Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1910-01-14

Late that evening he came lmping
into my room with hands and race al
bllstered. and clothes all dusty anu
stained but that was all there was
about him discouraging. His face fairly
beamed through his freckles as he said
Miss Rose, / done It. l got there, ana
1t was the letter, and the boys as
charged. The old chap that wrote LOT
1t was there letting on like he had come
| to drive the boy to the depot, but IN
fact he was there to see If the carrier
had brought the letter. Number ten
| had lust left when | got there on my
| wheel. The old man had been out at
| the gate watching for him and was
| attacking to himself in such language as
l hope you will never hear. He wanted
| to know what in the name of hot
place l wanted when / almost fell on
my wheel at his feet / was so weak
| 1 could hardly stand, and my voice
| seemed clear gone from me. answered
| him by showing the letter and he said
You little red-neaded imp, you're
| trump and he took the letter and l
| followed him into the house. The boy
was on his knees before the bed with
| his face down by his mothers, and she
was a-runnng her hand through his
| hair. Her hands were so thin you could
| see through them nearly, and her eyes
| looked bright as stars. The boy was
| a-crying soft like, and she was a-telllng
him there would be no parting there. l
| couldn't tell whether she was talking
| about when he come back from the
| Philippines or whether she meant after
we was all dead; but the old man ripped
| out a hard word, and said, There amt
| goin to be any parting here, either,
and he handed them the letter. l knowed
| II wasn't any time for me to be a-hang-
| ing round, and 1 slid out The old man
| followed me, and as he unhitched his
horse said Throw your wheel in behind
| there, I'm going to town. and we rode
| in together he ABUSING pretty strong
| language sometimes, but always ending
| up that Governments wasn't so bad, after
| all. The wind famed our faces. and he
| had a good traveller. but l don't know
as we made much better time a-comng
| than l did a-going, and, do you believe
| II, he didn't have a bit of business in
| town. and when we got into the suburbs
he said good-by and started back"
| listened to the boys story and then
| asked, And you got the ten dollars?"
He looked real hurt and said slowly.
| looking me straight in the eyes: Did
you think l went for the money? No. I
told him to keep 1t; that l got as much
| good out of it as he did"
l went up to him and took his dust
| begrimed face between my hands and
kissed him, and told him l was proud of
my red-headed boy.
But l was destined to be prouder of
| 1
| where to do right looked like a loss to
| him of his fOndest aspirations.
| Mr.. Black was going to be the cashier
| Of the bank. and this opened a line of
| promotions all the way down to messen-
| ger. He told Willie to apply for the
messengers place, but when the presi-
| dent of the bank was seen he said he
was sorry but he had offered the place
| to the son of an old friend down in
| Springfield. The boy to whom 1t had
| been offered had been to see him but
| was not certain he would accept the
| place. Willie came back to me dscour-
| aged. He said: of course, that Spring.
| field boy will take the place. Mr.
Black talked big to me- but the president
| said he couldn't do anything until eleven
| O'Clock tomorrow, and then, If the other
boy had not accepted it, the place was
| mine. He looked at me sharp. and told
me to be there at 1l:5, and that II IS
| didn't mean lll0. Said the other boy
was to let him know by eleven. and that
| eleven didn't mean one minute after
eleven; but pshaw! Miss Rose, he will
take 1t, for Mr.. Black says it's the best
opening for a. boy in the State" and he
sighed and added, Il sure would like to
get that job"
l tried to encourage him, but 1t was no
use. He looked tired and haggard the
next morning, but went about his duties
with his usual alacrity. All the morn
ing trains came in on time. except the
Central, which was three hours late, so
| by 1880 his work was all done, and he
came to me for encouragement. and, as
he said, ito brace him up" This |
tried to do. but as the minute hand got
nearer eleven he became more nervous
lie kept talking about the late Central,
but l told him l would make it all right
with the postmaster about any special
letters 1t might bring but this did not
satisfy him. He said: II wish II would
come before eleven. l was glad at
first 1t was late, Iut now 1 wish it would
come"
Then l remembered that it brought
the Springfield mail, and I knew what
he was thinking about. l said nothing
about it, though for I saw he had
fought the battle and won. Just then
a great pouch was thrown into the dis
tributing-room, and while the clerks
were opening 1t l arranged the boys tie
and told him ii was time to leave to see
the president of the bank. Then we
heard: Here, Red special for the Sixth
National"
Willie turned pale as he faltered: 81
knew it; there's the Springfield boy s
letter"
But it's too late" I urged.
No, it's not" he said running like
wild to the distributing table followed
him and the clerk handed him a postal
card with a special stamp on IT, He
turned it over, and we both read:
Il accept position. Thanks for kind
ness. Rov clark
As he leaped for H., wheel and was
out or the door l looked at the clock,
and it was 1857.
An hour later he was telling me:
Il made 1t. l went those six blocks
at breakneck speed through the crowds,
among buggies and wagons, listening
| every minute for the post-ofice clock
to strike. | never stopped at the bank
door but ran my wheel right through
the corridor to the presidents office. AS
l handed him the card the clocks all
over town began to strike. He signed
me for it, read it and threw it on the
desk was just going to leave when
he called:
Do you know what that card meant?'
Yes sir, said l, 1T means the other
boy gets the job And he says with a
kind of a twinkle in his eye: WHY did
you nearly kill yourself running to get
1t here before the clock struck? Didn't
l tell you that one minute after eleven
and the Springfield boy lost?'
II told him that was why 1 run, that
it wasn't the boys fault the train was
late He got up from his seat when l
said that and shook hands with me. and
said:
You misunderstood the message. II
means that he has accepted a position at
Springfield; but you are true blue. and
just the chap we are looking for and
Mr.. Black came in and they both bragg
ged on me, and l told them 1t was on
account OF you l made the run, and that
you wouldn't have cared for me If l
hadn't been honest enough to do right.
and that I'd rather have your love than
all the jobs he had in the bank. And
! when | said that Mr. Rlack tool ~,