The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-01-01

before tWelVe, LOCK yOufSeII IN SO no.
body can get at you, take life easy until
the other bells shut up, and then begin
and ring, first with one hand then with
the other, straight through till day-
light. Wen lend you a horse-blanket to
keep you warm, and give you a pint of
whisky to keep you company, and, if
you see the job through, you shall have
free rum at the bar here all day to-mor-
row and for a week afterward-eh,
Teetisp"
"Fact," replied the ~bar-keeper. ''The
boys are to pay the score"
'IIl do it," said Tom, ''if you'll see
me through from now till midnight"
20, no. laughed the expounder of
the conspiracy, ''or you won't be fit to
do the job"
Tom curled up resignedly on his
bench; eight hours would be a long
time to wait, but then he would have
a pint-a pint at a time-of his favorite
substitute for food and clothing. Soon
he was aroused, however, by some n
saying:
"Teetis, you forgot to give Tom his
letter."
"By the shillelah of St. Patrick, so 1
did ~ exclaimed the ~bar-keeper, hastily
taking a small envelope from behind
the bar where it had rested against a
bottle labeled "Old Tom Gin"
"What cowardly trick are they play
ing on me now" thought Tom to him
self, as he slowly rose to his feet. Again
he appealed, with his eyes to the bar
keeper, and that official responded:
.It's no joke, Tom. One of the post
Office clerks said he put it in u box
because he heard you came here oftener
than anywhere else"
Tom slowly extended his hand and
took the letter.
'Better hire a room an lock yourself
in fore you open it," suggested one
lounger. 'P'raps it's from the Secre-
tary Nv the Treasury, an got a check
in it for interest on your registered
bonds"
"More likely it's from a tailor that
trusted Tom whoa She hummer wore
good Clothes" said another.
The envelope was thin enough for
Tom to read through it the name, "Mrs.
Oscar Arthray," in remarkably uniform
letters. AS he read, some n re-
marked:
"Like enough it's from some woman
i WHO y Idhtu Will Ills SUNlt, jill Wallis
him to make love to her"
Tom began to lay the letter on the
bar; but as the speaker ended the re-
mark, the drunkard changed his mind
and placed the missive between his
teeth-thep he picked up a chair and
felled his 5ormentor to the floor. There
was dead silence for a moment, such as
usually follows any manifestation of
honorable feeling in a bar-room; mean
while, Tom went to a basin in a corner,
washed his hands, took the envelope
from its somewhat inappropriate posi-
ton, and left the room.
What could Mrs. Arthray want of
him? He supposed she had forgotten
him long ago. Not that he had forgot
ten her; he never saw her in the street
where she always passed him without
recognition-without realizing keenly
for a moment how wide and deep was
the gulf that separated him from the
friends of his youth; for had not that
glorious woman's hand often made his
coat-sleeye feel a little fuller than usual
in the old days-had not his voice and
hers blended in the church choir-had
not he and she taken part in many an
innocent village frolicP Some of his
early acquaintance had grown sad and
old, but she seemed to have discovered
the secret of perpetual youth. Could it
be that-enraging thought?-that now
she, who had once been his companion,
wanted him for some mental service on
the morrow, some service such as he
was often called on to do for other peo-
pie?
He went to the stable-loft, and broke
the envelope; it contained merely a card
bearing the lady's name, and the line:
SAT Home, January 1; from ten a. m.
to ten p. m"
''Great Heavens!n exclaimed Tom,
sit must mean that I'm invited to call
on her! Then she can't know. that-she
can't ever have seen or heard-she-oh,
my God!"
The poor wretch imagined for a mo-
ment Mrs. Arthray and himself stand.
ing face to face, and his little strength
deserted him so entirely that he fell as
if struck with paralysis. He covered
his face with his hands, groaned, swore,
cried, and exclaimed, lawful, awful,
awfulr'
Suddenly he sprang to his feet, hur-
ried out of the stable and toward the
river. The III had set, the shop-keep.
ers were lighting their lamps, but nc
matter, ''the darker the better" NUT.
tered Tom to himself; Il don't want
anybody to see me now" He went
through the least frequented streets, he
almost ran, and before the darkness
had entirely closed around him he
reached the shore.
He had meant to end his misery by a
sudden plenge, but his feeble nerves
were already exhausted by his unusual
exertion, and he paused to recover
courage. He tried to regain strength
and resolution by Withdrawing from his
pocket the little bit of pasteboard that
had worked such a sudden change in
his a%pathetic, british life. But the
spell did not work as he wished. Into
his bewildered brain came the thought
that Alice Arthray herself-the hand
soonest m in Thornton, the noblest
woman he had ever known OF heard of,
had touched that same card-had sem
it to him. He seemed to profane the
card by touching it, yet at the same
time the ~insensate thing seemed to be
placing before his eyes incident after
incident of his early life. In imagina
ton he became his old self again, and
at last he turned again toward the town
saying to himself:
Better be a happy fool, while it lasts
than a dead one"
But the charm did not last. BY the
time he had reached the tavern he hai
sworn to reform and then sworn to stea
rum and get blind drunk as soon as pos
sible; he did not keep either oath, bu
skunk into his own place in the bar
room and gratefully took a glass of run
which the bar-keeper, in admiration O
the only man who had ever in thai
room resented IAN insult to a lady
silently handed him. The stuff mad,
him entirely his old self again; he for
got Mrs. Arthray, his good resolutions
his bad resolves, and everything els'
but the thought that at twelve o'clocl