IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 -^IIIIIM 112.5 ■ lU ill 2.2 %u ~ m 1.4 IM 1.6 /a ^ ///// Jfc^ -l' c^ / '^a f^ / O / /A Photographic Sciences Corporation iV #> 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (7161 872-4503 ^^ \ \ '^y. ^ % ^^ L

< CHAPTER I. A DEPARTURE. iICHARD, you will keep from drink, will you not, clear ?" and the speaker, in order to make her pleading irresistible, kissed* the one to whom these words were addressed again and again ; and, as with a hand upon each shoulder, she looked lovingly into his eyes, there was an added pathos which, to a man of Richard Ashton's sympathetic and sensitive nature, was all powerful. " Well, Ruth, dear, God helping me, I will again be a man, and when I am tempted I will think of my dear little wife and my darling children at home; and remembering how they love me, though I have been such an indifferent husband and father to them, I will not touch nor taste the cursed stuft*." 2 10 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. The tears gleamed in his eyes as he thus spoke, but feeling his manhood was being compromised he en- deavored to suppress them, the effort, however, was in vain, for the deepest depths of a noble, sensitive nature had been wrought upon by the loving appeal of his wife and the pent-up feeling, gathering force by the very effort which he had made to suppress it, manifested itself in a series of short, choking sobs. He returned the kisses of his wife, clasped her con- vulsively to him, and, as he looked down into the upturned face, his eyes manifested an affection which found no expression in speech. He stooped down and fondly kissed his children and then opening the her so modest and unaffected, yet with a mind so well furnished — seeming to have an intelligent conception of every topic upon which they touched, as they ranged at will in their conversation, evincing such acumen of intellect and such practical comprehension of subjects of which many of her sex, who made much greater pretentions, were entirely ignorant, that Ash- ton concluded she was a treasure, indeed, which he would make his own, if possible. She might not by some be called a beauty, for she could not boast of classic regularity of feature ; but no one could be long in her presence without yielding the tribute which, at first sight, he was chary of giving. She was fair of complexion — not of a pallid hue, but tenderly tinted, like a peach blossom, and so trans- parent that the blue veins could be plainly discerned as they made their delicate tracery across her low, broad brow. Her mouth was small, but expressive, and her lips red and fresh as a rosebud. She had glorious gray eyes, large and expressive, luminous and deep, which in repose spoke of peace and calm, but which, when excited by mirth or by a witticism, glowed and scintillated like wavelets in the golden light of the sun. Two such spirits, so alike in taste and yet so oppo- site in temperament and complexion, could scarcely fail to be mutually attractive ; for he was dark and she fair; his temper was as the forked lightning's flash, quick and sometimes destructive, while she was ever calm, gentle, and self-possessed. In fact, they THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 15 30 well ception s they g such lension e much at A«h- tiich he for she but no linor the giving. lue, but 3 trans- iscerned ler low, )ressive, )he had ous and ilm, but Itticism, golden oppo- scarcely irk and htning's she was ct, they were the complement each of the other, and it was not long ere he had wooed and won her, and ohtaiiicd the consent of her guardians to make her his wife. They were married one beautiful day in the bright Spring-time, when nature had donned her loveliest dress, and the air was fragrant with the breath of flowers and vocal with the songs of birds. As they stood together at the altar — he with his wavy raven locks swept back from his broad brow, with his dai-k eyes flashing with intelligence ; she with a face that rivalled in fairness the wreath of orange blossoms that crowned her luxuriant tresses of gold — thry presented a picture of manly strength and sweet, womanly beauty that is seldom equalled and scarcely ever excelled. As the guests congratulated them upon the happy consummation of their ardent desires, and expressed the hope that life would be to them as a sunmiers day with few clouds, they had every reason to believe their most sanguine hopes would be realized. Alas ! many a day that has had a rosy morn, sweet with the breath of flowers and jocund with the voice of birds, has been dark with clouds and flashinjj anofrv litrht- nings ere noon. What a blessing it is that God in His mercy allows us to revel in the sunshine of the present, and does not darken our clear sky with the clouds of cominfj woe. i ■:.\J. ^,4^0 CHAPTER III. ON THE DOWN GRADE. SHORT time after their marriage Richard in- herited the business and property of his father, whose health had been failing for years, ard who died quite unexpectedly. His mother never re- covered from the shock, but in a short time followed her loved husband to the grave. So the son was left with a good business and ample means, seeming to be on the road to opulence. As the years rolled on business prospered, and the prattle of children's voices gladdened their home. First a boy came, with the fair hair and large dreamy eyes of the mother ; then, two years later, a girl with the dark eyes and the raven black hair of the father, and their cup of bliss seemed full to overflowing. Circumstances, however, had already occurred which caused Ruth very much uneasiness of mind, and some- times when a friend called she had to absent herself '1 'IHK THICKS OF THE TUAKKIC 17 lard in- j father, irs, ard 3ver re- ollowed was left ,g to be and the home. dreamy irl with father, 1 which 1 some- herself .3 I W I for a sliort tiiiu; until she had reniON'cd tlio traces of her tears. Richard had joined the " Liberal Club," and as he threw his whole soul into anything whicli he deemed worthy of his attention, his wife soon had grave fears that it absor])ed too much of his time. Hours which should have been devoted to business were spent in discussing the political issues of the day, and she felt they suffered serious loss, for there were left to his employees important transactions 'which should have had his undivided attention ; and the course he had pursued had alienated some of his best customers. The Liberal Club of which he was a member was composed of the most ultra of the Radicals in that section of country — in fact a great many of its mem- bers had been participants in the Chartist agitation, and, a short time after Ashton joined, they invited Henry Vincent, the celebrated agitator, to deliver an address, he, while he remained in town, being the guest of Ashton. This gave great offence to many of his best customers — not only to those who were ultra- tories, but also to the whigs, and, as a consequence, many of them left him and gave their patronage to rival establishments. This, however, was not the worst feature of the case ; there was another and a stronger motive power to accelerate his already rapid descent. He. with many more of "the prominent members of the "Liberal Club," was also among those who are called liberals in their religious views. This could not be tolerated for i II lb FROM WEALTH TO POVEllTY ; OR, i a moment by those among his customers who were decided in their relisjious convictions ; for th(»y were fully convinced that a person who held sucli opiiU'-ns was a dangerous man in any community. They there- fore withdrew their patronage, which completed the ruin of his formerly prosperous business, for it did not afterwards pay running expenses. This state of things greatly alarmeil Ruth, and was the source of much sorrow. But there were greater sorrows to follow. . When we are strnffglirfjj with difficulties and en- vironed by circumstances which have a tendency to make us miserable, we must not imagine that we have sounded the deepest depths of the abyss of woe, for if we do we may discover there are depths we have not yet fathomed. This Ruth Ashton soon bitterly real- ized, for her husband had of late frequently returned from the Club so much under' the influence of liquor as to be thick in his speech and wild, extravagant and foolish in his actions, which caused her many hours of unutterable angui-h. When he first began to drink she was not seriously alarmed, it being the custom in England, at their convivial parties, to pledge each other in wine ; and since on such occasions it frequently happened that they imbibed enough, not only to make them a little exuberant, but also quite intoxicated, she thought she must not expect her husband to be •different from other men in this respect, as it was at most only a venial offence. But now when his troubles thickened, |__ ■^ I THE TRICKS OK THE TRAFFIC. 19 ho were f'y were Dpirii ns y there- ?ted the did not md was greater md en- en cy to ve liave c, for if ave not ly real- .' turned liquor mt and hours rioiisly their ; and d that little ht she from only a kened. and his friends one after another left him, and he be- gan to drink more dev ^ ly to drown his cares and to stimulate him to meet his difficulties, her partial anxiety deepened into agony, strong and intense. She made loving remonstrance, appealing to him if he loved wife and children to leave the " Club," and not destroy his business and thus involve them all in ruin. Also, freijuently, when the children were fast asleep in their little cot, as she looked with a mother's ten- derness and pride upon them, thinking what a picture of innocence and beauty they presented as their heads r. stied lovingly together on the pillow — the raven- bi.vck and gold mingling in beautiful confusion — she would kneel beside them, and as the tleepest, holiest feelings of her heart were stirred, she wouM pray that the one who was so dear to them all might be re- deemed from evil and become again a loving husband, a kind father, and a child of God. Richard at first received her gentle remonstrance with good-natured banter, and generally turned it off with a playful witticism. He asked her if she had not enough confidence in him to believe he was sufficiently master of himself to take a glass with a friend without degenerating into a sot, and he used very strong ex- pletives when speaking of those who were so weak as not to be able to take a erlass without making fools of themselves. But he would not allow even Ruth to influence him in regard to his political predilections, for, when she tried to persuade him to take a more moderate course, 20 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. ' '! ^ 5 t. !i ; 1 't \ he sternly replied he would not desist from exercising what he believed to be his right, not even for her, much as he loved her. ' He said it was his proud boast that he was a Briton, and as such he would be free — free not only to hold his opinions, but to act upon his convictions, and any man who w^ould withdraw his support from him because he would not be a slave was a petty tyrant, and if such an one was not a Nero it was because he lacked the power, not the spirit. So matters went from bad to worse with Richard Ashton, not only in regard to the moral, but, also, in the financial aspect of the case. In fact he had soon to draw so largely on his banker that the money his father had left him, outside of the business, began to be seriously diminished. Josh Billings says, " When a man begins to slide down hill he finds it greased for the occasion." And certainly the case of Richard Ashton illustrated the truth of the aphorism, for when he once bei^an to go down hill his descent was so rapid that he soon reached the bottom; and became bank- rupt in capital and character. He now began to talk of selling out and going to America : " There," he said, with much emphasis, " I shall be free." ^ ercising for her, id boast i free — pon his raw his a slave a Nero irit. Elichard also, in id soon ney his ei^an to When a ,sed for lichard r when o rapid bank- to talk le said, CHAPTER IV. SAILS FOR AMERICA, AND MEETS A KINDLY WELCOME. lUTH was now suffering keenly. She loved her husband with such an intense passion that even his folly did not cool .ts ardor, and when others denounced him in the harshest terms she spoke only in tenderness. And when many of her friends went so far as to advise her to leave him, and so save to herself and children some remnant of her fortune, she indig- nantly protested against their giving her any such advice. She said she would remain faithful to her marriage vow, no matter what suffering and obloquy it might involve. Not but her idol had fallen very low. She had been so proud of him, proud of his manly bearing, his strength of character. Proud of his ability, which, to her, seemed to enter the regions of genius. "Oh!" she said, as she mourned over her blasted hopes, her vanished dream of bliss, " I never expected this." She suffered as only such a sensitive, noble, cultured woman could suffer, and suffered the 22 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, more because she would give voice to no complaint. The heart was at high pressure, and the valve was close shut. But she did not give up her endeavors to save him. She tried by gentle endearing tenderness to win him from destruction ; and when she found this did not avail she passionately appealed to him to stop ere he had involved them all in ruin. " Oh Richard 1" she would say, " Why do you drink ? You know your business is now nearly ruined. Your friends have nearly all deserted you. You are fast losing your self-respect, wrecking your health, nd dragging your wife and children down with jv^u. Consider, my darling, what you are sacrificing, and don't be tempted to drink again ! " She might have reminded him of how he formerly boasted of his strength, and denounced the weakness of the habitual drunkard, but she refrained from so doing. She determined, no matter what she suffered, never to madden him by a taunt or unkind word, but to save him if possible by love and gentleness. He as yet, though harsh and peevish to others, had never spoken an unkind word to her. He had once or twice been unnocessarily severe to the children, which caused pain to her mother's heart, but she had by a quiet word thrown oil upon the troubled waters of her hus- band's soul, and applied a balm to the wounded hearts of her children. Sometimes, when she with tears in her eyes appealed to him, he would promise not to drink again. There THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 23 n plaint, ve was ve him. vin him did not D ere he I drink ? Your ire fast th, nd th yyja. ng, and prmerly eakness rom so uffered, )rd, but He as never •r twice caused quiet er hus- hearts )pealed There is no doubt but it was his intention to keep his word, but yet it was invariably broken. The fact was he had become a slave to drink, such a slave that neither what he owed to wife, nor children, nor man, nor God, could restrain him. His word was broken, his honor stained, his wife and children ruined, his God sinned against, and he had become that thing which formerly he so despised — a poor, miserable drunkard. His friends had seen this for some time, and now he himself could not fail to recognize his awful situation ; for his thirst for spirituous liquor had become so strong that he would sacrifice everything he held dear on earth to obtain it — in fact, it had become a raging, burning fever, which nothing but rum could allay. ' Reader, do not be too strong in your words of scorn and condemnation. You may never have been tried. People who boast of their punty and strength may never have been environed by temptation. " Let him that is without fault cast the first stone." A few weeks after he had expressed to his wife his determination to sell out and go to America, two men, who were mutual friends of his, and who were mem- bers of the " Liberal Club," casually met on the street. After the usual compliments, one said to the other : " By-the-bye, Saunders, did you hear that Ashton had sok' out to Adams and was going to sail for America next week ?" " No ; is that so ? Well, I expected something would happen. The poor fellow has been going to the bad very rapidly of late. Who would have thought he 24 FROM WKALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, :iir if ! was so weak ? I take it that a man who ca;inot drink a social jxlass with a friend without dcfjcneratinjj into a sot has very little original strength of character." " It is all very well to talk, Bell ; I h&ve frequently heard Ashton express himself in the same manner, and yet you see what he is to-day. There was not a mem- ber of the Club his equal when it was first formea. In fact, he was the master spirit of the society. Not one of all the members could approach him in culture, in brilliancy, or in legislative ability. You remember that in a former conversation we thought it strange he should associate with us, when he would be wel- comed as a peer by those who, at least, consider them- selves our betters; and you expressed it as your opinion that he, like Milton's Satan, would rather " reign in hell than serve in heaven." " But, Charley, is he completely bankrupt ?" " Well, I guess I might almost say so, for it is re- ported he has used up all the capital which was left him by his father and has drawn heavily on his wife's means. From what I hear, I would conclude he has but a few hundred pounds left to take him to America. I pity his wife. She was a charming girl, so beautiful, so clever, and yet so modest. Many a man envied Ashton his prize. And you know that many an eligible girl would like to have stood in her shoes and been the bride of Richard Ashton, for he was considered one of the best catches in the matrimonial niarket. Such is life ; then it was high noon with him, and all smiled upon him ; now, " none so poor as to do him reverence." HW^f iS THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 25 not drink iting into acter." lequently nner, and t a mem- •mea. In Not one ulture, in 'eniember fc strange 1 be wel- ler them- as your d rather it is re- was left lis wife's he has A.merica. eautiful, 1 envied eligible nd been isidered market. and all do him i| This conversation mves a true outline of the actual state of affairs. Richard Ash ton, at the date of which we are speaking, found absolute ruin staring him in the face, and he now knew he must eitlier sell or be sold out. He wisely chose the former alternative, while there was some chance of saving a little for liiaiself. Poor Ruth, it almost broke her heart. Her ijuardian had youngest property, icinity of I him for festations 3rs, either 56 he did luded he ourse by •atory to He tlien i^ot thi'ou«,di liis studies in some manner, tlioUjL,di it was generally understood by his mates that he was better acquainted with the brands of his favorite liquors and cigars than he was with the works of the nuthors which tilled up the list of his college curriculum. But when he entered Oxford he threw off all re- straint and gave himself up to a life of utter dissipa- tion, and before long his father received a polite note from the college authorities, intimating that to save further disgrace he had better call his worthy son home. After this he became a dissipated tavern lounger, a barnacle on the good ship of society, a miserable sponge. He soon found, as he sententiously expressed it, that it was not agreeable for him to remain under the kindly shelter of the paternal mansion ; so he, prodigal like, took the portion his father gave him and spent it in riotous living. But he was determined not to feed on husks, if unmitigated cheek and unblushing effront- ery could bring him better fare. It was while he was a gentleman lounger about town he first met Richard Ashton, who, at that time, had become too much demoralized to be very choice in the selection of his associates. And Ginslincj was rather intelligent — had a fine person and pleasing address, and had it not been for his moral depravity and lack of every noble instinct, he might have made his mark in society. So Ashton, the ultra radical, and Ginsling, the young 34 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, K! I scion of extreme toryism, used to fraternize in their drinking bouts, and though they would, when suf- ficiently stimulated, boozily wrangle over their cups, there was in their common dissipation a ground for mutual understanding. But in his sober moments the radical had the most supreme contempt for his tory. associate, and, sometimes, could not suppress its mani- festation. The other, however, was too great a toady to be too thin skinned. It was not convenient fur him to be over-sensitive. In fact he was willing to swallow such insults ad ii'finitain if their donors would only furnish the wherewithal! to wash them down. After Ash ton left England he felt somewhat lonely, and then his father had bec(»me so utterly estranged from him because of his conduct, that his situation became unpkasant even for him ; so he determined to sail tor America. Learning that Ashton had settled in Rochester, he made his way to that city. He arrived there at the latter part of the year 1864, towards the close of the American War; and shortly after his arrival, meeting with his old comrade, as we have informed the reader, the latter, strange to say, had power enough over liim to seduce him to his fall. And now, when Ashton was leaving Rochester in order to get away from his old associates, and was making resolutions of reform, here he was again as his tempter to lead him astray. At his salute Ashton looked up with a dazed, far- away look upon his face, and then, as he slowly real- ized his position, he thought how foolish he must have 1 THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 35 ■g ■\ appeared to another who had witnessed his fierce ges- ticulations and heard his wild and incoherent murmur- ings. The thought covered him with confusion, and he did not for a moment gain sufficient control of his faculties to answer his interlocutor in a rational manner. The other, however, relieved his embarrassment by continuing in a bantering tone : " Why, Ashton, one would suppose by your actions you were the principal of some terrible tragedy, and that just now you were suffering from the " pricks of an outraged conscience." I declare you have mistaken your calling ; you would have made your fortune on the stage. Why, your looks just now would have done for either Hamlet in the crazy scene, or Macbeth when talking to Banquo's ghost. But