Litchfield enquirer., 1864-01-07
Nancola. released the oar from his hand

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 The shot had struck home.. The man whose reformation had been born of :. baby's love was moved by the kind word from one whose ridicule he feared.
 That's hearty, master! You're one of tn. only mates that's had faith in Paul Nanco las, and honor you for it.
 {. Here," cried the other, feeling in his pock ct, {" take this as proof that mean what say. I'll wager the cork wopt be drason De fore set nag eyes on it agen {"
 into the boat. and bidding Nancolas God. speed,p made the best of his way towards the shore, to tell the tale to the. group of fisher men. who nightly met at the ' Jolly Sailor, and impatienty to await the.raturn of what he believed would be the drunken fisherman.
 The sky had become overcast large black clouds were fast obscuring the moon: the wind, too, had risen, and by the faint light breakers ahead were discernible.
 Large drops of rain began now to fall, the sky was every moment growing darker; and the stiffness and blackness tot .ihe night was broken only by the distant sals of thunder, and the vivid streaks of lightning, which seemed to split the horizon Nancolas was hardened to such sights but he was anxious for the boy, who. shivering with the cold, had crept into the forepart of the boat. For.u- nately the wind was with them and Nancoas could relinquish his oars for time, as he threw his oilskin coat around the lad, and batting him on the head, bade hin keep d good heart. In searching his pocket for a muller that he usually wore. his hand came in contact with the wicker bottle
 Ha tO0ly if ont and lhnt-a1 at if bU thn sickly light of the lantern which he held the boy was cold drop would warm him-must do him good. He hesitated moment, then with his teeth he drew the cork
 Here, Jimmy lad, take sup O that; it Il keep thee heart up, and sarve to keep out cold" The boy-half wondering, halfLu'r' consciously-took deep draught, and put ting it from him, gasped for breath.
 It's so strong feel ill-wheres father? 2
 "He's not come yet" replied Nancolas, anxious to conceal his own anxiety on the subject and to calm the boy.
 As he spoke his glance rested oil the wicker bottle it was strange feeling of awe that, as he looked. he remembered the last words of the fisherman" The cork acon't be drapn afore / see it agen !'
 He pictured to himself the snear that would rise to every face as he returned the bottle he heard the laugh which would greet his ac- count of having given it to the boy. The re- putation which was the result of so much sel:sacriice and labor was destroyed when the story was toll he would be mistrustel, as the man could be sober only when temptation was beyond his reach. 50 them he nut trred), ''the work of years destroyed in mo- mcnt !''
 Enlarging by his imagination the sneer, the laugh tie derisiye jest, the loss of the friend ship of those he most esteemed, calling to ,nind his desolate life of the past, again his brutal \ ,ture strlyyIel hard for the Ill ,stery and he became ia that short hour desperate man. The wind ha4 changed, and the fis.- Ing boat Was like a toy tossed on the great black watrls: bilcaness was ca the Sa.s, b acA ness in the heavens. so dense he knew n0t where he was his hopes were daskeued ike the night, whose very color :enie il unison with his heart.
 laughed ut as drunk r he murmurel, as he endeavored to reef the sail" not master o! myse!f-laughed at as boy that GO ida. c command himself-l may as well be bad as be thought sol"
 lis courage, too, seemed to f,l him with his hopes and after q short pause, to reneS his energy, he put tie bottle to hs lips.
 The smell of blood will whet the appetite of the tamsst beast; the taste of lquor aroused the worst passions of that Eian, and ill one half-hour hls better nature had fled
 But an ho before the peril to which he had exposed tie boy the absence of his part ner, the coming storm, and the;r lonely situa- tion had flied him with gloomy fears and dark forebodings but the draush;s he imbi- bed from time to time from his friends wicker bottle made him so forgetful of the past, so callous to the future, that he took little heed either of his own peril or of that in which hs had placed tue boy and with an equal disre- gard for the fury of the elements, his fellow partners return, the comfort or safety of hls little charge-who, dfeuched and shiverng, lay half supplied by the gin he had lmblbed ill the forepart of the vesstr-N Nancoias stretch ed himself at full length, preparing for heavy sleep.
 Meanwhile the heart of the boy beat high as wave after wave tossed the boat as If It were plaything oa the broad ocean but amidst the roaring of the water, the Vivid lightning, the rolling thunder, and the lncreas- ing gloom, tue childs only fear was for the safety of his missing father: the darkness and storm were terrible to him, but only as he thought Of their gathering around his father $ boat.
 Oace, and once only, did he hear the husky voice of his drunken guide, and that but h. distinctly.
 "Jemmy, boy keep sharp lookout, and wake me when thee sees feyther coming
 The-yoice that answered his was choked and full of sobs.
 :" siy father he's not come yet! he's no. come yeti
 C Ho ! ho ]" laughed the fisherman, as he turned away and applied himself once more to his friends wicker bottle. Not come yet ]! A brave night for fsherman-a jolly storm tor a boatmaus son y
 And with the puny boat tossing upon the waves the black water roaring against the biacker night, Nancolas sank into drunken slumber.
 "He's not come yet r
 Nancolas opened his large, heavy eyes, and passing his hand across his bushy eyebrows in the first awakening from his lethargy, look ed round. In the east few gray streaks were lighting up the horizon, and the cold, fresh breeze. that passed like a spirit hand over his features, heralded the approach of day. No, a sound was to be heard the sea that had ran so high but few hours before, was almost as calm as the sands that it covered, and not ( vessel dotted the vast horizon.
 '' He's not come yet y
 The voice was low and faint but even Nan colas, half supplied as he was by drink. re
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