The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-08-29

AAAC ~ AC "4@b O1k
wardly had made him such q contrast to
the youth who, six years before, said his
last goou-Dy TO parents, nome ana IrleLus
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 have 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 hira, and in response to his
tap the t'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 measure prepared him for it; but
the immensely of mountains and prairies
was uncomfortable, 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,
- TJo-o.l aosI 1C1 ko.a~1k hs~~ kI.a
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
that had had almost a Rip Van Wrinkle
sleep, awoke from its lethargy. Hal
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 SC
suddenly appeared in their midst. With
out making himself known, he spent a
day or two looking about, his keen eye
detecting 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 tc
wonder and surmise in their quiet way.
"Arnstrong-Armstrong!" said Mr.. Seth
Grattan, when in the country store the
men gathered to talk over the unusual
occurrence. "Why, that's the name of
the boy who years ago went off with
that wild chap, Hamil Brown, don't you
remember st 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 Sc
transformed their little farming town.
Nj. Armstrong, with a 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 sc
lavish with her gifts. Imagination car
picture what took place after the twin
and whiz" began, superintendent by the
noble man whose life was proving thai
in spite of the ill luck of his family il
was possible to step up and out of the
ruts that had borne them only down.
In the following summer, on q clear
ing in the midst of what is yet a forest
surrounded by huge trees, some of then
perhaps a century old, stood two men
Suddenly their hands clasped and witt
tears intermingling with smiles, Mr.
Brown, a magnificent specimen of man
hood, said: my dear brother, it recalls
so wildly the turning point in my life
This is the very spot where WI camped
and God grant that the towering tree
just yonder that o'ertops all others has
not put out better growth than this hum
bic follower, who for years has sought tt
do his will. I shall leave you In you
new home, proud that the little sister
whom / had never seen till, l trust, the
washing away of sin scars had com,
menced, is with you, your dear and hon.
ored wife,"
a story Of a life can new really end
and it may be 40 well to take our leav.
just at this point as at any other-in the
sunshine which we trust may follow
them Though life
-DEO