St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-10-15
breast, and then said: "Shall look
at the hole, boy?"

The gambler smiled pleasantly and
nodded his head, saying, ITS the
natural thing to do in these cases, /
believe" Lifting his hands, he un-
buttoned the collar, and unscrewed
the solitaire stud from the white
bosom. The trapper knelt by the
young mans side, and laying back
the linen from the chest. wiped with
a piece of lint the blood.stain from
the white skin, and care ullv studied
the edges of the wound, seeking to
ascertain the direction which the bull.
let had taken as it penetrated the
flesh. At last he drew his face back,
and lifted himself to his feet, not a
shade in the expression of the fea-
lures revealing his thought.
rs it my last deal, old man ?"
asked the gambler careessly.
II have seed good many wounds"
answered the trapper, land I've
noted the direction Of good many
bullits, and never knowed man
live who was hit where We be hit ef
the lead had the slant inward, as the
piece had that has goue into ye."
For a minute the young man made
no reply. No change came to his
countenance. He turned his eyes
from the trapper's face, aid looked
pleasantly off toward the water. He
even whistled softly line or two of
an old love ballad; then he paused,
and, drawn perhaps by the magnet
ism of the steady gaze which the eyes
OF the trapper fixed upon him, he
looked again into the old mans face
and said
what is it, John Norton?"
81 be sorry fur We, boy" answered
the old man. II be sorry fur ye, fur
life be sweet to the young, and l wish
that yer years might be many on the
'arth."
81 fancy there's a good many who
will be glad to hear I'm out. of it,"
was the careless response.
II don't doubt ye have yer faults,
boy" answered the trapper, land l
dare say We have lived loosely. and
did many deeds that was better
ondid, but the best use of life be to
larn how to live, and feel sartin ye'd
have got better as we got older, and
made the last half of yer life wipe out
the fust, so that the figures for and
agin We would have balanced in the
Judgment"
You aren't fool enough to believe
what the hypocritical church men,
bers talk, are you, John Norton? You
don't believe that there's any judg-
ment day do your"
II don't know much about church
members" answered the trapper,
fur I've never ben in the settlements;
leastwise, I've never studied the
habits OF the creturs, and dare say
that they differ, bein' good and bad,
and I've seed some that was sartinly
vagabonds. No, don't know much
about church members, but l sartinly
believe, yis, know, there be day
when the Lord shall jedge the Twin
and the dead; and the honest trap
per shall stand on one side, and the
vagabond that pliers his skins and
steals his traps shall stand on the
other. This is what the book says,
and it sartinly seems reasonable; iur
the deeds he did on the 'arth be OF
two sorts, and the folks that do 'em
be of two kinds, and atween the wo,
the Lord, ef he notes anything, must
make a dividin' line"
And when do you think this judg-
ment is, John Norton?" asked the
gambler, as if he were actually en-
joying the crude but honest ideas OF
his companion. The trapper hest.
tated a moment before he spoke,
then he said
II conceit that the Judgment be al
ways goin' on. It's court that
never adjourns, and the deserters and
the knaves and the disobedient in
the regiment be always on trial. But
conceit that there comes a day to
every man, good and bad, when the
record of his deeds be locked over
from the start, and the good and the
bad counted up; and in that day he
gifts the final Judgment, whether it be
fur or agin him. And now, boy"
continued the old man solemnly
with a touch of infinite tenderness in
the vibrations of his voice, rye be
nigh the Judgment day, yerself, and
the deeds ye have did, both the good
and the bad, will be passed in review
II reckon there isn't much change
for me it your view is sound, John
Norton" And tor the first time his
tone lost its cheerful recklessness.
1.-THE court be court OF marcy
and the ledge looks upon them that
comes up for trial as ct he was Their
Father"
THAT ends it, old man." answered
the gambler. my father never
showed me any mercy when l was 6
boy. Ii he had, shouldn't have beer
here now. Il | did wrong deed,
got it to the last inch of the lash,
and the words were more intensel,
bitter because spoken so quietly.
THE fathers of the 'arth, boy, b,
not like the Father OF heaven, for
have seen EN- correct their children
beyond reason and without marcy
They whipped in their rage, and no