy-loy, and so much for the timely aid her
SOD had brought her, although her heart was
full Of thankfulness for that, 80 for the noble
qualities displayed by the noble little fellow. in
remembering her and bringing home every
shilling OF his hard earned wages, instead OF
spending It foolishly, as too many boys of his
age would have done. y
month passed away, and again the hand
some sailor boy, Frank Merrill, stood beside
his mother, in comfortably furnished room, in
q most respectable part OF the town, while the
widow, as she gazed proudly on her boy, looked
full ten years younger, and much Younger and
much happier than she had done only four short
weeks previously. gJ .lala4 %. 'U-.E ~
A cheerful blaze was in the CRATE, everything
about the room was neat and eloquent Of com
fort, and the widow Merrill was really beautiful
in her brown merino dress and black CATERS,
With her dark brown hair, 80 like that Of Carlo
Dolci's st. Cecilia, parted on her classic brow
ana railing In wavy masses upon her shoulders.
Frank thought his mother very beautiful, and
go did another person present. That person Was
Mr.. Joseph Dennison, the boys EMPLOYER Ia bIufr
gooo-natured, money making bachelor of fosty.
fiVe, who atthe boys request, accompanied him
home. 10. i1 s'lr af1 MIN 30 - - n
"Mrs. Merrill, !" said Me-. Dennison, "your
son has been in my employ for the last three
months, and am 30 well pleased with his ptu-
dence and general good qualities, that With
your permissionJ IPBhouid be pleased to keep
him all winter on board one of nv vessels.
which sails tomorrow for Buffalo. II is so late
IN the season that she may not be able to return
this winter, in which case you can have Frank
wages paid monthly or weekly, in advance, for
such Is his wish, and, should you need ANYTHING
further, your order on me will be honored al
ways" .a
The widow could only murmur her thanks
ana invoke Gods blessing on the kind hearted
stranger whom she never had seen before, and
who, bidding her good night, lef. her alone with
ner darling boy. On the following day the
schooner Western Trader left Cleveland with q
Iuil cargo OF oats and corn, bound for Buffalo.
Ihat very night there came on q very cold
north east anowstorm, which finally closed the
navigation of Lake Erie for the winter. 80.
a whole month passed without any news
from the schooner, and that, when eyerybod,
had given her up for lost, her captain and Grew
came back TO Cleveland, with the report thai
sne was frozen fast In the ioe, some thirty miles
TO the eastward, and full half that distance
from the land. They had left her and escaped
to the shore on the ice; but all they could eay
to induce the boy Frank Merrill to abandon heI
was of no avail. :
"No, will never leave her." he said "a
promised Mr.. Dennlson to stand by and tax,
care OF her through the winter, and willif
"GOd bless the noble boy" exclaimed Mr.
| Dennison, as the captain told of the little fel
lows fidelity. And the exclamation was echoed
back by dozen men at Cleveland, who hap
pened to be in the office at the time.
| W Nhin sUO uVuE5 IuOEe eLlClenb command
er, with eight fearless fellows, who agreed tc
stay by the vessel till they got her into DOR
somewhere, set out from Cleveland to board her
but when they arrived abreast of where she had
been frozen in, the ice was broken up to within
five miles OF the land, and the schooner wat
gone.
Ihree weeks passed, and all remained un
certain with regard to the fate of the Western
Trader, or her brave boy commander, when she
was heard from again on the Canada side, some
hfty miles to the westward of her former posi-.
ton. But before relief could be sent to her
there came on violent gale from the west
ward, which broke up the ice, and she was
borne away down the lake embedded in a field
of more than a hundred acres.
As there was only small stock of proyis.
ions on board when she left Cleveland, people
wondered how iho boy had subsisted ali that
time, and predicted his death by starvation
provided the schooner should live out tho fierce
winter gales. Several times, after her appear.
Ance on Erie, the Western Trader was seen IL
various parts Of the lake, but always too faI
on to make out anything about her distinctly
Only tnst mere was always smoke coming out
of the funnel Of her cabin stove.
AT last, one Sunday afternoon, in the month
of April, about q week after the. western par
of the lake was clear Of ice, schooner ius
under the head of her foresail, was seen ter ter
miles outside the harbor Of Cleveland, and, al
she came bravely in between the piers, thous
ands of people on, the shore ranged along
the wlarves, recognized her as the truant w est
ern Trader, and the brave little fellow at hei
helm as Frank Merrill, the winter rover Of the
lake, returned in safety from his dreary ice
voyage. s- ,-,l'''-.'1 ,s,
Such Welcome as England would have ac
corded to Sir John Franklin, had he escaped