The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-06-20
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prayin' in the midst of that wild. hard. ex-
citing life? Least of all the boy who had
known Only the quiet and hundrum Of
ut the weight off my mind ana tell you
That / grew to be the toughest of the lot
AND swear! Why. they used to sit around
a :. latsh AT me- got 50 accomplished at
II: No wonder they called he Damnation
BILL earned that title sure
he end of the war found me in Ken.
tncNE, some OF the boys were going to
enH mountains. for they had no homes to
| quick and the gold mining fever caught
! en- why shouldn't / e, with en-? T
had no hankcring for the old life in New
Ihgahd with It's quiet folks and humdrum.
So.to,lnte'ih WayS-not |. The war had
give me taste Of adventure: wasn't long
maxim up my fool boy mind to take NV
chances with my soldier comrades; so
across the plains come and with the rest
At fike Peak busted. There was harder
times after that; | tended bar two years
III Denver then drove Il hack Il spell and
after that dealt in Charley SanDs0n's
bank; last thing Of all, gettin desperate,
pousht an outlit andecomc up to Red Hosa
mountain. hayin' heard Casey ana Thrae.
Fingered Hoover tell of the pro,Dncts in
TINS country You see | was too proud tn
go back home, ben' broke A good many
times Ia have given my skin to be there.
cat!n mothers pies and snoozin' in her
baci; broke. 50 | stayed right here and done
my best with the rest of you follows
ne home folks kept Writin' the same
oid KIND OF letters, cheerful and patient
liNc IKE. seiidih lots OF love and tcln' me-
over and over again about things had en-.
trey forgotten. They never Sroldcd ma
nnout beln so waYWlrd it was aiway3
1'od bless YOU and do your duty and
1llSt as She had done when | was a bow in
the war. mother always put a D. $ savin'
forget IN .slE
l used to laugh when read that: the idea
OF I'amhation Bill sayin' his prayers was
c0miCal.
Il struck it rich last fall. as Won aft
know From bein' Il grIlstakor one week
was IN fair way t. be bonanza king
the next And | was Startn' to Denver
one morning to soc about fixing ND some
ARRANGEMENT with Dave Moffatts bank
Whnn along came a telegraph telling mo
father was deal and would come 1T oncet
ihlngS hay" shr1nk up down east since
was boy. | found that out when [
went home for the first time in twenty
E:htH. me wood lots and home pastures
amt as big as they used TO be: the lanes
are only about half as wide and they turn
oitrncr; the houses are smaller aIJ tha
front stoops and front doors are so low
that a fellow like me, and that's 6 feet p
don't have much satisfaction doin' business
with EN-. Only mother hadn't Changed
she was whltc-haircd and she WAS fltter
than she used To be. and sometimes Though
she dldnt complaint. noticed that il hurt
hFr to walk much-but she was the same
mother tad run away from twenty wears
ago. Seemed funny to be called Willie
after hayin been called the other name
you knoW-s0 long. But, bless our mothers
hearts. Us fellows is always Willie TO them
1 Went to bed at . O'Clock that night.
went to bel in the same room that was
nlnr when | was Il little kid The pictures
on the wall came back to me Little Sam
uri. nce William toSGlick, that | was
named after, the first Sunday school card
! got ana Flora Temple and George N.
Eatchcu IN their great trot, Il got that une
MYSELF. The bed WAS high and fratherys
and the comfortable smcIt good and old.
fashioned. 1t made me sleepy an dreamy.
IKE Just to b" there. Hadn't more than
| got INTO bed before iii come mother. carry
in a candle. Willie says She, may be
| you'll laugh at me. but I'm gettin' old an
| childish like, may be- and now that you've
| come back to me | want to take ND with
you Just where [ left off when you-whea
| you-went away at your countrys call'
| You see she put tiny running away
/ she put it tendery to me Willie, says
| she, L want to tuck You up in bed. just as
| used to do. Used to worry when You
first went away, because | was afraid you'd
| catch cold nightS-you always was such a
hand at kicking off the clothes in your
! sleep Why, mother avs | L don't need
tuckin up. III as snug and as warm as
Il meadow-mouse under hayStck. But
mother wouldn't take no for an answer:
she just puttercd around that bed an kept
tuckin' in the clothes. tellin me all tie
| time what comfort il had always been
| to her and father before he died), to feel
| that | had been Il good boy and said my
! prayers and lived by their teachin' aui
never done dishonest thing. or learned
to lie an swear an gamble an race horses
! as OTHER boys of the neighbOrS' had. Yes,
mother said all this, and there I lay like
Il great big baby an let her believe it and
I L. l. /
an seemed to caress the very blankets
that covered me.
when she went to 60 ont she stopped
sudden like and turned as if she had Just
thought of SOmethin. Willie says she.
have you said your praycrst
NO. mother. | haint,' says T.
"'You waited till you got into bed, says
mother; that's what You used to do when
you Il boy, because it was 80 cold"
YOU said Maybe it's foolish of me- Willie.
but just to please me, who hain't had my
boy with me for twenty years-just to kind
of humor me. let me hear you say your
prayers tonight, as you used to-.
Say my .prayera? After twenty years Of
hack-Sldin' an neglect say my prayerS2
iuSt lay there and shivered How could
Tell mother | had forgotten 'em?
Say 'em after me. Willie. IS you used
to- said mother.
so .not.lor began: Now lay mo- says she
Now | lay me. says |.
Down to sleep, says mother.
Down to sleep, says l. and so through
it ali TO the end, mother lined it ont to ms
and | repeated it. Damnation Bill Wasn't
there at all; there wasn't any such man as
Damnation Bill any more; it was just me-
Willie. Damnation Bill was done forever!
Il was there fortnight. and every
night mother came in and tucked me up and
said my prayers With me. 1t don" her good,
and SO it did me. She wasn't Afeared wheu
| told her that | must come back west an
settle UP business before went to live with
her in the Old homestead the rest of her
days She had always had faith in ms
because she an father had been 50 careful
about bringin me up i'll the way | should
90, an she allowed that with him an her
a playin' for me tan with me Il prayin', too.
as she brlievcd) why. it would have been
impossible for me to learn to lie an gamble
mi swear That's what hurt me most
boys-what she said about the swearin'i
It's all right for you to call me the Old
name-that's my nunishmentl and' I've
brought it on myself; I'm not kickin''.
haint got religion; halnt no better than
ANYBODY else But may God forever para
I'VE my tongue if ever i'll heedlessncss. or
lest. or anger. lay that tongue Of nine
,,o,.l fbot sc she eyer hoard of II