The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1880-01-15

Charlie it was but to ask, and receive,
and the gates of life opened before his
dazzled vision. as the gates of Paradise.
Thus was the fair beginning of the
%uRniAk q1oMled before the sun had
seG Ito Are Zenith, darkened, ere the
8ooflide fGst Had come.
Even Charlie found the scale had
turned, nor deemed that his weakened
purpose was the broken hinge. indie
| pendent OF control, and reckless OF con-
sequences, at first he laughed to sco1n
the thought that he could not always
find some one to whom his services
were invaluable. But invaluable SER
vice implies more than entertaining
company, and pleasant manners are
not often considered an equivalent for
neglect of duty. So the day came when
Charlie Duncan, shaking the dust from
off his feet at his employer door, turned
his steps homeward with a wearied
feeling that life meant something aft
er all, that roses need constant train
| ing to insure continuance, that thorns
and briars alone thrive on uncared-for
soil.
"It's no use trying, Maggie! The
fates are against me. What can fell
low do with such confounded luck. I'll
see Norton in the Dead Sea before I'll
ask him for the place again. The mi
serly upstart!"
| There was no such balm for the boys
conscience as abusing other people.
| The burden of personal responsibility
| is a heavy load for undisciplined Shout
| ders to carry. and often the impOssibility
of permanently shifting it is resented
as personal injury. Maggie was not
gifted in logic or versed in rhetoric.
The underlying feeling that occasion
ally would assert itself that Charlie was
not wholly blameless in thus suffering
defeat was thrust aside as disloyal, and
the lad was comforted in his heart, but
not to his souls content. There was
one friend who justified the ,sacgedness
OF the word, man, though young in
Enrs, blest whhEseh1fH5 and Preht-
ness, had already made his mark, a
mtn to'bG reliea upo1 I'M emergencies
a1ar trusted inf 'ddest neUll:- Such a
man had Mills Stanton proved himself
to be. He seemed to have reakhed
depths IN Charles nature that no one
had eyer toucheds Fortunately for the
hayward boy he had it in his power to
give him another chance. That was
the trouble. 1t was literally another
chance-a hap-hazsa'dlplrpose of reform
that is almost as bad as no purpose at
all.
For weeks, however, all had gone
smoothly. The restraint of regular
hours and steady habits began to be irk-
some, and the, slew method of progress
,0f 70 hn Of
citement-loving boy. Maggie observed
with sorrow the restlessness that is so
often the precursor of downfall. She
tried to hope, even when hope itself
trembled-but in vain.
Now the climax had come. What
would the end be? There is but one on
downward grade, and she knew it.
That dreary night-she planned, but
for what, and thought, but without
purpose = trying in the whirlpool of
conscious helplessness to find foothold
for returning faith, kut..~Alasi elfoscould
not. When the negning dawned the
poor child, rose and began the dullrou-
tine oE life. trsmnded by the. b&rrier
of hopeless future that lay across her
pathway. The pleasant room was as neat
as hands could make, for Charlie had
tthe grace to vsniSh to his own before
the breakfast hour. Duty must be per-
formed if hearts break, and coffee boil
ed, and eggs fried when the light, time
comes, as if anguish were a thing un-
known. A click at the gate "a knock
fon Confronted her, .sExdise my aaflyys
coming, Miss Maggie. But l wanted to
see Charlie. May. lido so?'' Some ytII
she hardly knew how or why, she led
the way 70 the ldarkened room. xaqta
OPENING the door as If in "a dream,
said .S.Charlier' and left them alone,
''S%eisa WIZ pa,sssd J between side, en,I IL she
never, knew. Sounds of Dw voices,
reached her, and once she thought sle'
heard sob from Charlie, but wasn't
sufes sSheScould only wait; still sies
went the round of daily cares, now
and then hen; kn .sa R the s, Sha'sc
the dear old friend, whose arms were
ever open ~tof receive sher,s ind who
could understand. when misery found
20 words to tell its st0NS sWhat scq6
Il mean? She asked herself. Low
tones still reached her, with many a.
paase between. ! Mfkanwed hSaiE slhe
! listened, prayed and wondered, and
he's e stood by The 5aff.opea d5dr. a
she sprang to meet him, with parted
lips, she tried to speak, but failed. But,
Mills answered the pleading question
i4 Of thst sweet lace With lewWrds
oEsyHpathy. 'aMia Maggie 3 be.
live -FOUR prSsefs arShswerSdS and
Mrs. Duncan it was the thought okyou
s End j Maggie that he says has saved
q Il ives, late that afternoon before
Charlie came to them, and their eyes
HhelaS.A. sdmethihg they Mad never
seen before; a deep humility that inten-
Mfedshis manhouds m UNCONSCIOUS dig
nifty, that is born of soul-conflict,
crowned with victory. Not in himself,
or by himself, was the battle fought
that day. "A stronger than Mills 7Xtan-
;tfdh had bSan near, and lid hand Al
mighty stretched forth to save.
/ Mrs, Duncan, with face illupined, not
by faith alone, but her twin sister, hope,
drew the weeping Maggie to her heart
CAoC hiSAC, oA>A "hioPOAOu' ANOU uAUO
us. but to thy name be the glory"
One does not scale at once the noun
tain-peaks of aspiration. Step by step
is progress made. There is no royal
pathway out of bondage. So Charlie
found it: In all that year of trial, and
oml1 4iKes discdUtag cement, Wills Stan
tpn IE6ved himse the trusked friend.
The hece cottage Needed hihEthat the
inmates could readily understand. But
sbaJsf dfs s3ees afisSS's Sh b sg iayy
Of Charlie, and above all the half shy
glapces Of Maggie's blue eyes, should
become q like necessity to him, was
u more difficult TO believe. That It. was
so. one day Maggie, realized, when, he
told her of the first love awakened into
: life that dark October morning, Of it,
} growth week by week, and month by
I month, and drawing her close to his
| q -.