St. Landry democrat., 1893-06-24


pleasure appeared now to be watching
other little ones at their play. In fact
so changed was he from the Old Crowley
of former years that; whereas he haG
been wholly Indifferent to the presence
Of those little ones upon earth, he now
sought there company and delighted te
view their ihneceht dnd mirthful play
And 50 presently the children, from re
garding him first with distrust, came tc
confde in and love him, and in due time
the. OH, map was known far md wide Is
Old Grandpa Growly, and he was
pleased thereat. 1t was his wont to GO
every fair day of an afternoon into park
| hard by his dwelling aid mirEgls with
the crowd of little folks there; and when
they were weary of their sports they
used to gather about him-some even
clamoring upon his knees-and hear him
tell his story that lay next his heart
the story e:er and fBrevef beginning
with "Once there was a littP boy" A
very tender little story It was; too, told
very much more B3teetlA thdn Gould evet
tell it, for it was Of Old Grandpa Grow
ly's own little boy, and it came from
that heart in which the touch-the touch
Of God Hipiself-lay like priceless
pearl.
So you must know that the last years
of the old mans life made full atonemens
for those that had gone before. People
forgot that the old nlan had ever been
other han he was ,now and Of eoprssF
the children fstef knew otherwise. Bit
as for himself; Old Grandpa Growly
| grew tenderer and tcnderer and his good
ness became hoiisehold word and hs
was beloved of all. And to the very last
he loved the little ones and shared their
pleasures and sympathized with them in
their griefs, but always repeating that
same old story. beginning with "Once
Their #uz a littr boy"
The curious part Of 1t was this: That
while he, implied by his fonfdehees to
the Ghidrsn that his own little boy was
dead, he never made that admission to
others. On the contrary, it was his
wont, as l have said, to speak of little
Abel as if that child still lived, and,
humoring him in this conceit, it was the
custom Of the older ones to speak
always Of that child as if he lived and
We're known and believed Of oil. lii
this custom the old man had great con-
tent and solace: For 1t, was
his wish that ill he gave to and did fot
Charity sake should be known to come
not from him, but from Abel, his son,
and this was his express stipulation at all
such times. l know whereof | speak,
for | was one of those to whom the old
man came upon time and said: ''My
little boy-Abel, you know-~will give
me no peace till [ do what he requires.
He has this slim Of money which he has
saved in his bank--count it yourselves,
it is $50, 600 and he bids me give 1t to
the townsfBlk for a hospital, one for
little lame boys and girls. And have
promised him-my little boy Abel, you
know-that l will give $4,000 more.
You shall have it when the hospital is
built" Surely enough, in eighteen
months time the old man handed us the
rest of the money! aud when we told him
that the place. was to be called the Abel
Du1klEe hospital he was sorely distressed
and shook his head and said: "No, no,
not nay name! Call it the Little Abel
hospital, for little Abel-my boy, you
know-has done it ALL"
The old man lived many years-lived
to hear tender vuices bless him and see
pale faces brighten at the sound of his
football. Yes; for many years the quaint,
shuffiing fgtrb moted about our streets;
and his hoarse but kindly voice-oh,
very kindly ow.-was heard repeating
to the children that pathetic old story of
"Once Their wuz littH boy" And
whore the dear old feet trod the grass
grew grcenest and the sunbeams nestled.
But at last there came a summons for the
old MIN summons front away off ydn-
det-and the old man heard it and went
thither.
The doctor--himse1f hoary and STOPPING
t1ow-told me that toward the last Old
Grampa Growly sunk into sort of sleep
or stupor, from which they could not
rouse him. For many hours he lay like
one dead, but his thin, creased face was
very peaceful and there was no pain.
Children tiptoed in with flowers, and
SOME cried bitterly, while others-those
who were younger-whispered to one
another: "Hush, let us make no noise;
Old Grampa Growly is sleeping:"
At last tie old man reused UP. He
had lain like one dead for many hours,
but now at last he seemed to wake of a
sudden, and, seeing children about him,
perhaps he fancied himself in that pleas
ant park, under the trees, where so very
often he had told his one pathetic story
to those little ones. 1eastwise he made
a feeble motion as if he would have them
gather nearef, and, seeming to know his
wish, the children CAME closer to him.
Those who were nearest heard him say
with the ineffable tenderness of old:
"Once Their wuz a littP boy
And with those last sweet words upon
his lips, and with the touch in his heart,
the old man went down into the valley.
Field in Chicago Daily News
The Island of Madagascar.