Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-10-31

home with your paupers. though your tax
Is would have been increased thereby.
homaS Armstrong, with q wide awake
brain and thirst for knowledge is going
with me where ! am going. like the
ProdIgal of old You have heard of the
phllanthropist and millionaire Of F-y
Well, you may be surprised. but he is my
father, and ] know him so we'll know the
fatted calf will be killed
little later, like the butterfly from a
chrysalis, Hamil Brown emerged from his
old life. shon of much that 0utwardly had
made INN such "a contrast 10 the youth
who, SIX years before. said his last good
by to parents, home and friends who with
troubled hearts. but never wayering love.
had hoped ON, never doubling that some
time he would return to them
In all Of his wanderings he kept his ola
latch key. and it would be hard to tell Of
the influence of that voicelass bit of metal
1t was taisman of untold value. 1t
meant an open door, and Though led aSuay
by bad habits and wild companions. each
look at that key riyeted the chain he could
not break. Had it been lost it is impos-
slble to conceive of what might have been
the effect Of the barrier swept away When
at last he turned the key in the familiar
door, he forgot everything but this it was
the hour when the father used to gather
the children about him. and In response TO
his tap the come in was SO like that of
old he thought of nothing except the dear
faces before him. The scene that followed
is too sacred for pen of mine.
TO Tommy Armstrong. who accom-
panied him. the Journey was complete be-
wildermeut, though Mr. Brown had in a
measure prepared him for it: but the inn
mensity Of mountains and prairies was iu-
conceivable. and city blocks and parks
with their adorumeuts were hard for such
a boy to imagine. With glisteuiug eyes
the iutEar gazed upon the boy. who Hamil
said. had taught him the lesson that love
and home had failed to- and without trans
Ierring the affection that belonged To his
own son, he received him with open house
and heart The tide had turned and i'm
spite Of the luck that had followed the
Hamil Brown. leaving his sins behind
him, brayely struggling back into theuiche
that long before should have been his, look
ed upon Tommy with pride as well as love
As the DAYS went bv Inc gazed with aston
ishment at the bow for each endeavor
strengthened the used faculties and his
progress was steady and sure. 1t seemed
that from some PARKWAY ancestor an inher-
emit per,istency had come down to him.
which, with material aid. developed quail
ties hitherto dormant
A score of years later the little town that
had almost a Rip Van Wrinkle sleep,
awoke from its lethargy. Half q mile
north of the village buildings sprang up
as if my magic. Ponderous machinery
was put in place The progress of the
stream that once lazily meandered through
the town was stopped by a huge dam. and
the rushing torrent seemed to enter into
the spirit of the wide awake projectors
Ere .aany months passed the inhabitants
became somewhat accustomed TO the
screech Of the locomotive, and did not
gather daily to look upon the incoming or
outgoing trains that the most snguine
had never expected to see till after the adj
vent of the handsome gentleman who had
suddenly appeared i'm their midst. With
out making himself known, he spent a day
or two looking about, his keen eye detect
ing the possibilities of the place and seeing
in the future. what is now no surprise TO
many New Englanders, After purchasing
a large tract Of land he departed, leaving
the townspeople TO wonder and surmise in
their quiet way. Armstrong
strong, said Mr.. Seth Grattan. when i'm
the country store the men gathered to talk
over the unusual occurrence. Why that s
the name of the boy who wears ago went or
with that wild chap Hami Brown, don {
You remember?" ut cannot be that boy,