The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-07-21
wILILEs FALL FROM GRACE
Model Young Man INDUCES in Beer
and Gets Spanked.

When Willie Flag was graduated from
the nigh school, he started life with Il
determination to be a model young man.
with Willie this meant to avoid liquor
and tobacco, to Shun games of chance
and walk in the straight and narrow patn
which leads to bed at o'clock p. m.
and to breakfast at Z in the morning.
WIlie's mamma was immensely pleased
with these resolutions, which was a good
thing for Willie, for as late as his last
year at school, when he was home for
holiday and got sassy" to his grand
mother, she spanked him -soundly 1t
must not be thought for a momsnt that
Willie was led to his good resolutions by
fear of the maternal wrath; no indeed.
he was a student of the lines beginning:
Lives of great men all remind u.s., ana
Willie meant to be a great man at all
costs.
Now, the seven bright crisp dollar bills
that Willie found in his envelope a the
end of the first week of toll in the com
mission house, where he had found en-
pIoyment, looked large and promising,
and he tucked them away in his inside
pocket, resolved to soak four of them IN
the bank the next morning, making them
the founda ton of the fortune he meanr
to build UP. Willie lives in the suburbs
of Jersey City, in a house with large
Veranda around it, and he thought as ~.
started for the ferry, how he would spend
the evening there with mother, talking
over the future and thinking of the seven
so. snug and comfoTtabl in mis- inside
pocket. But, alas, for Willie Flag. There
WCiC 'OlHeI yOuHS men IN the commission
house, and some of them got so much
more than seven per that they could 4f-f
lord to spend part of it in riotous liv-
ing. Saturday night being their favorise
one Tor gay doings. they set out and mad
made a good beginning before they met
Wilde making his Lonely way to the ferry
Needless to say Wnie was quite over
Whelmed by the attentions ShoWered on
him by those over him in the commission
house. 1t is unnecessary to go into de-
tallS OF the fight against temptation put
UP by W HAe, or how his high notions Of
morality We're swept away by the aio-
quence of the others. Enough to say
that very few moments later WilIie's
nose was buried in a glass, and in the
enough to affect Willie, and very soon
his own seven was going the way Of
other salaries paid by the commission
mouse mouse that DAY. Several ferry boats tor
Jersey City left New York without Willie,
and they We're running on half hour
schedule when he finally made his I'M
certain I,JsilI way down Cortlandt street.
Willie was under the influence but
what was worse, he had spent his seven
lie could explain the loss of the seven
70 nlother IN score of ways, he inquired,
put ms own condition-how was he to
explain that? Every third step he be-
came independent and inquired of him
sen what right anybody had to interfere
MM ith MN or to question his conduct
- men ne would resolve to let the folks
at nome know that he was no child. But
as quickly as this Dutch courage was
born, it would shrink before the recollec.
lion ion OF mothers strong right arm Willie
manly got on the boat, was duly taken
over the river, and correctly headed on
the way home by a good-natured police
man.
All was dark and still around the
house when Willie arrived. He wondered
now people could slep on such a hot
HisnI, out ne was not sorry for it was
absolutely necessary for him to get in
unobSefVed. He diSliked to think Of how
badly mother would feel il she met him
IL ms present plight. Up the steps
OF the porch went Willie, and, although
~ IT, TOOK MIN five minutes to reach the
top, 1t was not wasted time for he
awoke no one. The route to the donr
was straight one, but Willie chose To
make ar inshoot of it, The creakiner of
ms boots sent chills up his back, and it
seemed to him that some one must hes,
Elm But no one did, and It was with
a great sigh of relief that he finaIiv
1GGnd the lock- Finding the kew wss
anotner proposition, however. One pock-
ct aIler another was searched and finally
turned inside out, but no trace Of the
Key was discovered. Willie distinctly ro-
IheIlpered that it was on a. ring with
some SSnt other keys, and that some time
petWeen leaving his friends and arrivinsr
at nome, probably on the boat. he had
taken 1t out Of his pocket and placed
II somewhere with the idea of knowing
R Riit e, II was when he wanted to use it
But where he had put it Willie couId NOT
remember for the life Of him.
1t was a horrible situation for a vorn :,
plah with mother Ike Willie had Not
20 snow up all night was as bad as
coming home under the influence. and to
ing the bell was to give himself AWAY
Tor deep down in his heart WiIIfe vrs g
aware OF his condition. So, after half
1 W. Hou f Oh futile search for the key ring
Wine went to corner of the veranda
LOOK on his coat, rolled it into a nil
low, and then lay down and went to
Steep. lie intended to wake up early
~, -
When the servant came down and opensd
UP Tor the day, and even If caught asleen
On the porch he would only have 10 eX
pam that having lost his key and the
night being warm, he had preferred to
sleep out of doors to rousing the family
It was daylight when Willie woke 10
ma his mother and his grandmother
staIna ing over MIN. Willie was startled
ana would nave sprung to his feet bIlt
some mysterious force held him back
Ihree times he eSSayed to rise bl1t NOT
an inch did he make. Finally, by a ter
sII5C etLort, ne managed to break away
from the mysterious something that held
MIN, and simultaneously with his rising
came ripping sound, and the back Of
WINES coat and trousers were observed
glued to the floor of the porch If was
an awful situation, made more swfri
py the omlnous silence of mother and
grandmother. 1t was I'D to Willie to saw
something, and he knew it, but what he
didn't know was, what the dickens 10
say. Suddenly, in a fash, 1t came ia
him that he had figured on just such
situation, and before he knew it he
was telling the story that he had planned
10 tell the night before. But Somehow
II didn't seem as plausible as it had then
he staggered through it and was start
ing Tor the door when his mother
Willie, is that the key ring you were
looking for?" she asked, pointing at the
young mans left hand. Willie looked
at the hand and there on one of the
hrgers was the missing key ring. He
remembered now that this was the pre-
CAUTION he had taken the night before
lie was struggling around for something
TO say when glandmamma piped up:
SO solicitous for US as to sleep in fresh
paint rather than disturb u.s.
Here was the mystery OF the torn
clothing revealed. Willie promptly and
very wisely threw up the sponge
You have nothing moro to say, VIII
lie? said his mamma, rolling up her
sleeves, and before Willie could answer
a power greater than that of fresh paint
had him by the collar and he was being
hauled into the house. Grandmamm9
followed and the door closed behind
them all. What happened inside must
be left to the ina ination but while
1t was happening the kitchen maid came
out with bread knife and removed from
the porch the fragments Of Willie's coat
and trousers.
Willie is still in the commission house,
and he gets IS per now. He shuns bad
company and is nightly observed hust-
that it is dangerous to miss that boat
New York Sun
A Custom in Danger