Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-07-20
The Wise Father.

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met dogs OF various tempers, he was often Obliged
to fight for himself and his rights then his short
ears gave great advantage, for they furnished no
hold to the enemies teeth, while the long-eared
dogs, whom he had formerly envied, came from
the fray torn and suffering. Ahal' said the
mastiff, "my master knew better than what
was good for me'-Old Fdble.
{" But why mustn't ?" said Towser.
Towser was not dog as you might sup
pose but the nickname of boy. Exactly
why his schoolfelows should have chosen
this nickname for Tom Kane don't know
perhaps because his brown, short-nosed face
was little like dog's-perhaps because he
was bold and resolute, good fighter, and
tough in defence Of his rights and opinions.
/ hardly think it was this last reason, how
ever. Boys are not much given to analyzing
character, and are apt to Judge things and
people by happy-go-lucky instinct which
sometimes leads them right and sometimes
wrong. But whatever the reason may have
been, Towser was Toms school-name, and
stuck to him through life. Even his wife
called him so--when he grew up and had
wife-and the last time saw him, his little
girl was stroking his hair and saying Papa
Towser," in imitation of her mother. Tow
ser isn't pretty name, but it sounded pretty
from baby Mays lips, and l never heard
that Tom objected to the title, either as man
or boy.
But to return to the time when he was a
boy.
"Why mustn't ?" he said again. "All
the fellows are going except me, and I'd
liked to, ever so much"
at isn't question of like" answered his
father, rather grimly. cts a question OF
can and can't. All the other boys have rich
fathers or, if not rich, they are not poor
like me. It's well enough that their sons
should go off on camping parties. Twenty
FIVE dollars here and twenty there isn't much
to any of 'em, but it's great deal for you.
And what's more, Tom, there's this that
if they'd take you for nothing, it isn't good
thing for you, any way you fix it. pay
for your schooling and | paid for those
boxing lessons, and may be, another year,
III manage the subscription to the boat, for
/ want you to grow up strong and ready
with your fists, and your mind, and all parts
of you. You'll have to fight your way my
boy, and | want you turn out true grit when
the tussle comes. But when it's case of
camping out a week, or extra holidays, or
spending money for circuses and minstrels
and such trash, | shut down. You'll be all
the better off in the end without this fun
and idling and getting your head full of the
idea of always having good time Work s
what you're meant for, and if you don't
thank me now for bringing you up tough,
you will when you're man, with may be a
a boy of your own"
MIR. Kane was silent, gruf, loDg-headed
man, who never wasted words, and this, the
longest speech he had ever been known to
make, impressed Towser not little. He
did say to himself, in grumbling tone,
Pretty hard, think, to be cut off so at
every turn" but he said it softly, and only
once, and before long his face cleared, and
taking his hat, he went to tell the boys that
he couldn't join the camping party.
"Well, | say it's COMPOUNDED shame p
declared Tom White.
al call your pa real mean," joined in
Archie Berkeley.
"You'd better not call him anything of
the kind while I'm around" said Towser,
with an angry look in his eyes, and Archie
shrank and said no more. Tom was vexed
and sore enough at heart, but he wasn't
going to let any boy speak disrespectfully
of his father.
81 say, though" whispered Harry Blake,
getting mis- arm around Toms neck, and
leading him away from the others, " Pm real
disappointed, old fellow. Couldn't it be
managed I'd lend you half the money"
Harrys mother was widow, well off, and
very indulgent, and he had more pocket
money at command than any one else in the
school.
Towser shook his head.
"No use," he said. "Father don't want
me to 60, for more reasons than the money.
He says I've got to work hard all my life,
and I'd better not get into the way of hav-
ing good times; it'd soften me, and I'd not
do so well by-and-by."
"How horrid p cried Harry, with
shudder. "I'm glad mother doesn't talk
that way"
Harry Blake was fair and slender, with
auburn hair, which waved naturally, and a
delicate throat as white as girls.
Tom looked at him with sort of rough,
plying tenderness
"I'm glad, too" he said. "You'd die if
you had to rough it much, Harry. Pm
tougher, you see. 1t won't hurt me-
A sturdy satisfaction came with these
words that almost made up for the disap-
pointment about the camping out.
Still, it was pretty hard to see the boys
start without him. Ten days later they re-
turned. The mosquitoes were very thick,
they said, and they hadn't caught so many
fish as they expected. Joe Bryce had hurt
his hand with a gun-lock, and Harry Blake
was half sick with cold. Still, they had
had pretty good time on the whole. Mr..
Kane listened to this report with dry
twinkle in his eyes.
1.-TWO hundred dollars gone in giving
twenty young fellows a pretty good time"
he said. swell, all the fools aren't dead
yet. You stick to what you're about, Tow
ser, my boy"
And Towser did stick, not only then, but
again and again as they went on, and first
this scheme and then that was started for
the amusement of the boys. Now it was an
excursion to Boston next, the formation OF
an amateur rifle company after that q voy-
age to the fshing-banks. Every few months
something was proposed which fired Tow.
ser's imagination and made him want to
join, but always his father held firm, and he
had no share in the frolics. 1t seemed hard
enough, but MIR. Kane was kind as well as
strict; he treated his son as if he were al
ready man, and argued with him from
mans point OF view; 80, in spite of an occa-
sional outburst or grumble, Towser did not
rebel, and his life and ideas gradually
moulded themselves to his fathers wish.
At sixteen, while most Of the other boys
were fitting for college, Towser left school
and went into the great Perrin Iron Works,
TO learn the business of machine maxi ing.
He began at the foot OF the ladder; but,
being quick.witted and steady, with nat
ural aptitude for mechanics, he climbed
rapidly, and by the time he was twenty
was promoted to foremanship. Harry
Blake came home from college soon after,
having graduated with the dignity of a
"second dispute" as quizzcal friend re-
marked, and settled at home, to read law, y
he said, but in reality to practice the flute,
make water-color sketches, and waste a
good deal of time in desultory pursuits OF
various kinds. He was sweettempered
gentemanly fellow, not strong in health and
not at all fond of study; and Tom who
overtopped him by head, and with one
muscular arm could manage him like a
child, felt for him the tender Difference
which strength often pays to weakness. II
was almost as If Harry had been girl but
Tom never thought Of it in that light.
So matters went on till Towser wa
twenty-one and beginning to hope To-
another rise in position, when suddenly
great black cloud swooped down on tn
Perrin Iron Works. / don't mean a rea
cloud, but cloud Of trouble. All the coun
try felt its dark influence. Banks stoppe,
payment, merchants failed, stocks lost thsi
value, no one knew what or whom to trust
and the wheels of industry everywhere wer
at a standstill. Among the rest the Peril
Company was forced to suspend work an,
discharge its hands. Tom was a trustee
fellow, and 80 much in the confidence of hi
employers as to know for some time befor,