Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1881-02-04
HIS REWARD.

"You are most unjust, Charles, and l
~ know the Lord win one day sting
your conscience for your cruelty, and
for your heartlcssness toward that dear
child. ~ 4 4 ~ -
The speaker was comely lady of
about fifty, tall, slim and upright, and
~ neatly chad in widows weeds. Charles
~ fPemberton, her eldest son, n handsome,
stalwart young man of eight-and-twen-
ty, whom she addressed, answered i'm
patiently: Hl..t rrri.
''Confound the boy, wish he was
dead" ,',ia l-ni .taota
He did not mean that; for he loved
his little brother and delighted TO make
( : him happy. But his mother had fatal
facility of tongue, and for the last three
hours she had been attacking him on the
Il subject with aggressive meekneIs. and
ts had stung him with half-truths, accu-
81 sations, the letter of which he could
: ;, not denv, though in their spirit and
.' essence he felt them to be immeasura-
.liv bly false. And now, out of his grief
and, impatience, he flung forth those
bitter words, angry with himself as he
did so, and rising to leave the room
lest his overwrought temper should be-
x. tray him further. s q tlt1i&
=" His sanity mother flung a parting
pHutb " bCl hilh. f..
~ "You may have your wish sooner than
you expect, Charles. and more than
that He will probably not trouble you
? q many years, for he is very delicate; and
q" i shall not outlive him very long.
Then Isuppose you will be hap-hap-
i''fssa Charles Pemberton saw the cambria
prepared for the shower, and shudder-
~ ing, He'd; whereupon Mrs. Pemberton
.Tss retired to her bedroom to pray that her
sons hard heart might be softened.
lf@ And then from curtained recess ut
~. one end of the old paneled room there
came out q little hoy OF twelve, with
blanched, serious face, half-parted lips,
I = cand, wide. dark eyes. Toward the close
'Nof Mrs. Pemberton's lecture he had en-
tered the room by an open window,
unperceived, and, finding that he was
the subject of the discourse, he had
concealed himself He had heard only
the concluding words, and they chilled
his very life blood. He stood now with
one hand clutching the curtain.
$50 Charles wishes were dead does
hep And mother thinks am going to
die to please him. But won't. Iwon-
derwhat makes mother think am GO
ing to die. Perhaps she only said it to
aggrayate Charles. Why should he
- wish was ueaur Thought he was
fond of me;'' and here he was nearly
choked with rising sob, which he
gulped down with difficulty. 81 wonder
why-l'll ask him."
IT, The next morning, after breakfast,
his brother, who had forgotten the in
g cident of the previous day, taking a
ball, called out: "Get your bat, Teddy,
and let's have half an hours practice"
81 As they were walking down to the
field Edward suddenly startled his
brother by asking:
-7e'sWould it be any good to you if ]
III We're dead, CharlesP" 1HC7 Y
Good to me! why, Teddy, what are
1you thinking ofg' .o-, 7asr-
ih5t.Well, Yesterday you saidy wished
Twas dead; and you wouldn't wish that
a. if it would be no good to you, would
ss youP"
vl Charles stopped abruptly, and said
,' with sternness: Who told you thatp"
Nobody. just came into the room
inasyou said it, and you didn't see me-
And ever since have been wondering
-why.",- ---- .-s+ys. se-.7-ssgss,ss