The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1883-07-11


messages in his over hours, just as Tom
did, till Tom got well. No, no, sir, it
wasna Billie. 1t was the drink, the
drink, the cursed drink that killed Tom
Molder. 1t was the pay night, and there
were six O. them. They had been drink
ing for hours. Then they began to argue,
and then to quarrel. An blows were
given and knives were used. My Billie
got blows his face was all cut. And he,
or somebody else, God only knows, stabbed
Tom Molder. An Tom fell back and
never spoke more. The other four said
it was Billie, the Judge said it was Billie's
knife, and the jury brought in Billie
guilty.
81 prayed, in the madness that came
over me then, that | might never see the
LIGHT of that day when Billie was, to die.
An oh, sir, when the day came near it
was as if prayer was bein' granted. /
would have given my auld life ten times
over to have got one look of my laddie
that last visit paid him. l cried to God
for single blink, for one short blink
but wasna heard. 1t was dark, dark
day to me. Out aud in, all was darkness
black, horrible darkness. You are good
to listen to me, sir, sac long. Few will
listen to me moo few will stay beside me.
People are afraid of the blind auld wo-
man. Ay, ay; but if they had sorrowed
with my sorrow, or felt my fear, maybe it
MIGHT haze been different. | was with
Billie that last time an hour an mair. [
thocht, if | had not been bin, MIGHT
haze seen some door by which he could
haze escaped or, MIGHT haze seen some
great one an plead for his life. thocht
many foolish thochts. | Gamma remem-
Der them all. / remember best The lad.
dies heavy sobs. | remember his sad
moaning for Tom Molder, an for Toms
mither, an for Bessie and me. An then
he whispered, Isn't it good fathers not
here Then the turnkey cam and said
it was time for me to go. Poor Billie !
He pressed my hands between his cold
palms till was taken away"
Then there was another long pause, and
then these last words -
when Billie's day cam, on that very
day cam Bessie's sorrow too. Dan said
to her in the gosmin'-Dan That's
her man. Bess, we're not going to stay
here after this Bessie said But, Dan,
can [ leave my bin mother behind /
drew the door after him, an Bessie has
never heard O. him since. 1t Just felled
the poor thing, an she's wastin' ava.
Whaur is she the now Is that what
ye're askin'2 She's out charing she
goes out every day. It's hard life. Aud
a bare, cauld house she comes hame to at
NIGHT. My poor innocent Bessie But
it'll no be for lang En-, sir, its big
mystery to me-. What did Bessie do that
she should suffer a. this Oh, sir preach
doun drink and the drinkers O. drink, and
lay the curse O. the ALMIGHTY upon both"
| made arrangements to get Bessie's
child sent to school. But when | re-
turned in few days, to tell the grand
mother, / found the house filed with
other tenants and no one could tell me
where she had gone. 1 never saw her
again.
1t was long time before the pain of
the story dulled out of my mind. For
months after, as often as l went into that
particular court, and sometimes when 1
was far away from it, the image of the
blind woman haunted me, and | seemed
to hear her weird words piercing into my
soul . Preach down drink. an the drink
in O. drink. 1t killed my Billie. 1t killed
his chum. An oh, sir, my dead Billie's
drinkin' is KILN Bessie an her BARN
an me-"
PART LI.-CULLoSsIE MEMORIES.
More than twenty years had passed
since the visit have Just described, when
| happened to be brought into contact
with second mother. If the first was
Of N hn, &c,
and she was placed in circumstances the
very opposite of those in which found
the first She was as happy as the other
was unhappy. And she turned out to be
a lady of whom, in my youth, had often
heard, and one of the earliest founders of
the abstinence cause in Scotland.
II. and | had been sent to our presby-
terry to induct minister in our church
at Woodbury., and we were lodged in the
mayors house. The lady of the house
happened at the time to be unwell, and
the mayors mother had come to take her
place while we were there. And as the
mayor himself was obliged to leave for
London after the inductive service, we
had the old lady pretty much to ourselves.
1t was great treat. She was fine
specimen of the Highland lady of the last
generation-polite, high-bred, and gra-
cious in manner. 1t was delightful to
listen to her talk-somewhat broken
though her English was-as it fell from
her lips, touched with the beautiful &C
cent one hears from Inverness northward
in the speech of educated people there.
Although she was far beyond threescore
years and ten, there was still about her
something of the well-knit form and bear
ing of her younger years. And there re-
NAMED to her also an open and still beau
tiful countenance. Evidently she was a
reader, and her conversation was full of
the most intelligent observation and
thought.
/ do not know whether she thought
that we might be surprised at the absence
of wine from the table; but she took
early occasion to tell us that we were in
teetotal house. "The mayor is president
of the abstinence society in this town.
And he and all my childer have been teeto-
talers since many years ago; since as
long ago as the Cullossie Branch began"
"Cullossie / exclaimed. care you
speaking of Cullossie on the Norlan Firth?
used to see it daily in my childhood,
looking across the firth from the town
where was born.'
"Yiss, it is the same and | am very
happy to find any one who has come from
the NOrlan FIRTH in INV ann'a homaO