if you are suffering I have something which will reach the seat of the ailment ; as the Scrip- ture puts it, it is "A balm for all our woes, and a cordial for' our fears.'' " Here it is, Ashton. I have just been up to Charley's to have this dear little friend of mine replenished. How do you like the looks of it?" And suiting the action to the word he held up before him a beautiful little brandy flask. Then de- taching the silver cup from the bottle it partially covered, he filled it full to the brim. " Here, Ashton, take this potheen." he said, "it will settle your perturbed spirits, comfort your soul, and drive dull car^ away." Ash ton's hand shot forward mechanically to take the proffered glass, and then he drew it hastily back : " No, Ginsling," he said, " I will not touch it." Curse the stuff; it has wrought enough ruin with mine and 36 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, me. I was just swearing I would never drink again, and I was in earnest, I know I must have appeared to you as some gibbering maniac, but I was fighting my craven appetite for strong drink. Oh how hard the struggle has been ; its fierceness is only known to God and myself. It comes upon me when I am least prepared to defend myself, and tortures me with the cruel malignity of a devil. And then I beat it back, and it comes upon me again. But I must triumph or go under ; for if it is not liberty with me it will soon be death. He then turned fiercely upon Ginsling, and said — " Why do you dog my footsteps like a shadow ? Have you not wrou^jjht ruin enough ? Curse you ; it was an evil day for me when you crossed the Atlantic, for had you not done so, I would have been a respect- able and happy man to-day. It was you who urged me to drink, and, listening to you, brought* me down from the happy and prosperous man that you found, to the miserable wreck you now look upon ! A thing for angels and good men to pity, and for devils and evil men to despise. Leave me, if you have any pity, and do not tempt me more." If there had been the slightest instinct of honor in the creature to whom these words were addressed, the appeal would not have been in vain. But his original stock of this attribute had been limited, and he had long since disposed of the little he once possessed. Such an attribute as honor or pity was viewed by him as a useless incumbrance, for he was a miserable, heart- THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 37 nk again, appeared fighting low hard ^nown to am least with the it back, umph or ivill soon said — shadow ? you; it A-tlantic, respect- 10 urged le down 11 found, A thing s^ils and ^y pity, onor in 3ed, the )riginal he had Jsessed. by him heart- less wretch, seeking the gratification of his own de- praved appetite, and careless of who might suffer. He laughed with a seeming bluff heartiness when Ashton had finished speaking, but the laugh sounded hollow and insincere. Novelists are ever introducing upon their pages, as the villain of the story, the smooth, oily rogue : as if they considered such ones were alone capable of cun- ning roguery and subtle diabolism. But there is many a mean soul disguised by a bluff, hearty exterior, and the mask is much the more difficult to penetrate. It is said of such an one — " He says hard things, but you always see the worst of him, for he puts his worst side out." Shakespeare's rogue, honest Jack FalstafF, was brusk and blunt, but he carried a rascal's heart, and there are many now living who are just as great blusterers, and are equally as cowardly and as base. " Ha, ha ! Ashton ! this is too good to last ! You know you have assumed the role of the Prodigal Son before, but you have come back to the riotous living again." Come, old fellow, take a little ; it will do you good. I believe you used to be an orthodox Methodist, and, therefore, must be considerably versed in Scrip- ture, and you know that Paul advised Timothy to " take a little wine for his stomach's sake, and for his oft infirmities." When Ginsling had finished speaking, a look of un- utterable scorn passed over the face of Ashton, and he glared at the former with fierce contempt, and once or twice he seemed as if about to reply, but, though his 38 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, quivering lips and the contortions of his face showed violent emotion, he for a time uttered no response, as if he could not find words adequate to express his burning thoughts, till suddenly starting he said — " Pshaw ! you miserable rascal, it was an evil day for me when I first met you. Have you not wrought ruin enough ? Why do you come again to tempt me ? Leave me or I will not be responsible for the con- sequences." And, turning upon his heel, he abruptly left him. " VV'(ew — but that's cool," whispered Ginsling, "but old fejir/vV you are not going to escape me that easily. I have coi^^-^ down here for a purpose, and I am going to succeed in my undertaking, or my name is not Stanley Ginsling." And I might here give the reader to understand that it was not mere accident which brouijht Ginslinfc aware of been more I would be ingly cause assure you, . do what 1 n. if I can of brandy I glass is just rcumstances, ly is this the ?Vhy, you are ble, and your igup. Now e serious for you up, such ,^v. 1 hate a ho is sure to do any man n he thus ad- manly, for he Dst altogether associations of mguage, also, m it was ad- an awful ex- ample of the ultimate issue of moderate drinkinpj, at least in some cases, he would still argue in its favor, and when the advocates of prohibition would point to those who had fallen victims to the pernicious habit, he would answer that it was the abuse and not the use of intoxicating liquor which produces the evil. So Ginsling, who had frequently heard him thus argue, adroitly stole an arrow out of his own quiver, I and addressed him as he had frequently heard him address others. And there was just enough truth mixed with the sophistry of his argument to carry conviction to the mind of one as unstable as Ash ton ; for he did feel all unnerved. He had broken off sud- denly from a long-continued drunken spree, and was I beginning to have premonitions of something which he dreaded only second to death. He had already twice suffered the horrors of delirium tremens, and he now had good cause for fearing another attack. It was to this Ginsling referred when he said if he broke off suddenly it might lead to serious consequences. Bo, after what seemed to be a desperate struggle — the better instincts of his nature endeavoring to overcome the craving of his appetite and the sophistry of his Jjempter — he concluded he would just take a little Itiow to help him over this one trouble, and then he ■Ivould give it up forever. He argued to himself, " I |ould not live through another attack, for I am sure e dreadful suffering is akin to the horrors of the St." " Well, Ginsling," he said, " I think I will take your 4 il M V > - fw n i^if »m wwy«i 42 FllOM WEALTH TO I'OVEliTY ; OK, advice," He was half ashamed thus to speak, because he was about to do something for which his conscience strongly condemned him, and also because he felt he was manifesting weakness and vacillation in the pres- ence of one whom he, in his heart, despised, and who, after this, would hold similar sentiments in regard to himself. " I do feel a little unlike myself this morn- ing, and as the wind is rather squally, and the captain says when we shoot out beyond the point the lake will be wild, I need a little something to settle my stomach ; I have a fearful dread of sea-sickness." He said this partly to justify his conduct to his compan- ion, but more to convince himself he was about to take a step which was not only perfectly justifiable, but, under the circumstances, a manifestation of wis- dom. If a man is about to perform an action of doubtful propriety, he is never at a loss to find arguments to defend the course he is about to pursue, and though he may not be able to satisfy his conscience, he can, at least to some extent, deaden the acuteness of its pangs. Eichard Ashton endeavored to justify his present action to himself, in the moment which intervened between his new-formed resolution and its consumma- tion. The reader is no doubt aware, from experience, that a great deal will pass through the mind in the space of a single moment, and that sometimes a man's weal or woe, for time, yea, and for eternity, depends upon a decision which has to be thus hastily given. It was one of these crucial moments which Ashton was m, at mgs. THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 43 il now passing through. Alas ! his decision was far from being a wdse one, and he could not deceive himself so completely as not to partially feel this ; for, try how he would, he could not banish the thought that yield- ing to the tempter might entail a train of misery horrible to contemplate. Then Ruth's pale, pleading face, all sufiused with tears, came up vividly before him, as he last saw her, and as he remembered the promise given, for a moment he hesitated, but finally he subdued every better feeling, and reaching forth his hand, took the glass which Ginsling temptingly offered, and drained it to the dregs. One glass such as he had thus taken was sufficient to make Ashton regardless of consequences, and, therefore, it was not long before it was followed by another and more copious one. In short, in half an hour after he had met Ginsling he was wild and reck- less, and the latter had accomplished his purpose, for Ashton was spending his money as freely as though he had the coffers of a Rothschild or an Astor. In short, ere the steamboat had started he had to be helped on board, for he was utterly helpless. i 1 t, v; . u '■1': ^1 ! •| l! CHAPTER VI. AllUIVAL IN CANADA: A FRIENDLY HOST. APPLIES FOR A SITUATION. If T was a beautiful morning when the boat landed at H the picturesque little Canadian town of L — . The first that Ashton knew of the arrival was when he was awakened from his drunken stupor by- being violently shaken by Ginsling ; and, as he gained consciousness, he heard that worthy saying, with a subdued voice : " Come, wake up, Ashton, for we are again on British soil. Why, is not that strain enough to cause any true Briton to rise from the dead ? " He was at last aroused, and his tirst sensation was that he had a terrible pain in his head, a horrible thirst, and a certain vague realization that he heard the strains of " Rule Britannia." He staggered out to the bar, for he felt he must soon have a drink, or he could not live. Ginsling also stepped up without being invited ; for that worthy could not righteously be charged with too much modesty, as he never was backward in helping himself at a friend's expense. \i!' THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFTC. 45 Th(\y iimn»' 1 1 (Jiidcavoriiii^ to say somothiiiLJ more witty tlinii tin- otlier; and it* pusli, rouj^h bantering wit, ami iiiiper- turl^able good nature could secure success, certainly each would have had a 'bus full. But Ashton had caught the name " British Ameri- can," and as he, just then, was feeling intensely l^^-al, he determined to put up there, and he intimatt .j the runner his resolution. Ginsling, who was waiting for him to decide, jumped aboard also, and they were soon quartered at the aforementioned hotel, which they found, if not of the very highest grade, at least eminently respectable. The charges, also, were ex- ceedingly moderate. The room he had given to him looked out upon the blue waters of noble Ontario, which swept far away to the south, until it laved the shores he had left but a few hours before — a land now associated in his r d with so much of happiness and of misery, and v yet contained those who were inexpressibly dear to him. He had no sooner secured a room than he sat down to write a note to Ruth ; for, demoralized as he was, he did not forget his promise. He found, however, that his head was in a perfect whirl, and that his hand was so unsteady as to make the accomplishment of the task almost an impossibility ; but he managed, in an almost illegible scrawl, to inform her of his safe arrival. He asked her to excuse the brevity of his communication, as he was still suffering from the effects of his stormy voyage across the lake, which I TFIE TIUCKS OF THK TUAFKIC 47 own was, ever, his ment safe : his the hich liad sliatt<'ri'(l, for tlie time hein^^ liis n«irvous systom. He ended by .scndin. I in. \K 111 \ ■■ :f* .1 h 52 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, played talents wliich marked them as above medioc- rity, but one after another, just after they had reached manhood and womanhood, they had fallen victims to that insidious disease, consumption, and the aged couple were left in their declining years, sad and lonely, like two aged trunks stript of their foliage* bare and alone. Mr. Gurney had been for years engaged in the dry goods and clothing trade, and had intended his last surviving son should take the business, but Providence had ordered otherwise, taking him away just at the time when the father was about to carry out his long cherished scheme. After they had laid in the grave the body of their beloved, for a while a cloud of intense sorrow hung over their home, though they had faith to believe it was lined with the silver of their Father's love. They were too intelligent, and their grief was too intense for much outward manifestation, but each knew the pregnancy of the other's sorrow from their individual experiences ; and by gentle ministrations of love each endeavored to soothe and ease the bur- dened heart of the other. Mrs. Gurney found some relief in attending to her household duties — to the plants and flowers in the conservatory — for they had one of considerable size. This latter had been the special duty of her daughter who had preceded her brother by a few weeks to the grave. And as the mother now engaged in this "labor of love," each plant and flower, that received her ) THE TRICKS OF TJIE TUAFFIC. 53 and ence the his gentle attention would suggest some tender recollec- tion of the loved and lost. As she tramed them to their supports and trellises she would remember that the white fingers which had so frequently and lovingly performed the task were now cold in death. But there was one — a nicfht blooming cereus — which was a particular favorite of Grace's, and which, even after she knew she had not long to live, she hoped she would be spared to see bloom. But when she per- ceived she was failing so rapidly — quietly, peacefully, sinking to rest — she said — "Mamma, darling, I have looked forward with a great deal of expectancy to the time when my cereus should bloom, I now know my hope in this respect will not be realized, but I want you, mother, when it opens out its pure white petals and its fragrance per- fumes the midnight air to remember I shall be in heaven — among fairer flowers, with sweeter perfume ; for they have not been cursed by sin. And while you mourn at my absence remember I am with Jesus — ' Absent from the body, present with the Lord.' " And now as the mother tended these fiowers, and lovingly lingered near this special favorite, around which such tender memories lingered, the flood-gates of her soul were mercifully lifted up and she " eased her poor heart with tears." Thus the mjDther, who was constitutionally the frailer of the two, and was the one from whom the children had inherited the tendency to the disease which had carried them ofl' so prematurely, seemed to '.' I'' . n Ml* .. n i f-jui jx mti 54 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. . Ili come back to herself, so to speak, and she soon mani- fested a subdued cheerfulness as she set about man- aging the domestic economy of her home. But Mr. Gurney did not recover so rapidly ; there seemed to be no outlet to his feelings — nothing to ease his burdened heart. He had given his business into the hands of his clerks, and had concluded to sell out and permanently retire from active life. He went with his wife on a journey to the seaside, to a quiet watering-place, hoping that change of scene might divert his attention from his sorrows and enable him, at least to some extent, to recover his wonted health and spirits. But he returned unbenefited, and his wife and friends be- gan to have grave fears for his life. They consulted an eminent physician, who advised him not to give up his business, but to devote to it as much of his atten- tion as his strength would permit ; and this advice coinciding with his own judgment, he concluded to act upon it ; but as none of his employees hardly came up to his ideal of what a managing clerk should be, he thought he had better advertise for a responsible man, who thoroughly understood the business, and who could keep the books, while he could do the buy- ing and attend to the outlying duties of the firm. It was in accordance with this idea that he inserted the advertisement in the Globe which brought Richard Ashton to answer in person. Mi CHAPTER VIII. AS II TON MEETS WITH FRIENDS AND SECURES A SITUATION. " '^ f AVE you received any answer to your advertise- ^\ ment, dear?" asked Mrs. Gurney of her hus- band. " Yes, dear, I received a telej^ram this morning from a man who lives in L , who said he thought he would suit me. He stated he could give first-class references, and that he had been in the business from a boy. He also stated he would make personal appli- cation, and would take the next train for this place : so I am expecting him on the 7 o'clock. I left word with Johnson to drive him here, and he may arrive at any moment." "But, my dear," said his wife, "is it not rather risky for him to come ? You may not like his ap- pearance, and if even in this respect everything is satisfactory, his credentials may not be so." " I am sure I cannot help that," replied Mr. Gurney. " I did not state in the advertisement that parties who \ n }■ . il iii I 1 1 1 ! 1 •ii I' i. '^ i^' il li I*. 56 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, wished to engage should make personal application, and I have no doubt but I shall receive applications by letter. If individuals come from a distance to apply, it must be at their own risk." Their conversation was here interrupted by the ringing of the door-bell, and in a moment after the servant reported that a Mr. Ashton wished to see Mr. Gurney. " That is the name of the person in question," Mr. Gurney remarked. " Show him in, Sarah ;" and in a moment after Ashton was ushered into their presence. "Mr. Gurney, I presume," he said, with that ease and grace that good breeding and familiarity with good society alone gives to a man. " I sent you a telegram," Ashton continued, " mak- ing application for the situation, in answer to your advertisement ; and I have now come in person, as I stated I would." Mr. Gurney, who had risen, extended to him his hand — then introduced him to his wife, and in a few moments, by his cordial reception, made him com- pletely at his ease. His appearance, and, still more, his manner, im- pressed Mr. and Mrs. Gurney favorably, and they both concluded. he was a very intelligent person. He produced his credentials, which were highly satisfactory ; but Mr. and Mrs. Gurney were too keen observers not to notice the marks of dissipation which his two weeks' debauch had stamped upon his face. The former, however, possessed too much of the cour- '\W THE THICKS OB' THE TRAFFIC. 57 lication, ications )ance to by the fter the see Mr. on," Mr. md in a )resence. lat case ity with , "mak- to your 3on, as I him his in a few im com- ner, im- ley both • highly boo keen n which his face, he cour- tesy which distinguishes the true gentleman to give utterance to a word which would wound even the most sensitive person, if he could do his duty and avoid it. Though, if it lay in the way of his duty, he immediately entered into its performance, but in the least offensive manner possible. He said to Richard Ashton, in his most kindly tone : "You will pardon me, I am sure, for asking you another question. I would not do so only it is neces- sary that I should exercise the utmost caution in order that I may secure a person who has not only ability and experience, but who also is a man of good char- acter and temperate habits — who, in short, would be every way reliable. Pardon me if I ask, in all kind- ness, would you in every respect fill up my require- ments ?" This was a plain question, put with the most gentle courtesy, but yet in a straightforward manner ; and if Ashton had wished in any way to equivocate, he felt he could not do so without utterly destroying his chances of employment. To do him justice, however, let us state he never, even for a moment, entertained a thought of so doing. He felt he was being weighed in the balance, and would probably be found wanting, but he resolved he would not endeavor to bring down the scale in his favor, either by equivocation or dealing in untruths. In fact, he immediately concluded to make a clean breast of it, and give him, in as few words as possible, a history of his life, and then leave him to deal with his case. Acting upon this thought, 5 *■ I li 1 ! I i I 1 II w 58 FllOM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OK, he in a few moments graphically and pathetically told his sad story. " I will not ask you to decide to-night," he said after he had finished, " but if it is agreeable to you I will call in the morning. I would like you would give me a decided answer by that time if posssible, and," he added, " if you conclude to engage me I will endeavor so to devote myself to your interest as never to give you cause to regret it." Mr. Guriiey immediately agreed to this arrangement, as he thought it would be better to have a few hours to carefully consider the matter, and to talk it over with his wife. In fact, he had been so much wrought upon by the sad recital, as to entirely unfit him for a calm and judicious consideration of the business in hand. So, making an appointment for the next day at 9 a.m., he saw Ash ton to the door, and bade him good night. Ashton, as he walked rapidly away, was very despondent. He had but slight hope of securing the situation ; for, he reasoned to himself, had a person of similar character come to him seeking a position, when he was in business, no matter how much he might sympathise with him he never would have thought of engaging him. He wisely determined, however, to hope for the best. He was sure he would like the situation, for he had formed a very high opinion of Mr. Gurney. He considered him a very superior person — cultured, but plain, and practical, and it was because he knew T w TllK THICKS OF THE TllAFB^IC. 50 ally told he said to you I ^ would osssible, le I will IS never gement, kV hours it over /■rough t m for a aess in ixt day 3e him ? very ng the son of )sition, ich he have •r the n, for irney. tured, knew 4 he possessed the latter attribute he had no hopes of being engaged. But had he been capable of reading Mrs. Gurney's mind, and could he also have known the influence she possessed over her husband, he would not have been so despondent. His story had not been half told before she had been so affected by its touching pathos as to be unable to repress her tears, and before he had fin- ished she had resolved she would exert all the influence she possessed over her husband to persuade him to take Ashton on trial ; for she felt it would be a noble thing to aim at the redemption of this man from evil, and to give help, hope, and joy to his wife and chil- dren, of whom he had spoken so tenderly. " Well, Martha," said Mr. Gurney, after Ashton had departed, " would it be safe for us to employ him ? " He asked this in all sincerity ; for he was a man who consulted his wife in relation to all his* business aflairs. He said, " he looked upon marriage as a part- nership, the wife being an interested member of the firm." And as he firmly believed this, he made it a rule never to enter into any business transaction without seeking her counsel, in regard to it, and he boasted that some of the best hits he had made in business had been the outcome of acting upon her advice. (^ " Well, my dear," she said in answer to his (juestion, " I am strongly in favor of giving him a chance. He is certainly a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and he could not have that ease and grace of manner ■■'.i It I! 1! GO i.i I* I; FIIOM WKAI/rn TO I'OVEUTY; OK, which ho possesses in so eminent a degree had he not associated with the Ijest society. It is certainly a j;reat pity he has become a victim of strong drink, but, then, if he had not he would never have applied for the situation." "But, Martha," interjected Mr. Gurney, "do you think it would be in conformity with sound wisdom to engage him after the confession he has made ?"