The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-08-29
A TURN IN THE u
How Tommy Armstrong Made His Com.
panfon's Fortune as Well as His Own.

pant0n's Fortune as Wen as His own.
In spite Of i'll luck, ! mean, for of all
unlucky people the Armstrong; had been
what old Mrs. Ordway called "the beat
amost." 1t had been o gradual come
down so far as the oldest inhabitant
knew. and old Mrs. Lyons, 'nigh onto q
hundred" as she said, could well remem-
Der the neutrality-suspicious. of the
late Nathan, who was a well to do man
and represented the town at the general
court. and out of courtesy was always
called Squire.
The grandfather of Nathan, though
standing high in the estimation of the
t~ownspeople, being the old Squire's only
son, enjoyed a sort of free and easy life,
and having what the exact and prim
housewives called a 'sshiftless wife," as
the years went on developed into a seedy
looking old man who liked his pipe and
his ease too well for a determined effort
in any direction. His sons, as the vii
layers said, did not amount to much and
the time came when the only descendant
left was Nathan, a grandson. Nathan's
physiognomy showed to the close obser-
yer what effect might be expected from
such a down hill process. Fortunately
he wasn't vicious; he drank neither CT
der nor whisky, was honest and good ma
tured and easy. His wife, a poor girl,
who had little education but a good
heart, must have seen something to adj
mire, else she would not have shaved
twelve long years to keep the larder' half
filled. She would doubtless have gone
on shaving many more had not the good
Lord taken herup higher and mercifully,
too, removed Nathan only a few days
later.
The clergyman who oficiated at the
obsequies called it ian inscrutable dis
pensation Of Providence" but in the
opinion of the village doctor it was a
''want Of drainage" Little Tommy,
their only child, was then about 10 years
old, long and tank with i'll fitting clothes
from which his wrists and ankles pro-
truded in such a suggestive way the min
ister's wife, who had q large heart for
the heather in Umziila's kingdom, said
to Mrs. Graham, sit might be necessary
to borrow trousers and jacket for the
boy to wear to the funeral, since it was
to be in the vestry."
Tommy's long hair and sallow skin did
not make him specially attractive, though
the m%ournful black eyes, full of unshed
tears, in a well fed and well dressed boy
who had not lived in the malarious val
ley that had been his home, might have
found foster parents whose hearts would
have gone out to him. Instead, poor
boy, Deacon Allen, overseer of the poor,
wondered if Seth Grattan did not want
a boy to help him on his farm; the au-
thorities would "bind him OUT probably
for a term Of years and get him off their
hands.
"None of that shiftless tribe for me-"
said Mr.. Grattan when interviewed.
"But," said Deacon Allen, who with a
little opposition was always ready with
an argument, "you don't know nothin'
agin the boy, and in ten years time you
can git q heap O. work out of him-be a
good investment"
"Humph, I tell ye, 7 believe in hered-
ity, and / don't want any such lazy ne'er-
do-wells about"
Ellis mother wasn't lazy" said the
deacon.
Now, don't tell me she was smart,
living there as she did"
"Wel, but what's to be done with the
boy?"
There's the poor house"
mo, no, Mr.. Grattan, don't send the
little fellow there" and Hamil Brown
wiped away a tear, rough man that he
was, for while listening to the above con
~versation his heart was filed with tender
pity. He was one of a gang of men who,
with guns and axes, were going into a
forest some twenty miles away to spend
the winter. '.Let him come to the camp
with me, I'm going up tomorrow"
"Well, well, if you will take him off
u hands," said the good deacon, sit
will be a great relief. Idon't know that
there is anything he can do on the town
farm to earn his board this winter; he
would only be an expense and taxes are
high enough now"
Hainil Brown looked at the deacon as
if he could hardly repress an oath. and
thesLord who looks into the heart might
have had one to forgive. He shut his
teeth for a moment and then proceeded
to make arrangements for taking the
boy along, provided he is willing" said
the man.
Willing or not, he'll have to go" was
the answer.
Hamil Brown found him sitting for
lornly on the wooden steps of the little
house that had been his home.
Poor little chap, you here alone'
Where are the women of this town, I
wonder?"
He sat down beside him in such a
friendly way, the boy suddenly burst
into tears and cried as never before.
The dazed condition that had enveloped
him had washed away and he was q
little sorrowing boy, as full of grief as
any other who had lost his all. Mr..
Brown let him cry, till he sobbed, ',Wili
not somebody put me in the grave with
them?" Then, with one arm aroun,l
him, he talked and talked until the stars
came out.
In the spring, when the men came
down from camp, a red checked, black
eyed and handsome lad came with them.
Wholesome, hearty food, life in the
keen, clear air of the billy forest had
worked a miracle. 1t had vitalized the
whole system. Body and brain had alike