St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-06-18
The Bottomless jug.
A Big Leak That stopped Bigger Leak.

thing caught my eye. and smiled.
"You are wondering what that jug
is hanging mp there for with its bot
tom knocked out" he said. "My wife,
perhaps, can tell YOU the story better
than | can but she is bashful aud
amt, so III tell it.
any father, as you are probably
aware, owned this farm before me- He
lived To "a good old age, worked hard
all his life, never squandeTed money,
was cautious trader and good cal
culatOT; and, as meu were accounted
in his day and generation, he was a
temperate man. was the youngest
boy and when the old man was ready
to gO-and he knew 1.-THE others
agreed that since had stayed at home
and taken care of the old folks, the
farm should be mine. And to me il
was wiIled. had been married then
three years.
"Well, father died-mOther had
gone three years before and left the
farm to me, with "a mortgage on it for
$1,000. I'd never thought of it before.
said 10 Mollie, my wife:
"Mollie, look here. Here fathers
had this farm in its first strength OF
soil, with all its magnificent timber,
and his six boys, as they grew up,
equal To so many men to help him
and he worked hard-wOrked early
and late-and yet look at it A mort
gage of $1,000. What can | do ~
''And went to that jug-it had its
bottom in then and took good stiff
drink Of old Medford rum from it.
II noticed curious look on my
wife's face just then, and asked her
what she thought of 1t, for | supposed
she was thinking of what I'd been
talking about. And so she was, for
she said:
Charles, I've thought of this a
great while, and I've thought of IA way
in which believe you can clear this
mortgage off before five years are end
end
"''Says |:
"Mollie, tell me how you'll do it ?"
''She thought for while, and then
said, with IA funny twinkling in her
blue eyes says she:
Charlie, you must promise me
this, and promise me sOlemnly and sa-
credly Promise me that yOn will new
CT bring home for the purpose of
drinking, for a beverage, ut any time,
any more spirits than you can bring in
that old jug jug your father has
used ever since | knew him, and which
yOu have used since he was done with
it
''WelI, | knew father used once in a
while, especially in haying time, and
in winter, when we were at work in
the woods, to get an old gallon jug
filled so thought that she meant
should never buy more than two
quarts at "a time. | thought it over,
and after little while told her that
would agree to it.
"'NOw mind, said she, you are new
CT to bring home any more spirits than
You can bring in that identical Jug
And gave her the promise.
''And before | went to bed that
night, | took the last pull at that jug.
AS | was turning it out for sort of
nightcap, MOlie looked up, and says
she: Charlie, have you got IA drop
left p
There was Just about drop left.
We'd have to get it filled on the NOR
row. Then she said, if had no Objec-
tions, she would drink the last drop
with me. | shall never forget how she
said it, that last drOpr However, /
tipped the old jug bottom up, and got
about a great spoonful, and MOllie said
that was enough. She took the tumb-
Ter and poured IA few drops of hot water
into it, and bit of sugar, and then
she tinkled her glass against mine,
just as she'd seen us boys do, when
we'd been drinking to good luck, and
says she: Here's to the old brown
Jug
''Sakes alive! thought to myself
that poor Molie had been drinking
more of the rum than was good for
her, and tell you it kind of cut me to
the heart. | forgot all about how many
times she had seen me when my tongue
was thicker than it ought to be, and
my legs not So steady AS good legs
ought to be; but | said nothing; |
drank the sentiment-'The old brown
iug'-and let it go.
well, went out after that and did
my chores, and then went to bed and
the last thing said before leaving the
kitchen-this very room where we now
sit-was:
"'We'll have the old brown jug filed
tomorrow
:'And then | went off to bed. And
have remembered ever since that
went To bed that night, as had done
hundreds of times before, with buzz
zing in my head that healthy man
ought not to have. | didn't think of
il then, nor had | ever thought of il
before, but Eve thought of it good
many times since, and have thought of
it with wonder aud awe.
''Well, got mp the next morning
and did my work at the barn, then
came in and eat my breakfast, but not
with such an appetite as farmer
ought to have, and | could not think
then that my appetite had begun to
fail. However, | ate breakfast, and
then went ont and hitched up the old
mare /; for, to tell the plain truth | was
feeling III the need of Il glass of spirits,
and | hadn't drop in the house. |
was IN hurry to get to the village.
| hItched up and came in for the Jug.
i went for il ia the old cupboard and
took it out, and
"Did You ever break through the
thin ice on "A swapping cold day, and
find yourself, in an instant, over your
head in freezing waterP Because that |
is the way | felt at that moment The |
jug was there but the bottom was !
gone. Mollie had taken a sharp chisel |
and hammer, and, with skill that |
might have done credit To a master
workman, she had clipped the bottom !
clean out of the jug without even crack
ing the edges of the sides. looked at |
the jug, and then she burst out. She |
spoke, oh, | had never heard ANYTHING /
like it No, nor have heard anything |
like II since. She said
"'Charles, that's;where the mortgage |
on this farm came front 1t was brought |
home within that jug-two quarts at a |
time! Aud there's where Your white,
clear skin, and your clear, pretty eyes
are going And in that Jug, my hus-