• " Yes, James, I really do, and one of the strongest reasons for my thinking so is because of that confes- sion. If he had protested he had not been drinking, as most men in his circumstances would have done, then I should have opposed your engaging him, but he was so straightforward that he has certainly enlisted my sympathy in his favor ; and then I really think God guided him here. We have always been advo- cates of temperance, and if there is one thing more than any other for which I feel like praising Him, it is because he has enabled us to deliver some of our fellow-mortals from lives of intemperance, and it may be, some from drunkard's graves. But this has been done without any great sacrifice upon our parts — that is, we have not had to run any great risk. Now ;ve are placed in difi'erent circumstancuvS, and we have an opportunity of possibly saving one of our fellow- creatures if we are only willing to risk a little trouble and loss in order to accomplish our object. Now, don't you think, James, the Lord has sent him hf^e i' st to try us ? " " It has not thus occurred to me," he an, red ; but I i 1 THE TllK'KS OF THE TRAFFIC. 01 1 he not tainly a drink, applied do vou wisdom e?". i-ongest confes- finkinfr, e done, lim, but enlisted y think 1 advo- g more Him, it of our it may- is been 5 — that ow ;ve ave an fellow- irouble ^ don't i',«st to I; l)ut he did not make any further remark, wisliing to hear all his wife had to say before doing so. " I think, James," she continued, " the reason that the cause of temperance has not gained greater tri- umphs, has been because its advocati's have not been willing to make sacritices enough : let us not fail in this respect. There is no doubt but you would employ Mi". Ashton if you had no fear he would again fall, for he seems to be in every way suited for the position — if we had any doubt in this respect his credentials should remove it. But, unfortunately, he has been a great drinker, and, therefore, if you employ him, it may involve you in trouble, and in the end it may result in loss ; but if you do not employ him it will be because you are afraid of these things, that is, it will be a matter of selfishness, and you will practically say you are a friend of temperance until it becomes a matter which may affect your interest, but when it touches you there you will draw back and go no further, though by being willing to risk a little you may be the means of saving this man, and of giving succor to his wife and helpless children. I think, James, looking at it in this light, you should give him a trial for a month or two if you can agree as to terms." She had grown quite eloquent, ere she was through, for her heart was enlisted, and she was determined, if possible, to save this man. And, as she had listened to his description of his wife and children, she felt as if she almost knew Mrs. Ashton, and was certain she should esteem her very highly. So, she brought all 1 : Nl I ■ i" vU If: m\ , r —war 62 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, i\ " 1 ^ ! 1 her povveva of p(»rsna.sion to bear upon lier Imshaiid, that she might persuade liii*. to her way of thinking. Mr. Gurney had listened to his wife attentively until she waited for an answer, and then he scarcely knew what to say in reply. He had, in fact, as we have stated, been also touched by Ashton's graphic stoiy, and he felt he would be v/illing to sacrifice a great deal to save him , he also felt the force of lier logic when she argued if he were a true temperance man he would be willing to make great sacrifice in order to rescue one of the victims of the rum traffic, but he thought he would be running almost too much risk to employ him under the circumstances. It was under the in- fluence of these counter cu^' ents of thought he made his reply : " Well, Martha," he said, " T should like to engage the man, and I have concluded, if he did not drink, he would just suit me, but, according to his own st.ato- ment, he has not only fallen once, but several times, and we have no guarantee that he will not fall again. The fact is, judging from almost universal experience, he is more likely to fall than not, and if 1 should employ him, and after he had charge of the business he should give way to his besetting sin, he would not only cause me serious loss, but care and worry, which, in my delicate state of health, I should, if possible, avoid. Really, dear, I am in a strait betwixt two ; I should lilvc very much to help him, for, I will candidly confess, that no stranger, in so short a period of time ever took hold of my feelings as he has done, and yet THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 63 lusbaiid, inkinssible, wo; I ididly time id yet to put him in charge of my Imsiness, aftei- the confes- sion he has ma(!e, seems so contrary to the dictates of sound judgment as, in fact, to be actually courting trouble. But, my dear, let us not say anything more alxHit it to-niglit ; wo will pray over it, and, in the morning, we will decide what to do. God will guide us \f\ tliis as He has in all our past transactions, when we have gone to Him for guidance," " I am perfectly content, • i ! mm 68 ™0M WEALTH TO PoVEliTV ; OR, ^« one Jooked af Im ^ • ourls and regular cla'ic t T""^ '"'"'-''«■ «"»"y 7>th a„i,„ati:„ or mHW te«t«e«__either spark]i„J, ;-c. not ehat she 1^ pTof r™"'^' "'^^ -- beloved, for with such beautt ?""""' """^ "^"^^'^"y ''-"Wh;VsXT;;t;r;-*^-^-''^^-c, f much, a„d I asked hLl7, I °^' ""^ P'^P'^ «ver oved 00 and Eddie eMAme , \" ^"" ""^y- '^ '^e that he 'oved „e h s itii !' k ^' *^'^ '^'^ '"<'■ ^"d ha« clon and left us all fjf ^^■"- '"O- «nd ett he A« Mamie said this the tea^s h'""^. ""''" ^'"^ '^°°-" 'iy. and then sparkJin' f or ! '^'" '" «'''''^" '" ^er -«'ngs, ran in peari; LpT ir"'"'' '" "^^^ -^'"^ Her mother snatched herT , °^'' ^'' cheeks, -bbinffs; but, in a !„ nf; f' ''"■ ''' '^"-' '-• sympathy with her child ' '"" ^^'^P'-'S i" " My darJinp" " >> find another home for „Tail"''T.^''^ S°"^ ^-''y 'o -me back for us, tLl^} Z, t" ""''''« '"« -"' papa's sunbeam againT ^ " ^''""'^ *"' ^e her 'top -CTlVoTctL'' '°' ' '^"^' ^-"'' to Jay, that papa was i„ T^ada » T*r' '"^'"S' ^^^'er- over after us. And he tati ' '^ ""'' ''« ^«^ <=omin. «o cold we would not w"""""'' *"' ^^"•^^'^ ^a! -d I clon't want to leavlar "'"^ "^"^''^ *'--' dust want to stay here in IL • "J' ^'"^ ^''^''''- I "E^shouid^notiTkrrhS:-;;-. .. nis iittie sister," said 4 **^?^WIP( il|iJHii^JBSa CHAPTER X. :' ( ALL IN CANADA. ^"^IME seemed to creep along very slowly for the "^ next two days to Ruth Ash ton. She sent Eddie to the Post Office, and when he came without a letter she was terribly disappointed. She exclaimed : " Oh, I am afraid he has broken his promise and is drinking again ; for he certainly would have written if he were not!" If those Christians and respectable members of society, who favor the drinking usages and oppose with all the power of their intellect the passing of a law to do away with its sale, only experienced for one short day the agony which wrung the heart of that sensitive, loving woman, that experience would do what the tongue of the most eloquent pleader would utterly fail to accomplish ; that is, turn them to hate the traffic as they hate the father of evil. Her mind was preyed upon by doubt, fear, terrible anxiety. If he were drinking, in a strange country, what would become of him ? She remembered he had THE THICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 71 considerable money with him ; also, when he was in- toxicated he always became reckless, and would bo almost certain to display it, and thus, probably, tempt some hard character to rob or murder him. "Oh, my Father, protect him!" she exclaimed in her anguish, as she knelt before Him who was her only help and consoLtion in such times of trouble. The next morning Eddie was again sent for a letter, and as he came with one in his hand, the mother grasped it impulsively. But, a moment after, thinking her action might appear strange to Eddie, she kissed him affectionately, and said : " Excuse your mamma, my boy, I was so anxious to read papa's letter that I forgot myself." The reader has already been made acquainted with the contents of that letter, and when Ruth had read it her worse fears were not allayed — rather, confirmed. She wrote to him immediately — not expressing her fears, but filling her letter with words of love and confidence, thinking that by thus doing it would influence him, at least to some extent, to endeavor to prove to her that her confidence had not been mis- placed. She did not hear from him again for more than two weeks, though either she or the children wrote him several letters in the meantime. The agony she en- dured during that period I will allow the reader to imaijine. At length Eddie brought horn" the letter, the con- tents of which I have given in a former chapter. It it 1 '4 « ' 1 I. ' I; 72 FUOM WKAI/ni TO POVEUTV ; OR, i:!. I i 111! t: I relieved her heart of a j^reat burden. In fact, she felt some compunctions of conscience — she thought she must have judged him wrongfully, for it hardly seemed possible to her that a stranger to her husband would have engaged him, if he had presented himself immediately after a long continued debauch. That night, as she knelt by her bedside, she thanked God for His loving-kindness to her, in her hour of great trial. But, after she had retired and began to think over what the letter contained, she found that while, on the whole, its contents gave her great cause for thankfulness, yet, that it made her feel inexpres- sibly sad — sad, because she would have again to part with tried and true friends and go among strangers. Never in her life had she been the recipient of more gentle attentions and delicate expressions of kindness than since she had resided in Rochester. True, some of her neighbors were more curious in regard to her affairs than she thought was consistent with good breeding, and sometimes they made inquiries which she did not wish to answer, but which she did not know how to evade without giving offence. However, this trait of a certain class of her American friends — and which, by-the-bye, has furnished a fund for humorists the world over — was more than redeemed by their genuine kindness and willingness to help upon every possible occasion. And some, she thought, were noble examples of what men and women are when in them natural goodness is joined with intelli- gence and culture ; for they seemed to divine her I m i -4 TilK THICKS OF TIIK rUAKI'lC I'-i wants like a quick-witte<-wwiiWiWtiiiiW«i ted out as they nd they liso was 1 would eve her. 7ont be we are ^orkintr \ if the I enjoy 'ine big •y Wil- i as he [joying ^J?, the THE TRICKS <>F Tm*; TIJAKKIP. 76 hardships which a sliort period before had stirred up such rebellious feelings; and then they settled into a iiiorc thoughtful expression as he continucfl : " Knthcr says there is a good high school there, and I will, if I can, be the best in my class theiv, as I have been here." " Well," said Allie, " I think wr were naughty to speak as we pt'ctations. ne renrea a suitauie nouse, every lespect the promises made in liis letter. Then, ffettin;uch was to be the ease, I ain't never known it t(» tout one o'clock, I knoo it was one, 'cause I had the rh( u- niatiz so bad I couldn't sleep, and so I got up and went 1'- the lire to keep warm. I thought 1 would put my ; orn to my ear, and I jest caught the faintest soujkI of ti.e roosters crowin'; so when I hearn that I knoo what time it was. Jcsst a little after that 1 went l»aek to bed, and I hadn't been there more'n a minute oi* two before I hearn a rap, and then, in a little, I hearn an- other, and then another; they sound ,'d far away like, and awfully solemn. Is it not strange that I can hear these things, when I cannot hear anything else ?" " Yes," said Phoebe, " it is strange ; but God's ways are mysterious to us, and past finding out." " Well," continued Aunt Debie, " I am sartan thisre is goen to be another death ; for I never hear these things but some of our friends die." " Oh," said Phoebe, solemnly, " I wonder who will be called for this time." ! j 1 i !.:! t 80 FT50M WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OH, I "God knows hest," remarked Dcltic, " and he ain't ooino- to do wronij ; we must larn to trust Him," " And then," she continued, " I have another way of knowing when there is to be trouble, sickness, and death. If I dream of a person walking through a corn or v/heat field, I am then sartan there is going to be trouble or sickness ; if they are cutting the wheat, or plucking the ears of corn, it is then sure to be followed by a death. I suppose God reveals these things to me by figures, the same as He did to Simon Peter in the long ago ; for ain't we all jest like wheat waiting for the sickle, or like corn waiting till the time comes to be plucked by the Death Angel ? I suppose my heavenly Father reveals more to me than He does to others, 'cause He, in His wdsdom, has taken so much from me. He has left me here a poor old woman, deaf, blind, and lame. I can't see the faces of my friends through these poor sightless eyes, nor the beauties of the fields and sky, nor the blossoms and fruit of the trees, nor the flowers in the garden ; neither can I hear the sweet music of the birds, nor even the prattle of the dear little children who come and kiss me, and let me play with their curls, save through this horn. He only knows " — and Aunt Debie looked up as she s])oke — " how I long sometimes to see them. But, Father, Thou knowest what is best : ' Though Thou slayest me, yet will I trust in Thee.' " This conversation occurred in Mrs. Gurney's parlor ; for both Mr. and Mrs. Gurney were originally Quakers, but, settling in Hayton in their early marrieri life, they ■■-^ THE THICKS OF THE TKAKh'IC. 81 lie ain't way of t«s, and acorn \g to be I eat, or )lIowed h to nie ■ in the ing for ines to se my Joes to ) much 1, deaf, Wends ties of of the can r )rattle e, and horn. IS she But, Thou trior ; kers, tJiey joined anotlici" lM)dy, I.IiouhIi tlu-y ever ivtiiiiied a {)ro- fuund respect for the Chiireli of their eliildhood. In fact a oreat many of their i-ehitives, and a very large circle of f^-iends in the surrounding country, belonged to that body ; and, as they are a people who are especially noted for their social qualities and for their warm attachment to kinsfolk ana friends, the Gurneys very frequently received visits from them. The conversation, part of which 1 have given to my readei's, took place upon one of these visits. One of the parties present on this occasion deserves more than a passing notice, as she was an unconnuon char- acter. Deborah Donaldson, or, as she was always called, " Aunt Debie," was, " after the strictest sect of her religion," a Quaker, and she never quite forgave James and Martha Gurney for leaving the Church of their fathers. She had been a widow for more than tliirty years, her husband having been killed by the falling of a limb from a tree which he was chopping down, and she had l)een blind and deaf for the greater part of that time. She had been a woman of very great energy, and there were some who hinted that she was the con- trolling member of the matrimonial firm when the now lamented Donaldson was livino;. Whether there was any truth or not in that report it is not for the writer to say, but she was certainly a woman <>f great force of charactei' — a living emljodimcut of the Scrip- ture maxim, " Whatsoever thy hand tindeth to do, do I 11 I ^l i.iii 1 ..i i -i»k.-> 82 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, I'-*-' .1 ■ \ it witli hH tliv iiiiiiht."' And even iinw. in extreme old age — for she was nioic tliau t'oiir score — tbougli in many wa^'s slie nianit'ested she had entered her second childhood, she yet retained a great deal of her original energy. As I have illusti'ated, though she possessed genuine piety, it was so mingled with superstition as to leave it difficult to decide which exerted the con- trolling influence. If any of my readers have associated to any extent with the people in the I'ural districts, especially those of American or Dutch-American descent, they, no doubt, have observed that a great many of the older and more illiterate ones among them are very supersti- tious, being implicit ])elievers in signs, charms, appari- tions, etc.; and most of them, also, entertain the opinion that the moon exerts an occult iniluence over many things of vital importance to the residents of this mundane sphere ; and no power that could be brought to bear could induce some of them to plant corn, make soap, kill pigs, or perform many other important duties in certain phases of the moon, for they would be posi- tive if they did it would result in dire disaster. There are also sounds and sio-ns which are looked upon as warnings of coming woe ; for instance : three knocks in the still hours of the night are considered a "death call," and when heard by them they expect soon to learn of the decease of a friend. Divams are the certain presages of coming events — of prosperity and happiness, or of sorrow, (iiseasc, and death. Now, Aunt Debie and her fiiends wtre hrm believers ' !)• THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. SM 'lije old u^i^h in second >ngijml ■^•^es.sed urn as le con- in tlic^t' Uiinus, and tlif rornici' was lool^rd ii|m)|) as one wlio was favored with leccivinL^ nioi'c sImus, sc( inn; more visions, and dreandng inon; dreams, than any person in that section of country. Slie was also viewed by her friends as an oracle in interpreting' these signs ; and she, liaving no doubt in regard to hei' own endowments, acce[)ted in perfect faith thei)' eulo- ^iuni of her ])ower in this respect. Anotlier present at tlie time to vvhicli we refer was a sister of Aunt Debie's, some ten years younger than herself, l^hoebe Barrett by name. She w^as attended by hei' Imsband, whom slie addressed as Enoch. He certainly was not tlie predominant spirit of tlie family : for he "w^as so (piiet and unobtrusive as to scarcely ever utter a M'ord, except it might be to make a remaik in I'egard to the weather or answer a question. There was also a young Quakeress by the name of Rachel 8teb])ins, a distant relative of the others, and they were all related to Mr. and Mrs. Gurney. "Did thee have any peculiai- dreams lately, Aunt Debie ? " asked Rachel Stebbins. " I had a peifectly awful one the other night." "Doo tell. What was it, Racliel :* " said Aunt Debie. " I dreamt," continued Rachel, "that 1 was stand- ing by an open grave ; and it appeared to mi, jest lie- fore they lowei'ed the coffin into it, they took the Wi otf from the coffin, and in it was the corps* of a y<»uiig girl, white as chalk, but she ap]»earcd as if she must have been very pretty when she was livin^ There were orange blossoms on ho- bo?Mjtn and aU m her ■:i ^i 'J ix I W. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I iff Ilia IIIII15. ■ m m i,4 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 -< 6" - ► V] <^ J^' '^" /y y M Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 873-4503 N? iV :\ \ "% V ^ % "%" Iff f. &.< ^ iV t^ 88 FROM WEAIiTH TO POVERTY ( ■ 1 . i : J •■» 1 ■ Mr. Gurney thought it Vjetter not to argue the point, so he put his mouth to her horn and said : " Thee and I had better not argue any further, Aunt Debie. Thee always gets the better of me anyway. But were not Judge McGullett and Sheriff Bottlesby with Charles Dal ton, and were they not the ones who furnished him with the liquor that intoxicated him ? " " Yes, they were," said the old lady. But we will leave the remainder of her reply to another chapter. CHAPTER XII. A WORTHY Sheriff and judge -dr. dalton. ^ith you and Aunt Debie, that he shojild be as far above anything that is coarse or impure in his private life as above suspicion in his ])ublic capacity. But T look upon our present judge as the farthest remove from this ; he was a good party hack, and, to the sliame of the government in power when he was appointed be it said, he was re- warded for his unscrupulousness by being elevated to the l)ench of our county. ibove re- with a J highest , but also y came to e McGul- ^as given has ever ;s, though vyer. In ■5 position is a fox. I to brow- t^iay have J fishwife. 