The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-10-13

ssOh, he has not been here for a long
WHILE" say the gentleman of the firm.
"Your son, 1 am sorry to say IS on the
wrong track"
to place and comes suddenly upon him that
night in a place of abandonment. The father
saws: my son, come with me. Your mother
has sent me to bring you home. I hear You
are out of money and good clothes and you
know as long as we live you can have
home" "Come right away!'' he says, put
ting his hand on the young mans shoulder
In angry tone Edward replies: rake
your hands off mel, You mind your own
business. VIII do as please rake your
hands off of me or l will strike you down!
You 90 your way and I will go mine"
That Saturday night or rather Sunday
morning-for it is by this time two o'clock IN
the morning, the father goes to the city home
of his son. Nicholas and rings the bell ana
rings again and again, and it seems as II no
answer would be given, but after while
window is hoistsd and a voice cries:
Who's there ?'
"It is me-" says the old man.
"Why, father, is that you q
In minute the door is opened and the son
HWhat in the world has brought you to
the city this hour of the night! Z"
ooh. Edward has brought me here. Ifeared
your mother would 60 stark crazy not hear
ing from him, and find out that it IS worse
with him than suspected"
sYes' says Nicholas, VI had not the nearG
to write you anything about it l have tried
my best with him and all in vain. But it is
after two O'Clock" says Nicholas to his
father, land will take you to bed"
On q comfortable couch in that house the
old father lies down, coa1ing sleep for few
hours, but no sleep comes. Whose house IS
it! One rented by his son, Nicholas: The
fact IS that Nicholas soon after coming to
the city became indispensable il the COM
mercial establishment where he was placed
He knew, what few persons know, that while
in all departments Of business and mechan-
ism and art there is surplus OF people or
ordinary application and ordinary diligence,
there is great scarcity and always has been
a great scarcity of people who excel. Plenty
of people to do things poorly or tclerably
we'll, but very few clerks or business men or
me e.hanics who can do splendidly well. Ap-
preciating this. Nicholas had resolved to do
SO grandly that the business firm could not
do without him. Always at his place before
the time he was required to come. Always
at his place little after everybody had gone:
AS extremely polite to these who declined
purchasing as to those who made large pur-
chases. He drank no wine, for he saw it
was the Imprisonment Of multitudes, and
he said mo" with the peculiar information
that meant no. His conversation was always
as pure as if his sister had been listening.
He went to no place Of amusement where ne
would be ashamed to die He never bet or
gambled. even at church fair. When ne
was at the boarding house after ne got all
the artistic development he could possibly
receive from the chromos on the wall he be-
gan to study that which would help him to
promotion; study penmanship, study blog-
raphies Of successful men, or went forth to
places of innocent amusement and to Young
Mems Christian Associations, and was not
ashamed to be found at church prayer
meeting. He rose from position to position
and from one salary to another salary.
Only five years in town and yet he h6s
rented his own house or suit of rooms, not
very large, bu. home large enough in It's
happiness to be type of heaven. In the
morning as the old father with handkerchief
in hand comes crying down stairs to the table,
there are four persons, one for each side: the
young man, and opposite to him the best
blessing that God Of infinite goodness can
bestow, namely, good wife, and on another
side the hish chair filled with dimpled and
rollicking elee that makes the grandfather
opposite smile outside while he has broken
heart within.
Well, as said it was Sabbath and Mich
olas and his father knowing that there is no
place so appropriate for troubled soul as
the house Of God, find their way to church.
1t is communion day, and what is the old
mans surprise to see his son pass down the
aisle with one of the silver chalices, showing
him to be q church Off :ial. Tne fact was
that Nicholas from the start in city life hon.
ored God and God had honored him. When
the first wave Of city temptation struck him
he had felt the need of Divine guidance and
Divine protection and in prayer had sought
q regenerated heart, and had obtained that
mightiest of all armor, that mightieSt of all
protection, that mightiest Of all reinforce
ments, the multipotentand omuipotent grace
of God. and YOU might as we'll throw thistle
down against Gibraltar, expecting to destroy
it. as with all the combined temptations Of
earth and hell try to overthrow young man
who can truthfully say: God is my refuge
and strength"
Come, let us measure Nicholas around the
head. As many inches of brain as any other
intelligent man. Let us measure him
around the heart 1t is so large it takes in
all the earth and all the heavens. Measure
him around the purse. He has more re-
sources than nineteen Of any Of those who,
on that Monday, September 20, came in on
any of the railroads from North, or South,
or East, or West.
But that Sabbath afternoon while in the
ba X room, Nicholas ind his father are talk
ing over a new plan for the reclamation of
Edward, there is a ringing of the door bell,
and a man with uniform of policeman
stands there. and with some embarrassment
and some hating. and in roundabout way
saws that in q fight in some low haunt OF the
CITY Edward has been hurt He says to
Nicholas: 81 heard that he was some rela-
ton of yours and thought you ought to know
it."
"Hurta Is he badly hurtW
eyes. very badly hurt:"
s'Is the wound nortal!'
eyes: it is mortal. To tell you the whole
truth, SIR" says the policeman, although I
can hardly bear to tell YOU, he is dead"
"Dead!" cries Nicholas. And by this time
the whole family are in the hallway. Tho
father says: ''Just as feared. 1t will kill
his mother when she hears Of it. Oh, my son,
nv son! Would to God had died for thee.
Oh, my son, my SOM"
8yVash or the wounds" says Nicholas.
ssand bring him right here to my house and
let there be all respect and gentleness shown
him. 1t is the last we can do for him."
Oh, what obsequies The next door neigh
bors hardly knew what was going on, but
Nicholas and the father and mother knew.
Out Of tho Christian and beautiful home OF
the one brother is carried the dssolute
brother No word Of blame uttered. No
harsh thing said. On the bank Of camellias
is spelled out the word "BRoTHER." Had
the prodigal been true and pure and noble in
life and honorable in death, he could not
have been carried forth with more tender
ness, or slept in more beautiful garden OF
thedead Amid the loosened turf the brothers
who left the country for city life five years
before now part forever. The last scene of
the fifth act Of an awful tragedy OF human
life is ended.
What -aade the difference between these
two young menl Religion. The one de-
pended on himself, the other depended on
God. They started from the sams home, had