National Republican., 1885-11-21
THE REWARD OF MERIT.

We two young men. friends, are dlstln-
guished, If on no other account, for our
strictly temperate habits. The harmless
pleasures of the world we dearly love, as
becomes our youth and amiable disposition
So, one night last winter, according to our
frequent custom, away went we together to
the theater. With that, /, the story-teller,
have nothing more to do. The play was
over. Midnight. A fearful contrast with
out to that comfortable and luxurious tenn
pie of the muses.. My friend, who, am
sorry to say, is poetical, quoted, as dis
tinctly as the sharp and severe air would
permit:
Saint Agnes eve, and bitter cold 1t was,
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold !
And having followed Keats thus far, sud-
denly abandoned him, to exclaim;
"What's this Yn
"Poor fellow He's been overcome
Such night would freeze him to death In
little while. Let's get him up, and into
some kind Of shelter.n
"Of course. Come on.n
After considerable effort we succeeded In
raising the unfortunate from the gutter and
standing him, unsteadily, on the pavement
1t was a lonely part of the city, unlikely to
be again trayersed that night. How happy
"Where do you liyeT
No answer.
Presently the question repeated.
Now, his new position, with a gentle
shaking by his right and left supporters,
enabled hlui TO mutter locality. 1t was
about two miles distant.
"What's TO be done ?"
"Take him there.n
$50 be 10 ~
A terrible Journey; ! remember 1t with
horror. Directly north lay our course, and
| from directly north rushed the fierce wind
| upon us, now bearing singing hail-stones,
| impeding our progress by its tremendous
| force and frequently causing our shivering
bodies to bend nearly to the ground
Worse still than the stormy night was
our rebellious rescued one. Often would
posed that we should leave him-''I'm all
right, of course,''-the tone and manner
| proving that he wasn't--often begging the
| privilege of returning-for "anotherdrink"
or liberty to Ego to sleep, just herew
Thus struggling on we arrived at last at
the designated domicile. Dark. Silence
and sleep everywhere. My friend sup
porting the partially revived captive,
| Knocked at the door Of the small two-story
frame house - knocked gently, louder
| loudest.
Then up ratified window on the second
floor and out popped female head.
| "That you, Jack ~
"Its me, my dear" deprecatingly.
"No, 'taint Don't call me my dear.
You're Jack Flowover Long homo will
your
Down crashed the window. We, the pre-
servers, stood confused.
Jack kindly explained. In the mex
square to his dwelt another Jack, who's
other name was Doneup. His, the presen
| speakers, appellatiOn was Jack FlowOyer
No doubt of that And just FIVE doors afte
you cross the street we'd come to his home
Sorry for the little mistake.
So we went on once more. Stopped
again, knocked, and portion of the pla.
was repeated.
There being no balcony to the mansion
Juliet spoke from the upstairs window:
"That you, JackY Yes, | know 1t is
Don't say word, you mean, lazy, good
for-nothn' villin And who's them tw,
drunkards with your They's been mis-
leadin' you-lm sure they's been don' it
the wretches If you was left to yourself
dear Jack, you'd be a good, sober husband
that you would, and not a-comin' HON
this way all hours, Now ri let you in
Jack, and hope you won't be found agail
In such bad company. You ought TO b
ashamed Of yourselves, you contemptibl
villins. OF with you, just as soon as yo,
can git. Pm comm, Jack"
We protested, told the truth, tried cal
nestly to save our characters, but 1t was q
no use; she didn't believe word we said
We had better "git,h
Agreeing with the last words OF Juliet
speech, we did "git,n so soon rs We sa'
''dear Jackn tumble in the door into III
loving arms OF his indignant wife.
Our return homeward abOunded In me
aDcholy reflections, s, ID,