Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1882-11-21
RiscELlAaE00s.
a FORTUNATE JEST.

9AS HEtfI AIN youug man, living not o
~ thousand miles from the city of London,
had, at tho age of one>snd twenty, come into
the possession of a large fortune
Immediately therenpou the fair>weather
friends assembled about him, and sought to
make him believe that they could make life
pleasant for him. He was fond of COMPANY;
full OF life; With no restraint saye his own
conscience; and he was easily led on into the
glare aud glittering of convivis1 enjoyment.
His mother had died when he WAS youth
OF sixteen, and his father had lived hat a year
longer. And be had no near relatives to
counsel or to guido him
Once he had loved beautiful young girl:
bnt his dissipated course had frightened her
parents, and they had forbidden him their
house until he could truly mend This had
so angered him that he had turned the image
out from his heart, resolved that he would
never be slave!
Add ne was living brilliant, glorious life,
he knew-or, at least, he told himselfso. He
drank deeper and deeper and anon, he came
to tho gaming>table. Tn short, every Woo
thata wealthy spendthrift might fnd feet.
ing pleasure in, he INDUCED in.
And the circio of friends clung closely.
They swore by him; declared him trump.
They drank his wine, aud robbed him Of his
money and if new source of pleasure could
bo found, they all went in for the erioyment.
aud he paid the bill
One day, after his oyes had become bIeared.
and his steps uncertain, he met the girl he
had once loved in tho street Ho read pity
in hor sweet face, and saw tears in her ewes !;
aud he tried to steel his heart yet he thought
of her until his wild friends wero again around
him.
Ouo day he wont to the bank aud drew out
a thousand pounds.
That night he sat down in his own apart
mepts, with his own wine upon the sidcboard.
and his own cards upon tho table, aud played
with his dear friends! Tho wine flowed
freely, hc drank deeply, and tho game went
on recklessly. They played for high stakes,
and played fast aud lste.
On tho following morning the young man
nwoke with bursting hend aud aching evos.
By>snd-by he called to mind the events of
the night. BE looked into his pockot.book
aud into bis purpose. Empty, both ! Aud
he remembered that he had given his checks
to various p,embers of the marty for laroo
amounts. Ho found tho countcr.foils. and
they told him he had drawn his checks to
the amount of over two thousand!
But what Of that7 Before night he had
drank brandy enough to steady his nerves.
aud mako him once more happy.
Another evening came, and again his friends
were assembled arqund his board He had got
upa grand snppor for them thia time ! aud
after the various COURSES of food had passed
in order, came tho vino and the, tossts.
And one.oft'ie friends, to whom large
check had been given, got up 70 offer SEN
timent:
"Fill up fill upr he criod whilo 1 give
you the toast of the evening! Here's to our
sober and thrifty host! Maybe be ever as
sensible ea he is at this moment /"
ltwa sdrank with cheers--three times three.
1t was observed that from that moment
the spirits of their host seemed to fail him.
de became moody and abstraoted By.aud>
6y some one bantered him upon it, and asked
him what was tho matter.
he answered:
81 was thinking, did Tom tell the truth
when he said was sober and thrifty ?'
And thereupon they all exclaimed:
"Of course he did was ever q man sober
er, or more thrifty?"
Because" pursued the host, patbo.ical1y,
81 shouldn't want friend to lie on nv 40.
COUNT"
"oho! Sensible TO tho lassl Fill up."
But the host would drink no more. he
bade the others enjoy themselves as much.
aDd as. long, as they pleased but they must
excusc him.
Without him. however, the sport Jagged i;
and when they found there was to be no card
playing they soon dispersed
And after they had gone, the young man
sat down alone, aud thought, aud the words.
"Sober and thriftyi ~ ''sober aad thrifsy I'
rang in his ears, aud he repeated them aloud.
And then be repeated:
"May he be ever as sensible ss he il at
this moment" And then, with shifting
of his clinched hand upon his bosom, he ex~
claimed, "Tom did NOT lie 1 will not let
him lie!"
On the following day the youth went to
the bank, and was closesed for half an hour
with the manager.
On the morning of the next day paragraph
appeared in the society papers, announcing :
We arc rather panied to announce that
F. B, the young man who w,s the
inheritor of fortune little more than two
years ago, has lost every penny Misfortune
has befallen him; false friends have betrayed
him; so that now his bill for less than hum
dred pounds has gone to protest.
On the next day after this the young man
Eve will call him Fred went to Tom Amberly,
to whom he had given hundreds and thou
sands, aud asked him for the loan of a hum
! dred pounds.