, 1886-01-08
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There is a retired cobbler living in
this place who deserves the respect OF
his countrymen for moral courage.
Ten years ago he was, and had been
for a long time, a confirmed inebriatc-
not a periodical spreer, bnt a genuine
soaker, warranted not to draw a sober
breath from sun TO sun. Occasionally
the fumes of the whisky With which no
piled himself would clear away from
his befogged brain, and at such times
his mental equilibrium would wresile
with the problem of total or even partial
abstinence, to be utterly wrecked ut the
sight of his haunts or the frs; faint
call Of his system for the stimulant
which long use had rendered per-
emptory. FTIU. ur..f rrr
Ono day, however, n halt wa called,
and this is the way he tells of il;
Il was on my way to the barn when
| saw a small snake in my path. /
kicked it with my boot and 1t turned to
a bit of crooked twig, which | snapped
in my hand ond threw away. Thought
nothing more of the matter until |
reached the barn, when, directly before
me, a second snake twisted across tho
boards. With a quick spring l seized it,
and il proved to be a whiplash. A snd
den, horrible fear made me faint and
weax. ] sat down on the lower rung of
the ladder leading to the loft and wiped
the cold sweat from my forehead.
"'Snakes, by Jerichor / exclaimed
That means business.
Then stared straight across at a
corn-stalk that soon began slowly wrig-
gle and curve. With bursting eyeballs
and all the strength OF mind | possessed
| forced that corn stalk back from the
animal to the vegetable kingdom, and
then | staggered feebly out into the
open air. | leaned against q fence, and.
for fear should see more OF those hor-
rible twisting things, | chung to n post
and closed my eyes.
" Time is called, jim, | said to my
self, whisky and you part company 10.
day. and soberer than | had been for
many months, though with no more
strength than a baby, | managed to get
back to the house.
There was a fight, though | didn't
tell my wife, for | had made a good
many promises that hadn't held water,
and l thought I'd go it alone for a
while, got up in the morning after a
terrible night with the thirst of a chased
fox upon me. Water wouldn't quench
it, and l tried milk. | crept into the
milk-room, slipped a straw into the
edge of a recovered pan, and
knocked out the milk until only the
cream was left, lowered smooth and I'M
broken to the bottom. Then | tackled
another and another, until the fierce
craving was somewhat dulled 1t was
a household mystery what became of
the milk. No cat could lap it, my wife
said, and leave the sides and cream I'M
touched, and where did it go
81 let them talk, for the struggle was
too sore and fearful to be spoken OF,
and ! went on drinking the milk.
THE road from my house TO my SHOP
lay by the GROCERY. When l left my
gate in the morning | took the road,
and on a dead run, as if pursued, !
made the distance. | ran hard all the
way home to dinner, and back after
that meal, never, in fact, trusting my
self to walk, or even take the side walk
for months. The cure was slow. l
keep all the brakes hard set yet. A
single glass of hard cider would undo
the work Of all these years, but you can
bet that glass doesnt touch my lips
while the memory of those little crawl
ing black reptiles stays with me-"
And did you wife finally learn what
became OF the milk" he was asked.
Eyes" and his voice broke. II told
her on her deathbed. q
Jim, dear she said, when / had
finished with her hand clasped in mine,
Jim, dear, l knew it all the time