1, and yet je, as you jial mind, evidence, udice and Else on its nt Debie, t is coarse ion in his ent judge as a good rnment in le was re- levated to THK THICKS OF TlIK TltAKKlC 91 i " In regard to Sheriff Bottlesbv, he is a man who is almost beneath contempt; he has neither the brains, dignity, nor character to fit him for such a position. He cunningly worked to pack a caucus to secure the choice of our present member as a candidate to the local legislature, with the understanding, no doubt, if his efforts were crowned with success, that he should receivii his reward. By low cunning, and resorting to means that no honorable man could employ, he suc- ceeded. The last occupant of the position was found to be too old, and therefore asked to retire ; an ■ i .i ii j: it ■■ i I 1 1 r , ■5, i"' ' i Vj ■ ,11 " I 1 1 1 tl K Ui m 92 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, f lA systoin similar to that introil I , i,' ■* .. 1 A i! » V ii . I 96 FHOM WEAITH TO POVEKTY ; OH, iult tilt' .stroke of the Deatli An^^el. Tliey laid her to rest while yet in her prime l»y the side of the hiisbainl of her youth. . The son was sadly stricken by his mother's death, for he had a very strong affection for her ; and for a long time after his return to the Medical College — in fact, until he had taken his diploma — he remained perfectly sober ; but in the ban(|uet that he and the rest of his class held to celebrate that event he again fell, and ere he left was so intoxicated he had to be helped to his lodgings. From that period he seemed to lose all power of resistance and almost all sense of shame. He had been engaged to Mary Fulton, the young woman who, in her innocence, first tempted him to drink, and who now bitterly repented of her thought- lessness ; for she was a true woman, and loved him with all the strength of her deep, sensitive nature. He, after taking his medical degree, had started to practice in Orchardton, a small and lovely village not far from Bayton, and would have done exceedingly well had it not been for his drinking propensities. It was about a year after he had begun to practice that he met witli the adventure of which Aunt Debie and her friends were speaking. " God was merciful when He removed poor Rebecca before she had a chance to hear of her boy's shameful conduct," said Aunt Debie. " 'Pears to me that the words of Scripter is come troo in his case — ' The sins III THE THICKS OK THK TUAFFIC. 97 {>\' t\\v parent Ims to Im- horiH' l»y tlic cliildroii to the tliinl aiul fourth j^cnenitioii.' " Aunt Debie endeavored to (juote from memory, and so slie is to be excused if she did not render it accord- ing to the letter. " I believe with thee, Aunt Debie," said Mrs. Gurney. " It was a l)le!-:sed thing for Rebecca she died thinking her boy was pure ; if she had known how it was — and if she had lived a little lons ould be a favorable opportunity to introduce Mrs. A.jhton to Aunt Debie ; so she spoke to the former, and they walked over to the old lady's chair. Mrs. Gurney then took Mrs. Ashton's hand and placed it in the old lady's, saying, as she did so : " Aunt Debie, this is Mrs. Asliton, of whom thee has heard us speak !" "Happy to meet with thee, I am sure !" said Aunt Debie. "What is thy fust name?" " Ruth," answered Mrs. Ashton. " That is a good Script'al name. May thee, like thy namesake, be worthy of the Lord's blessing." " What is thy husband's name ? " " Richard," answered Mrs. Ashton. " And how many children has thee got ?" i !,: • 1 I h \\ t:: \ '■. Y \ ); . I . 1., ■M[ i ; i i^^B^SBSt 100 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, " We liave ilircc, u hoy and two girls ;" and then, as it' in anticipation of the old lady's next (juestion, she added : " Their names are Edward, Alice Maud, and Mary ; Edward is fourteen, Alice Maud is twelve, and Mary is four, she is our baby." " Thee had a long rest between thy second and third," remarked Aunt Debie. " Did thee lose any ?" Ruth Ash ton's face flushed slightly, for Aunt Debie was like a new revelation to her ; she hail never met anyone like her before, but she good-naturedly ans- wered " No " to her question. Mrs. Gurney now told Ruth she had better leave the old lady, for she was very inquisitive, and added, by way of explanation : " She has been blind and deaf so long that she seems to have forgotten that some of her questions are hardly in keeping with good manners ;" and, she continued, "in her youth, where she was raised, the habits and customs were not as they are here at the present. Then, as she cannot see nor hear, she is naturally more inquisitive." Mrs. Asht )n, who began to be alarmed, would gladly have left the old lady ; but, as the latter held her by the hand, she thought it would be rude to hastily withdraw. " It is a blessing thee has not had to pass through that sore trial," she said. " I lost a little babe uiore than sixty years ago, and I see its sweet little face now just a3 plainly as if it were .only yesterday that it was taken from me ; and often in my dreams it comes to me, and again I hear it prattle and crow as it did in m ?" THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 101 the days of tlie long, long ago. But God was good to me in taking it away ; tor, while all the rest o^ my chihlren are now getting old and gray, in my memory that sweet little babe is ever young. James and Sarah have had a harder trial. If God in His mercy, wisdom, and love, had seen it was for the better to have taken their children when they were young, it would not have been so hard for them to bear ; but when they were let to grow up and then taken, leaving them alone in their age, the stroke is very hard indeed. But they — thank God — know where to go for con- solation, and have learned to say : ' The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord.' " And then, addressing Ruth, she said : " Thee ought to be very thankful that God hath not made thee to pass through this fire." " I am more thankful than I can find words to ex- press," said Ruth, as the tears streamed from her eyes, as they also did from the eyes of every person in the room, for they were all strangely moved Ijy Aunt Debie's pathos. " But thee has had thine own troubles, has thee not?" and Aunt Debie asked the question significantly, as if she referred to a particular trouble. Mrs. Gurney now saw what she feared was coming, and she told Ruth it would be prudent to withdraw, quietly, but as quickly as possible. Mrs. Gurney was secretly condemning herself for what she now felt was, to say the least, imj)i'udonce ; for in a conv(M'sation she had had with Aunt Debie I ■■ i , I' f ■ i :'fl i: H ! 1 J i':['l 102 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, she gave her an outline of the life of Richard and Rutll Ashton, and she was now sure that the old lady was about to refer to it. In fact, she had unfolded to her, almost in full, the benevolent schemes they had formed for the purpose of reforming Richard Ashton. Ruth, in answer to Aunt Debie's question, replied : " Yes, I have had to pass through troubles. I sup- pose," she added, " God has seen that it was better for me that I should have my share the same as others. It would not do for any of us to be basking always in the sunlight, and experiencing nothing but pleasure ; so God takes us down in the shadow and brings sor- row upon us, that we can more fully sympathize with our suffering fellow-creatures, and also be made riper for heaven." Ruth now gently withdrew her hand, and, bending down, said : " Please excuse me. Aunt Debie, Mrs. , Gurney has called me into the conservatory." " 'Pears to me Martha is in a hurry to get thee away " — and she spoke with some asperity of tone. " But I was going to say that I heard thee has passed through particular trouble — that thy husband had been a drinker, and that he had brought thee and thy children to poverty. This must have caused thee much sutterin' ; and the wust of it is, if a man becomes a drinker, though he does break off he is almost sartan to begin again. He never abused thee and thy chil- dren, did he, Ruth ?" Ruth's pale face Hushed red as she quickly with- drew. She ilid not know what to say in the way of I THE TRICKS OF THE TKAFFIC. 103 thee tone. has sband reply, and therefore left the room as speedily as pos- sible ; but though she did, the tones of Aunt DeWe's voice fell distinctly upon her ear as, in her innocence, she garrulously gave expression to her fears as to the woe that was yet to come. " I pity the poor thing," she said ; " for thee jest mind if he does not take to drink again ; such men scarcely ever fail to do so. He will likely drink hisself to death, and then she will be a widow and her children orphans in a strange lano. God help the poor thing !" Mrs. Gurney closed the door to shut out the sound, but Ruth had heard the ominous words, and they made her feel wretched. She was not angry with Aunt Debie, for she was broad enough to understand, after Mrs. Gurney's explanation, that what would be inquisitive rudeness in another was to be excused in her because of her early environments and her latter afflic- tions. The major portion of her life had been passed in a primitive community, where, though its inhabi- tants were as pure as they were simple and unsophisti- cated, they had no conception of that fine sense of delicacy which is the product of higher culture, and keeps one from prying into the attairs of others. She was, in fact, an exaggerated specimen of those primi- tive times ; for her afflictions had preserved her from the influences which had wrought such a transforma- tion on those around her. Indeed, if she, at the time of which we are writing, could have had her hearing and her sight restored, the world would have appeared as strange to her as it did to Rip Van Winkle after his twenty years' sleep. 1i. V u hi It: lit k f I. 104 FROM WEAF.TH TO POVEKTV : OR, -/ But' th()Ui:jh, as wo have intimated, Rutli Ashton could, at least to some extent, excuse the old lady, when she understood the circumstances, this did not keep what she said from exerting such an influence upon her, for the time being, as to entirely destroy all peace of mind, and to cause the former to wish she had not accepted Mrs. Gurney s invitation. In a short time after her interview with Aunt Debie, Enoch broke his long silence by giving expression to the opinion that "it was time to go hum." The female members of the party acquiescing, they quietly departed. And as her husband called on his way home from the shop to escort her, Ruth, shortly after, bade her kind host and hostess good-night. Her first association with the rural inhabitants of Canada was not of the most pleasing character, but yet they possessed characteristics she could not help admiring; for, while there was an entire absence of that delicate sensibility which would have kept them / from so rudely endeavoring to satisfy their curiosity, there was exhibited, in the short time she was in their company, so much shrewdness, common sense, and, added to this, such an inherent hatred of ^hams, of vice and villany, and such a love for the true, the pure, and the good, that she formed an opinion in regard to them a narrower person, under the circum- J stances, would be incapable of doing. That night she slept but little, and the little she did was broken, fitful, and disturbed by hideous dreams, in which her husband find chiMren, Aunt Debie, and r i THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 105 were mixed up in horrible confusion ; and when awake she found the couplet of the poet Camp- bell running through her mind — '* The sunset of life gives me mystical lore, And coming events cast their shadows before" the association of ideas in her mind quite involun- tarily, as far as her will-power was concerned, linking this creation of the poet with Aunt Debie's ominous utterances. She finally quietly left the side of her sleeping husband, and knelt before the Lord in prayer ; and then, returning to bed, soon fell into a peaceful slumber. ] ■U :i '■ r^ • M^ ,! i 'i I ^ t 'i :i ■: t'i 8 ;' T t 1 1 i i^ « 1' fjfi I I t CHAPTER XIV. ^ HAPPY HOME. J iICHARD ASHTON had now settled down to business as vigorously and keenly as in the days of the past, and he seemed not to have lost any of his faculties by what he had passed through. And yet, physically, a great change had come over him in the last few years. He had aged very fast ; his thick, wavy hair had lost its glossy blackness, and was now shaded with grey and white. The hand was not so steady as in the days of the past ; the step had not so firm a tread. Ruth saw this with loving apprehension, and while thanking God that He had influenced her husband so that he was as of old in his love and kindness to her and their children, and that they had again a happy home, she prayed he might be kept from temptation ; for she was afraid, if he fell again, he would not be long with them, as he was only now a wreck of his former self. And Ruth herself, though time had dealt more THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 107 kindly with her than with her husband, know that the care and anxiety of the last ten years had, to a serious extent, undermined her constitution and made her prematurely old. She was now much more easily fatigued than of yore, and there were those certain indications of time's ravages, " busy wrinkles," form- ing around her eyes, though her fair complexion was favorable to her. She was sitting at the window one beautiful sum- jjaer evening, listening to the carolling of a bird which #as perched upon the bough of a tree that shaded the house, and little Mamie was playing at her feet, when Allie, who was in the parlor practising on the piano, struck up with her full-toned soprano voice : '* Darling, 1 am growing old — Silver threads among the gold Shine upon my brow to-day ; Life is passing fast away." "Why, my mamma, dear, oo have silver threads among the gold," said Mamie. " See dare," and she pointed to the shining silver threads that were glim- mering in the sunlight amid her mother's golden hair. " I heard Eddie say to Allie that oo had." Allie, hearing her little sister's remarks, came out and kissed her affectionately ; then, sitting upon her mother's lap, she lovingly entwined her right arm round her neck, while she caressed and smoothed her hair with her left hand, and said : "Yes, mamma, dear, there are now a great many ' silver threads among the gold,' and yet I don't think ;i! I ii m^ i v M y 1' I'A V - i' •■ 1^ -rrrr I'M 1 ' 108 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, If n my own dear mamma is growing old at all." And then, as the white tears glistened in her dark eyes, she continued : " 1 hope my darling mamma's life is not passing fast away, for Eddie was saying last night that he was sure there never was another mother so patient, loving and good as you are;" and she kissed her again and again. Ruth returned her child's caresses and said : " I am sure, Allie darling, I am very happy to know my chil- dren love me so fondly ; but if God saw fit to take me> He would care for my motherless children. He has promised to be a 'Father to the fatherless;' but tell Eliza to hasten up tea, for here comes your pa." The conference between mother and daughter was suddenly broken up by the husband and father's re- turn to Ills tea. He was in high spirits, and having brought home a beautiful gros grain silk dress as a present to Buth, he claimed a kiss as a bounty. He said to her : " I want you to congratulate me, dear, for Mr. Gurney has been so well pleased with me that he has raised my salary ; so it will be the same as what I received when in Rochester, and as our living is much cheaper here, I consider it fully equal to a hundred dollars a year more. I am sure, dear, you find the people equally as considerate and kind as you did in your other home. Do you not ?" "Yes, dear, I have every cause to be thankful." She could truly thus speak ; for, with the exception of the interview with Aunt Debie, her intercourse with her neighbors had been of the most pleasing ^ And k eyes, life is it night ither so kissed "I am ly cliil- ike me> He has 3ut tell ber was er's re- having ss as a y. He ear, for hat he what I much undred nd the did in nkful." ception rcourse leasing THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 109 character. They could not, in fact, do otherwise than treat Ruth Ashton with considerate kindness, as her amiable disposition drew all hearts to her, and her intelligent culture caused even the comparatively ignorant to respect her ; for they instinctively realized she was a lady. " I am sure, Richard, dear," she said, " that wher- ever you and our children are, if we are enjoying health and comparative prosperity, I cannot but feel contented. I should be very ungrateful, indeed, if I did not do so. Have we not every reason to be thank- ful ? We are living in this delightful home, and is it not like Mount Zion, beautiful for situation ? " As she spoke she drew aside the curtain, and looked out upon the flowers and gravelled walks which, sweep- ing in a circle, enclosed a closely-cropped lawn, with flower-beds on either side of and bordering them^ and through an opening they could see the broad river that gradually widened until it entered the bay, which was dotted here and there with white sails, and away in the dim distance they could just discern the blue waters of the wide-sweeping Ontario. And as she opened the window the breeze came fresh from the bay, catching, as it came, the fragrance of the clover and flowers, which had an exhilarating effect^ upon those who inhaled its fragrance. In fact, her words were emphasized by the silent but poetic elo- quence of the surroundings. Just then Eddie came in, bringing a fine string of fish. He had been anfrling in a stream which flowed "\ '\ i ; i* I i ■" ■If (, !•! I , I \ » n .5 I i! i. :!■ n 1 1 W. % i f ii 1 l 1 {. 1 1 n, [ *M ^. ■. -i! ,1i J 110 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, v: .1 s into the river, a little more than a mile from the town, and had succeeded in capturing some really fine trout. His father, as he looked at them, said they were " speckled beauties," and they were ; for, after counting them and finding there were nineteen, the scales were brought in, when they were found to weigh ten pounds. Eddie's eyes sparkled with triumph. He enjoyed his success all the more because his father had indulged in a little good-natured banter as he was starting away, asking him if he should send out a cart to bring home what he would catch. He now felt he could turn the laugh against his father. But who has ever yet" caught a fine string of fish without being proud of his success ? Even my reader, who may have reached life's summit, and is now on the steep decline, if he ever has indulged in the "gentle art," so beautifully delineated by quaint old Izaac Walton, will, I think, acknowledge that even yet he feels somewhat elated when he is so fortunate as to bring home a nice basket of the " speckled beauties," thus manifesting to all that his hand has not lost its cunning ; but his feelings are cold when compared to the joy that animates the youthful heart under similar circumstances. Let any gentleman who may read these pages go back, in memory, to the sunny days of boyhood, when he returned home with a " fine string " — the result of a day's fishing — how enthusiastically he entered into the description of the manner in which the big ones THE TRICKS OF* THE TRAFFIC. Ill were captured. And then, with a tinge of regret in the tones, liow graphically he related the escape of some monster of the stream, wliich, probably, carrie1 1 ' I- ■i V 116 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, ^1 i. ijir L for her love for him, under every circumstance, through evil as well as good report, was so great that she would have died for him ; and his praise of her singing filled her with inexpressible joy. " Now, little sunbeam," said Mr. Ashton, " I will hear you sing your piece. Come, Allie, and play for her, for I must soon return to the shop." Allie again took her place at the piano and played the prelude, and then started little Mamie, who sang : " I am so glad that my Father in heaven Tells of His love in the Book He has given. Wonderful things in the Bible I see, But this is the dearest — that Jesus loves me. " I am so glad that Jesus loves me — Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me ; I am so glad that Jesus loves me — Jesus loves even me." There was something in the singing of his little prattler which filled Richard Ashton with strange awe. As she lisped out " I am so glad," with note as clear as the carolling of a lark, the look of seraphic rapture which overspread her face evinced that she had entered into the spirit of the piece and that her little heart was glad. As he looked into the face of his wife he saw, intuitively, her thoughts were as his, and he whispered to her : " Ruth, dear, she seems too fair, too sweet, too good for earth ; I am sometimes afraid that God will take her from us." Mrs. Ashton made no reply ; her heart was too full THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFK.'. 117 for speech. But as he looked at A Hie he saw she had caufjht his whispered words, and — it seemed ahnost in unconscious harmony with her thoughts — her fingers struck the keys and her lips warbled forth in sweetest pathos the simple but tenderly touching words : " Strange, we never prize the music Till the sweet-voiced bird has flown ! Strange, that we should slight the violets Till the lovely flowers are gone ! Strange, that summer skies and sunshine Never seem one half so fair As when winter's snowy pinions Shake the white down in the air ! " Then scatter seeds of kindness," etc. They each of them kissed the little one who was to them so dear. "My little girl sang that beautifully," said her father, " but she must not sing too much ; I am afraid, if she does, she will injure her voice." " Call Eddie," he said ; and Mamie ran out for him, for he had gone out immediately after supper to ex- hibit his catch to the son of a neighbor. Mamie met him, and told him that his father was waiting to have prayer. It was now the custom of Richard Ashton to jrather his wife and children around him at the family altar, both morniiig and evening, to sing a hymn and read a portion of Scripture ; and then to supplicate the Father in heaven for His benediction upon the little group that were there assembled. 