The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-09-03
THE DAILY STAR
SAVED BY A LOOK.

Of 1.-THE Wanderers Rest" cigar be.
tween his lips, and glass of ale in his
hand. A bright fire was burning in the
stove, round which a group of men were
sitting. Each had his glass, and nearly
every one had his pipe or his cigar.
Curls of smoke mounted lazily to the
ceiling, and the air was beginning to take
= faint blue tint. 1t was early in the eve
ming, and the men in the bar room had not
yet drunk so much as to lose their senses
or their temper, The night was dark and
cold, and the brilliant lights and gaudy
ornaments of "The Wanderers Rest"
looked cheerful and attractive to the
shivering ones without.
Horace Manning had lately fallen into
fhe habit of going into the barroom as he
went home from his work, and of stand
ing there long enough to drink glass of
ale snd smoke cigar. He was tired with
being behind a desk all day; and he
thought it rested him to look at the con-
tented faces, and listen TO the conversa-
ton and laughter, in "The wanderers
Rest" True, the flush on some OF the
faces was too deep to be the flush of
health, and the laughter was sometimes
hoarse; but Horace did not think of that
He was in no danger, he thought, of ever
caring to spend his evenings by that fire,
or Of exchanging his pure complexion
for such one as some of his companions
had.
Tonight he was unusually tired. A
mistake made some days ago by the as
sistant book-keeper had been discovered,
and it had taken Horace some hours to
look over the books and correct it.
He had not intended to enter "The
Wanderers Rest" for he had promised to
take pretty Milly White to lecture that
evening, and he knew that she disliked
the odor of tobacco. He had no idea that
che would think him in danger of becom-
ing a drunkard if she saw him among
those men; though he heard her speak
with disgust of the drinking shops she
sometimes passed, and with pity of those
who frequented them. He would not
have been quite easy had he known that
Milly's soft eyes had seen him enter "The
Wanderers Rest" and that even now, she
was standing at the corner of the
street watching anxiously to see him
yeappear.
al the tea-table, l1orace noticed tnar
Afilly looked sad. Since her childhood
she had lived with his mother, and he
knew every shade of feeling that fitted
ever the gents @.ttse ..tse. nt ..t could "ot I'm
agine what had made her sad, and felt
puzzled and almost irritated at her silence
during their night walk to the town hall,
and her apparent indifference to the lee
ture. He was very much interested, and
when, at the close Of the lecture, the
speaker grew more eloquent over the po-
etry of happy household, he turned in
glow of admiration to Mily, and smiled.
The look that answered him was not such
rs he was accustomed to receive from
her, its sadness chilled him.
During their walk home, neither OF
them spoke. After their return, Mrs
Manning said; "How did you like the lee
sure, MM!y"
.Very WE'LL" said the girl, but said4 no
more. Horace to put stl end to his un-
comfortable feelings, began description
of the lecture. He grew almost as elo-
auent as the lecturer, until stealing
glance at Mily as she sat opposite, ne
saw,a tear fall upon her hand. He could
not understand it, and rising abruptly,
said "Good-night," and left the room.
The next evening, Mlly had an errand
10 do in the street through which she had
passed the previous night. The house to
which she was going was nearly opposite
"The Wanderers Rest" and as she stood
on the step, waiting for the door to open,
sfe saw Horace again enter the drinking
Rloon.
Two men standing on the sidewalk saw
him and began to comment on him.
"A pity" said one.
sYes," said the other, "hes fine young
nan. I'm sorry to see him take the
first STEP
ut isn't the first step" was the reply
"Tve seen him go there good many
times lately. I'm afraid the habit is fully
formed"
"His mothers widow isn't she?"
~Yes; and he is her only son."
The door was opened. 1t was all thai
Milly could do to ask intelligibly for tn
person she wished to see, and to contro
herself sufficiently to say what she ha'
come to say.
During her stay, she sat by a windov
whence she could see the place into whicl
Horace had gone.
He did not come out while she sat there
nor while, under the pretext of gathering
up her dress. she stood on the step an
waited.
Slowly she walked to the corner