Middletown transcript., 1908-07-11
One day be took the boy in his

Tommy, he said, until your future
was secure; but oh! | am so afraid,
so afraid!
The farmer and his wife were
very poor. Their farm was under
heavy mortgage, and the sterile
soil refused to yield enough to
pay the interest. Their failure
to do so meant that it would be
taken from them and, barren
and bleak as it was, it was their
home.
The man, as he lay upon his
bed of pain, used to hear them
talking of it. He used to hear
| them join their prayers to the all
merciful God to spare it to them.
He envied them that they could
pray.
One day he heard them while
he was idly reading a newspaper
| which the farmer had bought.
Suddenly his eye fell upon par
agraph that made his whole frame
tense and his breath come quickly
1t related the full incidents of the
escape from prison of a bank
cashier who had been convicted
of EN- bezzlement, and stated that
O reward of five thousand dollars
would be paid for information
leading to his capture. The man
lay gazing at it for long time.
He lay there and heard the farmer
and his wife pray, and then he
heard Tommy enter the room
and tell them that he loved them
better than anybody in the world
but his father.
The farmer said, If we had had
a son like this (they were child.
less), it might have been differ.
ent, Ethel.
And as those sad words drifted
to his ears, his jaws set and in
his eyes there came great reso.
luton. Presently, when the wife
and the boy had gone beyond
hearing, he called the farmer to
his side.
Listen, he said; the mortgage
on your farm falls due next week,
and you have no way to meet it.
That is true -?
The farmer bowed his head.
If you do not secure the money,
you and your wife must leave
| here and wander forth with no
covering to hide you from the
bitter winter that is coming on
so fast.
Again the farmer bowed his
head but the man could see that
his face had grown gray with the
anguish of it.
Listen still more, he continued
solemnly. If I should show you
how you could obtain this money
honorably not enough to pay
the interest only, but the princi-
pal as well-if I should show you
the way, would you swear by the
God who is above you to do what
I ask?
would be grateful all my life,
said the farmer brokenly. Ifyou
know a way, for Gods sake tell
me, tell me at once!
Wait, said the man, raising his
hand-wait! 1t is my boy of
| whom Lam thinking. If | tell
you how to secure this money,
promise me that you will watch
over him all the days of your
life promise me that you will
cherish him and love him; that
you will teach him to walk in
paths of honor and righteousness;
that you will show him that only
the hard way of duty leads to
happiness; that you will bring
him at last to mans estate as
man should come, strong and
brave and gentle.
The farmer raised his hand.
All these things | promise, SO
help me God! he said.
For a long time the man gazed
at him. At last he spoke. lam
a fugitive from justice, he said, a
criminal. There is a price upon
my head.
The farmer gazed at him in
wide-eyed amazementand started
to speak, but the man raised his
hand authoritatively.
| Mo- he commanded. Hear me
to the end. I said there was a
price upon my head. 1t is FIVE
thousand dollars. Oh, I am not
lying; you will find it in the paper
there. Go to the nearest town,
tell them [ am here, and claim
the reward it is more than you
need. And then afterward, he
paused for a brief moment, look