, 1872-04-04
The Ice Voyage.

"Joy joy! Hurrah. mother. You
shall have fire, and good things to eat,
besides nice warm dress and shoes
now." shouted chubby blue-eyed boy,
of, it may be, twelve years, clad in the
humble grab of poverty. finging wide
open the door and bounding into small
comic, tless apartment on the third floar
of dingy looking old wooden building
near the canal in the then village OF
Cleveland, Ohio. d" Come hurrah,
mother, put away that slave work and
go and get you nice good dinner right
off," continued the little fellow, ap-
preaching pale, delicate woman, scan
tily clad in a thin dress, her face pinch
ed with hunger, and her hands even
then blue with cold.
"Why, what do you mean, my child?''
said the woman, looking wonderingly
up from her work. "Do. you know I
have no money to get anything to eat,
and must finish this vest before 1 can
get even stick of wood for our fire,
which is almost out ?''
Nonsense, mother! Let the old
vest go to some poor woman that has no
stout boy like me to earn money for her.
You shan't work this way any longer,
mother. Look here :" and the little fel-
low flung down on the table his two
hands full of half dollars, while a ro-
guish smile lit up his handsome face as
he beheld his mothers look of wonder.
"Why. Frank Frank, my son, where
have-did you"
"All right, mother" interrupted the
boy, and down went another handful of
bright silver coin. "I'u tell you all
about it, mother. You see, went to
get my pay from Mr.. Denison to-day,
for two months cooking on board the
Aurora. Well, he paid me twenty dol
lars all in these pieces, and then he ask
ed me if I would go for a month in bis
new schooner for fifteen dollars. I told
him woodland then wien he heard
me tell how hard you have to work, and
how poor and almost sick you are, he
gave me ten dollars more, and said you
must get another room and stop work
ing SO hard; besides, he says, if I'll
stay all winter in the schooner, and take
care of her, shall have twelve dollars
eve y month, to be paid weekly to you.
So hurrah, mother; we'll have big fire
and nice dinner, and-well, Mr.. Deni-
son is good man after all, if he is a
rich old bach, as that crab-apple old
maid, Aunt Hetty johnson, calls him. -
Heaven bless you, my noble boy p'
sobbed out the widow as she clasped her
arms about her child's neck bowed her
head upon his shoulder and wept for
joy-joy, not so much for the timely
aid her son had brought her, although
her heart was full of thankfullness for
I
that, as for noble qualities displayed by
the brave 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.
A month passed away. and again the
handsome sailor boy, Frank Merrill,
stood beside his mother in comforta-
bly, furnished room in a more respecta-
BILE part of the town, while the widow,
as she gazed proudly on her boy, look
ed full ten years younger and much hap
pier than she had done only four short
weeks previously.
A cheerful. blaze was in the CRATE.
every thing in the room was neat and
eloquent of comfort, and the widow
Merrill was really beautiful in her brown
merino dress and black slippers, with
her dark brown hair, so like that of
Carlo Dolee's st. Cecilia, parted on her
classic brow and falling in wavy masses
upon her shoulders.
Frank thought his mother very beau
tiful, aud so did another person present.
That was Mr.. Joseph Denisor, the boy s
employer, a bluff, good natured. mon
ey-making bachelor of forty-five, who,
at the boys request. accompanied him
home.
Mrs. Merrill" said Mr.. Denison,
"your son has been in my employ for
the past three months, and 1 am so well
pleased with his prudence and general
good qualities that, with your permis-
sion, 1 should be pleased to keep him
all winter on board one Of my vessels,
which sails tomorrow for Buffalo. It
is so late in the season that she may not
! be able to return this winter, in which