Connecticut western news., 1879-09-10
Little Ned.
BY M. QUAD.

to drive that old white horse in front of a twenty five cent express wagon ?" re- peated the man, in tones of surprise.
 "Yes."
 "Well, now, it's curious case," he slowly continued. "We all thought he had gone to the. dogs for sure, for he was drinking pint of whisky day, but a few months ago he braced right up, stopped drinking, and now hear he's in good business, and saving money. It beats all, for the last time saw him he seemed underground"
 When you go home at night and find that all IS well with your own flesh and blood, do you go to sleep reasoning that the rest of the world must care for itself ? Do you ever shut your eyes and call up the hundreds of faces you have met during the day, and wonder if the paleness of death will cover any of them before the morrow? When you have once been attracted to face, even if it be strangers, do you let it drop from memory with your dreams, or do you call it up again and again as night comes down, and hope it may lose none of it's brightness in the whirling mists of time?
 "So Whisky Bill was hunted down. An inquiry here and there finally traced him to 6 little brown cottage on by street. He sat on the step in the twi- light, burly, broad-shouldered man of fifty, and in the house three or four children gathered around the lamp to look over a picture book"
 "Yes, they used to call me Whisky Bill down town," he replied, as he moved along and made room, but it is weeks since I heard the name. No wonder they think me dead, for I've not set eyes on the old crowd for months, and don't want to for months to come."
 "They tell me you have quit drink ing. One could see that by your face."
 II hope so I haven't touched drop since February. Before that was half drunk, day in and day out, and more of 8 brute than man. I don't mind say ing that my wife's death set me to think ing, but didn't stop my liquor. God forgive me, but was drunk when she died, half drunk at the grave, and I meant to go on regular spree that night. It was low down, sir, but I was no better than brute those days"
 "And so you left your motherless children at home and went out and got drunk"
 "No. I said meant to, but didn't. The poor things were crying all day, and after coming home from the burial I thought to get 'em tucked away in bed before went out. Drunk or sober, I never struck one of 'em 8 blow, and they never ran from me when I stag gered home. There's four of 'em in there, and the youngest isn't quite four years yet. I got the older ones in bed all right, and then came little Ned. He had cried himself to sleep, and he called for mother as soon as I woke him. Until that night had never had that boy on my knee, to say nothing of putting him to bed, and you can guess these big fingers made slow work with the hooks and buttons. Every minute he kept saying mother didn't do that way, and mother done this way, and the big chil- dren were hiding their heads under the quilts to drown their so5s. When had his clothes off and his night-gown on, l was ashamed and put him down, and when the oldest saw tears in my eyes and jumped out of bed to put her arms around my neck dropped the name of Whisky Bill right then and forever"
 "And little Ned? ?"
 "Mebbe I'd have weakened but for him, ,' replied the man, as he wiped his eyes. "After got the child night dress on, what did he do but kneel right down beside me and wait for me to say the Lords Prayer to him Why, sir, you might have knocked me down with a feather There I was, mother and father to him, and I could not say four words of that prayer to save my life He waited and waited for me to begin, as his mother always had, and the big children were waiting, and when took him in my arms and kissed him, called upon Heaven to witness that my life should change from that hour. And so it did, sir, and I've been trying hard to lead sober, honest life. God helping me, no one shall call me Whisky Bill again.
 The four children, little Ned in his night-gown, came out for goodnight kiss, and the boy cuddled in his fathers arms for moment and said:
 Goodnight, pa a-good-night, every body in the world-good-night, ma, up in Heaven-and don't put out the light till we get to sleep"