Evening capital., 1899-11-23

south :, or grandfather's past In the old
green isle and Of Jonnnyss future In
the dazzling land Of independent man
hood As the night came on the talk
dwindled to q mere thread Of dis
course that grew less bright and
sunny, as the sunshine faded in the
sky.
At last, the old man said: "Come.
boy, let's be moving along toward the
shop. It's getting q little cold out
here"
Slowly they wended their way to-
ward home-or all that In the whole
world could take on this name for
them.
The windows Of the little shop look
ed dark and forbidding. The old man
knocked at the door. quietly at first,
and then little louder-poor soul, he
was afraid to venture upon more than
an apology of a knock-and then
awaited in dumb patience the storm of
angry words which he so well knew
would follow the opening. He held
the child's hand tightly in his own. 1t
seemed trifie odd that the storm
did not break ON the instant.
Suddenly the door was thrown open
with jerk and the face of an angry
framed into the bright light, and look
ing past her into the open room be-
yond the shop they could see a we'll
filled table. A Whit of the hot coffee
that was borne to their hungry senses
and colder than il had been before.
There was pause. The boy took a
step forward, but a firmly set foot
barred his way.
II though sol" said the woman.
Now I'm through with this, once and
for all You hear? I'm done with the
both of yous- You're no good to me,
eating my bread and earning none for
yourselves. You can just clear out.
You can't come in now and you can't
come in again. Git now and never
come backi"
For the second time that night the
door was slammed in their faces.
The old man locked up the street
and down again. He looked at the
lowering sky and then at Johnny. He
took out his old pipe, filed it me-
chanically and PCT it back into his
pocket. Never come back!" Was
this his baby Annie of so long ago?
The words seemed to ring in his ears
with curious persistence, like the
buzz OF insects on a summer night.
He gazed at the blank face of the for
bidding door as though the pain at his
heart would force 1t open. He felt a
little tug at his hand and saw upon
the pinched face upturned to his a
Quivering lip and eyes upon which
was the dew of gathering tears.
"Grandad, what did aunt Annie
mean? Is she mad again? I'm so
tired and little hungry. Amt we to
go in, grandad?" The big tears be-
gan to run slowly down his cheeks.
They were walking along the empty
streets now. The little feet Jagged,
and the boy hung back with a tired
air.
''rll carry you q little, Johnny.
guess you're about wore out" He
gathered the light body up into his
arms-as he had carried Annie once
He had no definite destination in
mind. 1t mattered little where he
went now. There was no roof under
the sky to welcome him tonight.
There was nowhere on this side of the
ocean, a tie of kinship to draw him to
itself His heart was as heavy as his
head was light.
The air had grown colder as he
moved on toward the dock, and he
saw before him the wide and empty
slip just beyond. Peace brooded up
on its surface; rest seemed to be the
invitation of its deepening waters.
There was nowhere upon its expanse
the angry voice of an ungrateful child;
no room within its eternal majesty for
human passions of the littleness of hu-
man strife. The boy was asleep in
the tired old arms, and a white face
was upturned to the sky
The eyes of the old man filed with
tears. HE ought to be with his dear
mother" he whispered, and then there
came a thought of his own mother in
the far-off days, and of the wife he had
loved, who was asleep tonight under
the green old sod.
The world seemed to sink away
then, and he and the boy were alone
with his memories and the quiet wa
ters before them. He moved slowly
to the edge of the wharf.
with his mother" he whispered to
himself. There's no room for us here,
and want to CO."
He gathered the boy more closely
into his arms and kissed the cold and
sleeping face. There was one look at
the sky, ripple upon the surface of
the water-and that peace which pass
eth understanding flowed into these
two retired souls.-N Y. Mail and Ex-
press.