Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1871-05-04

which by this time had reached .he road
in which was. seated the kind hearted
Quaker who has been mentioned. H,
stopped his horse and heard distinctly tn
language which DAME had used. AS he
closed his soliloquy he turned and saw
Thomas Edgerton who said:
Daniel, does thee mean to keep th,
vow?
| He answered. do
>, Thee has promised great many time
that thee would drink no more. VIVA
makes thee think thee will keep tn,
VOW 2
I know, friend Edgerton, I have often
often vowed to drink no more, but nov
feel different from what ever did before
My heart is broken. l feel my weak
ne&s, and l believe God will he Up me thi
| God grant it may be 50. Daniel. Ge
| ia and take seat, thee must be hungry
! 60 home Wits me-
On the way the quaker drew out Of
him all that las bctn written and he ad
v,ged him to 60 to California. He told
him to 60 to New York, and york his
passage round the Cape. He determ ined
to do SO. The Quaker furnished hin
with suitable apparel.
Thee wants to see, thy wife and chill
dren before thee goes.
Yes, friend Edgerton, I do, but they
have become estranged from me. If /
went, perhaps. they would not believe
what say. It is better that should
not see them. Indeed it is better that
they should not know where l am. l
want to surprise them, as | hope to do,
by coming bach sober man. and with
money enough to make them comfortable.
| prefer that you and and your wife
should oe the only persons in the place
who know where am and what am do
ing
Thus while riding towards the. quiet
farmhouse of the Quaker, the whole
thing was arranged. When they reached
the place, the horse was put in the barn,
and they entered the house. lie said to
his wife as they took their seats by the
fire:
Amy, thee may put down another
plate Daniel will stay few days with
us, and then he will go to California
The benevolent Quaker was confident
that Daniel Akin would keep his re-
solve.
At lenght, when everything was in read
mess, the horse was harnessed, and be-
fore daylight Daniel Akin was on
his way to railway station. He had
not been in the village since the nj ght
when the words, Not drop more, Dan
iel,' were uttered. He was missed from
his customary haunts, but it was supposed
he had gone off on spree, and so 10th
ing was thought of his absence. His
wife's father lived in the adjoining town,
and some thought he bad gone there.
No inquiries were made, for many were
rejoiced that he was Kissing, and cared
not for his return.
He had been gone somewhat more than
a year, when the Quaker was in the store
of Haskins and remarked that he wished
to hire a pasture the coming season.
L have got one [ will let you have
free of rent, if you will pnt up the fences
on the place. said Haskns.
Where is it ? said the Quaker.
'On the Akin fam
If thee will rent it at thas rate. thee
must have let it get out of repair.
1t is so indeed [ cannot leave the
store to sec to it. The house is poor,
and the family that lived in it were too
shfiless to buy wood, and burnt up all
the rails
1t cost me some sixteen hundred dol
lars
Yes, but thee paid in goods and
charged they own price on them.
TO be sure l did. Akin could not
get trusted anywhere else, and | felt that
l was running great risk in letting him
have goods. | charged him accordingly,
just as an ybody else would under the cir
cumstances.
sThee has not told me what thee would
take for the place will the eight hun
bred dollars for it, if that is any object to
thee
Haskins thought long enough to con-
clude that the interest of eight hundred
dollars was far better for him than the
farm, tor the use of which he realized
scarcely anything. and said, You can
have it,
Thee can make me out deed to-
morrow, and thee shall have thy money.
BY the way, does tLee know what has be-
come Of Daniel Akin 2
No He has not been in the village
for more than year. AT any rate, have
not seen him.
We may tell the reader what Haskins
did not know. The Quaker had that day
received letter from Daniel Akin, stat
ing that he was at the mines, hard at
work, and was sticking to his motto, Not
drop more, Daniel, and that be had
laid up few hundred dollars, and desir
ing him to inquire what the place he once
owned could be bought for. Mr.. Edger-
ton had taken the method above mention
ed to find out Haskin's views. So con-
6dent was he that Daniel Akin would
come home q sober man, with money in
his pocket, that he ventured to purchase
it, for the purpose ofkecping it for him.
He wrote to Akin what he had done,
and about three months afterwards receiv-
ed letter stating that by express he had
sent five hundred dollars in gold to a
banker in New York, with, orders 20 sell
it remit proceeds to him, to go towards
the farm. Gold commanded large
premium and the five hundred became
more than eight hundred before it reached
Mr.. Edgerton's hands. Akin requested
him to draw new deed giving the whole
property to his wife Mary, and have it
duly recorded and left with the Register
Of Deeds.