Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-10-06

hands at all, and some days she cannot
leave her chair, so had to learn to make
the beds and to scrub the floor and wash
the dishes, and l can cook almost as well
as a girl"
Is it possible? 1 shall have to take
supper with you on my way back to the
city and test your skill.
Johnny blushed, and I added
Its pity, my boy, that you haven't
a sister.
81 had one, be said, gently, but she
died and-if she had lived, | shouldn' t
have wished her to lift, aud bring wood
and water, and serb, as poor mother al.
WAYS did. Sometimes | wish | could
have sprung all the way from baby to
a man. It's such slow work growing up !;
and it was while mother was waiting for
us to grow up that she worked so hard"
but. my boy, you cannot expect to be
son and daughter and mother all in one
You cannot do the work for a whole
family"
"Yes, can it isn't much, and am
going to do it and the work my mother
left undone. I'm going to pay that mort
gage, if / live,
Heaven grant you may" said fer
vently, under my breath for not many
mothers have such a son.
"Mother don't know that l mean to do
il. and she is very anxious | should go TO
school, and | mean to, some time but
know Just where the boys in my class are
studying. and l get the lessons at home.
Mother reads them to me out of the book,
while [ am washing the dishes or doing
her work, and we have great fun. try to
remember and repeat it, and if we come to
anything we can't make cut, l take it over
to the teacher in the evening. She is very
kind, and she tells me
Very kind Who wouldn't be kind to
such a boy? felt the tears coming TO my
eyes at such a sudden vision of this son
doing girls work while his poor old mother
held the book in her twisted hands and
tried to help him to learn.
But all this does not earn money, my
BOY. How DO you expect to save If you
spend your time indoors? -
"0h, don't do girls work all day no,
indeed / have worked out our taxes on
che road. Il wasn't much, but helped
the men build a stone wall down by the
river; and Deacon Ball lets me do a great
deal Of work for him, and when l get a
chance TO take anybody from the hotel to
ride, he lets me have the team for almost
nothing, and 1 pay to him whatever 1
make. And l work on the farm with the
men in the summer and l have COW of
my own and sell the milk at the tavern /;
and we have some hens, too, and sell the
eggs. Aud in the fall cut and pile the
winters wood in the sheds for the people
who haven't any boys-and there's a good
many people about here who haven't any
boys he added, brushing fly from the
old horse with the tip of his whip.
After this we fell into silence and rode
through the sweet New England roads,
with Monsdnock rising before US ever
nearer and more majestic. 1t impressed
me with a sense of his rugged strength
one of the hills rock. ribbed and ancient
as the sun'-but l glanced from the noun
tain TO the little red-headed morsel of hu-
manity at my side with sort of recogni-
ton of their kinship. Somehow they
seemed to belong together. | felt as if
the same sturdy stuff were in them both.
1t was only a fancy but it was confirmed
the next day, for when | came back to
town after seeing my invalid friend, called
on Deacon Ball. found him white, haired
and kindly-faced. He kept the village
store snd owned a pretty house, and was
evidently very well to do. Naturally we
talked of John, and the deacon said to
me, with tears in his old watery blue eyes ::
"Why, bless your heart, sir, you don't
think I'm going to take his money, do you
The only son of his mother and she a
widow, and ali tied up into double bow
knots with the rheumstics besides True
enough, l let his father have the money,
and my wife, she says, says she to me {:
We'll, deacon, my dear, we've not got a
child, and shall be just as well off hun
bred years from now if the widow never
pays cent; but cording to my calcula-
ton it's better TO let the boy think he's
payin'. She says might as well try to
keep barrel of vinegar from workin' as to
keep that boy from workin'. It's the
mother in him, and it's got to work. We
think a good deal of the widow, Mandy
aud me. did before 1 ever saw Mandy /;
but for all that we hold the mort gage, aud
Johnny wants TO work it out. Mandy and
me, we are going to let him work.
| turned away, for l was going to sup at
Johnny's house but before [ went asked
the deacon how much Johnny had already
paid.
Well, don't know; Mandy knows
l pass it to her, she keeps the books. Drop
in before you go TO the train and I'll show
it to you. !"
dropped in and the deacon showed me
the account. 1t was the book in savings
bank in neighboring town, and on its
pages were credits of all the little sums the
boy had earned or paid and 1 saw they
were standing to Widow Beebes name. 1
grssped the deacon's hand. He was look.
ing away over the house. tops to where Mo-
nadnock was smiling under the goodnight
kiss Of the sun.
Good.by, sir, good.by," he said. re.
turning my squeeze with interest. Much
obliged. I'm sure, Mandy and me, too !;
but don't you be worried about Johnny.
When we see it we know the real stuff it
takes to make real man-and Johnny has
got it Johnny is like that mountain over
there-chock full of grit and lots of back.
bone"