Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-07-10

comfortable. III
The lad took the little one on his arm
and carrying ships lantern. he led the
way home. His mother was up waiting
for him, fast asleep in his armchair. He
gave the shipwrecked mother and haby
into her charge, and then YEARLY went to
| his own room for few hours rest.
On taking off his guernsey, the belt fell
to the floor.
"Thcre," he said to himself, ''how stu
pid That is money-belt probably, and
ought to have turned it over to Captain
Wooley."
Then thinking there might be wet pa
pers in the belt, he decided to open 1t,
and spread the contents on the floor to
dry.
He knelt down, unfastened the straps,
and turned back the lappets.
There was a paper in the wallet quite
! dry, the belt beng waterproof. He
picked up the paper, and under it lay
package of money
He placed the light on the hoar, and
regarded the package with curious inter-
ment on the top Of the package thous-
ana. dollar bank-bill.
He had never seen so much money in
his life, and had not known befor that
there was thousand-dollar bank:bill
| in the world.
He stared at it as if fasinated, and
poured over it with intense scrutiny until
every line was stamped upon his mind.
After time the thought came
"Whose money is this2'
He had been cold, kneel1ng on the floor
partly undrcssed, but now teverish heat
flashed over him, as thought came Of all
he could accomplish with this money ly-
ing before his dazzled eyes if it we're only
his own.
| And why not his own9 To whom did
it belong it not to him? Wasn't the belt
a fair prize cast up by the sea, with no
one to claim it?
No living soul probably had any knowl-
edge Of the belt or the money, and all he
had to do was-to do nothing. The belt
had been given to him-why should he
give it to some one elss who had no more
claim to it tkan he.
But then Capt. Wooley was very scru-
pulous to have everything of value turned
over to the proper officials and duly &C
counted for.
Well, perhaps the belt ought to he
given up; but then two of those wonder.
full big bills would pay off the mortgage
There were other bills in the package,
and two of them would hardly be missed !;
two out of so many would be no mo:e
than fair salvage, and no one need ever
know a word about it.
AS these suggestions whirled through
his mind the boy took up the belt, put 1t
under his pillow, and crawled into bed.
He was sorely tired, but so desperately
wide awake that it seemed as though he
could never sleep again. He tossed from
rolled over and over, unable to be still an
instant.
A thousand projects came to his mind
for quietly buying up the mortgage
without anyone being the wiser, not even
his mother.
His thoughts seem to run like lightn-
ing and his head throbbed violently
HIS eyes were burning hot and TIE lids
refused to close. Ever before them he
could see that thousand dollar bill, as if
in picture of fire.
His mouth and throat were parched,
and his lips were dry, and at last he had
to sit up in bed, so intense were his feel
ings. Then, in his distress, it occurred
to him that he had neglected to say the
prayer his mother had taught him to
repeat every night on going to bed.
Stephen was not religious boy
thinking about as much and about as lit
tie of religious matters as active, driving
boys Of his age usually debut he loved
his mother, and had always ebeyed. her
wishes as we'll as her commands.
Half mechanically and ky force of
habit he now slipped out of his bed and
knelt beside it, to render thanks and i'm
plore protection in the simple form of
words he had learned at his mothers
knee.
He felt strangely uncomfortable as he
bowed his head upon his hands. His
mind was in such turmoil that he hardly
realized what he was saying; but when
the words, "Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver US srom evil, rose to his lips,
a sharp sense of their mighty meaning
came upon him.
SO strong was this that he saw the
right as he had not felt it before, and
sprang to his feet, hurried ON his clothes,
! seized the belt in one hand and his boots
in the other, and ran down stairs in his
stockings. <..s.s
: As he opened the door the gray light of
early, morning stole in, and through the
rain that was still falling he could see
1.-The smoke curling over the tops of the
neighbors' kitchen chimneys. fastening
down to the station, he found Capt.
Wooley standing in the door, in angry
discussion with low-browed, black-vis-
aged man in sailor toys.
'Longshore pirates!'' the man Was
saying as Stephen came up.
sPirates!" shouted the captain hot
with wrath. "We've saved many hun
J dred thousand dollars first and last, and
no one ever lost dollar by us since I've
, been on this shore r. z.ss*.2@-
"Capn said Stephen, Here's a belt
the poor fellow in the bunk had on last
night. fought to have turned it in when
you came back from the wreck, but I
forgot i at the mament" - 'r'%@@ >s~'" q"
"Thcre Y cried the captain; 'What did
I tell you2 knew money would turn
up if it was on our shore9"
ayes, yes" said the dark looking man
sthat's it. Give it here; I'll take charge
of it." -. -. 80. -
"Not muchp, answered Capt Wooley:
ssYou may be the young mans brother,
} as you claim, but if so your looks belle
you. I'll put the seal Of the United States
Life Saving Service on his effects, and
his relatives y ill get possession in due
course, and if you are one, yoaM then gel
your share.n 81. #
, The black -bsowed sailor turned away
| looking blacker than ever, and was NJ
|, more seen at station No. 6. When HI
was gone, the captain commended Steph
en- for bringing back the money; bnt til,
hoy, red with shame and contrition
stopped him, and humbly confessed how
J, he had been tempted and how saved.
The captain was troubled with littl,
J fit Of coughing just then, and somehow b
: could not see very well for few minutes
Then he was quite grave, and for lon.