The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-10-14

thaAA AVti0 - 10 w ~
after a silent puff at his p~ipe-"about to-
morrow"
"Tomorrcrl" I echoed, What's a-goip
TO happen theni"
"That is what we must try to decide.
Tomorrow at o o'clock 1 shall go tot pot
terry where l work.
"You amt a-goin to send me away till 0
tomorrer mornin!" said / joyfully.
mo. Mere Lucas will take care Of you
tonight. Have you any notion What you
shall do afteri"
YES / replied r~esolutely. II msdc my
mind up to it while I was in the station
'us. l shall 20 back to Shadwell. 'Tain't
no good. / got to live and face it out like
the rest on US. And / can't get a Twin
where I amt known. I'll go back to the
Joy. Dessay I'll get off with a punch or
two. Then Putty'l come round and give
me a job, cause he knows | don't nick the
beer nor the coppers."
az think / must ask one question. Are
you related to that man in any ways"
mot me. / don't member ever havin
nc relatives"
"He is not even a friendg"
81 told you i amt got no friends-not
one. II / had, do you think i should ha'
gone and lone what / did down there in
the meshes Greenwich way'"
He shook his head. Then, after a pause,
he asked me IL / thought i could do some
thing better than go back TO the old life.
mo" said i. II can't think of nothing
else as I'm fit for and as would do me bet
ter. Can your"
Eyes" he replied, laying down his pipe,
and leaning forward with a new light
flashing in his deep, earnest eyes he contin-
ued: II can think of something much bet
ter. You are filter for a new life than the
old"
"You don't mean an institootion?" !
asked, chilled to the heart with the dread
that he should think me worse even than
i was as i recollected the proposals with
regard to living a new life made by the
missionary who visited me in the station
house cell.
mo, / do not mean anything Of the
sort" he replied, with a flash of angry re-
pugnance in his eyes. ION the contrary, l
am thinking of removing you from all asso-
Citations with the world you have lived in
and its people-of placing you in a position
where nothing shall recall the past-of sep
arating you from previous conditions as
completely as IL you were to be born again
upon another earth. To do that you must
think that your life begins from today;
that the part of your life in the past has
been blotted out. You must abandon all
the ways and customs to which you have
been used. Even the language, such as it
is, that you speak today must be changed
for a new one. Every link in the chain that
connects you with the past must be broken.
You must begin just like n child who has
everything to learn. Do you understand
met"
I'd never been picked up out of the river
and was just a-goin straight to heving,
mint iti"
"What is your notion of heavenf"
swell, I've heered say it's a kinder place
where you don't have to do nothin but sit
about and enj'y yourself and never want
anything more'n you've got"
"Then it isn't at all like that, for you
will ave more to do than you have done
yet awhile, and there will be pain as we'll
as pleasure, and you will never cease to
want something better than you have"
1T stands to reason / must do q lot il
I'm to learn everything like a kid, and how
Pm a-goin to do it's a Ticker if 1 amt to
speak my own language"
Learn another"
1t puzzled me to see how this was to be
done, untii, seeing my perplexity, Taras
said: "We will help yop-Mere Lucus and
II
Twill you. master'" said /, my heart
leaping with delight at the prospect this
promise opened. "I1l do just whatever
you tell meas fur as / can. But / amt
clever"
THAT remains to be seen"
81 can't write nor nothink."
"You will soon learn to write with those
long fingers"
but what am / to do for a Twin all the
time I'm a-learnina"
1T will be time enough to think of that
when you have learnt what you can dc
best. Mere Lucas will always find some
thing for us to eat and drink, and there's a
room up stairs which you can have for your.
self"
WHAT" I exclaimed. "Herei Amt you
goin to send me away from this placer"
mot while you wish to stay"
1 could not help it.. Something rose in
my heart and seemed to choke me with o
joy too great to bear-the tears would come
to my eyes. However, / tried to hide them
from him, and turning away as If to look
around the room / said as clearly as IN
tion would let me:
Il shall have to be awful neat and nicei
i am 10 live in such rooms as this here"
II daresay you will find Mere Lucas q Sc
we're teacher in that matter"
And" still keeping my head turned, II
got to be awful good if Im to be''-here a
other sob choked me for a moment or two
Ia friend like of yours. tn be dreadful
long fore / learn enough for that"
That's the easiest lesson OF all, {" said he.
There's only one rule to remember If you
would be good, and that rule governs rich
and poor, witty and simple, all human be.
ings from one end of the earth to the other.
1t Is simply to be honest and treat me and
others as you would have me and others &c
treat you"
Could that be ALP / asked myself. Could
that rule alone make him so good to mel
1t took me a long while to realize that the
practice of this simple doctrine made him
SO admirable.
"And now, little friend" said he taking
up his pipe and lighting it again, 'as the
general idea seems pretty clear, let us come
TO practical particulars. What shall we dc
~. a.. d. l.s.t