The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-10-23


casionally 20 hear a sermon. Now. sun
day II a day OF carousal He IS 50 full of
intcxIeanta By II o'clock IN the day, he
stasgers into enc Of the licensed rum holes
81 the city Some morning. Edward. his
breath stenchful Of rum. takes his place
u the store. He Is not ~ 20 be there.
He II listiess or silly or impairment, o. in
some way incompetent. and a messenger
comes % him and saysi The firm desire
% see YOU IN the private Office The gen.
teman In the private Office says.
Edward, We viii not need you any
more. We owe you A little money for
services since We paid you last. and here
IL Is
What il the natter says the young
man. i cannot understand this. Have !
done aHythinss
The reply is: We do not wish any
words With you; Our engagement with
out Of employment What does that
mean 20 good young mani 1t means OPP
portuEity 10 get another and perhaps a
DetteF place. IL means opportunity for
mentai Improvement and preparation for
does that mean 70 a dissipafed young
MANI II means lightning S-prsss train
Perdition.
The Father. Missien.
1t Is now only FIVE years since Edward
ca me 20 town. He used TO write homa
once week at the longest He has not
written home FOR three months 'whai
can be the matter? say the old people az
come. One Saturday morning the father
puts on the best apparel Of his wardrobe
and goes TO the city 20 lrd out
On, he has not been here for a long
While. say the gentlemen Of ths firm.
Your son, am sorry TO say. is on the
wrong track
The old father goes hunting him from
place 10 place. and comes suddenly upon
him that night in a place Of abandon
ment. The father says: My son. come
With me. Your mother has sent me 10
bring you home. hear you are out OF
money and good clothes, and you know as
long as we live you can have a home.
Come right away he says, putting mis-
hand on the young mans shoulder.
In angry tone. Edward replies: Take
YOUR hands on met You mind your own
business! / will DO as l please! Take
your hands of me, or / viii strike you
Gown. You go your way. and ! viii 90
miner
That Saturday night, or. rather, Sun
day morning-fOr IL was by this time ?
O'Clock In the morning-the father goes
TO the city home Of Nicholas, and rings
the bell, and rings again and again, and
II seems as II no answer would be given
but after while a window Is hoisted and
a voice cries: Who's thereT
" IL is L., says the old man.
Why, father. is that your
In minute the door IS opened and the
son says: What In the world has brought
you 10 the city at this hour of the nlghtT
On! Edward has brought me here I
feared your mother would go stark crazy.
not hearing from him, and find out that
II Is worse with him than suspected
Yes said Nicholas i had not the
heart 10 write you anything about It. |
have tried my best with him. and all in
vain. But IL is after O'clock, saws
Nichoias TO his father. and | will take
you 10 bed
The Other Picture.
ION comfortable couch in that house
the old father lies down coaxing sleep for
Few hours. but no sleep comes. Whose
house is il? That of his son. Nicholas.
The fact Is. that Nicholas, soon after
coming TO the city, became indispensable
in the commercial establishment where
he was placed. He knew, what few per-
sons know, that while in all departments
of business and mechanism and art there
is surplus OF people OF ordinary applica-
great scarcity, and always has been 4
great scarcity, OF people who excel. Plenty
OF people to do things poorly or tolerably
well, but very few clerks or business men
or mechanics who can do splendidly well.
Approaching this. Nicholas had re-
solved TO do so grandly that the business
firm could not do without him. Always
at his place a little after everybody had
gone; as extremely polite TO those who
declined purchasing as TO those who made
large purchases. He drank no wine. for
he saw 1t was the Imprisonment of null
tltudes, and when any one asked him 10
take something he said No with the pc
culiar intonation that meant no. His con-
VersatiOn was always as pure as If his
sisters had been listening. He went 10
no place or amusement where he would
be ashamed to die. He never betted or
gambled, even al a church fair. When
he was at the clearinghouse. after ne
had got all the artistic development he
could possibly receive from the chrome
on the wall, he began to study that which
would help him 10 promotion-study pen
manship, study biographies OF successful
men, or went forth 10 places of innocent
amusement and TO Young Mems Christian
Associations, and was not ashamed 10 he
found al a church prayer meeting He
rose from position 10 position and from
one salary TO another salary.
only five years in town, and vet he has
rented his own house. or suite of rooms.
not very large. but home large enough
i'm its happiness TO be type of heaven.
In the morning, as the old father. with
handkerchief in hand, comes crying down
stairs 10 the table, there are four persons.
one for each side-the young man. and
opposite to him the best blessing that a
God OF infinite goodness can bestow.
namely, a good wife, and on another ST 10
the high chair filed with dimpled and
rollicking glee. that makes the grand
father opposite smile outside while he
has a broken heart within.
A sabbath TRAGEDY.
well, as I said It was Sabbath. and
Nicholas and his father. knowing that
there is no place so appropriate for a
troubled soul as the house of God. find
their way to church. 1t is communion
day, and what is the old mans surprise
TO see his son pass down the aisle with
one of the silver chalices, showing him "a
be a church official. The fact was that
Nicholas from the start in city life hon
ored God and God had honored him.
When the first wave of city tenptation
struck him he had felt the need of Divine
guidance and Divine protection, and in
prayer had sought a regenerated heart,
and had obtained that mightiest of all
armor' that mightiest OF ali protection,
that mightiest Of all re-enforcements. the
multipotent and omnipotent grace of God
and you might as well throw a thistle
down against Gibraltar, expecting TO de-
stroy II, as, with all the combined tempta-
tons OF earth and hell, try 10 overthrow
young man who can truthfully say.
God is my refuge and strength Blu.
that Sabbath afternoon. while In the
back room. Nicholas and his father are
talking over an attempt at the reclama-
ton of Edward. there is a ringing Of the
doOrbell and man with the uniform of a
policeman stands there, and with some
embarrassment and some hating and i'm a
roundabout way says that In a fight i'm
some low haunt OF the city Edward had
been hurt. He says 10 Nicholas: 4 heard
that he was some relation of yours
Hurt, Is ne badly hurt?
Yes; very badly hurt
is the wound mortalT
. Yes; IL is mortal. To tell you the