The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1883-10-27

fephus, since his meeting with Theophras-
tus Mukepeace, has not been about. The ia
nilar haunts that were once eacquaintedwitb
him no longer echo and resound with his
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS convictions about
"bis Beulah Land" or his ueighbors' "Gar-
den Wall" No longer does he bring HIM
self to anchor on the hospitable sosp-box in
front of the post Office, and, as the shades Of
evening get lost in the darkness Of night no
public lamp can look down from its ee.
waited perch and say "There's Joseph again,
helping the single post, allowed by the
street commissoners,to to keep my light shin
ing before men,"
That one decisive combat in the saloon
had forced lortnight's involuntary leisure
upon our hero. This leisure implied re-
Election, nnl in the course Of his medta-
tions Joe tried TO think clearly, But the
machine he called his mind wouldn't work.
The wheels were clogged with the rust OF
many years and there was no fuel in tue
furnace TO nurse the little spark of.ntelect
into fame. AS he said himself one day in
q sudden burst of original poetry, al feel
like one Of them old Valley engines with
my boilor busted" and when he felt very
deeply in the blues he tried to 1atter HIM.
self that there was just little OF the zen
gine" left 10 him still, as he broke INTO
series Of short, shrll toots such as are used
by the freight engineers when their coal
cars wind like a serpant through the vine
yards aud rose gardens Of the ADYocATE,
Like serpant too the idle days of the
young man dragged their slow length
along. Joe sat in rocking chair by the
window, nursing his wrath. his coal black
eyes and the mutilated fragments of what
had once been a couutenance. Friends
visited him with stories of the outer world,
| OF Allentown fair, and with numerous love
and battle episodes from the Carbon Coun
ty Agricultural meeting. The doctor also
came with sticking plaster and paint pot.
and after each visit the "face" looked like
the blind side Of brick hotel decorated
with circus placards which atsrnated with
streaks of the familiar white wash.
But why should we linger over this
painful season of eonvalescence? Let il |
| suffice TO say that at the end Of week |
! Joe's eyes began to open and the first thing |
theysaw was the underlying nose which still |
remained very crooked. A paster.of- paris |
cast had been made for that organ, and al !
though the new arrangement gave no coin
fort TO Joe, they created an interesting topic |
Of conversation for his friends who pleas
anuy remarked as each entered the sick |
mans room. "Helol Jpbus, your Rosey-
posey is encroaching on the reservation Of
your cheek. However, cheer up old boy.
You'll Ge regular Jew when you come
round, so you can call yourself Solomon and
peddle proftably in old clos"
The ways of the transgressor are pro
verbally hard aud, like many wlper man,
our friend had To regard the cold comfort
derived from his visitors as a consequence
of his false views Of the universe.
But misfortune often brings healing on
its wings. Time, which is the strongest in-
stance Of natures eSmp passion began 10 think
that she had dealt too hardly with one
whose faults arose in great part from cir
cumstsnces over which he had no control,
and events were shaping themselves which
were about to open up new career and a
less dog like destiny for one whose highest
aim had been the bruiseyship OF a saloon.
One evening, in the fall, as he rocked him
ealG in hai haeiAa tho nd II
watched the pine trees with their golden
yellow garments as they waited patiently
for the burial of their beauty IN the win.
ter's blast, Joe somehow began 10 think;
really, iu all earnestness,to think ,ol Spring,
Summer, Fall and Winter lie saw and ,
tst in the atmosphere about him the symp-
toms Of nature s annual decay. Only few
hours had gone since the setting sun had =
arisen in all his glory, waking up the i
world TO light and Lille and renewing the
vital forces of the universe. lie had now a
sunk To rest like wearied child, aud as Joe
watched the sunset and the changing color I
Of the foliage he realized for the first time !
Ia his life that he was actually l. okinx on c
death bed of another year. He didn't "go I
much on" poetry but just now he set med 10
SEQ a currespondenee between those exter.
nal facts and something in The life ofa man, I
for instance, of hmseE He could not I
give shape TO his thoughts, much less did he {
I,ussess the language To express them, but
feelings had come over him which brought
with them a strange sense OF power and
solemully along with the aecomnanyinR
S nsation Of his own absolute Lnlhingness.
Something within seemed to say ta him,
: There IS one day for the lie Ol the sun, II
une year for the Iie OF q tree, and there ore |
the 'Ihree-scoTe- and ten for yourself. The \
day too must coms when your light shall
90 out in darkness, and your body, like
autumnal foliage, shall prepare for the
nakedness OF longer winter. The sun has
his duty. He has Dursed the
world with warmth and joy, and, having
gIne 70 brief repOse, will commence bis =
work again upon the morrow. The trees A
too have had the round of their lives. They z
haye brought rain in times of drought and, II,
with Oenehc cut shade have dealt out com ps
r,rt aud luxury Ia all animated nature
Tnty have accomplished the work for which
hey were created" Here the voice stopped
fDr ma 1menL and joe was left IA vague
lnubt as To the practical lmpprtance Of Any 81
csson which he enuld derive from the sun II
,r the pine trees. Tie had hegun "a think so
hat loneliness had made him soft headed, y,
= hen suddenly yoicr seemedto say, Joe,
uy friend. uheu your time cnnes, and the =
Ittle world that knows you takes stock uf
lnur liie's work, will IL say that you have III
given the hight aud heat Of any good ex.
laiIie TO any child Of earth, or like tie 6,
lpple tree IA the garden or the pine nee by Il
he river haye you gwen forth good iruit or b.
my bounteous shade?" w
II wssthe FIRST time that Joe had ever 3,
made VISIT To the clouds This nip af- n,
ofded all the pleasure and excitement Of a r
lev experiment, aud il is unknown how
ong he might have renamed above the
ky II the kitchen door had not suddenly Tel
pened. A Strange man entered the room
nd threw down bundle on the liable.
10 BE- C3HhAgSd.l
fALELAgp. on