Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-12-24

NlhtTs hiu ltii illll gthi oNNlgY "i4A wv "i'"AN
he says" 1t was quite a long way OIL but .
Mary went with restless, hurrying feet and
found Mr.. Jayrc reading his evening paper. .
Her hopes rose again the moment she saw
him for no aununciation angel ever began (
to have such Il shining face or any LANDLORD +.
such a welcome in his eyes. 1t was hard
case There was the rule Of the establish
ment; but there was Mary Burton with
pleading look in her blue eyes, and something
else which now and then rolled down her
cheeks She felt so sure that if she could
have the baby, Tom would be another man.
Mr. Jayre was not 30 sure but he would let
her have him on probation She must re.
port every week at first how things were get
ting on. II Tom didn't improve, the baby
must go back to Auntie Glnn.
With this message, Mary went back to the
Orphan Home in a hurry. The baby was
still up, for it was Christmas Eve. Not without
some misgiying, the good inatron delivered
him up. Wrapping him in great shawl, Mary
went home with her precious burden through
the crisp winter air. He was so tired that he
went to sleep without a murmur and slept till
morning light
When Tom Burton woke from the heavy
sleep of an incorporate man, the Christmas
sun was flooding the poor little room, and on
the brightest spot upon the floor sat Robbie,
this was the Gabys name, already quite
at nome. lODl WIS DthliuiItu lAt huNl
been thinking, in that half-waking and half
sleeping state which comes before clear
morning consciousness, Of the Chris. child in
the mangcr strange thing, no doubt, fer
Tom to think about but the roots Of his ma
ture had been nourished in domestic piety,
and there was some Of It still left in him still
waiting for time and opportunity TO bring it
to a full development. Whore was he? Who
was he ? 1t couldn't be that lac was Joseph,
aud that the woman bustling about the room,
looking so much like lis Mary, was the Mary,
and that the baby on the floor was tie Baby,
and that this wasn't Hubton at all, but Beth
lehem Of Judea No. it couldn't be 80 At
any rate he found out in few minutes that
it wasn't 80. and began to comprehend the
actual state of affairs. At first he didn't take
very kindly to the arrangement. 1t meant
another mouth to feed and rs it wasn't "A
mouth that God had sent, he couldn't be ex-
pected to fill it. But deep down in Toms
nature was a void which bad been waiting for
something or somebody very mnch like the
little urchin on the floor, who was 10 great
beauty, but had an honest face aud good
appetite. And so he only growled-Tonl,
not the baby-that Mary would have to keep
him herself, and then went of to his work
for Christmas was no holiday for him.
But, if the truth were known, that very
night he stayed at home Il little longer than
usual after tea and though he pretended to
be very Indifferent to the baby, he was look
ing at him good deal out of the corners of
his eyes.
1t would be a long story, if l should trace
step by step the progress of events from this
time forward. Mr.. Jayre and Auntie Glinn
came round from time to time to see how
Rob was getting on. Marys account was
sufficiently encouraging for them to continue
the probation. Mary's hopes on Toms ac-
count grew brighter and brighter, but she
"kept all these things in her heart" She
would not for the world have let Tom know
that Rob and she together constituted Il sort
of home missionary society, intended prima-
rily and solely for his moral reformation
Every successive evening he stayed in a little
later after tea. lie got tired Of feigning in
difference. lie began to interest himself in
the boy. 1t was a great day for Mary when
! lie brought him home "A China dog, the cost
| of which could not have exceeded five cents.
! 1t was a greater day when, for the first time,
after the boy had been put to bed, d,-Mary
had shrewdly kept him up beyond his regu.
lar time, Tom did not take his hat and say,
| Il guess I'll go round to the stables and see
what's wanting to be done tomorrow" This
| had been Toms invariable excuse. Now hav-
| ing spent one whole evening at home, he
| shortly spent another, and, in course of time,
| "Blairs Sermons" and The Children of the
| Abbey were recalled from Punishment 1t
wasn't long before the evening at home be
came the rule and the evening out the excep-
ton Then, too, the dram shop odor became
fainter and fainter, less and less frequent,
and then ceased altogether. This was after
| Tom had come upon a new Testament text i'll
"Bair's Sermons" that somehow lodged in
his memory and kept working there. 1t was,
For their sakes, / sanctify myself" What
if he should sanctify himself for the sake of
Mary and RoU q? He resolved that he would
do it, and he did. But sanctifying himself
had with Tom no fne.drawu theological
meaning. 1t meant stopping his dram-drink
ing short off.
And so it happened that Burton's "Anato-
my of Melancholy" became very different
anatomy, and his physiology and hygiene also
very different. (The children must get their
parents or their teachers to explain this little
| Joke to them.) He became better and hap
! pier man everyway, and his self-respect in
creased so much that he went to his old en-
ployers at the turning-shop, and asked them
to take him on again; and they did take him,
and the household comforts began to creep
in among the necessaries Meantime, Rob
was growing like a weed and when, on the
first anniversary of his coming, Tom came
home with a little Christmas tree, not much
taller than Rob himself, the baby had for it
the liveiest appreciation and in all Hubton
| do not think there was that night happier
woman than Mary Burton.
The months went by, the years went by.
The baby grew into a boy, the boy into a
youth, the youth into a man. He was nc
milk-sop, and sometimes Tom and Mary had
some anxious thoughts about him; but he
was bright and studious, and such badness as
there was in him was never mean or sneaking.
He fell in love-Oh, yes, of course with
Thomas Burton's fascinating occupation
From his earliest childhood, he loved to stand
beside Toms lathe, and see the rough and
angular pieces of wood converted into beau
tifu shapes Tom would have had him &c
TO the great college just across the river, but
Rob said, No, he would follow his father
trade. Aud in due time Tom set up for him
self with Rob for silent partner, and the
business prospered, and Mary Buttons hear
was full of Joy. The young man knew tina
Mary aud Tom were not his own parents, bu
he also knew that if they had been they
could not have loved him better, nor morj
wisely.
But Thomas Burtou's recollections of hi
English home begot in him longing for
piece of land SO the business was sold out
and little farm was bought in Western Mas
sachusotts. But there was q flaw in the title
, and the hard earnings of many years wer
lost Mary Burton feared that this great dis
, appointment would be too much for her hus
bands strength of will What if he ,shoult
, even now fall back again into the bad, oil
ways! But he did not. Robert was full o
hope and courage. The Hubton business ha'
, languished in other hands, and he and Ton
! were welcome back again. In few years
they had made another start in farming, an
, this time with better success. Bat the healtl
of Tom Burton was broken, though he wa
} not yet sixty years old His working day
. were over. Robert was equal to TIA" eneI
= gency. Let me rather say, he is equal TO il
for have come down TO the present tense
T Tom and Mary will never lack anything the
a need so long as he is well and strong.
I When Christmas Eve comes round again,
q know that Tom and Mary will talk over tC
gether that other Christmas when the bo