Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1881-07-16

cause of the fun of the thing. Here was
promise of fun in another direction, and
they would go in for 1t.
The matter was discussed and finally
settled. They would make square
week of 1t at the beginning.
During the week." said Jack, 1--WE
will look up the cases of restitution and
suffering, and on next Saturday after
noon we will meet and compare notes.
Then we will take our $40 and do what
we can for those who are suffering most.
We must be methOdical in this. We are
not to spend penny in this work of
charity that is not saved by cutting off
some useless expenditure of our own:
and he of us who buys cigar during the
week shall deduct it from his contribu-
ton on Saturday"
IF we should be methOdical," suggest
ed Peter, 1--WE must organize. I say II we
are going to do anything of this kind, let
us do it ship shape"
Peters proposition was unanimously
accepted, and they proceeded to organize.
The organization arrived at was simple
but nevertheless effective. They elected
John Digby to serve as president, treas
urer, and secretary; and then they elect
ed an executive committee of four, con-
sisting of John Digby, Peter Slade, Tom
LOwden, and Sam Pepper.
And then they settled their bill at the
bar and went home.
Saturday evening came, and the re-
form club met at Digby's shop, and each
member was ready with his report. They
were sober and thoughtful. They had
thought when they separated on Monday
evening they should meet with spirit
of frOlic in their new work; but the
scenes which they had witnessed in the
interim had changed the current of their
feelings entirely.
"My sOulw exclaimed Sam Pepper; 81
never dreamed what sorrow and suffer-
ing there was right here in our little
town. Last night l went to the Widow
BashlOw's, and found her with sick
child, absolutely freezing and starving"
"And l." said Tom LOwden, 81 found
poor uncle Ben Driscoll and his wife in
the same plight. The old man is down
with rheumatism; and when he and
Aunt Sally sat and cried like babies, with
fear Of going to the pOOrhOuse, tell you
1t brought the tears into my eyes,"
And so the reports were made, and then
they planned how they could best use
their $40. 1t seemed like drop in the
bucket, when set against all the want
and suffering they had found; but it
would do something.
On that Saturday evening the Widow
BashlOw bent over the bed of the sick
child, with weeping and walls of an
guish. The bowling blast piped without
and the frost nipped within. She suffered
because she had forced herself to beg.
For herself she had rather die than be-
come a pauper, but for her child-"O
God, have mercyW
A wailing cry like thit had burst from
her lips, when a tramping at her door
attracted her attention, and presently a
gentle rap followed. She answered the
summons, and found four young men
upon her stOop.
She knew them we'll, for they had been
schOOlmates with her son who had gone
to sea and never returned. And they
went into the house; they piled up the
fuel on the hearth until the bright flame
leaped and rOared. and the sick child
reached out its wasted arms to embrace
the genial warmth.
They brought forth bread and tea and
sugar and butter and cheese.
"All right" said Sam Pepper, who re-
garded these as his especial charges, in
answer to the wOman's calculations of
establishment. "We are John Digby's
reform club, and we are going into the
missionary work; and such folks as you
are we want to cOnvert-want to convert
from suffering to comfort, If we can. So
keep up good heart, and let us do tor
you what your own Willie would have
done If he had lived. It'll be comfort
30 AL nffnp Won oh ~ oy,f
if we can help it,"
The widows sobbing, bursting return
of blessings cannot be reproduced by
tongue or pen. When the young men
reached the highway, Sam Pepper burst
forth:
"Boys, as true as heaven, would not
exchange the blessing of that poor wild
owls heart for all the joy that ever came
in the old way at the tavern. There's
something more than fun in this"
And his companions agreed with him.
In another part Of the town, on the
outskirts of the village, in a poor thatch-
ed hut, lived Ben DriscOll and his wife
Sally.
In other years they had been well and
happy; and, though never forehanded,
yet they had never known want till old
age and sickness had deprived them of
their ability to work. And on this cold
winters night Uncle Ben and AuntSally
sat and shivered over the heat of such
stuff as they had been able to gather
from the snow covered hedges, and the
old man sighed as he thought of the aims
house.
"If we could only get through the win
ter. But who can help us?''
And old Uncle Ben and his wife were
aroused from their stupOr of chill and
hunger by the tramp of feet and the hum
of voices; and shortly the door opened
and John Digby and his companions
anterpd