Year: 1876

.


will pay my share of the expenses for
| the dinner


'..And for your share of the wine,
said Tim, for we have ordered 1t for
you


"''No,' returned Jack, I cannot pay
/ for any of the vine


''NIeanr cried tive or three at a
breath.


No, no, messmates, not mean. l
will pay for the whole of the dinner
for every article you and L hate had in
the house, save the wine.


"And as he spoke he rung the bell.
He asked the waiter who entered what
the bill was for the company, without
the wine, and after the amount had been
stated, he took out his purse to pay it,
when Sam Pratt, who was our acknOwl-
edged leader, caught his arm.


a." 'No-not so, said Sam. You shall
not pay for it, for we will not eat at the
expense of one who will sneak out of a
scrape in this way. We want nothing
more to do with you unless you will
take glass of wine with u.s.


every we'll, said Jack; and as he
spoke could see that his lip quivered,
and that he dared not speak more.


"He turned toward the door then,
but before he reached it Tim Black ran
and caught him, at the same time ex-
claiming:


May I be blessed if you go off so,
any way. You've commenced and now
you've got to stick it out


''This was the signal for us to com
on1 Avio1 20
urge Jack to drink the wine; and when
we found that urging would not do we
commenced to abuse and scoff. We ac-
cused him of trying to step over us on
board the ship, and of all other bad
things of which we could think. For a
while the poor fellow seemed inclined
to let his anger get the upper hand; but
at length he calmed himself, and step
ping back to his chair, ne said:


'Shipmates, will yo1 listen to me for
q moment?"


"Silence gave consent, and in a mo-
ment more he resumed:


"Since matters have come to this
pass, 1 have resolved to tell you what 1
had meant to keep locked up in my bo-
SON.


We lttNA llOuBAbg AIOnl uCh D
manner, that there was something pc
culiar connected with his early life, and
we were all attention in a moment.


My story is but a very short one,
he continued, and 1 can tell it in a
very few words. From the time of my
earliest childhood 1 never knew what it
was to have happy home. My father
was drunkardl Once he had been a
good man and good husband, but rum
ruined all his manhood and made brute
of him. / can remember how cold and
cheerless was the first Winter of my
life to which my memory leads my
mind. We had no fre-no food-no
elothes-no joy-no nothing; nothing
but misery and woe My poor mother
used to clasp me to her bosom to keep
me warm, and once-once remember
when her very tears froze on my
cheek Obi how my mether prayed to
God for her husband; and I, who could
but just prattle, learned to pray, too.
And / used to see that husband and
father return to his home, and remem-
Der how my poor mother cried and trem-
bled.-0


When I grew older I had to go ont
and beg for bread. All cold and shiv-
ering waded through the deep snow,
with my clothes in tatters and my freez-
ing feet almost bare. And l saw other
children of my own age dressed warm
and comfortable, and knew they were
happy, for they laughed and sung as
they bounded along toward school.
Those boys had sober fathers. knew
that their fathers were no better than
mine had been once, for my mother had
told me how noble my own father could
be if the accursed demon rum were not
in his way; but the fatal power was
upon him, and though he often prom
ised, and though he often tried, yet he
could not escape.


"'Time passed on and, 1 was eight
years old, and those eight years had
been years of such sorrow and suffer-
ing as / pray God I may never see an
other experience. At length, one cold
morning in the dead of Winter, my
father was not at home. He had not been
at home through the night. Ny mother
sent me to the tavern to see If could
find him. had gone half the way when
I saw something in the snow by the side
of the road. / stopped, and shudder
ran through me, for it looked like hu-
man form. went up to 1t, and turned
the head over and brushed the snow
from the face. 1t was my father-and
he was stiff and coldl 1 laid my hand
upon his pale brow, and it was like solid
marble. He was deadP


"Poor Jack stopped a moment and
wiped his eyes. Not one Of us spoke,
for we had become too deeply moved.
But he soon went on.


"'I went to the tavern and told the
people there what had found, and the