Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-02-04
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
|ow CARL SAVED HIS FATHER.
rory of Drunken Fathers Refor-
nation.

IN his eyes as well as his ears, for he
aned on the back of the bench before
Ii. and stared with big eager eyes al
speaker The latter was telling
,out the thirst of drunkard 1t was
,e furnace. he said, heated red-hot.
III was asking for liquor 10 feed it
the time.
Z n Carl did not seem to notice anything
CO but the minister, who was talking
the boys and girls of his congrega-
On. Carl thought of his father, Abram
/ Il artwell, known to be drunkard,
I &pown TO have this hot thirst
How can you cool off such thirst?"
<sked the minister. II saw a great
YER Of ice once-a glacier-oh, so coldl
Mould that take out the heat from
<runkard's thirst? / know what will
Ike away his thirst. Do you want to
tnow? Prayer to God viii do it And
tbatever You do. whatever remedy
Ion try, whatever medicine, don't leave
In prayer Add that to it.
Carl went away in deep thought
that thirst, the awful thirst of a
runkard, and to think his father had
h this hot furnace Oh, If he could do
tnything. He wanted to do so much
tor his home, where the mot her had
uch an anxious face, the home that was
o poor and needy and empty. The
baby there was such pining little
shing the pantry sometimes had no
food in il, the hod ever seemed to lack
coal, the stove was so often without
any fire Oh, so much needed to be
dome in that drunkard's home
E Well, he could do one thing which
& the minister had mentioned; yes, he
could pray He would pray, too, that
very day, that very moment A white
I little face was turned up to the sky in
. It's mute supplication. like white
flower asking for rain on hot day.
God sends rain to the flowers; would
4 he not hear the plea Of this boy-face
and send a blessing?
Hank! When Carl opened his eyes
he heard a rumbling. 1t was not the
sound of thunder accompanying rain,
but it was the Earring noise of heavy
ice cart coming down the hot, dusty
street
"And it is stopping.at Stok"ll's"
thought Carl.
Stokeli was the keeper of the rum
hole al the corner. "And oh, there is
father!'' thought Carl
Abram Hartwell was standing on
the sidewalk, looking very sad and dis
contented. He was saying to himself:
"What a nobody l am! Don't do any
thing, don't amount to anything, don't
care for anything, except-to drink
Oh dearr' Yes, he did seem to be
very useless being.
"What am good for?" he muttered
He looked up to the sky. How he
wished he could be good
His face was coarse and red. There
are flowers coarse and homely, very
unlike the white ones Does not God
send rain on those homely ones also?
While Abram Hartwell was thinking
about his useless life and raising his
hopeless face toward the sky. Carl was
linking about that hot thing, the
runkard's thirst; and oh, if ice would
only cool it and subdue it and stop it!
That ice cart, what an attractive OBJ
iect it was to all the children in the
neigh borhood! Out of the close, hot, |
poor homes, they rushed when they |
heard the sound of the heavy, jarring.
wheels. 1.-THE ice cart the |
Ice cartr they shouted How they
gathered about the cart when it halt
i'd When Sol Stevens, the ice man,
with the brown arms and iron ice pick
broke up the white sparkling blocks of
crystal. what a rush was made for any
of the cool chips flying over the side
valkl
"Hurrah" they shouted. And Sol
trimmed and let his ice pick fall clum-
lily at times on the ice that there might
De shower of nice, cool bits for the
not, thirsty children.
All this time Carl eyed first his father
md then the tempting ice shower He
wanted to pick up cooling crystal and
land it to his father that the awful
hirst within might be slaked, and his
ather not go into Stokell's saloon.
II don't dare to-" Carl muttered
more than once Sol had finished his
delivery of ice for the neighborhood,
'ried: Goodbye, Youngsters" and
mounted the drivers seat, and was
turning mis- team away from the side
walk when Carl saw piece of ice still
nngathered and also saw his father
|urning toward the saloon. Crying:
God, do help me speak to my father"
be quickly mustered courage to seize
hat last piece. Then, strangely, he
dipped, ana oh. so near those awful,
|eayy wheelsl He did not think of
hat He only thought of his father go
hg into the saloon, and cried: Don't
70; oh, this ice, father-take it,"
1t was all Carl could do to offer his
e and think of God in just swift lit
|e prayer
The father turned. He saw some
ping terrible-a big wheel rumbling
p grinding round, and so near his
|yl
Whoaw the driver suddenly shouted
4 his horses, fiercely pulling them
pes from big express team coming
Iund corner He did not see Gard,