1m : ^1 ( i ni t 1 1 i 1 1 Hsl ill ' ; I llcS FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, M He had commenced family worship when they were married, but as his views changed he gradually de- sisted, and finally left off entirely. This caused Ruth great grief, for she had ever been a conscientious and consistent Christian. Since they came to Bayton she had prevailed upon him to resume the custom that was such a source of joy and comfort to them in the halcyon days of yore. He always held the service in the morning before breakfast and just after supper in the evening, as then all the children could be present. When Eddie came his father took down the family Bible. They then sang an appropriate hymn, and, after reading a chapter, he carried them all to a throne of grace in prayer. The Bible from which he read the lesson had been in the family for four generations, and in the family record there were the names of some who had been gathered to their fathers for over a hundred years. It had been left him by his mother, and almost her last words were spoken as she presented it to him. She said : " Take this, my son ; it has been your mother's counsellor and guide through life, and when other friends failed her it was true. Go to it for counsel every day, my son; it will ■ c better unto. thee than thousands of gold and silver." The son took it with a determination to guard it as a precious treasure, and to leave it as an heirloom to his children. He penned upon its flyleaf the beautiful words of the poet Morris, as they so ex- r im THE TRICKS OF' THE TRAFFKJ. 119 plicitly expressed the incidents which were associated with his own experience : " This Book is all that's left me now ; Tears will unbidden start ; With faltering lip and throbbing brow I press it to my heart. For many generations past Here is our family tree, My mother's hand this Bible clasped, She dying gave it me." After prayer he went to his shop thanking God in his heart for His mercy to him after all his lapses. And there was that glow of happiness reigning in his soul which he only knows who has a happy home. Never were truer words penned than those of the poor wanderer, John Howard Payne : "Be it ever so humble, There's no place like home." If a man has hearts that love him there, he is better prepared to successfully meet and overcome life's difficulties and to endure bufFetings from the outside world. It seems eminently felicitous that heaven should be called home ; for the name is associated with the sweetest, purest, holiest joys that are ex- perienced in this life. It raises our hopes, and fills us with a glorious expectancy, when we think of that place of rest as " home, sweet home." ■ ' 1! ■■' r a t '1 ^h ■0.'. \> ■ > m i ^jbsa CHAPTER XV. ME. AND MMS. GURNETS SATISFACTION WITHASUTON; MUTUAL CONGRATULATIONS. ^'^HE next summer and winter passed away and "-^ there was nothing transpired to cause sorrow to rest upon the home of Richard and Ruth Ashton. They and their children were winning golden opinions from all with whom they were associated ; and as Mr. Gurney's business prospered under the management of the former, who proved himself to be reliable, Mr. Gurney felt very thankful that he had secured so good a man. • "I think, dear," he said to his wife one day, " we miffht have gone farther and fared worse. I did not dream that 1 would be so relieved from responsibility. Ashton is certainly one of the best business men I have ever met." " True," interjected Mrs. Gurney, " I came to that <'onclusion from almost the first; and his courteous, r. 'lemanly demeanour makes him a general favorite." Yes," continued Mr. Gurney, "and then he is so THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 121 clear-sighted, intelligent, and energetic ; so conscien- tious in regard to what he owes to his employer that he takes just as much interest in the business as if it were his own/' "I am sure, James," his wife replied, "we were divinely directed ; the clouds of our affliction were so dark they hid all the sunlight from our view ; but yet we can now see, can we not, dear, that they were lined with silver ? " " Yes," he replied ; " God s ways are not our ways." " I hope," she said, " Mr. Ashton may continue as he has so far ; but if he were again to fall a victim to his old habit I should not, even then, regret that we em- ployed him." " How is that, my dear ?" queried Mr. Gurney. " Why, because in so doing, James, we have kept him from sin for a considerable period of time, and enabled him to sustain in comparative comfort his wife and family. And then I esteem it a great privilege to be in- timately acquainted with such a family. Mrs. Ashton is certainly one of the most estimable women with whom I have ever associated; and their children are, to my mind, models of what children should be — they are so bright and amiable, so gentle to each other, and so obedient to their parents. Besides, he has taken such an interest in your business, and has so won the con- fidence of the public by his engaging manners and what seems to be his intuitive insight into character ; and his power to please has helped your business so." " Yes, I think you are about right, dear. In fact, I 9 1 1 ■||M ^ ' ^ 1 i I , 1 ' ■ 1 1 1'.:' ,1 ! ■ i: >- : ' H'i ,1 ,i 122 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, know you are, as far as what you said applies to my- self, for I am certain I would not have recuperated so soon had it not been that I was relieved from a great deal of care and worry by my confidence in him, while I have had enough to employ my mind to keep me ffom brooding sorrow. I am now confident the doctor gave me the best possible advice when he said, " You had better not give up your business." " I am certain, dear," his wife said, " that the course you adopted was the very best under the circum- stances ; but, as you just remarked, it would not have done to have tried if you had not had a foreman to relieve you from all worry." " Well, my dear," he remarked, " if it has turned out well for all parties concerned, it is you who deserves the credit. I believe a woman's instinctive perception of character is keener and clearer than that of a man's. And the heart of a true woman always beats respon- sive to human woe. If charity depended entirely upon the sterner sex, there would be many hearts which have been made happy by the beneficent hand of charity still unrelieved, and many homes which are now happy would be filled with misery — their inmates almost shut out from hope and sinking in despair." " Thee mustn't flatter so, or I'll get vain," she said playfully, at the same time going over to his chair and, kissing him lightly on the forehead. She always spoke the plain language when she wished to manifest her affection, for it was the language that both of them spoke in their childhood. "I do not deserve any more credit than you do. THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 123 my. ed so vhilo rae )ctor You y I (* You hesitated, in order that you might look at the matter from all sides, and view it in all its bearings ; you wished to weigh it carefully in your mind, and not come to a conclusion from the impulse of the moment. You desired to do what was best for all concerned, and I have no doubt but you would have concluded to do just what you did." " I might, or I might not," he said ; " but thee seemed to conclude at once that he would be just the man for me; and then thee pitied him so that I think thee wanted to give him a chance under any circum- stances." " Well — yes, James, I will admit I did ; but I must say that from the very first I liked him, and thought he would be, if he kept from drink, just the man for you. And I think you may be right in your estimate of women ; for I have no doubt they have an intuitive perception of character that is, to a certain extent, lacking in men ; this, in many instances at least, takes the place of reasoning with them. I also believe their hearts are more easily influenced by the appeals of want or sorrow, and that therefore they are more fre- quently found taking the initiative in matters that appeal largely to the heart. Their nature and their position alike fit them for this." " Let me see, Sarah !" said Mr. Gurney, jocosely. " You are amonjx those strong-minded women that be- lieve in women being the equal of man in every respect, and should have the same rights as men." "Now, James, thee knows better than that, and simply likes to tease. I believe that women should u f. 1^1- 1 1 1^ :!j- (I i I ) r ! iSi i j.lll)« ! i! l ll;l. i . i 124 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. have the same rights as men, in their proper sphere ; and I would like to see them have a right to vote on this temperance question, for it' they had they would soon sweep the land clear of its most blighting curse ; but except for this purpose I think the right place for woman to exert an influence is in the home circle : though, James, thee knows," she said, "that 'George Eliot ' and Elizabeth Barrett Browning are, in their field, unexcelled — though I never think of the former without sorrow and shame — and there are a great many more whom I might mention. Then I often think, dear, there would be a much larger proportion of eminent women if they had the same chances as your sex ; in their daily rounds of domestic duties they have not the same opportunities of development. I think it may be better that it is so ; but yet, in mak- ing a comparison of the two sexes, we should not overlook this fact. Gray's lines — ' Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear ; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air ' — I think, are even more applicable to the women than to the men. But I am talking too much. Does thee not feel tired, dear ? If thee does not, I do ; come, let's make ready for bed." " Yes, dear, I do feel tired, for I have had rather a hard day ; but I am very thankful I can now go to bed and sleep. If I was not so weary I would answer that long speech," he said, playfully : " Thee may expect a crushing reply at some other time." ^ CHAPTER XVI. ASH TON RE- VISITS OLD SCENES. ^ WEEK or two after the conversation we recorded (kX in the last chapter, Richard Ashton spoke to Mr. Gurney in regard to his contemplated journey to Rochester, He wished to go that he might settle his business with the man who had purchased his place. Mr. Gurney was well aware that such a journey w^as contemplated, and he was sincerely sorry that such was the case. Ashton, during the year that was passed, had never left the town for any purpose whatever, and had kept so strictly to his business as not to form any associa- tion with those who would be likely to lead him astray. Mr. Gurney, therefore, was not altogether satisfied that he would have strength enough to resist the tempta- tions to which he would be exposed when he met his old associates in Rochester. He plainly told Ashton what his fear was, but the latter assured him he would pass through the ordeal and come out unscathed. So Mr. Gurney expressed the hope that he would bring \ . ^ ' ' , 1 i ' H ; I •■.! i) ii: -' I! I dJi m f i if \ :} 12G FROM WKALTH TO POVERTY; OR, his Imsim'ss to a successful issue, and return witli im- proved health from his trip, and he then bade him a kindly good-bye. But it was his wife who experienced the greatest anxiety, Ruth had from the beginning expressed her fears as to the result of the voyage. It seemed to her like courting temptation. She thought the business might have been settled through his solicitor without his going in person. But, as he seemed bent on the journey, she did not like to make many objections : she was afraid, by so doing, she would wound his feelings, for he would be certain to interpret the objec- tions as inspired by her fears of his falling, and, strange to say, that, like a great many others in similar cir- cumstances, he seemed to be very much hurt if anyone hinted to him that there was any danger of his drinking again. She had, however, prevailed upon him to take Eddie along. She thought his presence would have a re- straining influence upon his father, and she reasoned, if he should again fall, Eddie could, to some extent, take care of him. The thought of this journey had so preyed upon her mind that it robbed her of her sleep ; and now, as the time more nearly approached, he:.' anxiety deepened into anguish which was all the moixi acute because she dare not make a confident of him from whom she kept no other secret. Only to Him from whom no thoughts are hidden, did she go and tell her anguish, and pray for strength to bear up under her great sorrow. She » § TT' T THE TKICKS OK THE TRAFFIC. 127 also prayL' il him, sobbing as she did so. She spoke no word in denial of what he had stated concerning her fears in his behalf, but simply murmured : " God bless you, my darling ; I know I am a poor, weak, foolish little thing to grieve so at parting from you ; but oh, Richard, I am afraid something will happen you,- and we are so happy now !" He endeavoured.^ to calm her by loving caresses. He was not at all surprised that his wife should be troubled with anxious fear. He inwardly resolved he would so acquit himself this time that she should ever after, in this as in other respects, repose the most per- fect confidence in him. As we said, on the morning in question he and Eddie kissed their loved ones good-bye and took the seven o'clock train for the place in which they had spent so many happy years. The wife and mother, with her two children who had accompanied them to the station, looked at the receding train with tearful eyes. It was a beautiful morning : the first beams of the slowly-rising sun, stealing gently above the eastern hills, scattered the mist of the mdrning and bathed the river and bay in its golden light. A robin, which was perched i^pon a maple growing not far from where Ruth and her children were standing, was singing its lay to the morning, and the atmosphere was balmy with the breath of flowers. It was a morning to charm the heart into joyousness, f ,nd yet the heart of Ruth Ashton '.Yas filled with unutterable woe. The THE THICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 129 thoughts which had borne so heavily upon her spirits for so long a period ot* time now came with redoubled force, and dark, dreadful forebodings and sorrowful memories assailed her soul and filled it with unspeak- able anguish. " Oh, my Father, help me to bear up !" she prayed. "Oh, why am I filled with dread, with this awful fear ?" Taking her children by the hand, she led them back to the house. They uttered no word, even little Mamie seeming to understand that her mother's heart was too full for words. '* i ■'I 1- ■' J ! V ;' :; • -r :, t '■ ■■< ' ' ', .- , i i-i^ ■ i ^1 . i fe : *^ ; ' '-I! iki n . I i 4 r-* 1 ' 1 f^ 1 li 1. •'■' !,. 1 1 Hi ■ CHAPTER XVII. MB. HOWE OIVES HIS VIEWS IN REGARD TO CANADA, ICHARD ASHTON found many in Rochester who were glad to see him again and extend to him a most cordial welcome. He soon had com- pleted his business with Mr. Howe, the gentleman who had purchased his property, and was ready to return to Canada. "I suppose you are able to exist in that country, Ashton," said Mr. Howe. " The climate must be some- what healthy, or you and your boy would not be so hearty. But, from what 1 hear, I would not like to put in much of the time that may be allotted to me on this terrestrial sphere in a land where the ther- mometer so assiduously courts zero ; and then the na- ture of the soil will keep it from ever amounting to much. The fact is, Ashton, the only hope for Canada is annexation to the United States." When Mr. Howe made these remarks he threw him- self back in his chair, elevated his feet on the back of another chair, took another chew of his honey dew, h THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 131 and, as lie whittled a stick, consequentially shook his head, as much as to say, " I know what I am talking about." " You are altogether mistaken, Mr. Howe, in almost everything about Canada, as most of your countrymen are." " Well, I may be, but I would like to know in what particulars." "Well, in the first place, in regard to the climate. I suppose you will be somewhat surprised when I in- form you that it has not been so cold this winter where I reside as it has been in Rochester ; for I have carefully noted what the thermometer registered in both places, and we had the advantage of you in this respect. As to the soil, there is no part of the world in which I have travelled, not even your much-lauded and far-famed Genesee, has better land than the coun- try surrounding the town of Bayton, and I have been informed from the most reliable sources that the major portion of the land in Ontario is of a similar character." " I want to know !" ejaculated Mr. Howe. " And then we have the great North- West, that is just opening up, which they say has as fine land as the world possesses, and to an extent that is prac- tically illimitable. This is settling rapidly, and will be in some future day the home of countless millions." " I guess you are going to your imagination for your facts now, Ashton. Why, man, the thermometer often sinks to forty below zero. They'd freeze out ; no white population can stand that." i I : u I ! I'. IM I • I 'fi -nrtb. Ji 132 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, • i; " But, my dear fellow, they have stood it, and ' facts are stubborn things;' and you are well aware that at this present time the northern nations are the ones that lead the world in skill, enterprise, and deeds of daring. And then the atmosphere is so clear and dry that those who have resided there for years say they do not suffer from cold to the same extent as they did in countries where it was not nearly so cold but where the atmosphere was more humid." " Well, all I can say is, they may stay and shiver there for all me. i wouldn't live there all my life if they'd give me the wb-ie concern. No, no, "not for Joseph !" " I wouldn't trust you, sir, if you had the offer." " You might." "Then there is something else I wish to mention, and that is, our Common School system is not sur- passed in the world; and for intelligv3nt, healthy lads and lasses we will compare favorably with any country under the sun. " The fact is, Mr. Howe, we like you as neighbors, but are too loyal to our Queen and mother land ever to w^ant to be united by any closer ties." " Well, then, if Canada is the Eden you paint it^ how is it the views of Canadian life and scenery are so wintry looking ? Why, sir, in the show rooms of the artists in this city — and you will see the same in artists' rooms of England and even Europe — there are sketches of Canadian scenes, and almost invariably something "w^intry is suggested — men in great fur i ! it THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 133 facts uit at ones oVercoats and caps, muffled up to the eyes, and with capouches that seemed capacious enough to carry a week's stock of provisions, and yet have spare room ; the men generally having on snow-shoes and accom- panied wdth Indians to wait on them, and dogs to drag their toboggans, while all around them are heaps of snow piled up on huge rocks, and overtopping and bearing down short scrubby pines and firs. If you have a good country/ I calculate that such pictures as these, no matter what may be their artistic merits, are poor advertisements, and will not get you many immi- grants." " I am well aware of this. But I suppose you know these scenes have been got up, for effect, in the studios of enterprising photographer ; and though they may be very fair representations of some parts of our Dominion in the depth of winter, they represent the country, generally, about as faithfully as winter views from the main lumber woods, or even from Alaska, would represent the United States." At that moment Eddie, who had been enjoying himself with some of his old friends, came in. He asked his father if he might go and spend the after- noon and evening with his old and very particular friend, Jim Williams ; as there was j^et two days ere the time expired upon which he had decided to return home, he gave Eddie permission to go and extend his visit until the next day. Eddie, during that afternoon, accompanied by his friend, visited some of the old familiar places ; they ■mi"- - — f mi i^M 134 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. were dear to liim, because they were associated in his mind with some of the happiest hours in his life ; and he thought that, though in the land where it seemed to be his destiny to reside in the future there were many attractive spots which would, no doubt, in time be very dear to him, he would never forget his old home nor the scenes where he had played in chUdhood's happy hours. in his ■; and 3emed were A in t his N in CHAPTER XVm. THE BANQUET, AND WHAT FOLLOWED. ^)ICHARD ASHTON had been invited by some of ^1 his friends to a supper at the Metropolitan Hotel, which had been specially got up for his benefit. His first thought was that he would absolutely re- fuse to accept the invitation — he was afraid he might be tempted to drink ; but as he concluded it would be considered ungracious on his part to refuse he decided to go, but only on the understanding if there was any toast-drinking he would be permitted to pledge them in pure cold water. When the members of the committee who had been appointed to wait upon him heard his decision, they said they certainly could not object to his observing his own mind ; that they hr.cl no desire to cause him to violate his principles ; in fact, they gave it as their opinion that there would not be a person present who would not respect him the more for proving that he had the courajre of his convictions. I'/: f^ , k 4'' "^i' at i' jMWiJiiWi/'iJMli '.V»i:j,l.»lWJiiuimMggg' -rv^^^SKK'^Si^,^ :i 136 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, Upon the night appointed he went to the banquet, and it passed off as such affairs usually do. Many very gracious and pleasant things were said of the guest of the evening in the eulogistic strains which generally characterize speeches made on such occasions. How much of what was said was sincere, and how much mere complimentary phraseology of the dental kind, I will allow those who are in the habit of attending such parties to decide. The meeting at last ended, as all meetings on earth do. But this differed in one respect from the great majority of such gatherings — that is, those who at- tended it at least left the banqueting room sober ; though, as the sequel will show, one of them was not so fortunate as to reach his lodgings in that condition. " I will accompany you home, Ashton," said one who had taken a very active part in the entertainment. " I am sure, Chappell, I should like very much to have your company, but I could not think of allowing you to put yourself to such trouble on my account ; of course you are aware that I am well acquainted with the city." " Oh, I am well aware of that, but you seem to forget that until we cross the bridge my way home lies in the same direction as your own ; and then I can, after seeing you up the avenue, cross by the way of Alex- ander or Jefferson Street to my own lodgings." " It is exceedingly kind of you, Chappell, to make the offer, and I shall be thankful for your company as far as the bridge, but I shall insist upon our separating there, as I will soon reach Reid's after that." P El )anquet, Many of the which great THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. i:i7 Chappell, after what seemed at least to be a vigorous protest, finally yielded, and they started on their home- ward journey. The night was dark and cold — one of those chilly nights which we frequently experience in the first week of June — and they had to walk along briskly to keep themselves warm. "Halloa, Chappell, is that you? Where are you going at this time of night ? It seems to me rather peculiar that a man who sits in his pew every Sunday and listens to eloquent homilies on the evils that result from the keeping of late hours and indulging in baccha- nalian revels, should be wending his way home in the small hours of the morning. Come, sir, give an account of yourself!" and he slapped Chappell familiarly on the shoulder, and stood right in his way, hindering his further progress. "Allow me, Lawrence," said Chappell, "before answering your question, to introduce you to Mr. Ashton." "Oh, that is not necessary; we are old acquaint- ances, but I did not expect to have the pleasure of meeting him to-night. I thought he had migrated northward. I am happy to meet you again, Mr, Ashton ; but it is cold, let us step into Conglin's, he is open yet. I want a few moments' conversation with you, Chappell." Chappell asked Ashton if he would have any objec- tions, and he, in reply, said if they would excuse him he'd journey homeward, for his friends, Mr. and Mrs. 10 -I il'U, f 1 ■ 1:1 :|:i f] 138 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, •-I w il Reifl, with whom he was stopping, would not go to bed until he returned, and he would be sinning against their hospitality by remaining longer. " But a few moments will not make any particular difference," said Lawrence, " and you will particularly oblige me if you step in for a moment or two, as I should like to have your opinion in regard to some- thing of consequence." Ashton, who, as the reader has already discovered, had a facile disposition, and was easily persuaded, yielded, and followed Lawrence and Chappell into the cosy sitting-room of Conglin's hotel. The fire was burning brightly, and the atmosphere of the room was particularly warm and comfortable to men who had been out in the chill night air as they had been, with clothing that was not heavy enough to keep them warm. " Just remain here a moment or two, gentlemen," said Lawrence, "I have a word or two to say to our mutual friend, Tom." According to his promise he soon returned, but the landlord accompanied him carrying a tray, upon which there were three steaming glasses of whiskey punch. "Gentlemen," said Lawrence, "it is not necessary for me to introduce you to Tom Conglin, for you have both been acquainted with him and his liquors in the long ago, and you know he always kept the very best brands. But I think this old rye is better than any he has ever had before. It is only, however, as the Scripture says, "darkening counsel by words," to :ht THE THICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 14:] from Canada. I remember hearing him say he had deposited what he had received from Mr. Howe in the bank, but I have no doubt he had quite a sum with him, and of course thev would rob him of all he had." "I think he said Eddie was stopping with Mr. Williams. I will run up and tell him, and then go to the police station and see what I can do." " The poor boy will be nearly frightened to death," said Mrs. Rcid ; " and if there is anything very serious comes from this, God help Mrs. Ashton ! The poor creature has had her own trouble." Mr. Reid found Eddie eating his breakfast, and in as quiet a manner as possible broke the news, endeav- oring to avoid every expression that would cause unnecessary alarm. But at the first hint every par- ticle of color left the boy's face and he sprang to his feet, saying : " Oh, Mr. Reid ! what has happened to my father ? Please tell me quickly." Mr. Reid quietly handed him the paper, and as he took it, so great was his agitation, his hand trembled lik«j an aspen leaf ; but when he had read the para- graph which particularly interested him, it had just the opposite effect upon him to what Mr. Reid ex- pected ; for he seemed at once to become another per- son, and the boy of fifteen was as if transformed by soni3 cabalistic power into a man. " Let us go at once," he said with* decision ; and, as the tears gushed from his eyes and streamed down over his cheek he murmured, " Oh, my poor mother ! if she hears of tliis it will break lier heart." >'f .1 i 'at ■i ' .!» : 1 1w*c>- CHAPTER XX. A BASE PLOT, AND WHAT IT LED TO. " l£ SAY, 3ill, I have a pretty good lay for you. and ''- I think you can work it without much risk." The speaker was Chappell, and the person whom he addressed was Lawrence. We, in the preceding chapter, introduced these worthies into this story, but as we wish our readers to become more thoroughly acquainted with them, will now give them a more formal introduction. Moses Chappell was the son of highly respectable parents, and had the advantages that are ever asso- ciated with a home where there is comparative wealth, culture, and purity. He had a fair education, possessed a fine person and a gracious, polished manner. When quite a young man he commenced the study of law with a firm in the city, but he became so un- steady in his habits that it took him a year or two longer to get through than the course required. When he became an attorney, — it being immediately TFfK TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 145 after the close of the war, — he, through the influence of his friends, secured the position of claim agent ; and as there were a great many soldiers who hud claims for extra bounty and for pensions to prosecute, it was not long before he secured a large share of this business. It was just after he had entered into business on his own responsibility that he became acquainted with Ashton. At that time he was simply looked upon as a rather fast young man, who would take a glass with a friend, and, as the boys would say, "just once in a while get a little '0 be joyful!* " But among this class he passed as a " Jolly good fellow !" During the last year his degeneracy had been very rapid, and he had become almost a confirftied drunk- ard, it being well known by the initiated that he indulged in the passion of gambling, by which he lost a great deal of money. A short time before Ashton's return to Rochester, Chappell's losses were, for him, very large indeed ; and as his income failed to meet his liabilities, he took the money which he had collected from the Government for his clients, to meet his gambling debts, and also to make new ventures, with the hope that he would win back all his losses. But, as he expressed it, luck seemed to have turned against him, and he lost in one night, by wild, reckless play, hun- dreds of dollars that he had drawn for poor, wounded, and disabled men, many of whom had expended quite a sum in instituting their claim, and sadly needed it, ■i I : *'■ ii' ■ '■««««' ■^S.H^j«r*fWK«i '«tSfl».- 'Ml •i, 4' !l 146 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY,; OR, because they had undermined their constitutions in the campaigns through which they had passed ; some of them having wives and children depending upon them for support. In fact, no one knows what dis- appointment and misery was caused by the dishonest and reckless conduct of this now abandoned young man. He, however, though fallen, had not yet reached such a depth of degradation as to be utterly careless of his reputation, or of the suffering and shame he would entail upon his friends if his wrong-doings were discovered, and he well knew that discovery was inevitable if he did not in some manner recover the amount he had lost. " Desperate diseases require desperate remedies ;" and his case was desperate in- deed, and he was now in such a state of mind that he was willing to resort to anything short of murder to extricate hjmself. He was in this state of mind when Ashton again appeared in Rochester, and when he learned the na- ture of his business he resolved, if possible, to get possession of his money. He had, in the gambling dens of the city, formed the acquaintance of some hard characters, and resolved to use them as his tools in carrying out his purpose. " Lawrence will do," he said, " and he can associate Dick Eacfle with him in the venture. Lawrence is ac(j[uainted with Ashton, as they used to meet at old Tom's when on their drinking bouts. I will sound him, and, if I find he is all serene on the matter, Ash- ll THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. U7 ; ton must have become a more wary fly thaii he used to be if I do not induce him to ente* my spider's web." It was to further this scheme that he hinted to some mutual friends it would be a gracious thincf to give Ashton a supper, . and as they immediately en- tered with fervor into the idea, it was agreed upon. When Ashton stipulated, if he accepted, it must be understood he would not be a,sked to drink anything but water, it looked as if his well-concerted scheme would be entirely frustrated. And then, after think- ing the matter over, he hit upon the plan which he adopted, and which, alas, as we have already made known to our readers, he carried to a successful accomplishment. Lawrence, the young ruffian whom he made his tool, had been associated with him before, in some transactions that would not bear the light of day, and when he unfolded the present scheme to him he found him ready to be his pliant instrument — willing to enter into any scheme, no matter how villainous its nature, if he could be sure of making something by the venture. " I am pretty certain," said Chappell, " he will have by that time some four or five hundred dollars in his possession ; and if you would meet us and persuade him to accompany us into Tom's, I think, old l)oy, we can induce him to take a glass. If he takes one, you know he is such a fool that we will soon have him gloriously drunk. But to make certain we will iix his •1i ±MM 148 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, ,(: '• liquor, and then by the time he gets to the bridge he will be completely at your mercy." " Well, the question is, Chappell, what am I to get for the venture ? Of course, if there is any hard work to be done you will expect me to do it, while you will play the role of gentleman." " I am willing to deal fairly with you, Bill." " But I want to have an understanding. I know you pretty thoroughly, Mose, and I am not going to let you gull me as you have on some former occasions. The question is what am I to get ? And if I can't get what's square, I will wash my hands of the whole affair. 'Honor among thieves,' you know, Mose." Chappell, who winced at the epithet " thieves," shrugged his shoulders, and a look of supreme disgust gleamed for a moment from his eyes, which did not pass unnoticed by Lawrence. " Come now, Mose, no airs," he said ; " if you don't like me just keep away, and I'll not bother you with my company. When you force yourself upon me you must be a little respectful, or, at least, you must not be so open in your manifestations of disgust, as I am somewhat sensitive and may resent it." ** Who was showing any signs of being disgusted ? Now, what is the use of making a fool of yourself, Bill, because you know how; and if I were you I would not speak of "putting on airs." When Bill Lawrence talks of being sensitive, he of course means all he says: tL^ idea of 'Billy the Kid' being sensitive is certainly a new wrinkle." ii i THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 149 to get ^ hard while " Well, Chappell, I know I am not as good as I might be ; if I were I would cut you dead, though you do wear kid gloves and move in the so-called 'best society,' like many another scoundrel. But this is neither here nor there ; let's come to business. Before I enter into this thing I want an understanding ; you are not going to come it over me as you have on former occasions." " Why, Lawrence, I don't want to come it over you. It seems to me you are deuced suspicious, all at once. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll give you one half, to be divided between you and Dick Eagle. And when you remember that I put up the job, and run just as much risk as you do, I think you will conclude that I am quite moderate." " Yes, ' quite moderate ;' you are always * moderate,' especially when it comes to risks ; but you don't come none of your moderate games over me. If I get Dick Eagle to assist me in this job I will have to go halves with him. I couldn't gull him if I were to try, and I don't wish to try. I am not quite so mean as to cheat a comrade who runs equal risks with myself, though some would-be gentlemen of my acquaintance would. If we make anything by this venture it must be equally divided, if it is not more than fifteen cents. If you will not agree tc this proposition I will wash mv hands of the whole affair." Chappell — after putting in several demurrers, at last, when he saw that he could make no better terms — consented. • i]' . i '.^i:l^r^^?ffj!'i!^p?a^**^»'*'^■l*'^^^ ^■-iik L^j i loO FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, 'I f li! * i l\ It was arranged that Chappell should, if possible, induce Ash ton to drink at the supper; but it* he could not accomplish that, he was to accompany him up St. Paul street until he came in front of Tom Conglin's, and then Lawrence was to meet them, and between them they were to induce him to enter and, if possi- ble, entice him to drink. Chappell was, after this, to accompany him as far as the bridge and leave him. And then Lawrence and Eag!e were — to put it in their classic language — " to go through him." The scheme was carried to a successful issue, though not with the ease that was anticipated. The drug was not as effective as they supposed it would be ; for though, when they started, Ashton was in such a com- plete state of intoxication as not to be able to walk without the assistance of Chappell, as they continued on their homeward journey, the further they went the stronger he became. The cold morning air seemed to revive him. Chappell accompanied him to the spot agreed upon, and then left him, though not without making a show of wishing to see him all the way home. Ashton had not proceeded far on his uneven way before Lawrence, who had gone by another route and got ahead of him and Chappell, said to Eagle, who had waited for him near the appointed spot: "Here he comes, and he don't seem to be very drunk either. We'll have to make sure work, Dick. Now, go for him !" Eagle, with whom Ashton was not acquainted, sprang ! I' THE TRICKS OB^ THE TRAFFIC. 151 forward as Lawrence spoke and struck him a terrible blow in the stomach ; at the same time, Lawrence from behind swiftly passed his arm around his neck, then drew him across his back, lifting him entirely from the ground and choking him so that he couhl not cry out. But before Lawrence had succeeded in doing this an alarm had been given ; for, though Eagle had struck him a terrible blow, Ashton gave a startled sound, something between a cry and a moan, but afterwards was perfectly helpless in their hands. It was this sound which Constable Rogers heard, and, as we have already informed our readers, he im- mediately hastened to the spot, but arrived too late to rescue Ashton from his treacherous and brutal as- sailants. All the three worthies secured as the result of their base treachery and inhuman villainy was about twenty dollars; for this was all that Ashton had upon his person at the time. As soon as the latter was able, he gave an account to a detective of all that had transpired during the pre- vious evening, which led the latter strongly to suspect Chappell and Lawrence, as he was well acquainted with them and knew their antecedents. He arrested them both, but as nothing could be substantiated, though there were strong grounds for believing they were the parties, they were discharged. The Police Magistrate, however, gave them to under- stand that it was simply a case of " not proven." And he added, if they w^ere the guilty parties, they deserved ,»'i « V ' ■* , 1 k Mm 152 FROM WEALTH TO J'OVEltTY. h] \l I ■ I I : to be execrated by every good citizen for their treach- ery. He admonished them to be cautious, as a strict watch would be kept on their movements, and they would not be able always to escape the punishment they so richly deserved. It was not long after this before Chappell was called to give an account of the money which he had collected for the soldiers who had entrusted their cases to him. And as it was discovered he had squandered it, the result was he was prosecuted and sent to jail for defrauding his clients, and lay there for a consid- erable time. Since that period he has been a moral leper, a disgrace to his friends, and loathed and shunned by respectable society. Lawrence and Eagle, his companions in the nefarious transaction, were soon after captured as they were burglarizing a store, and sent to States Prison for five years. We will now let them pass from these pages, simply remarking if it had not been for drink, which had made them its slaves and corrupted their young lives^ they might have had honorable careers and been respectable and respected citizens ; but rum was their ruin, their curse, as it has been of millions of others, and through it they are a disgrace to their friends and a curse to society. Surely " Wine is a mockc , strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." ' i i» CHAPTER XXI. I UTTERLY BROKEN, BLASTED HOPES. ^ SHTON'S constitution was so severely shaken by (4]\ the treatment he had received, and from the effects of his debauch, that the physician Mr. Reid called in considered his condition really critical. He said his nervous system had received such a shock that he must have complete rest for a week or two, and then he might possibly be so far recruited as to start for his home ; but he doubted if ever he would so recover as to be the same man he was before. Eddie wrote home to his mother, telling her that "his father had been taken ill, and therefore they would not be able to start for home for a few days ; but," he added, " he hoped their return would not long be delayed." He was almost certain his mother would divine the cause, and that her grief would be inexpressible. But as he did not know what the issue might be, for his father was certainly very ill, he felt if he did not par- 11 li 154 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, ^' tially reveal the truth to her, and anything serious did happen, he never would forgive himself. The reader will remember that Eddie's letter was composed under somewhat similar circumstances to those under which his father had written his hurried note just after his arrival in Canada ; and if he recol- lects what the result was at that time he will be able, at least partially, to understand what the effect was in the present instance. When Allie returned from the post-office with the letter, Mrs. Ashton found herself strangely excited, even before she had broken the seal. She held it with nervous hand, and ere she had read the first page sank pale and trembling into her chair, and gasped out, rather than spoke : "Oh, Allie, my worst fears are more than realized ! Oh ! what will become of tfs all ?" Allie and Mamie were immediately by their moth- er's side, the face of the former manifesting by its alarmed and saddened expression that she divined, at least to some extent, what had happened. While the face of innocent little Mamie wore a puzzled, troubled look ; and though she could not understand what had happened to grieve her mother, tears glistened in her eyes in sympathy with her grief. " What has happened to papa ?" said Allie. " Is it anj''thing very serious ?" and she looked anxiously up in her mother's face. The question was purely mechanical ; sL u sure her father had again fallen, and she also kn v if h"r mother thought so she would not give expression to her fears. i' - is THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC;. 155 " Erldie writes he is ill," said her mother ; " but he says he has hopes he will soon recover, and tliat their return will not long be delayed." Allie sat down in her mother's lap, and, as slic en- twined her arms round her neck and kissed her, she said, " Mamma, you must not give way too much to ti'oul)le and sorrow, for God knows what is best, and He will take care of papa and of us all." Little Mamie, who had been an attentive listener, now endeavored to console her mother. " Mamma," she said, " you read me from the BiV)le the other day, that Dod cared for the dood man, and sent the raven to feed him. And jou taid He would send His anjjel to care for me if I was a dood dirl. Will not Dod care for papa and Eddie ?" Mrs. Ashton returned Allie's caresses ; and catching little Mamie in her arms, and kissing the tears from her face, she said, " Mamma's daughters are a great comfort to her. God will take care of us all, my darling. He will send His angel down to care for papa and Eddie, and to console us who are troubled and sorrowing because of them. He will care for us all!" In a few days she received a letter from Eddie stating that, though his father was still weak, the doctor thought he was so far convalescent as to be able to start upon his journey, and therefore they might expect them in a short time ; and he mentioned the day when he thought they would reach Bayton. Four days after they received the letter, Eddie and J, 156 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, ir ; • tii K =! I his father arrived. But whc^t was the grief and an- guish of Mrs. Ash ton, and the sorrow of Mr. Gurrey, who had accompanied her to the station,, to discover that even now, w^hen they had come with hearts full of sympathy to administer consolation to him in his hour of sickness and suffering, he had been so far forgetful of what was due to himself and to his friends, also of the anguish with which he would wring the heart of his wife, as to be in a state of semi-intoxication. As they looked at him they were both terribly shocked at the change which a few days had wrought in him. He did not appcL: like the same person as the one who left them two short weeks before. He was, in fact, only the dilapidated wreck of his former self. His manhood, his self-respect, his glory had departed, , His wife welcomed both him and Eddie with a kiss I but Mr. Gurney, who was shocked beyond measure, coldly turned away — he could not trust himself to speak, for, if he had, burning as he was with indigna- tion and a sense of violated trust, he would have given utterance to words that would have caused him future regret. Mrs. Ashton had Eddie call a cab, and had her hus- band driven home, and by the time he reached there he seemed to become so intoxicated as to be almost help- less, having to be carried from the cab into the housr3 ; and what added to the shame and anguish of Mrs. Ashton was that there were a great many of the I I i THE TRICKS OP THE TRAFFIC. 