The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-13
LOCKED OUT.
A STORY WITH AN OLD FASH
TONED MORAL.
BY CHARLES w. HooKz


we CdueQ MIN QEunkdlu Nueu nc was
p years old, looked upon him
as a lost man 1 believed that he would
be mere sot at 30 and that he
would die miserably before he was
IS.
We lost each other for some years, and
then, after a chance meeting in New
York, ! dined with him most happily in
the comfort Of his home and in the light
of "a beautiful wOman's eyes. When
that light was withdrawn, and we
were left to dim the remaining
illumination with a haze of tobacco
smoke, fell into deep thought upon the
agreeable failure of my prophecy. What
had saved JACKIE ] might have said il was
his marriage, but / knew that he had
fallen into the depths again soon after.
Hearing that report, ] had pitied her eN-
ceedingly. and had thought the worst Of
Jack. Yet, ! could not doubt that he was
at last in the sure way Knowing him so
well, felt that some surprising incident
must have changed the course of his life,
and my curiosity craved the story.
Il know what you're thinking about"
said he you're wondering why l am
here instead of being in the gutter"
20, no, Jack" said /, nothing of the
sort l always knew you'd come out all
right You drank little at one time, of
course, but"
mo I didn't" said Jack. Il never
drank little. l drank barrel. MOder-
atiOnwasn in me. ] was drunkard. l
lived the life of drunkard. 1 died the
death of a drunkard."
"MetaphOricallyH"
Literally. That may sound absurd,
but it is only the truth. Nothing but
death could save me-"
mot even"
'No; not even Alice"
His eyes filled with tears of tenderness
at the mention of his wife's name.
81 was never so wrong headed" he
continued, "as to suppose that a man can
be saved by love alone. Any person who
has had experience in such matters
knows that an added motive for sobriety
is an added temptation to the drunkard.
You see a man marry and keep sober for
a while. Then you see him take a
drink again. You say it is because his
love has waned with the honeymoon It's
no such thing. At first he does not drink
because the novelty of the situation
keeps his mind off the subject. Marriage
seems like a great vacation from the dull
ness of life And then love grows
stronger till he begins to realize what 1t
is The preCiousness of his possession
reveals itself to him. He who has more
than his due is never free from fear. What
if he lose her? He reviews the dangers.
In the front rank of them he sees his APP
petite. And that is the end of him. AS
soon as he knows that it viii be abso-
lutely fatal for him to touch drop of
liquor, he Is certain to do it. That was
my experience; and my sin was the
greater because l knew it all before
hand"
''Yet you escaped the consequence"
mo; it killed me, as l have already
said. l will tell you the story. You can
make farce-Comedy or a tragedy out of
it, just as you like 1t was a CHASTITY
joke. Mother nature is the grimmest
practical Joker, after ALL and this is the
way she played it on me. But first l
must let you into the mysteries of our
early housekeeping. The details seem
trivial but they contributed to final catas-
trophe
Il began with the usual drunkard's
balance-on the wrong side of the
books. We took fiat in that long row |
pointed out TO you as we came up town on
the l.. Our furniture we procured on the
installment plan. 1t was not luxurious,
of course, but you should have seen how
pretty a home Alice made with it, There
were weekly payments to be met; and for
. a month or more the rising sun and |
were models of punctuality. Then l let it
go for a week Nothing happened. ! was
somewhat surprised at that, for my cons
tract with the dealer had been more bind
- I;'I - - 40 81 ~
I1,,;,' 49, "iiS
=" ot'i W
80 Wy ~ - N' - -
roI ~, ~
~ ne 80 " a. w
GeisI my Hio en-. ona C1i9 I;5
uolpl'.9 o.i0 IL ~ 10y - "IG -.
r6wed $40 from .Iobn Ennis and nc he
gove me the cash he looked at me- in n
neculiar vav
,1r,.,,
he thlhKS l II go on on spree ana
spenu JhlS money, sald 10 myself, ana
theh aoued great heavens, what II /
should!
1T seems absurd to be sentimental
about few sticks of furniture, but when
man is newly married and has home
Tor the hrst time III ten years, he may be
pardoneu Tor an excessive anxiety TO Keep
II uholsIufocd. ihat Anxiety was OF
course, my chlc1 DANGER. Inc Grunkarq
IS Always "a Jhe euge OF Il pfeclpco ana
II ne looks down. ne Will cast himself IN
10 the QepJhs. IL Is the same perhaps,
with all mortal perllS; theN nave tascl-
nation. looked Gown That day, and was
dragged over the Drink.
THAT was the beginning of such degra-
dation as | could not name TO any man
but true friend. The poverty which
drmkness entails is not nearly the worst
of it, and yet that alone is hcart-rcuding
l.