The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1889-09-28

pIJy. ne was one OF gang or men VINO,
with guns and axes, were going into
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
our hands," said the good deacon, sit
will be 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"
Hamil Brown looked at the deacon as
if he could hardly repress an oath, and
the Lord who looks into the heart might
have had one to forgive. He shut his
teeth for 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 CO." 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 alonel
Where are the women of this town,
wonderp"
He sat down beside him In such
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 a
little sorrowing boy, as full of GRIEF as
any other who had lost his all. Mr..
Brown let him cry, till he sobbed, "Win
not somebody put me In the grave with
themS' Then, with one arm arouni
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 hilly forest had
worked a miracle. II had vitalized the
whole system. Body and brain had alike
received an impetus. Hamil Brown said
to Seth Grattan, who exclaimed over
the vigorous looking boy: eyes, 1t has
been good thing for him, think, and
1 know it has for me and the other men.
for what think you of boy who says
his prayers every night and is always
obliging and pleasant, and who is brave
enough to shame us all? Yes, believe
in heredity, too, and know whose son
l am, and whose grandson, but l know.
too, that, with all my opportunities and
education, / have been a disgrace to
them. Since was expelled from col
lege, more than six years ago, I've roved
and wandered, to be brought to my
senses by this little fellow, who might
have had a home with your paupers.
though your taxes would have been in
creased thereby. Thomas Armstrong,
with a wide awake brain and a thirst for
knowledge, is going with me where l am
going, like the prodigal of old. You
millionaire of M Well, you may
be surprised, but he is my father, and !
know him SO well, know the 'fatted
calf will be killed"
A little later, like the butterfly from a
chrysalis, Hamil Brown emerged from
his old life, shorn of much that out
wardly had made him such a contrast tc
the youth who, six years before, said his
last good-by to parents, home and friends
who with troubled hearts, but never
wavering love, had hoped on, never
doubling that some time he would return
to them.
In all of his wanderings he kept his ole
latch key, and it would be hard to tell o.
the influence of that voiceless bit o.
metal. 1t was talisman of untold value
1t meant an open door, and though lee
astFay by bad habits and wild compan
ions, each look at that key riveted thu
chain he could not break. Had it beer
lost 1t is impossible to conceive Of wha
might have been the effect Of the bar