The Arkansaw traveler. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1882-1???, 1883-09-22


recognized family foot, for ] saw his
hand tremble, then he pushed up his
great steel-rimmed spectacles, and the
tears ran down his cheeks as he rose and
tottered and then fell into my arms.
How we kissed one another. MY SON,
my SON, you would never have succeeded
had you not been a good shoemaker !;
you never scamped anything you did
the best you could all the time" was
what he said when | told him Of my good
luck. Like my dear old daddy did be-
fore me-" added. Then ! kicked over
his workbench and said, no more work
for you, old pappy, for am rich. Ihave
wife; have baby-a boy baby,
named after you-and you are to take
the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES or the
day afterward and come post haste out
Of the old country to California, SO tina,
grandchild shall sit on your knee, and
you shall teach him to be honest and
pious, and to love you." "And may |
not make him good shoemaker he
asked. But you 60 too fast. Let me
think it over. You ask me to leave this
old Luxembourg, where | was born.
should never see again the grave where
your mother, my good wife, has slept for
the last thirty odd years. don't know.
! am 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-bristles
bother me just little at times. and my
hammer moves just trife slower, still
can turn on, very decent JOB. ! wonder
ii cannot beat you now. Come, let US
try"
To please the old man, took up bi,
Of work and commenced on il. 1T was
we'll DONE said father admiringly. IL
see you have not forgotten my lessons.
Perhaps that one stitch there is not quite
quite as even as il should be. My re-
marks don't worry you : Stili,' and he
held out with his shaky hands the old
boot near his eye, :. it will pass muster"
At last the blessed old man consented
to go with me. Next day we had feas,
in the village. All the old cronies were
invited, the cooper, the matchmaker, the
butcher, the drover, the tailor, and the
tax-collector. The cure gave the party
his blessing. Oh, wha, a good time we
had. The old man was radiant. was
introduced 10 every one as M, the
American shoemaker, who had learned
his trade in Luxembourg" We kept it
up all that afternoon and late in the
evening. II was 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 goodbye. Then would say
:" Dear daddy, It's your grandchild ,ha,
claims you. How the deuce do you ever
expect that he will be good shoemaker
without your teaching him. That was
an all-powerful argument. The blessed
old man made the trip with me across
the ocean without much fatigue. low
glad my wife was to see her husband and
father, and, as to the baby, he went at
once into his grand-papa's arms.
OF 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 anvil, which might have
pricked him. He lived though happily
with US for some years. He grew more
unsteady day by day and wapdered
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
number Of pretty things in leather.
One day | heard him in his room
tapping. tapping away on his lap-stone
with more than ordinary vigor. Then
listened to him. He said: a good
job. Capital. though ought not to
praise myself There never was hnt on.
man who coald equal me. and that is my
dear, dear son, and his son, my grand
son, shall also be tirst-class shoem aker,
if the good God, whose name be blessed
only lets me live little, very little
longer, and then heard the rattle Of a
hammer as if it had dropped on the floor,
and went into his room, and the dear
old man had passed quietly away, with
last prayer on his lips. There are no
shoemakers now-a-days like in the old
time.
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