The Republican journal., 1898-10-06

his woodward ticket yesterday. Their.
was no other way of descending from the
loft, which was so high that Mr.. Warner
had not dared to risks his old limbs by
jumping. AS the eXpressmen were al
gone, Mr. Warner and Gran pa Jamiso1
had been confined to the loft till noon
when Mr. Warner spied man crossing
the vacant lot, and shouted to him through
the barn loft door.
To- day it had taken old Mr.. Warner sc
long to saw the wood and walk home thai
before he had finished giving Gran pc
Jamison his dinner and doing the tasks OF
the meagre housekeeping it was late after
noon.
At dark, unheard by the two old men,
Don came into the lower part of the barn.
Don was obliged to be there, ready at all
times in the evening, for the different men
and teams employed by the express bust
ness came in at different hours, and he
must attend to the horses.
Tonight, while waiting for the express
men, Don thought of taking away the lad
der again; but he heard the old men S
voices in the loft, and, climbing part way
up the ladder, Don sat down to listen.
With no idea of being overheard the old
men talked in the dark.
w men L was d HUE le1lON, MI. w d.
ner was saying, 81 used to go nights and
sit on my stool by my father and put my
head on his knee and WEI talk. Father
said things to me then that We never for
gotten, and one of them was that every
person ought to be blessing to the neigh
borhood he lives in. I've thought of that
all my life. Now, Gran pa Jamison, are
we blessing to this neighborhood?n
There was a short silence.
Seems to me- added Mr.. Warner, re-
tlectively, that when l get to Heaven,
I'll want to 90 sit beside my father some
times, and put my head on his knee, and
talk with him again.
'you can be bs ssin', but | don't know
as l can You can work yet, and you re
sure blessin' to me-
You are to me, too responded Mr.
Warner, heartily. "You're real company
for me-
Am l? Am l, now, Mr.. Warner,
questioned Gran pa Jamison, delightedly.
''Of course you arer' reaffirmed Mr..
Warner. Now, I've been thinking about
Don. l wish we could be blessing to
him. I'm sorry for Don-I am so! He
hasn't anybody to care for him. When
boys amt cared for, it's no wonder they
get rough and maybe go wrong after a
while. Gran pa Jamison, you and | must
study how to be blessing to Dom"
Yes, Mr.. Warner assented Gran pa
Jamison.
Don heard an express wagon coming,
and he softly slipped down the ladder.
They re goin' to be a blessin' to mer'
he chuck ied-''a blessin.' Those two old
men. l wonder how they'll go about it?'
The chuckling stopped. Don expert
enced curious mixture of feelings as he
ran to attend to the express horses. No
body around here had ever cared much
about being ''olessing'' to Don. Nobody
here knew that, two years before this,
Don had run away from his home in an
other State. His mother, widowed
dressmaker had never since then heard
from Don.
After the first nights listening on the
ladder, Don began 70 60 often and sit
there evenings, surreptitiously hea: kening
to what was said in the loft. lie listened
to MI Warner singing Gran pa Jamison
to sleep every night. Don was used to
rough W rds from expressmen and others.
The great attraction to him in listening on
the ladder was that he sometimes heard
himself mentioned. and always kindly.
One day Gran pa ,jamison gave the boy
al apple.
''lts lis way of beginnn' to be bless
in to me, | suppose chuckled Don to
himself.
AtterNard when from nightly sitting
on The ladder, he had learned how scanty
the fare of the two old men was, Don was
seized with remorse for having accepted
the apple.
The old men had always taken pains to
nod OF speak 10 the boy when they met
him; but Don, used to suIly treatment.
had seldom responded. Now he began to
nod back OF mutter some
sort Of an answer. If G1an'pa Jamison
or Nh Warner had expressed to Don their
wish to he 'blessing' to him, he would
have laugh, d at them; but the fact that
the boy had secretly discovered that there
WIS such a wish had s me effect on him.
80 had the wolds of praise old Mr. War
ner would drop whenever he could find
occasion to do SO.
"Y GU are real kind to the horses Don"
Mr.. Warner would say; and Don, knowing
that this was true, would nod.
One day the lad cut two of his fingers
badly on a eed-cutting ma
chine in the barn. Mr. Warner hurliedly
found some cloth and bandaged Dons
fingers carefully.
'Therem said Mr. Warner; ''that the
way my mother used to tie up my fingers
after d cut them when | was little fell
low. Didn't your mother?''
Don did not answer.
~ GU haven't any mother, have you?n
asked the old man, gently.
Don looked at his bandaged fingers II
don't know whether she's alive or noto''
he answered 'It's been two years since
saw her.
Mr.. Warner looked at the lad keenly.
Did you run away" asked the old man.
Don nodded.
wasn't your mother good to you?"
Don nodded again. Don't you go to
telling anybody" he said, roughly. ''No-
body round here knows | run away
mo, = returned Mr.. Warner, slowly; 81
won tell anybody but Gran pa Jamison,
and he won't tell. Haven't you ever writ
ten to your mother?"
Don shook his head.
You'd BETTER advised the old man,
kindly.
81 WON'T said Don, sullenly ''rm
nobody for her to be proud Of
YOU'RE her boy" rejoined Mr.. War
ner.
For weeks Mr.. Warner tried with no
success to coax Don to write. Finally the
coy was persuaded to tell where his mother
lived.
StI' II writa To bar - ,,ro,oeod NJ, w.