, 1889-09-11


with a wide awake brain and a thirst for
knowledge, is going with me where / am
going, like the prodigal of old. You
have heard of the philanthropist and
millionaire of N? Well, you may
be surprised, but he is my father, and 1
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 to
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 old
latch key, and it would be hard to tell of
the influence of that voiceless bit Of
metal. 1t was a talisman of untold value.
1t meant an open door, and though led
astray by bad habits and wild compan-
ions, each look at that key riveted the
chain he could not break. Had it been
lost it is impossible to conceive of what
might nave been the effect of the bar
rier 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 chill
dren 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 fol-
lowed is too sacred for pen of mine.
To Tommy Armstrong, who accom-
panied him, the journey was a complete
bewilderment, though Mr.. Brown had
in a measur prepared him for it; but
the immensely of mountains and prairies
was inconceivable, and city blocks and
parks with their adornments were hard
for such a boy to imagine. With glisten-
ing eyes the father gazed upon the boy,
who. Hamil said, had taught him the
lesson that love and home had failed to,
and without transferring the affection
that belonged to his own son., he received
him with open house and heart. The
tide had turned, and in spite of the luck
that had followed the Armstrong;, the
uphill march began.
Hamil Brown, leaving his sins behind
him, bravely struggling back into the
niche that long before should have been
his, looked Upon Tommy with pride as
well as love. As the days went by he
gazed with establishment at the boy, for
each endeavor strengthened the used
faculties and his progress was steady and
sure, 1t seemed that from some far
away ancestor an inherent persistency
had come down to him, which, with ma
terial aid, developed qualities hitherto
dormant.
A score of years later the little town
tl,t I,l l,sl r1,,,,t d, d., W.. NU..II1
sleep, awoke from its lethargy. Half
a mile north of the village buildings
sprang up as if by magic. Ponderous
machinery was put in place. The prog
ress of the stream that once lazily me-
andered 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 many
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 sanguine had never
expected TO see till after the advent of
the handsome gentleman who had so
suddenly appeared in their midst. With
out making himself known, he spent q
day or two looking about, his keen eye
detecting the possibilities of the place
and seeing, in tho future, what is now
no surprise to many New Englanders.
After purchasing n large tract of land
he departed, leaving the townspeople to
wonder and surmise in their quiet way.
MISUNDERSTANDING" said Mr.. Seth
Grattan, when In the country store the
men gathered TO talk owe the unusual
occurrence. "NVhy, that's the name of
the boy who years g went off with
that wild chap, Hamil Brown, don't you
remember at cannot be that boy,
though" and the old villagers who were
present spent an hour calling to mind
all they remembered of that peculiarly
unlucky family.
The first families who arrived were a
complete surprise, though the people
thought themselves prepared for any
thing, after the excitement that had SO
transformed their little farming town.
Mr.. Armstrong, with n lovely young
wife, took possession of a delightful
house on the summit of a hill that over
looked not only what had been accom-
plished by human ingenuity, but a view
almost unparalleled, though nature is so
lavish with her gifts. Imagination can
picture what took place after the "whir
and whiz" began, superintended by the
noble man whose life was proving that
in spite of the i'll luck of his family il
was possible ~ step up and out Of the
ruts that had borne them only down.
In the following summer, on a clear
ing in the midst of what is yet a forest,
surrounded by huge trees, some of them
perhaps n century old, stood two men.
Suddenly their hands clasped and with
tears intermingling with smiles, Mr..
Brown, a magnificent specimen of man.
hood, said: my lear brother, it recalls
SO wildly the turning point in my life.
This is the very spot where we camped,
and God grant that the towering tree
just yonder hat o'ertops all others has
not put vi better growth than this hum
BILE follower, who for years has sought to
do his will. l shall leave you in your
new home, proud that the little sister.
whom L had never seen till, l trust the
,rnslf,r oxrav. 90 Gin s.,rS hoI ,1nn-