Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-09-18
Fireside Department.
A Little Fun.

One day Carol went to see his
uncle Frank and aunt Emma. 1T
was in September, and Aunt En-
ma had been making blackber-
~ wine, and when she put it
away she left one bottle en- the
table for Uncle Frank to taste
when he came in to dinner. AT
ter dinner, Uncle Frank poured
out tumblerful and drank it.
aThat's good enough" said I'm
Gle Frank, and poured out a lit
! tie more and handed it to Carol.
Carol had signed the pledge
I few weeks before, and though he
felt &little afraid way down in
his heart, he said bravely, "No,
Uncle Frank (; | signed the
pledge in school the other day"
"Oh, well" said Uncle Frank,
"this wont do any hurt
"Yess twill" said Cal. It'll
make me, break my pledge"
= AaPoohl who told you so!'
"My teacher"
"Well she don't know; she's
nothing but girl, any way"
"Yes, she does know a good
lot,I'Isaid Cal; .:and father says it
will be breaking the pledge to
drink any kind OF wine
Il, ..Well,r said Uncle Frank,
lssthis isn't really wine yet, moth
ing but blackberry juice and sugar,
just see now. just a little drop;
and he took a spoonful and put a
little to Calls lips.
Cal struggled and tr ed to get
away, but he was only nine years
old, and Uncle Frank was great
strong man, and somehow just a
little got into Calls mouth. 1t
was good and sweet, with. just a
little smart taste, and. Uncle
Frank laughed as Cal swallowed
it, and joked about it; I; and he
thought it wasn't so bad after
all.
Carol kept thinking about it
a good many times that day, and
he began to feel more and more
ashamed that he had swallowed
those few drops of wine. Now
he was the first one of the boys
that had done such a thing since
they signed the pledge, and he
s-thought, "What's the use to try
SHOWS Idon't care half SO much
about it as did before. There's
no fun in saying Il never broke
my pledge but once.'. / want 10
say | never broke it at all, or else
not try to keep it'' i
Cal didn't tell his good father
; about it when he went home
that night. Oh, if he only had !!
After Cal had. gone home that
night, Aunt Emma said to Frank,
s'Frank, 1 think it was too bad TO
make Cal taste of that wine."
"Oh, well l only wanted a lit
tie fun with him. He's such a
plucky little fellow, l like to
joke him little. They'll never
make drunkard of him."
6. Ah, Uncle Frank! They nev
er will. You have already done
it yourself. You wouldn't
have done it for the world
if you had stopped to think, if
you could have seen ten years
ahead.
Ten years after, when Uncle
Frank was fifty and Cal nineteen
they met one night, and where ?
Uncle Frank was going home
from work one night, when he
saw a horse coming, racing
wildly along with only the fore
wheels of carriage attached to
him.. He was fortunate enough
to stop the horse, and was lead
ing the frightened animal back
the way it came, thinking where
he should find the owner; all at
once he saw the rest of the car
riage in heap by the side of the
road at a distan, from him; butt
what is that nearer him
Uncle Franks heart stopped
beating for moment. Could
+. that be Cal? The clothes were
like his. He hurried to the spot.
There laid his fair haired nephew
cut and bleeding dead, tor aught
= he knew. With trembling hands
Uncle Frank turned Calls face up
to the light. 1t WAS growing
cold even then. A great cash
in the temple and sharp stone
at the side Of the road told the
story. Carol was dead.
ssWho wonld have thought it
of Cal 2" was what Uncle Frank
said to his wife that night.
Thoughtless Uncle Frank, it
was the sad, sad end of little
fun.-Co Congregationalsst.