Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-03-11

UP with you.ND cried Two q tnoe
strongest boys, as they seized Tom
and. unable to resist. he was forced
to mount the table. With q crimson
face; andssomething suspiciously like
tears IN HIS eye he faced hts tor
mentors.
Il can't, boys he faltered. Il
can't talk to YOU"
More shame to you. then, for
spelling our fun" growled one Of the
boys. Come, you needn't think
we'll let you OF. II you won't drink
beer you shall give US some good rea-
son for not drinking it. That's only
fair. Come, be quick and begin.
Tom MADDEN waited a moment.
Once or twice he swallowed hard, as
he breathed fast. Suddenly he threw
back his head and Strengthened HIM
self.
Boys" he said, in a clear voice,
Il will tell you a story-a true story
"a story that belongs to my own
life"
All right" said Frank Jones, but
something in Toms face made the
other boys watch him in silence.
Boys" Tom went n, in tender,
pathetic voice. Il knew a little boy
once who had a beautiful home. He
had a kind father and mother, and
he loved them so much that he could
| never tell which he loved best. Boys,
that little boys father had always
been a good man; but once, when he
wasn't we'll, the doctor ordered him
to drink beer, and he began to drink
it, and" Toms voice was thrill
ing in it's emphasis now-"he soon
! began to drink stronger things; and
| there came a time when that little
| boys home was so changed from the
! lovely place it once was that it
seemed as if a fiend must, live there.
That little boy heard his father rave
and curse like a madman-and he
was mad, for rum made him so-and
he saw-oh, boys, to his dying hour
he will remember it-he saw his
mother struck down by his drunken
fathers hand"
There was a dead silence in that
little room. The beer had ceased to
foam, out not a boy had tasted it, or
noticed it.
Boys" Toms thrilling voice went
and he is almost alone in the world,
for his father and mother are both
dead, and now he has no home. Do
you Wonderland no boy who
heard it ever forgot the pathos of
Toms tone-"do you wonder, boys,
that standing by his mothers grave
that boy looked up to Heaven, and
soiemnly vowed never while he lived,
to touch or taste the drink that had
made a mailman of his father, ruined
his home, and broken his mothers
heart"
Tom ceased, and for a moment not
Z boy stirred.
You will let me go, now" he
said, as he jumped down from, his
high place, and started for the door;
and then with one impetuous rush.
the boys gathered around him.
Tom" Frank Jones said, you are
q hero. Why, I think you are Drawer
than a soldier. I am proud of you
and I would do just like you if
were in your place" The boy
stopped; q new thought had come tt
him. He looked around on his com
panions.
Boys" he said earnestly, 81
seems to me that what I would do i
l were in Toms place, I had better
do now in my W place"
Perhaps the head master of st
Rudolph's was never in his long lif'
more happily surprised than he wa
that evening, when six of his oldes
and most influential boys called Of
him and asked to sign the temper
: nee pledge.
5 Years have passed since that even
! ing, and to-day those boys are ma
ture men and widely parted; but the,
/, have W forgotten Toms story
and through all the trials and temp
tation Of manhood, with Gods helI
e they have kept their pledge.-Chris
: tan Work and Evangelist.