157 md an- jfurrey, iscover ^rfcs full 1 in his so far to his would itate of erribly TOUght fson as e. He former •ry had a kiss ; leasure, iself to idigna- i have led him er hus- liere he t help- hous.3 ; f Mrs. of the A neighbors who had gathered to welcome him who, of course, took in the situation, though they were too well bred to give expression to their astonishment. It caused her exquisite pain to think her husband had ajjain been dejjraded in the siofht of the world, and that she and her children shared with him that degradation. Richard Ashton, from that time, rapidly degenerated. He seemed to be sapped of both physical and moral strength. His friends rallied round and endeavored to induce him to reform. Mr. and Mrs. Gurney used ev'5ry art they could command to restore him, but though he would promise to listen- to their injunction, his promises were never put in practice. He really meant to be as good as his word, but he lacked the moral stamina, and the consequence was he sank to a lower level every day. It at last became evident he wished to avoid a meeting, and they therefore felt their endeavors in his behalf were becoming distaste- ful to him. So with great sorrow of heart, for they brtd become sincerely attached to him, they had, for the time being, to desist from their benevolent attempts and leave him to his fate. And just then, to make matters still worse, Stanley Ginsling appeared upon ths scene. Like the foul bazzard, he seemed to hrve scented his (juarry from afar. And to add to the intense pain of Mrs. Ashton and her children, they were again boon companions. The strain was finally too great for poor Ruth. Like thousands of other poor, heart-broken wives and 158 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. y mothers, she used every endeavor to keep up her spirits and try and maintain hr . strength ; but her sensitive mind was daily tortured with the most exquisite pain. Finally her strength gave way, and she was com- pletely prostrated, all tbe more completely because of the unequal struggle she had been maintaining for the last few months. "A complete collapse of the system," said the doctor. " She must have good nursing and rest ; for without she has rest of mind and body I cannot possibly bring her through." The doctor had a private interview with Ashton and told him, in language we will not repeat, for it was more energetic than select, that it was a shame for a man with his intelligence and refinement to so degrade himself, and then he added: " You are killing your wife, and if you do not desist from drinking it is very little use for me to come." But his appetite seemed to have so gained the ascendancy that he daily came home in a state of intoxication. He seemed to have lost every vestige of his manhood's strength, and was such a vile slave to his appetite as not to be able to restrain himself even to save his wife. )• up her but her be most vas com- because ntaining .6 doctor. without )ly bring . Ashton 'or it was [ue for a degrade our wife, ery little ined the state of y vestige /ile slave himself CHAPTER XXII. THEDUNKINAGT.—A DISCUSSION IN WHICH STRONG LANGUAGE IS USED, K SAY, Judge, I hear they are about to try and carry the Dunkin Act in this county, and I guess they will succeed, for I think there are a sufficient number of fools and fanatical humbugs to carry any- thing. What is your opinion in regard to it ?" The speaker was Sheriff Bottlesby, and the question was asked in one of the private rooms of the Bayton House — a house that was kept by Charles Rivers, Esq., and it was looked upon as the most respectable hotel in town. There were assembled there at this time Judge McGullet, Sheriff Bottle Hy, Captain McWriggler, who was an aspirant for the position of M.R, and whose only hope of success was in gaining the whiskey vote. There were also present Charles Dalton, Charles Seale^', Esq. (a prominent magistrate), Stanley Gin- sling, and a retired captain — late of the British service — who rejoiced in the name of Timothy Flannigan. He kept a second-class tavern in Bayton, which was known as the " Crown Hotel." 1 t •; t " k * say that oald nao-er of a service is a re^'ukir sleuth- hound on tile hunt. By St. Patrick ! if he conies nosing round my place I will bate him until his skin is blacker than it is at present, and to do that I'll have to nearly murder him entirely." " Don't you do anything of the kiiid ; for if you did you would be putting your foot in it," said Hi vers. "The Dunkinites would like us to resort to that kind of thing that they might get up a howl about ruffianism, brutality, etc. They well know this would enlist th' sympathy of the public to their .s'de of the question ; now this would just defeat tiie object I have in view. What I intend to do is to sell liquor as usual, and when I can't sell it I will give it away, and make as many drunk as possible. If some of tliose to whom I sell give me away, and I am hauled up, I will then show what I can do on the light." "You'll beat them every time," said Bottlesby, "for almost every sensible magistrate in the county will sympathise Avith you." " Yes, I am counting on that, and those who a:''e not on our side I intend to employ a good sharp lawyer to badger and bother as much as possible, and I guess 3'^ou are aware that a great many of our Justices of the Peace are as innocent of any knowledge of law as a ten-year-old boy. 1 have no doubt but most of them can be so frightened as to be afraid to convict. And you know most of the witnesses will be our friends, and, as Seely luis just remarked, it will be L'^C THE TRTf'Fr we have here the principal part of the men before whom the cases must be tried." " That's so," replied Sealy but we vill lave some hard fighting to do first. k I I ! 178 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. f! i The party broke up in the small hours of the niorninor. During the course of their night's debauch there was a great deal of speechifying, and the epithets fanatical, humbug, etc., were used ad injinitum. Over the state of nearly every one of the party it is well to cast the veil of oblivion. But what may be expected of a town or a county that has such men to administer justice and to hold its most responsible positions. CHAPTER XXV. THE FRIENDS OF TEMPERANCE REJOICINO OVER THE VICTORY. ,, U AM certain, friends, from my knowledge of the '^ places from which we have not yet received any returns, that our victory is assured ; for I think we may depend upon those we have received as being correct, and those which are yet to be re- ported will help to swell the majority. " We should be very thankful, as we are gaining a greater victory than what was anticipated by e\«n the most sanguine of us. Our opponents seemed to have been paralysed, and were routed horse and foot. " I am more thankful than I can find words to ex- press that such is the case. When I remember the many who are miserable, degraded drunkards, with- out shame, and many of them without honor, who a few years ago were respectable citizens and worthy of our esteem and our confidence, but vdio have been thus degraded by the drink traffic ; when I remember the imiMHHBI 11 180 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OH, l!!!^ .'f number of those we once knew, and some of them amongst the most brilliant in intellect, the purest in morals, and the best loved of our citizens, who were cut off in their prime by this fell destroyer — who, if it had not been for alcohol, rniorht have been with their friends — their hope, their joy, and their pride ; when I think of the miserable, desolate homes — the broken- hearted wives — the wretched, starving little ones, whom rum has made so, then I thank God for this victory. " I have no children of my own. God, in His mercy, has taken them ' one by one.' They are now where no destroyer can enter ; but my friends and neighbours have children, and I see, with alarm, that some of them are being led to their ruin by those who frequent the rum-shops in our town ; for their sakes I rejoice that this temptation is about to be removed. " As I was on my way to this meeting to-night, I called upon one who was once a happy wife, but who now is a very wretched one, for her husband has been nearly ruined by this awful curse ; one who, as those who know her best can testify, is a cultured lady, and her husband was once every way worthy of her, but he is now a poor, dilapidated wretch — a wreck, mentally, morally, and physically ; and she is now prostrated upon what, in all probability, will be her death-bed, brought low by the hardship and mental anguish she has endured ; for she and her children — and God never blessed a mother with better ones — have been reduced abject poverty igh THK TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 181 ones, ■ this As I was leaving, she grasped my liand in both of lier emaciated ones, and said, ' Oli, Mr. Gurney, may God give you the victory to-day ! and if the pi-ayers of a wretched wife and mother can atfect tlie issue, He will. We are being brought to utter ruin, and if li(iuor is not kept from my liusband we shall soon both be in our graves, and our children will be orphans in a cold, cold world. Oh ! tell them that a worse than widowed wife, wdio is now very near the grave, but who was a happy wdfe and mother until the drink-curse blighted her hopes and destroyed her home, is now praying for the victory. May God bless you !' " I am certain, friends," continued Mr. Gurney, " there are hundreds of such wives in our town and county, and thousands within the bounds of our fair Dominion who are praying for our success." When Mr. Gurney, who was chairman of the tem- perance meeting, which was held in the Sons of Tem- perance Hall, in Bayton, on the evening of the polling day, sat down, there was a lady arose to address the jneeting. When she stood up the audience was imme- diately hushed into silence. She had a beautifully modulated voice, full and round as the notes of a flute, over which she had perfect control, and that could be heard to the furthest corner of the room. The speaker was Mrs. Holman, who has since been recognized as one of the most able prohibition speakers in Canada. Her first attempts at public speaking was when she addressed the Ladies' Temperance Associa- tion of the town of Bayton, of which she w^as pre- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ria IIIIIM - itt iii||^ 2.0 IliM t;. i 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 M 6" — ► " 'm ^ w /}. /a VI "% '>^ ;^ ^ y Photographic Sciences Corporation ^^ s V \\ "9) >^ - «>. ^. «■• C'^^\. ^ ^ 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 '<^€f. y in- :h an dif- teater how first not la, he THE TlilCKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 193 is not only iny equal but my superior in every respect." "You don't mean to say, Luella Sealy," said the mother, with what seemed at least indignation, " tl«it you were so unmaidenly as to make the first advances to this young man. If I thought you were capable of doing such a thing I should be ashamed of you. It would be bad enough if he were your e(|ual, and a gentleman, but when he is a mere bank clerk and u, person of no position, how you could descend to do so is beyond my comprehension." " Mother," said the daughter, while a (juizzical smile lit up her face, " wh er, ;m came to see yon did you not encourage him. or in some manner give him to under- stand that his visits were not altogether distasteful to you ? From what I have heard pa say, I should rather think you did. Now, ma, I rather liked William B trton ; and while I did not tell him so, he seemed in some manner or other to find out my secret, and I have not tried to deceive him." " But, Luella," said her mother, — not replying to her daughter's mischievous reference to her days of ro- mance and love, for, like many other ambitious, schem- ing mothers, if she ever had such a foolish emotion as love, she had forgotten it, or else she had been led to believe it was all moonshine ; and if a girl only married wealth and position, she thought love would come, — " what is the use of acting so foolishly ? If you marry William Barton you will have to leave the set with which you are now associating, and if you '^^'"wi^^mmmmm ' 194 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, i I degrade yourself by a mesalliance you will drag us down with you." " You had better wait, mother, until he asks me to m^rry him." " No ! I want to talk it over now, and then you will be prepared to act like a sensible girl. It* Barton wishes to marry you it is because you have money, and he will bring you nothing in exchange but de- gradation. How the McWrigglers will sneer if such a thing happens ! They schemed and plotted until they got Captain Merton to marry that baby-faced Elaine ; and because he is an officer in the English army and the youngest son of a gentleman, they have been putting on airs ever since ; and they are now so stuck-up there is scarcely any living for them." " I am sure, ma, they are welcome to him, for I hear he does not use her very kindly when he is in liquor, which is most of the time." " Oh ! I guess that is like a great deal of what people say — scandal. I am certain since that alliance they have moved in society into which they could not gain entrance before. Now, if you marry Stanley Ginsling, as he is first cousin to Lord Fitzjinkins, we will have the entree to society to which they dare not aspire; and then th^ airs of superiority can be on our side, not theirs." " So, ma, you would have me marry a sot, who is twice my age, and whom I detest, in order that you may have a paltry advantage over one who, when she calls, you kiss and use the most endearing epithets ^» 'till u:;' THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 195 drag us :s me to len you Barton money, but de- if such jd until )y-faced English ey have now so 1, for I le is in what illiance uld not tanley lins, we V dare lean be rho is it you len she )ithets in your vocabulary, in order to express your friend- ship for her. To tell you the truth, 1 don't see much in what you call * our set,' to encourage me to sacrifice myself in order to remain in it. When you meat you are all honey, smiles, and kisses, and you profess to be the dearest of friends ; and yet you are con- stantly endeavoring to gain some petty triumph at each other's expense, and then to relate it in such a manner as to cut and cause envy and jealousy. * Our set,' ma, is too superficial and spiteful for me to wish to remain in it." " Your remarks, Luella, are the reverse of compli- mentary ; but I am not going to be angry. If you don't like the set you are in get above it. If you only become the wife of one who, some day, will become the Hon. Stanley Ginsling, you will be lifted out of anything of that kind." " You mean dragged beneath it, ma. It would be a nice thing to be a drunkard's wife." " there is no fear of that. The majority of men drink before they are married, All they want is a good wife, and then they settle down ; and as to that, I have been told that Barton drinks. So there is as much danger with one as the other. You had better be sensible, dear, for your father will feel like dis- owning you if you marry Barton, and he has set his heart upon a match between you and Mr. Ginsling." "Mother, I don't believe William Barton drinks; and it is wrong to repeat as fact what is nothing but malicious scandal. I also think it is very unkind of ) ;sii 196 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, ! I you to threaten me, and thus try and force me to marry one I despise. Surely, since I will have to live with the man I marry, I should have some choice in the matter." After she thus spoke she abruptly left the room in a passion of tears. The mother did not introduce the subject again, but it was constantly i/i her mind, and she knew Luella would not forget it. She understood her daughter's weak points, and had no doubt if she persevered she would gain her end. In fact, though Luella Sealy was in every respect, except in narrow strength, her mother's superior, yet her intellectual and moral nature was not all golden — there were some parts of baser metal, and even of clay, in her composition. As the reader will conclude from her conversation with her mother, she possessed more than ordinary intelli- gence, which was subdued and chastened by the emo- tions of a warm, loving heart ; and if uninfluenced she would have proved true to a friend, even though it caused her self-sacrifice and suffering. But yet she was not of the stuff of which martyrs are made, for she was weak, being easily persuaded, and withal a little selfish ; and though she would endure a great deal for friendship's sake, yet when the opposing forces came on thick and fast, and persevered in their effort — when that opposition came which would have caused a stronger nature to be all the more leal — she would yield to the opposing forces and desert the one who trusted her, leaving him to endure scorn and contumely alone. io marry ive with e in the room in :ifain, but w Luella lughter's ered she la Sealy igth, her i moral parts of ion. As ion with r intelli- he emo- nced she lough it yet she , for she a little deal for jes came leffort — caused would Ine who [tumely THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 197 She had met William Barton at a party, and, being introduced by a mutual friend, was fascinated by his manly bearing and intelligent, racy conversation. And he, as his blood tingled at coy cupid's whisperings, soliloquized : " She is the most intelligent and charm- ing girl I ever saw." They met several times at parties during the winter, and he became marked in his attentions, which she did not discourage. And soon — at least on his part — the friendship ripened into genuine love ; and she, as the f^quel will show, though for a time carried down by the force of an opposing current, really entertained for him an undying affection. William Barton was the son of respectable parents who resided in Bayton. They were comparatively poor, but managed to give their son a good business education. He had entered as a junior clerk in one of the banks of the town, and, by strict attention to business and a natural adaptation to the profession chosen, had risen to a position of considerable respon- sibility. He was a young man of more than average ability, not strictly handsome, but possessed a good figure and pleasant, intelligent countenance, though the lower portion of the face was disappointing, for it did not denote decision of character or massive strength. And the face was an index of the man, for he was so intel- ligent, kindly and gentle in his manner, that he was a favorite in society; but he was volatile, and easily influenced for good or evil. - If ft 'iffll 198 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, As he was moving in the best society of the town when he met Miss Sealy, her father and mother did not, at first, object to his keeping company with their daughter, though his attentions were very marked indeed. But when Stanley Ginsling appeared upon the scene, and they* learned he was the scion of an old and aristocratic family — a near kin to a live lord — their vain, selfish, and artificial minds became ex- cited, and they determined, if possible, to have the latter allied with the house of Sealy, then they turned against Barton. From this time Mrs. Sealy especially gave the latter to understand his visits were simply tolerated, and Mr. Sealy took no pains to conceal the fact that some- thing had transpired to change his v^ews in regard to him. Barton went one evening determined, if possible, to discover the cause of their coldness. He was received by Luella with her usual cordiality, but by her mother with marked discourtesy bordering on rudeness. He was scarcely seated when Mr. Sealy came in, accom- panied by Stanley Ginsling ; and as Mrs. Sealy received the latter with special attention, which was all the more noticeable because of her icy reserve in Barton's case, the latter thought he understood the situation. "Can it be possible," he soliloquized, "they are anxious to get rid of me that the coast may be clear for that drunken loafer ?" The thought at first could be scarcely entertained, it seemed so monstrous ; but before he left he had »ubstantial reasons for believing it^ THE TBICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 199 he town bher did th their marked ;d upon jcion of live lord a,me ex- ave the Y turned le latter ied, and it some- 3gard to sible, to :eceived mother ss. He accom- eceivod all the Jarton's tion. ey are clear t could Bs; but lieving that Mr. and Mrs. Sealy were actually scheming to make a match between Ginsling and Luella. Barton and Luella were both sitting on the sofa, when Mr. Sealy and Stanley Ginsling came in, much to Mrs, Sealy's disgust, and she managed to separate them several times during the evening by resorting to the manoeuvres which never fail an accomplished female tactician ; but as her daughter invariably re- turned to her seat near Barton, she was determined to make a final effort that should not fail. " Luella," she said, " will you kindly favor us with a little music ? Give us that duet Mr. Ginsling and you rendered the other evening. You have a magnificent bass voice, sir," she said to Mr. Ginsling, in her most dulcet tones ; " will you not kindly assist Miss Sealy ?" " Your will is my pleasure," Ginsling replied, "though I would rather sit and listen while Miss Sealy gives us a number of her varied and delightful selections. The last time I was here I thought her playing was exquisite." " Mr. Barton will excuse you," said Mrs. Sealy, after a significant pause, and her tone conveyed the idea that the remark was merely a cold conventionalism. " Certainly," he replied. Luella reluctantly left her seat on the sofa and took her position at the piano. The mother had certainly manifested the astuteness of an accomplished artist, for she had not only separated her daughter and Barton, but by her manner wounded his sensitive nature, and had also given Mr. Ginsling to understand that, if he i-*' ?!