Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1894-02-01


hind the barn, and with a hammer
shivered them to atoms, while
through. her mind there ran con-
stantly the words, Have eare for
the little boy And she had cared
for him so tenderly as she thought.
She had watched over. and fondled
and caressed him, aud loved him so
devotedly, because he was her only
one, and had thought so proudly Of
the time when he would be man,
and II would be hers TO lean on him ~ In
childhood he leaned on her lie was
man now of twenty, and one OF rare comii-
ness. for he had all the beauty of his mother
united with the iine physical development
Of his father; but m his SOFT. brown eyes
there was blood shot look. and the flush
on bis cheek was not Of natures painting
Harry was drunkardi ~ hopeless case.'
people called him, and they watched TO
see how fast he was going down. The
wine glasses had borne bitter fruit. for the
boy who took his fret sip from them now,
drank the vilest liquor. and In the vilest
dens of Oakland.
Little by little the taste had grown until
his mothers wine no longer satisfied, and
something stronger was needed 10 quiet the
terrible craving for drink. and, With only
the dew of sixteen years upon bis brow, he
was brought TO his mother drunk picked
up out Of the gutter his comrades said, as
they deposited their unconscious burden
upon the couch, ard then departed, leaving
the horror stricken mother alone with her
boy.
IL was not his first offense, aud he told
his mother so when he grew sober, and told
her, too, how the appetite had grown, and
promised TO reform Ana the mother be.
lieved him, and hope came back 10 her
heart once more, only TO be cruelty driven
ont when Harry tell again, tempted by the
wine used In the sauce made for his favor
tic pudding.
Then Nellie broke her wine gllsses be-
hind the barn, aud ompiied her jags into
the drain; and that year the grapes rotted
upon the vines, while her face grew paler
and thinner, and her ewes ret an snSious,
expectant look, as IT always waiting and
watching for some horror sure 10 come.
And she is watching thus now In the
November day, when we see her egain at
her window, looking down the street, and
straining her vision II, perchance, she can
discern the figure of her boy coming home
to her and the Thanksgiving dinner she
had prepared with so much care, because
he had promised 10 eat II with her.
Yes, mother-don't you worry. Til
surely be back TO dinner I've turned
new leaf, and am going TO begin to day;
but promised Dale the ten dollars, and he
will be at the Blue Wing to mee, me. That
makes me free from him, and then I'll come
home, and you'll see how well am going
10 do. Why, you may be proud Of me yet.
Who knows? Only trust little, and show
that you do, and If I'm not here At the tick
of the clock, don't feel concerned and think
I've broken my word. may have to wait
for Dale. but I'll surely come hons i'm time
for that turkey; so good by, mother, for a
while
This was what Harry had sail 10 her in
the morning as she siood buttoning his
0vercoat after having put in kis rurse the
ten-dollar bill she gave him, and which be
said he owed 10 Dale. the worst man In
Oakland, because the most fascinating of
his class, and the one who had the greatest
influence over Harry Fisher. To free her
boy from him, Nellie would do almnst any.
thing, and she gave the ten dollars gladly,
and tried TO believe him when ho said he
was going 10 reform, and iclt throb Of
something like returning joy when he
stopped down and kissed her as he said
good by.
How glad she was afterward tha, be did
kiss her, and how long she iel, it upon her
cheek after the lips which gave il were
white with the hue of death. How short
the morning seemed as she fitted about her
house, seeing To the dinner herself, and
making the jelly Harry loved, and later in
the day arranging the table with the utmost
care, and keeping the fire bright on the
hearth, that there might be cheery wei.
come for her son. George had ling since
returned from church, and, imbued with
some Of Nellie's hopefnlness, sat waiting
for bis boy and dinner. the latter of which
was ready at the appointed time, but the
boy, alas, was not forthcoming.
An hour went by, then another, and the
clock struck five, aud Nellie looked with
fearful eyes along the village street while
her husband sat sadly by the fire listening
to the cracking of the wood an the moan
ing Of the wind as il swept pat the door.
A storm was coming on, and be never for
got the sounds which heralded il, or the
ghost look Of the great white fiake4ofsnow
which came in clouds against The window
where Nellie watched, making her turn
away al last az the increasing darkness OBJ
scured the last wray of daylight
Go and find him. George she said, and
as he had done maryland many a time,
George Eent out into the night, thinking
nothing OF the storm, but only OF his boy,
who was not at the Blne Wing.
lie had been there the landlord said.
'and had met Dale, who canae Id his bug
gy. and the two went together 10 The Sand
bank, be believed; at least he haard Dale
say something about driving out there, and