Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1884-12-19
THE EVIL OF IT.

t''ANSNNS az
~ can drink it or can lea 70 IL
alone!" said Herbert Thorpe, proud
ly.
Herbert was the SON of an only
mother, and she widow whose hus-
band was dead. lie was young
man Of rare promise, and still rarer
fullfillment. He graduated at college
with brilliant homors behind the bat,
the envied idol of his nine. Life
opened itself TO him voluntarily, like
sick oyster. But, alas! in an evil
hour-say about half past early in
the norning-the tempter with
small tive might say C. t., in fact
came upon him.
lie became slave to the foe of
young men, the ID. ID.
Not the ID. ID. who breaches to a
large and fashionable congregation.
Oh. no. The other ID. d., the De-
mon Drink.
He weakly vel led to the fascina-
ton Of his Daniel Boon, compan-
ions-Thomas and jeremiah, Bill
Yards and the rest of the boys.
"Ob, shun the glass;" pleaded the
fair young girl who liked him.
A few weeks ago we would have
said loved him, but since Bulwer's
love letters were published, anything
of that kind is too awfully--the am
monia, please.
He said he never usel the glass.
lie was shaved at the BARRIERS and
he wore flat scarf that hid his fan
mel shirt and didnt have to be tied.
"Fly the tempter." sail the pastor. B..
But he SAID it was all he could do
to fly kite for thirty days, and he
wasn't very fly, anyhow. And with
brutal and heartless his jest-which
in his better moment Herbert Thorpe
would never have uttered-the white
haired old pastor went away and
crawled under lonely tree and died
some thirty eight years later, of ex-
} treme old aye aud starvation, brought
on by two donation parties in the
J same week.
"Do not trihe with it," begged his
J friends.
And Herbert Thorpe stood up and
uttered the proud sentence with
which this sad chapter opens.
If the chapter is any sadder than the
people who read il, it will shed enough
tears to wet down all the paper for
this issue of the able and influential
journal you are now pursuing with
intense delight-now is the time to
make up clubs, subscribe at once and
avoid the rush at the doors-why, oh,
why longer delay-time flies and
moneyis eight per cent.-send for
circular and see prospectus in another
column.
81 can drink it or l can let it alone,"
he said proudly.
VI Could he?
We shall see.
! Il
A space or period has elapsed, or,
perhaps, not as long as that.
D Herbert Thorpe enters the pala-
tial bar room, where the sitting odors
of decaying cigar stumps, stale tobac-
co smoke and sawdust and cheese
5 sandwichs and the human breath di-
vine lure men TO rum.
) 81 can drink it or can letit Alone
he whispered to himself as he or
0 dered what he wanted and suggested
to the gentleman behind the bar the
propriety of hurrying up the same.
0 The gentleman shook his head with
the tirmness and imm0vable con-
0 servatism of the Bartholdi fund
"Drinks are cash." he said.
5 And Herbert Thorpe turned sadly
away, with the Great American
0 Desert ranging in his parched
throat,
s lie "let it alone
Young, mam If you stick to it and
Is keep at it long enough, that's what
you're coming to. You say now, ~
% can drink it or l can leave it alone
But all the lme you keep on drink
Is ing it. Well, keep at it, And just
about the time you learn to like
Is it, and want it all the time, you will
70 have to "let it alone." Youcan raise
your pocket.book by hand, my son
80 That is you can bring it up on iii,
bottle. 1t won't thrive on it. They
30 empty each other, but they won't fill
each other up. They contrive to fill!
Is you up, but paradoxical as it may
seem, they clean you out ut the SAINT
SO time. Be wise, my son, and Y yor
must spend your moaey foolishl,
DO make election bets with y. lol
may be cleaned on just as etfectually
25 but you won't have SO much head
ache. RoBERT j. BuRpErrE.