The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-11-13

hNSEs
"Shant go step further?"
only Just little Wayne shall soon
be home now, and mothers waiting"
~ don't care. I've made I'D my
mind that I've walked too far already.
and I'm just going to sit down and rest !;
they must wait, and / shall do rs
choose"
"Now don't you talk to me abont
'bu!s,' Charlie, because l won't have it.
I shall sit down here, and you can go
and tell your mother not to wait-not to
wait" the man repeated, raising his voice
with the stupid anger of intoXication.
Still in spite of threat and refusal, the
child persisted in pleading that his father
should 90 home but his words only
seemed to strengthen the, mans obsti-
macy, and all the boy could do was to get
his father to turn aside from the high
road into field close by, where the man
threw himself full length on the grass,
somewhat under the shade of the hedge,
and in few minutes he was sleeping
heavily, whilst the child sat down ut a
little distance, with strange kind of
unchildish patience on his features, to
wait until his father should wake. Poor
little Charlie he knew too we'll how
useless any attempt on his part would be
to rouse his father from that sort of
sleep.
Rather more than half an hour had
passed in this dreary waiting, and
Charlie was beginning to find all his
small sources of amusement fail him.
He had watched large bee that kept
lowering over the convolvulus blossoms
in the hedge, and, wondered if he had
not nearly finished his days work, had
placed snail out of harms way, and
had been tempted to chase beautiful
painted butterfly that fitted past him
but he began at last TO lose his interest
in bees and butterflies, for it was now
tea time, and Charlie was growing ter
ribly hungry. Still he did rot think OF
deserting his post. for no one but the
child himself knew how often he had
kept his tipsy father off the country road
when carts or carriages were coming
along, nor how he had managed to guide
him in safety over the narrow bridge
that led across the river to their cottage
So Charley sat there quietly, though he
was growing more tired and hungry
every moment, until the sound of s
whistle ut n little distance attracted hi:
attention, the sound gradually coming
nearer and sounding more distinct, unit
n Young man jumped over the stile at the
end of the field and approached th'
child, who then knew him to be a gen
tleman he had often met during the las
few weeks, sometimes sketching, some
times wand ring about with his knap
sack ON his back and his portfolio un
der his arm. Indeed a kind of half ac
ouaintance had sprung up between tn
young artist and Charlie-one attractc,
by the glimpses he had caught of tn
pictures contained in the wonderful
porttolio, the other by the child's wist
ful rlances and his rustic beauty. Bus
with his own thoughts, land jud lying fror
his happy face they were very pleasan
ones-pcrhaps dreams of the time whe
some wonderful picture of his shoul
hang on the walls of the academy, an
by SO doing help him on the road
fame and fortune-Eustace Carroll ha
half crossed the field before he notice
Charlie and his father. Then his quic
ewes told him the meaning of the litt
scene: the quiet, weary-lOoking chi
and the sleeping father, with his untid
clothes and collar and necktie unfastene
and his face turned up to the blue sf
that looked down upon nothing so d
based rs this man, whom God had mac
n little lower than the angels, and VIII
by his own vice, had thus degraded hir
self.
With the quick instinct of childhoo
Charlie understood the look of disgu
with which the young artist turned
him, saying kindly as he did so:
"You are waiting TO take your faith
home, supposePn
"Yes, sir" replied the child, while
flush of shame spread over his face.
"Well, l think he is likely to lie the
for hours vet Can't YOU leave him p'
"No, sir; he might be run over or f,
into the river if l left him to cor
home by himself"
"Oh!' said Eustace, as he glanc
toward the sleeping man and wonder