The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1883-12-01

the time,n was what he said when Z
1 told of nv lack. Like NV dear old
dandy did before me- / added. Then
[ kicked over his work bench, and,
mo more work for you, old poppy, for
[ am rich. ! have q wife; [ have a
baby-a boy baby, named after you
and you are totake the cars-frst class,
tomorrow, or the day afterward, and
cone post haste cut of the old country
to Californi SO that grandchild shall sit
on your knee, and you shall teach him
to be honestand pious and to love you!'
''And may / not make him a good shoe
lnaker?" he asked. 3But you 90 too
fast. Let me think over it. You ask
me to leave this old Luxembourg, where
| was born. / should never see again
the grave where your mother, nay good
wife, has slept for this last thirty odd
years. I don't know. ana very old. /
should be in the way. / love my old
trade. Do they wear shoes in California?
May / cobble there? / assure you,
though, the hog bFistles bother me Just
a little at times, and my hammer moves
lust a litter slower, still / can turn out a
very decent Job. / wonder if / cannot
beat you now. Come let us try"
To please the old man, / took up a bit
of work and commenced on it. 1T was
well done" said father a~dmiringly. 81
see you have not forgotten my lessons.
Perhaps that one stitch there is not
quite-quite as even as it should be.
| NV remarks don't worry you? Slip
and he held out with his shaky hands
the old boot near mis- eye-''it viii pass
muster"
At last the blessed old man consented
L. - IA -. NJ L.. - IL r--k
in the village. All the old ronies were
lnvlted-the cooper, the matchmaker,
the butcher, the droYer, the tailor and
the tax collector. The cure gave the
party his blessing. Oh. what a good
time we had! The old man was radiant.
| was introduced to everyone az M,
the American shoemaker, who
had learned his trade In the
Luxembourg" We kept it up all that
afternoon and late into the evening. 1t
was a feast such as that sleepy old town
will remember for many a day. Just
occasionally / noticed that the old man
weakened when some ancient chum
took him by the hand to bid him good
bye. Then / would say, "Dear daddy,
it's your own grandchild that claims
you. How the deuce do you ever ex-
pect that he viii, be q good shoemaker
without your teaching him?" That was
an all powerful argument. The blessed
old man made the trip with me across
the ocean with much fatigue. How
glad my wife was to see her husband
and father! and as to the baby, he went
at once into his grandpapa'G arms.
or course father was too old to 90 to
work, but still he insisted on having his
bench. AS he grew feebler the stitches
became more uneven, and we were
often alarmed about the awl, which
might have pricked him. He lived.
though, happily with us for some years.
he grew more unsteady, day by day,
and wandered a little but still he would
spend an hour or two every day at his
bench. He made a goat harness for the
little boy and quite a number of pretty
things out of leather.
One day | heard him in his room tap
ping, tapping away on his lapstone with
more than ordinary vigor. Then I lis
tened to him. He said: "a good Job;
a very good job. Capital, though | ought
not to praise myself. There never was
but n man who could equal me, and
that's my son, dear son, and his son, my
grandson shall also be a first class shoe
maker, if the. good God, whose name he
blessed, only lets me live a little, a very
Little longer" And then / heard the
rattle OF a hammer as If it had dropped
on the floor, and / went s.into his ROOM,
and the dear old man had passed quiet
" away, with a last prayer on his lips.
There are no shoemakers nowadays
like in the old time.