Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1878-07-13
IENNlsON's BET.


only SIN Ill. stony tarm in Nopplt, that
had been her fathers. and two wild boys
of tel and twelve years growth. Jack
and Dan were hard subjects for step
FATHER to rule. and Jason Carter found
Ms bands full. Naturally he was Il quiet.
gentle. persistent man; in his youth he
had run away TO sea, and for fifteen
wears had been a common sailor, which
hal pretty we'll Knocked the quiet out of
and persistence into him. In this time
he had learned TO swear as a matter of
course, though he had been strictly
brought up and went TO church aud Sun
,lav school always. His mother would
have cried her ewes ont to hear him talk
i'm this fishion. but she never diu; his ia
ther would have used the rod. but he al
so was spared the trouble, for both father
and mother died before Jason came back;
and when he found tlev We're gone he
never went back TO Tolland, but after he
got tired OF sea-going took TO peddling
notions about the country. and at last
married the widow Coe and settled down
in Noppit.
He had stopDed swearing long ago ;
for under old Father TaylOr's preaching
he had been converted between his two
last voyages. aud though profanity had
become II habit with him.be had conquer
eel it at last, after years of patient en-
lleayor. and now was so gentle. al q pleas
ant, and pious that Phoebe Coe thought
her last DAYS would be her best days.
He had come 10 know the Widow COe
from being an old shipmate of her BROTH
err, John Wires; who had also left seal
faring because he had Injured an knee,
aud bees use too lame to climb rigging !;
so he set up shop in Boston where he
solI tobacco. twiise and other odds and
ODDS; but he had been married. and had
one son called Jenison. This boy was
about the age of widow Goes youngest
sea. for her brother hail married soon
after she did. while he was still sailor
snd when Jason Carter had begun the
petliling business. John Wires tod him
ia stop am. see his sister when he passed
through Scranton. The children were
small and their father living, when Jason
first saw them. and they learned to look
for "Unele Jase" every spring and fall
with delight. for he always brought them
marbles. tops. candy, strings aud made
them bows anil kites, sure pisports to n
boys helrt. So when their poor. drunken
father died and the widow found herself
left without n penny. she moved over to
Noppit To live with her father. and when
he died. too. leaving her all he had. the
fam from which he had scratched n
scanty living. and she found herself alone
and helpless. she listened -fixnraely ito
Jason Carriers proposal. for he WAS as
tired of his wandering life as she was OF
her loneliness and married him. The
boys were glad for they loved him, aud
they never had loved their own father.
and Jason was as good to them as it they
were his own. though p certain thrill oil
emotion shook him when his little baby
daughter came. that never had troubled
THAT worn old heart in any emergency Of
Jack or Dan. But then Celia was girl
af course that lnaie it different! Jason
when compared with his predecessor
ar out the house was as mild and pleasan
as a spring day after stormy weather
He became useful AMI prominent mem
her of the NOppit church. and never was
heard to utter a prnfane or Impatient
word. Jack and Dan loved him as much
as healthy bows ever love ANYTHING but
mischief and meals, and Phoebe was Ell
tirely happy.
True, they were poor Jason had a few
hundred dollars laid by. but the Noppi
farm was too sterile to produce crops
enough to support the family, so he lai(
out his capital or part of it. i'll "A goot
breed of sheen, which found abundan
living among the mullens, hard-hack ant
huekberry bushes. and proved in due
time profitable Investment. For IL
those days dogs. the curse OF New Eng
land. We're by no means common in the
country; there was no reason for keep
ing them, and the farmers had money
and mutton instead of hydrOphObia anC
horrors. The wool sold well always ant
Kept the family in socks. tor .Jason's wife
could spin and knit with wonderful ra
pidity; the lambs he had not room tC
raise were sent TO Hartford and sold &c
the butchers, and now and then a fat old
wether went 10 the meatmans cart in
the shape of juicy quarters. But the
glory OF the flock WAS a big black-faced
ram. who terrified marauding boys and
jntruding vagabonds. and asked no bet
Ter fun than to send somebody heels Ovel
head whenever he had a chance. Jack
and Dan had brought him up from lamb
hood, but he was no longer lamb, aI(
of his painstaking education only ont
trait stayed by him. distinct and angry
recollection of the rod that had not beer
spared on him in his early and somewha
stupid youth. To the day of Billy's deatt
little stick, shaken before anything
would send him ..head on" at that luck
less object. and the bOfs often amused
themselves by climbing the pine raj
fence and dangling switch full in Bill
Tvs sight againsta big post; the result
. was sudden and severe to Billy. and hi
nigh have seriously injured himself i
daddy, as the BOYS called Jason, had not
caught them at this sport one day ant
strictly forbidden it. Cruelty TO animals
was one of the few things that reused
his choler and made him Imperative.
One summer Mrs. Carter received a
letter from her brother asking her tC
take his boy for few months; his wife
was so feeble that she was going home tC
her fathers with the baby and young
child, and Jenison could not 90 with her
for want of room. Mr., Wires did not
want him i'm the city with him. at a
boarding house, but WAS willing to nav
his board i'm Noppit; so he came.
Jenison Wires was a sharp citv-bred
boy, with very little faith i'm anybodv's
goodness. His father was pushing.
money-making, profare man, and his
mother a meek cipher; he himselfat the
the mature age of fourteen. could smoke
aud swear and talk sailor slang glibly. for
he had run about the wharves ever since
he could run anywhere. Mrs. Carter
was troubled aud disguised to find such
a joy on her hands jason considered
that providence had sent the lad there
for his good, and resolved TO pray for
him as for bis own boys. to set him as
good an example as he tried to set Jack
and Dan, and Ito deal with him." as he
expressed it. with view to his eternal
salvation" The boys thought Jenison
was wonderful. He knew so much. had
seeu so many things he hid slch 4