The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1868-03-27

They had played four games. Albert
had won two, and his opponent had
won two.
That's two and two" cried Tom Pr
4 per. =" W hat do you say to playing them
4 OFF, Albert ~
. All right, go in said Albert full of
animation.
80 they played the fifth game, and he
/ who lost was to pay for the five games.
4 1t was an exciting contest Both made
capital runs, but in the end Albert was
beaten by three points; and with a little
laugh he Went up To settle the BILL
Five games twenty cents game-iust
one dollar Not much for such snort
and he paid out the money with grace.
and never once seeming to feel that he
could not afford it,
Have . cigar ~ said Tom.
Yes
They lighted their cigars, and then
saunteTed down the hall to watch others
play.
Albert soon found himself seated over
against table at which some Of his friends
were playing, aud close by stood two
gentlemen, strangers 10 him, one OF
wAcm was explaining the mysteries Of
ihe game
81 5 a healthy pastimc.' said he who
had been making the explanation; 'and
certainly il is one which has no evil
tendency
Albert heard lac remarks very plain
~, and Inc had a curiosity 20 hear what
the either, who seemed unacquainted
with billiards. would say.
- cannot, Of course, assert that any
game which calls for xiii and judgment,
ana which is free from the attendant
curse of gaming, is itself an evil, " re-
pliedthe second gentleman. such things
are only evil so far as hey excite and
stimulate men beyond the bounds of
healthful recreation"
That result can scarcely follow such
q game, said the first speaker
You are wrong there. The result
can follow in two ways First il can
lead men away from their business; sec
Ond, it can lead men to spend money,
who havenot got money to spend. You
viii understand me. would not cry
down the game of billiards, for if un-
dcc-tO0d ii / should certainly ask to trv
you game now; bat whenever visit
"a place Of thiS kind am led To reflect
upon most strange and prominent weak
hess as DEVELOPED in our sex. For in
stance observe that young man who is
just settling his bill ut the desk He
looks like a mechanic. and should say
from his manner. and from the fact that
he feels it his duty to 20 home at this
hour that he has wife and children.
! see by ms face that he is kind-hearted
and generous. and | should Judge that
lac means 10 do as near right a he can.
He has been beaten, and he pays one
dollar and forty cents for the recreation
Of some two hours duration. If YOU
would observe, YOU viii see that he pays
q f-t.tLs b
smile. Happy faculty But how do
YOU suppose il is in that young mans
home2 suppose his wife had come TO
him this morning and asked him for
dollar to buy some trifling thing some
household ornament, or some bit Of Jew
elry 10 adorn her person-and suppose
his little child had put in plea for for
~ cents to buy q paper picture book
with. What DO YOU think he would
have answered? OF fifty men just like
him, would not forty and five declared
they had not money 10 spare for amy
such purpose? And moreover, they
would have said 20 feeling that they
were telling The truth. Am I not right"
- L pom my soul, ~ responded Tie man .
who understood Billiards, you speak
to the point. I know that young man
who has paid his bill, and you have not .
And. what Is more. | happen to have a
fact at hand to illustrate your charge.
We had club for an excellent literary
paper in our village, and last year that
man who was one of our Subscribers
This year he felt obliged to discontinue
il. His wife was very anxious to take II
for ii had become genial companion in
leisure moments, bat he could not afford
it. The club rate was one dollar and
fifty cents Il year
Ave. and 50 it goes, said the other
"Well, that mans wife
may be wishing at this moment that
She had her paper to read, while he Is
paying almost its full price for a year
for " hat? And yet how smilingly he
does it, All! those poor smypathizing
wives How many clouds often darken
upon them from the brOws Of their hus-
bands whom they ask for trifing sums
OF money. and how grudgingly the mite
Is handed over when it is given. What
perfect floods of Joy that dollar and for
ty cents might have poured upon the
children of the unsuccessful billiard
player. All Is is well for such wives
and children that they do not know
where the money all goes"
They had finished at the nearest table.
The two gentlemen moved on, and Al
bert Landman rose from his seat and
left the house. Never before had he
such thoughts as now possessed him. he
had never dwelt upon the same group
ing ideas. That very morning his own
true, and faithful, loving wife had been
sad and heart sick because he had harsh
" and unkindlv met her request for a
small sum of money. And his sweet
Lizzie had crept away to her home al
most broken hearted for the want of a
simple toy, such as her mates possessed.
And vet the sum of both their wants
amounted to not as much as he had
paved away that evening for billiard
playing.
Albert Landman wanted to be an
honest husband and father, and the les
son was not lost upon him, On his way
home he stopped at Mr.. Grants and pur-
chased the best and prettiest hoop to be
found, with driving stick painted red,
white and blue, and in the morning,
when he beheld his child's delight, and
had received her grateful, happy kiss,
the question came TO his mind: Which
was the best and happiest result, this or
the five games Of billiards? The hoop
had cost thirty cents. He could play
two games of billiards less, and be the
absolute gamer of ten cents by the pleas
ant operation. " |
A few mornings after this, IA Albert
rose from the breakfast table, he detect
ed an uneasy, wistful look upon his
wife's face.
''Kate, what is it?''
"Albert, could you spare me half dol
lar this morning.?
And out came the wallet, and the
money was handed over with warm,
genial smile.
What! Tears at that? Was it posi-
BILE that she had been so little used to
such scenes on his part that so simple an
act of loving kindness thus affected
her.
How many games of billiards would
be required to secure such satisfaction
as Albert Landman carried with him
that morning to the shop?
A very simple lesson, is it not? But
how many may gain lasting profit by
giving heed to this lesson
LEGISLATIVE ELoQUENCE.--There has
been an astonishing amount OF discus
sion in the Missouri legislature over the
railroads in that state. The other day
when member from st. Louis was OPP
posing an amendment to his railroad
bill, he thrilled his fellow members by
saying that the proposed measure invol-