Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-08-20
New Series-Vol. %. No. "a

my chores, and then went to bed, and
the last thing / said before leaving the
kitchen-this very room where we now
sit
"'WeII have the old brown jug filled
tomorrow
And the went off to bed. And
have remembered ever since that went
to bed that night as 1 had done hum
dreds of times before, with buzzing in
my head that b. a.thy man ought not
to have. l didn't think of it then, nor
had ever thought of it before, but I've
thought of it good many times since,
and have thought of it with wonder and
awe.
"Well, l got up the next morning and
did my work at the barn, and then came
in and ate my breakfast, but not with
such an appetite as farmer ought to
have, and l could not think then that
my appetite had begun to fail me. How
ever. ate my breakfast, and then went
out and hitched up the old mare; for to
tell the plain truth. was feeling in need
of glass of spirits, and l hadn't drop
in the house. l was in hurry to get to
the village. l hitched up snd came in
for the jug! 1 went for it in the old
cupboard and took it out, and
did you ever break through thin ice
on swapping cold day, and find your
self in an instant overhead in freezing
water? Because that is the very way
felt at that moment. The jug was there,
but the bottom was gone. MOllie had
taken sharp cbisel and hammer, and.
with askill that might have done credit
to master workman, she had clipped
the bottom clean off the jug without
even cracking the edges of the sides. l
looked at the jug and then she burst out.
She spoks-oh, had never heard any
thing like it'll No, nor have heard any
thing like it since. She said:
"Charles, that's where the mortgage
on this farm came froml 1t was brought
home within that jug-twO quarts at a
timel And that's where your white skin
and your clear, pretty eyes are goingl
And in that jug, my husband. your apT
petite is going also! Oh. let the bottom
stay out foreverl Let it be as it is, dear
heart. And remember your promise to
me-
"And then she threw her arms around
my neck and burst into tears. She could
speak no more.
And there was no need. My eyes
were opened as though by magic. In a
single minute the whole scene ipassed
before me. l saw all the mortgages on
all the farms in our neighborhood; and
l thought where the money had gone.
The very last mortgage father had ever
made was to pay bill held against him
by the man who had filed his jug fol-
years. Yes, l saw it as it possed before
me-a fitting picture of rum rum! rum
debt! debit debtl-and in the end,
death! And l returned my Mollie's kiss,
and said 1:
"'Mollie, nay own, I'll keep the prom
issl l will, so help me heavenP
"And 1 have kept it. In less than five
years, as Mollie had said. the mortgage
was cleared off; my appetite came back
to me; and now we've got few thou~
sand dollars at interest. There hangs
the old jug-just as we hung it on that
day; and from that time there hasn't
been drop of spirits brought into the
house for a beverage, which that bot
tomless jug wouldn't hold.
Dear old jug! We mean to keep it
and hand it down to our children for the
lessen it can give them-a lesson of life
of life happy, peaceful, prosperous
and blessedl"
And as be ceased speaking. his wife,
with her arm drawn tenderly around the
neck of her youngest boy, murmured a
fervent amen.