The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1873-08-09

!DSONV1l111E,s l4A.,. ~
off u tgoltaaal'. Il. agol 9ll. a4<
! 10 II .Es7HS= 2 I3I77s q n } mi
Sir, You've treated me fair, and | don't |
doubt you know the law I
cts s9oepel, If it, isn't law ,''' said !
Ely 8lyfss in;sIs nfssE'''y, ''wh"t IS your name
sJohn Brand, Sir; but the names u
braad te ms,povy, and # I'm to be ship-
se ~ tnss @ @fnHthafr's II f it, i ant = against
YAll.rixht,D said ibi4 sponsor: stake
aamt, and f'il trdst yoti t5 Keep Il s..
7 ou're 6oing to Philadelphia to . tfriendI
have there, in the carriage business !. big
house ;sgoUd wages; chance to rise. II
write to, him and steA him all about you in
a letter you take. He is not to report to
me. If you DO well, you'll be glad TO let
me- know it yourself. sIf you don't I'd
rather not know it. at all. I'll have lnos
spies upon you, andaI'11 trust you to keep
faith With me. QUILL want another suit
and ten dollars in your pocket TO make you
feel respectable. So now we'll 60 and get
fitted, and buy our ticket, and take our
rather damaged wares to new market" !"
When John Blythe went home that
night he laughed a little to himself to
think how many of his investments in
wildcat humanity had brought back no
dividends. But he always had faith In the
last one. ss,The truth is,'' his mother had
told the minister that morning, when she
begged him to withhold her son little
from his prodigal benevolences-' the
truth is that John regularly strips him
self once month or SO for some plausible
cn0 i,
come home without waistcoat. And |
fully expect to see the day when he will
have to lie in bed to have his only shirt
washed, his ,opulent beggars having
pawned all the rest"
Blythe still lived with his mother, be-
cause he felt that no other woman would
be happy with the perplexities which le
constant experiments in sociology entailed
on his household, and because he had
never found woman whom he could ask
to share that poverty which might SO
easily have been wealth had he chosen to
conduct his moral bookkeeping accord
ing to received usage. In this new rogue
he had taken much stock, as he said. The
man was not only certain to reform, but
to save hundreds of men like himself.
whom he would know how to reach. But
after one brief, ill-spelled, and dirty note
to say that he had found work, and
friend in his employer, he made no sign;
| convinced even Blythe that the faint OF
| ten wears could not be cured by an hours
kindness, he only said, ''Well, poor fel-
low, ought to have kept him under my
4 own eye. There was good in him. But
suppose life was too dark" .,.. -5.
So eight years went by, Blythe going
| his daily round of un0stentatiOus duty,
never dreaming that he was q saint In
shabby vestments, and only seeing tna'
leach day he let slip some chance OF help
Ifulness which he might have seized. Hls
thusiness had not thriven as he had hoped
Men were little sny or sucn Qut4ot
genius though he was and he was so Ger
tain to refuse cases where the rlgnC wa
not clearly on his side that his fees grew
fewer year by year. It was hard, becaus
he saw such good that might pc done VIII
money. But he only pinched himself th
more. AN" @n. t-*-j
There came in time cholera summer
People fled the city In herds. Almost no
body was left, save the wretches wh
could not hy, and whose poverty, ignc
rance, and dirt predetermined them vic
, tins. By day and by night, in the stew
: and slums ofsthe town, horrible in ia
August heat and stenches, John Blyth
watched and worked. His perfect health
{ which seemed to place him beyond per
! of infection, his skill in nursing, his ter
derness, and the quiet courage whic
( rou> ed an answering courage in the a
frighted victims. made him invaluable
the doctors. He often met another vo
, unteer nurse, not less invaluable tina
himself, the ply sicians said. But beyon
+ civil greetings they had neither time nc
f thought to bestOw on each other. 49,
t But one morning as Blythe left the no
q pitai, after hard and weary nights worI or,
4 ne overlook his silent fellow.worker. III
E latter lifted his hat, and as the clear ear l
z light fell on his face it looked SO famlil'
# and so friendly that Blythe stopped, sa
o ing, !" Surely must know you' my goe
n. aYes,'' said the stranger, hearth
4 s. YOU are perhaps the only person WI
q ever did know me. Our acquaintance b
i gan in breach of good manners on n
! bart, for I asked an important person
q favor before being introduced. You M
q remember being Solicited to kick me al
! let me 70 on.a morning much like this
i John Blythe, the first Of the nam n! q
20 draroed his namesake into friend
& doorway, within whose shelter he fir
y fall on his neck anu kissed him, and tn
IE sat down on the very dirty stairs a =
T cried. John Blythe, the second OF :
,d name, leaning on the balustrade' q
o. =. The The sponsor was the first to recover
d speech. ."lHistery repeats itsat,"
r said. "Twice found in the street, and
m mse second time to be invested in my cloth
w for We can't take breakfast In these
an IN and again to break the bread that p
he be- cedes t new career together-for | ne,
I | viii let you out Of my sight again, y =
M rascal-and once more to set you up
n other business-for now you are to
Id your own biographer, and tell me taies es
ID yourself for thousand and one nlgn
u vo But be pleased to hold your tongue
W. ". we have both bathed or esten, or we sn
no both be down with the cholera, ana a.
to two best nurses too engaged to atte
is u.s. .,,ox,so
.L with water and fresh linen, and had ca
- their breakfast together in the cellar