St. Landry democrat., 1893-06-24

little boy a dime; and once, when tn
little fellow had fever on him iron
teething, Old Grewly brought him dol
larl Next day the tooth came through
and the fever left him, but you couldn'
make the old man believe but what i
was the dollar that did 1t all. That wa
natural, perhaps, for his life h ad beer
spent in grubbing formoney, and he hat
not the soul to see that the best ant
sweetest things in human life are not tt
be had by riches alone.
As the doctor had in one way and Oh
other intimated would BIZ the case thu
child did not #ax fat and vigorous
Although Old Growly did not, seem t
see the truth, little Abel sreT slider only
to BECOME what the doctor had foretol6
a cripple. A weakness of the spine
was developed malady that dwarfed the
child's growth, giving to his wee face {
pinched, starved look, warping his ema
ciated body and enfeeblihg bis puny
limbs, while at the Saline time it quickened
the intellectual faculties to degree Of
preeocity. And SO two and thtes And
our years went by, little Abel clingipe
to life with pathetic heroism and old
Growly loving that little cripple with all
the violence Of his selfish nature. Never
once did it octut to the father that the
child might die, that deaths seal was al
ready set upon the misshapen little body
on the contrary Old Growly's thoughts
were constantly of littls Abel's famous
future, of the great fortune he was to fall
heir to, Of the prosperous business eaFeet
he was to pursue, Of the influence he
was to WELD in the world-of dollars;
dollars, millions of them which littlt
Abel was sometime ID POSSESS; these
were old arowly's dreams, and he loved
TO dream them.
Meanwhile the world did we'll by the
old man despising him, undoubtedly;
for his avarics and selflshness, but con
stantly pouring wealth, and more wealth,
and evermore wealth into his Golfers. As
for the old man, he cared pct what Tile
world thought 1t said, so long as it paid
tribute to him; he wrought on as of old,
industriously, shrewdly, hardly, but with
this new purpose: To make his little boy
happy and great with riches.
Toys and picture books wete tanities
in which Old Growl " never INDUCED; to
have expended farthing for chattels Of
that character would kavs ssehied to Old
Grewls like sinful extravaganza. The
few playthings which little Abel had
were such as bis mothet surreptitiously
bought; TIE old man believed that the
child should be imbued with a proper
regard for the value Of money from the
very start, so his presents were always
cash in hand. and he bought large tin
bank for little Abel and taught the
child how to put the copper and silver
pieces into it, and he 1abored diligently
to impress upon the child of how great
benefit that Same money would be to
him by and by. Just piethre ID tBut-
self, it you can, that fond, foolish old
man Seeking to teach this lesson to that
wan eyed, pinched-faced little cripple.
But little Abel took it all very seriously,
and was so apt pupil that Old Growly
made great Joy and was wont to rub his
bony hands gleefullS and say to HIM
self. "He mas great genius this boy
of mine-grsat genius for fdahces"
But Oh day. coming from his factory,
Old Grewly was stricken with horror to
ind that during his absence from home
a great change had come upon his child.
The doctor said it was simply the pro-
gress Of the disease; that it was a marvel
that little Abel had held cut So long;
that from The moment Of his birth the
seal Of death had been set Upon him ia
that cruel malady Which had drawn his
face and warped his body and limbs.
Then all at once Old Growly's eyes
seemed to be opened to the truth, aud
like lightning flash it came to him that
perhaps HE pleasant dreams which he
had dreamed of his child's future could
never be realized. It was bitter awak-
ening, vet amid it all the old man was
full Of, hops, determination and battle.
He had little faith in drugs and nursing;
and professional skill; IL remembered
that upon previous occasions cures had
been wrought by means of money; teeth
had been brought through, the pangs of
collie beguiled, and numerous other all
ments to which infancy is heir had by
the same specific been baff1sd. So now
Old Growly set abuut wbting his little
boy from the embrace Of death-sought
to coax him back to health with money,
and the dimes bscaEas dollafs, and
TIE til bank was like to burst
of fullness. But little Abel dropped
and dropped, and he lost all
interest in other things, and
he was content to lie dropping eyed aud
listless, In his mothers arms all day. At
last the little flame went cut with hardly
so much as futtef, and the hope of the
house Of Dunklee was dissipated forever.
But even in, those last .iiiomehts Of the
little eripple's suffering the father strug-
gled to call back the old look into the
fading eyes and the old smile into the
dear, white face. He brought treasure
from the vaults and held it up before
those fading eyes and promised it all, all
Everything he possessed-gold, houses,
lands-all he had he would give to that
little child, If that little child weuld only
live. But the fading eyes saw other
things and the ears that wefe deaf to the
old mans lamentations heard voices that