The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1877-04-06
The Old Man Who Smiled.

The Old Man VINO Smiled.
One time there was a good old man
living in Detroit. His back was bent,
his step was slow, and men who gazed
upon his snowy locks and wrinkled face
whispered to each other:
"He is good old man, who has not
long to i've"
The old man had been we'll off in his
day, but when he found himself on the
shady side of life, wife dead and home
broken up, he said to his only son.
"Here, William, take all l have, and
let your home be my home until die"
The son took the papers, and the father
was given cosey corner, big chair, and
corn-cob pipe. All went we'll for year
or so, and then the son and the sons wife
began to make it uncomfortable for the
nice old man in the corner. They threw
out hints, deprived him of his comforts,
and one cold day in winter he was told
that he had better go to Halifax-Nova
Scotia.
The old mans heart was sore as he
went out into the world to battle against
hunger and cold, and when night came he
covered in a doorway and wept like
child.
"Who is making that chin-music up
there9" called a reporter, whose steps had
been arrested by the sobs; and he went
up the steps, patted the old man on the
head, and by-and-by the story was told.
"Come down to the station with me"
said the reporter, taking the old mans
arm. "YOur son is frst-cOusin to the
man who preferred buzzard to lamb, and
I'll help you fix himr'
Next morning one of the daily papers
contained an item to the effect that an old
gentleman named Goodheart had been
found wandering the streets at night, and
that when taken to the station $4,000
worth of United States bonds were found
on him. The old man read it over three
times, slapped his leg as he saw the point,
and beautiful smile covered his face and
climbed up through his hair. In about
an hour his son William rushed into the
station and called out:
"Father, dear father, come home! All
of us were crying all night long, and my
wife is now lying in cOmatOse state on
your accountW
The old man went home with him,
winking at the lamp-posts and smiling as
he turned the corners. He had all his
comforts back, and the son bought him
a costly pipe and a pair of box-toed boots
that very day.
Well, as time went on the son ventured
to suggest that the bonds had better be
turned over to him, and every time he
said "bonds" the old man would smile
and turn the subject to patent milk-cans
or the necessity of counterfeiters taking
more pains with their lead nickels. The
other day the father went to bed to die,
and he smiled oftener than before as he
lay waiting for the summons. The son
said his heart was breaking, and then
went through the old mans clothes to
! find the bonds. He didn't find any. He
searched the barn and the garnet and the
cellar, and finally, when he saw that
death was very near, he leaned over the
bed and whispered:
"Father, do you know me-"
80, yes-I know you like a book" re-
piled the dying man.
"And, father, don't you see that this
thing is almost killing me9"
Eyes, William, see it,"
"And, father - those - those-bonds,
you know. l suppose you want them
used to purchase you a monument"
Correct William, whispered the IA
ther, winking CHASTITY wink, and as that
same old smile covered his face death
came to take him to better home.
When evening fell, and the son and the
sons wife were wildly searching the straw
bed to get their hands on those bonds, a
reporter stood under the gas-lamp across
the street, and, with his thumb on his
nose, he sweetly called out
''Sold agin and got the tin-next filial
son step forward r'-Detroit Free Press.