Sharp County record., 1879-06-19
Undressing Little Ned.

TO uTlN6 ludJ Olll NhiNN ANASN " -
a Twenty-Five cent express wagonP" re-
peated the man in tones of surprise.
eyes"
"Well, now, its curious case, he
slowly continued. "We all thought
he'd gone to the dogs, for sure, for he
was drinking a pint of whisky a day,
bur a few months ago he braced right
up, stopped drinking, and now | hear
he's in good business and saving money.
1t beats all, for the last time saw him
he seemed half underground"
When you 90 home at night and find
that all is we'll with your own flesh and
blood, do you 60 to sleep reasoning
that the rest of the world must care for
itselfp Do you ever shut your eyes and
call the hundreds of faces you have met
during the day, and wonder if the pale
ness of death will cover any of them be-
fore 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 its brightness in the whirling mists
of time?
So Whisky Bill" was hunted down.
An inquiry here and there finally traced
him to little brown cottage on a by
street. He sat on the step in the twi-
light, burly, broadshouldered man OF
fifty, and in the house three or four
children gathered around the lamp to
look over 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 | heard the name. No
wonder they think me dead, for I've not
set eyes on the old crowd for months,
and l don't want to for months to
come"
"They tell us you have quit drinking.
One could see that by your face"
81 hope so; l haven't touched a
drop since February. Before that |
was half drunk day in and day out, and
more of brute than man. | don't
mind saying that my wife'S death set
me to thinking, but l didn't stop my
liquor. God forgive me, but | was
drunk when she died, half drunk at
the grave, and meant to 60 on regu-
lar spree that night. 1t was low down,
sir, but was no better than a brute
those days"
"And so you left your motherless
children at home and went out and got
drunk?"
"No. | said l meant to, but didn't.
The poor things were crying all day,
and after coming home from the burial
/ thought to get 'em tucked away in
bed before went out. Drunk or So
ber | never struck one of 'em blow,
and they never run from me when l
staggered home. There's four of 'em
in there, and the youngest isn't quite
four years yet. l 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 | woke
him. Until that night never had that
boy on my knee, to say nothing of put
ting him to bed, and you can guess
these big fingers made slow work with
the hooks and buttons. Every minute
he kept saying his mother didn't do
that way, and mother done this way,
and the big children were hiding their
heads under the quilts to drown their
sobs. When 1 had his clothes off and
his nightgown 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
I dropped the name of Whisky Bill
right then and forever"
"And little Nedp"
"Mebbe I'd have weakened, but for
him." replied the man as he wiped his
eyes. "After l got the child's night
gown 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 feather! There ] was, mother
and father to him, and | couldn't 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 we're waiting, and when
I took him in my arms and kissed him,
| called 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 little children, little Ned in
his nightgown, came out for good
night kiss, and the boy cuddled in his
fathers arms for a moment and said:
Goodnight, pa-good night, every
body in the world-good-night, ma, up
in heaven-and don't put out the light
till we get to ep!"-DetrO1 Pree
Press.
Preserved Oysters.