■ I : ^' 1 it hI '■i H ?i B' J ^^K' l! ' 'i ^B fl ..ijj ^^^Hr-.l Vnl l^^^&^t Ui ■^■Hwr~< ■•Jl f- fcli^^^T-^ 200 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. i I ft I wished to pay his addresses to Miss Sealy, his doing so would be eminently satisfactory to her parents. Barton's position, after what had occurred, was an unenviable one, for he was placed in the cruel dilemma of either remaining in a home where his presence was not agreeable to the host and hostess, or abruptly leaving without having an understanding with the one he so dearly loved. He chose the latter alterna- tive, and burning with indignation, but with cool ex- terior, he took advantage of the pause which ensued af^er Miss Sealy and Ginsling had finished their duet, and politely took his leave. Luella, though she knew it was contrary to her mother's wishes, accompanied him to the door and bade him an affectionate good- bye. These events transpired on the day previous to that on which the mother and daughter engaged in the conversation which is related in the commence- ment of this chapter. >i I . ^:? by positive fear ; his joy by ago^^zing doubt ; and dread and disgust, jealousy and fierce hatred, reigned supreme in his soul. " To think," he soliloquized, " they would bring her down to the level of that disgusting brute ; that they should actually scheme to entrap him as a hus- band for Luella, while they have driven me away from their home by slights so little concealed that I would be a fool if I did not take them ; and I have either to give her up or else become the rival of that degraded being. I will never do it. I will see Luella, and tell her she must decide at once between us, and take a decisive stand in the matter. I saw a sneer upon the licentious mouth and a leer in the bloodshot eye of the reptile as he saw me tieated so cavalierly. If I had him here for about five minutes I would settle this matter with him. And then I thought Luella's parting was not as warm as usual. Was it my jealous fears, or has she really been influenced ? Her failing is that she is too easily pursuaded ; and if her father and mother are very strong in their opposi- tion to me, may she not yield ? Oh, this would be the crowning sorrow of all ! How could I bear up under it ? How can a mother become so forgetful of her own bright youth as to sacrifice a pure, lovely daughter oa the altar of brutal lust, in order to satisfy a shallow and selfish vanity ?" William Barton's estimation of the woman whose daughter he passionately loved, was anything but flattering to her. He did not attach the same blame THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 20',i to Mr. Sealy, because he believed the latter had been influenced by his wife, and in this he was correct ; for Mr. Sealy had no ambitious designs when he first introduced Stanley Ginsling to his home ; but after his wife had unfolded her plans to him, he approved of them. What had considerable influence with him was the fact that he had learned, through Ginsling's lawyer, that the former had inherited a considerable fortune by the death of a maiden aunt, and, there- fore, was not only a gentleman by birth, but would have the wealth to maintain a style essential to that dignity. Neither of the worthy pair ever considered for a moment the pain it would cause the young man whom they had received, at least without disapproval, and had, by so doings to a certain extent encouraged. Nor did they even for a moment consider that their daujxhter mio^ht also be involved in that sufferinc:. They only thought of working out their own selfish schemes, as thousands of other selfish parents have done, and no doubt are still doing. Mr. Sealy at first had some misgivings, as he well knew Ginsling was, as he put it, " addicted to drink." " I know," he said, " he is far from being perfect, yet he is much the same as society men in general, and I am not a model of propriety myself. No doubt but a few years will tone him down and make him a model husband." Barton walked rapidly on, he scarcely knew or cared whither. The excited state of his mind seemed to propel him to celerity of flight. This (quickness of movement acted as a safety-valve, and let off' some of the pressure. f IH' ' m ii; ' IP 'A 204 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, He came at last to a small hotel on the opposite side of the town from whence he started. It was situated in a cosy little bower in the outskirts, and was called " The Retreat." And rumor had it that many of the so-called gentlemen of Bayton were wont to resort thither to get on a genteel debauch, and to engage in the innocent diversions of euchre, poker, and whist, and it was said a great deal of money changed hands here on certain occasions. Barton was well acquainted with the proprietor — Joe Tims by name. He certainly would not have been mistaken for a teetotaler. He was, however considered a model landlord, because he would not sell liquor to a man after he was drunk ; though he never hesitated to furnish him with as much as he would pay for until that stage was reached. Barton had frequently been there before ; for he was a young man who would take a glass with a friend, and had once or twice in his life been intoxicated. In fact, he be- longed to the great army of moderate drinkers. When he came in front of the hotel he heard voices within, and acting upon the impulse of the moment, he opened the door and entered. As he stepped in he found several young men, with many of whom he was well acquainted, standing in front of the bar, glasses in hand, just about to drink. The one who was " standing treat" hailed him with, " Come, Barton, take something," and, being in a reck- less mood, he said, " I will take brandy." The de- canter was handed to him, and he filled his glass more THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 205 had with ng in irink. with, reck- de- more than half full, which was noticed by the landlord and young men present, and thought for him very singular. After he had drained his glass, he said, "Come, boys, it's my treat now ! What will you have?" They again stepped up to the bar and each took his glass. " I will have some more brandy," he said, and he again took twice the quantity that is usually taken. " Be careful. Barton, my boy," said Tims ; " that brandy is ' the real old stingo,' and will set you up be- fore you know where you are. I don't want you to think I care how much you take, but would not like you to do something for which you will be sorry afterwards." " I guess his girl has gone back on him," remarked a young man by the name of William Stewart. " I hear that English snob, Ginsling, is now shining round there, and that ' pa' and * ma ' favor his suit." Several of the others, with the same want of good taste as had been manifested by Stewart, joined him in giving expression to a number of coarse jokes and vulgar witticisms. Barton stood as if stunned for u moment, and then, with a frown, said : " Gentlemen, you will oblige me by changing the subject." As he requested, the subject was allowed to drop by those present, but not before they had stung poor Barton almost to madness. " My God," he thought, " then it has come to this, that she for whom I would sacrifice my life, through the folly of her parents has become the object of the H ; I. Ill "ff'V isa 1^ M n i 200 FROM WEALTH TO I'OVKRTY. coarse, vulgar witticisms of bar-room loafers ! T\m thought is almost unendurable." William Barton was too sensitively organized to pass through his present fiery ordeal without terrible suffering. We have already said he was kindly and gentle, but under this he had an intensely passionate nature ; which, combined with an extreme sensitive- ness and a rather weak will, constituted him, of all persons, less calculated to endure the peculiar trial to which he was now subjected. He was, in fact, one who, under such circumstances, would display his weakness, and give a man with a cold, selfish, un- feeling nature, every advantage over him. The night in question he drank until Tims positively refused to give him any more. " No, Barton," he kindly said, when the former had taken his fifth or sixth glass and asked for another ; " no ! you are not yourself to-night, and have taken more than is good for you. I am now using you as I would have another deal with my own son under similar circumstances." Barton became wild and foolish ; in fact, if he had cai >fully thought out the best mode of procedure to give his enemies the advantage over him, he could not have improved upon his present course. He was assisted to his home that night in a state of maudlin intoxication, to awaken next morning with an aching head and remorse gnawing at his heart, for he had, to his other sorrows, added the thought that he had disgraced his manhood and lost his self-respect. i ^a»L-! Tlu; CHAPTER XXYIII. state )rnmg THE CONSPIRAT-^PS PERFECTING THE DETAILS OF 's.'IEIR CONSPIRACY. »T was a month or two after the events narrated in the last chapter when there was another meeting at the Bayton House of those who were the prin- cipal opponents of the Dunkin Act. It was an in- formal gathering, convened for the purpose of having an exchange of views as to the best method to adopt to prevent the Act from being successfully worked, and also to bring it into general disrespect and contempt. Of course the proprietor, John Rivers, was present ; and beside him were Sealy, Townly, Sims, Porter, Tims, Ginsling, McWriggler, Bottlesby, Flannigan, and a disreputable lawyer by the name of Murdon. The Act had now been law for over a month. Some of the hotel-keepers had desisted from selling for the time being, while others sold as usual, and, as a consequence, had been informed upon and were summoned for trial. They had to appear the day following their present meeting. % ,'??' mm ' i '. f i j' f:\ u . i 208 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, " I have been as good as my word," remarked Rivers. " I said I would not quit selling for a single day, nor have I. They are to have me up to-morrow. Let them do their best. I'll give them all they make." " What will you do," said Tims, if they fine you, as they are likely to do ? " " I am not fined yet, and will not be if my friend Murdon here can prevent it ; but if I am, I will ap- peal to the county court, and I know the judge will postpone his decision as long as possible. Then, if he decides against me, I will appeal to a superior court, and, I can tell you, it will take time and money before the case is settled. But we will talk this over after a while ; let us now attend to the business for which we have more particularly met to-day ; that is, how we can best turn public sympathy against the Dunkinites." " I thought," remarked Soaly, " that was all settled at our last meeting." " So the outlines were ; but we have to-day to ar- range in regard to detail," said Bottlesby. " Well," said Ginsling, " I should say the best means to adopt to accomplish our purpose is to consult as to the men in the different localities whom we think can be approached. Then we should consider how this is to be done, and who, in the several cases, will be best to do it." " That's just it," said Townly ; ** I could influence a man that some one else could not approach, while he THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 209 would have power over another where I would utterly fail." " I see," remarked Porter, while a cynical smile curled his sensual lips ; " we are to say to as many silly flies as possible, ' Come, walk into my parlor ; ' and if we cannot induce them to come ourselves, we are to employ some of our imps to accomplish that purpose ; and, when we get them there, we are not to let them off until they are thoroughly soaked. We are then to turn them out as finished specimens, to illustrate to the public the efficacy of the Dunkin Act. Is that your game, gentlemen ?" " Yes ; that's about the idea," answered Rivers. " I admit it seems rather hard, and may involve some suffering, and I am sorry we have to resort to such means to accomplish our ends ; but the temperance fanatics have driven us to this, and upon them rests the responsibility." " If that is your game, gentlemen, you can count me out," remarked Bill Tims. " I have been in busi- ness now for a great many years, and I never have yet sold to a man when he was drunk. I don't pur- pose to begin now. I can assure you, gentlemen, it means too much suffering for women and children." "I have thought just as you do," said McWriggler, speaking for the first time, " and must yet admit it seems rather hard ; but, you know, ' Violent diseases require violent remedies.' You are well aware if the Dunkinites succeed, you and all your fellow-hotel- keepers will be ruined. So it is a matter whether II 210 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, the ruin shall come to your home or possibly to the homes of those to whom you sell. In such a case I should not be long in coming to a decision. In this world every man is for himself. It is for you to take care of yourself, and let the Dunkinites take care of their 'proteges. The fools are bound to drink anyway, and their wives and children must suffer sometime, and it might just as well come now as in a few months hence. If it becomes a matter whether my wife and I shall suffer or somebody else and his wife, I can assure you I am going to take care of myself and those belonging to me every time." " Tims is wonderfully squeamish," sneered Rivers. " If we Lad been permitted to do a legitimate trade, it would not have come to this. I have invested every cent of my capital in the hotel business in this town, and my place is not yet paid for ; if this Act is a success, my property will depreciate in value nearly half, my trade will be ruined, and my wife and children will be little better than paupers. Now, as Captain Mc Wriggler has put it, if I am to decide whether my family is to suffer or the family of some other man, I take it, if I don't care for my own I am a miserable fool. The one thing for us to con- sider is how we can defeat the Dunkinites, and we must not be very particular regarding the means we employ to accomplish our object." "The question for us to settle now," said Sealy, " for it is no use wasting time in argument, is what individuals are there in the different localities that 1 1^ i ^i^W'^ THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 211 can be made tools of for our purpose ? The best course, I think, to pursue is that suggested by Ginsling ; that is, to make a canvass of the different localities, and see who can be influenced. To commence, who can be used for the purpose in Bayton ? Come, Rivers or Bottlesby, you are better acquainted here than I am ; name over a few." " You had better do it yourself. Sheriff," answered Eivers. " Well," said the sheriff, " if you are too modest to to do it, here's at it. There are Morris, Dr. Dalton, Ashton, Flatt, McDonald, Smith, Murphy, McLaughlin, and Stewart." " You forget to mention the name of the would-be son-in-law of our friend Sealy— Bill Barton." As he said this, he looked with a quizzical sneer at Sealy and winked at Ginsling, but neither of them appeared to notice the remark. " Who are there in your locality, Townly ?" he asked. Townly mentioned several persons he thought might be approached, and added : " I am certain, though some of them are keeping straight at present, all that has to be done is to put liquor before them, and they are bound to take it every time." " What I can learn by the inquiries I have made and by observation," said Murdon, the lawyer, " is this : the temperance party are having quite a jollifi- cation because a number of those whose names have been mentioned have kept sober since the Act came in force. I also learned that a great many who gave I i Ei ! I' I 212 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, a reluctant support to the Act are now pleased they did so, because, as they say, it has been the means of keeping these men from drinking ; and they argue, if it has been effective in their cases it will be just as effective if it is adopted all over the Province, or oven the Dominion. Now, if the men you have named are led to get on a bender or twv these very persons will be led to change their tune, and will condemn it as a failure just as emphatically as they now endorse it as a blessing." " That's just it," interjected Bottlesby. " Why, I was talking with Old Gurney this morning, and the old fool at once mounted his usual hobby. He pointed me to Ashton, Morris, and Dal ton, who, he said, were keeping sober since the Act came in force, though they were going rapidly to destruction previous to that time. Now I know, and so does every one that is not blinded by fanaticism, that no power on earth will long be able to keep these fellows from drinking, for if whiskey is to be had they are bound to have it. If we use them as tools to accomplish our purpose we will only be shortening the agony of both themselves and their friends." " Then, gentlemen," said Rivers, " let us now con- sider how we can best accomplish our object. I sup- pose those who are most familiar with the parties of whom we have spoken, had better be left to use their own discretion as to how they shall bring about the desired result." " Ginsling can give a good d,ccount of Ashton and Dr. Dalton. Can't you ?" said Bottlesby. .i' ' THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 213 we Ives fcon- f " 111 try," he answered, with a diabolical leer. " All I can say is this, in one of the cases I have frequently tried and never failed, and I think I'll manage the other." We will not trouble our readers by repeating any more of their very interesting and disinterested con- versation. Before they separated, every locality in the county was canvassed over, and every man who had been an unfortunate victim of drink, but who had kept sober since the Act came in force, was to be approached by the one who would be the most likely to succeed in influencing him to his fall. In fact, they concocted a scheme that night that was worthy of Satan himself. They also had a special confer- ence with Murdon, the lawyer, so as to be prepared for the coming trials, and several who had been sub- poenaed were brought in and questioned regarding what they actually knew, and also posted as to the manner they could best evade the questions which would be put to them, without swearing to that which was actually false. " If I cannot frighten them half out of their wits," said Murdon, speaking of the magistrates who would try the cases, then I will miss my guess. The most of them know but very little of law, and are easily bothered. It is mv intention to browbeat them all I can to-morrow, and then dare them to convict. You must be specially frightened, Sealy." " I guess you'll find me equal to the occasion," he replied, with a knowing wink. 114 'linaiTinnni u til :,l . CHAPTER XXIX. 1 iu ! ^ MR. BROWN'S OPINION OF THE TRIAL AND THE PRESIDING MAGISTRATES. " jl TOLD you it would be a farce, did I not ? How H. could it be otherwise, when a man like Hubbard was the presiding magistrate ? His sympathies were entirely with those who had violated the law ; and though he made an effort to conceal his bias, the attempt was a failure." " I agree with you, Mr. Gurney; the whole thing, to me, seemed like a put-up job, and the bench were like children in the hands of that crafty lawyer. I never witnessed a greater exhibition of imbecility than was manifested by both Hubbard and Broban. They ap- pear to have studied law to about the same extent that Sealy has the Bible, and you have an idea of about how much that is." " Y'^-.F. Mr. Brown, I have an idea ! And I also have I, : hv re was an understanding between Murdon .1 ->;,/. The fact is, the bench consisted of two olu (,nd a fox. Two of them were lukewarm 'I Tl THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 215 n 'HE low bard ihies aw ; the .to like jver was ap- ent of ave don wo Urin I * 1 support(5rs, who would ' damn it with faint praise ;* and the third was a rabid opponent, and he was the only one who was qualitied, either by native or ac- quired ability, for the position." " But I thou^dit, Mr. Gurney, that both Hubbard and Broban were strong supporters of the bill. I know they voted for it. But I was surprised that they were chosen to try these cases. I considered them incompetent to do so. In fact, I have often wondered that men so utterly unqualified were ever appointed to the position." " In regard to their being supporters of the Dunkin Act," said Mr. Gurney, " they, like many others, voted for it because they found it popular to do so ; at the same time, I believe, they wished it to fail, for their sympathies were entirely with the drinking party, and if it is a success they will deserve no credit for it." " From what I saw yesterday, I must agree with you, Mr. Gurney. I am sure they did not wish to convict. But how was it that Squires Stebbins and Griffiths did not try these cases ? " " In my opinion, Mr. Brown, they were afraid to act. They said important business called them away ; but I am almost certain they made business in order to escape the duty. I understand they have been subjected to a species of bull-dozing. Being both of them merchants, they were threatened by the liquor party with a loss of custom if they acted, and they had not enough backbone to stand the pressure. I 216 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, have also been informed that their wives, who were in abject terror, met and had a consultation, and con- cluded it would not be safe for their husbands to act, as there had been threats of personal violence and of injury to property ; so, under these influences, * im- portant ' business was manufactured for the occasion. They have thus escaped the responsibility." " Yes," said Mr. Brown, " and left those two non- entities to be gulled by Sealy and bullied by Murdon. I must again express my surprise that such incompe- tents should have been appointed to their positions." " They are specimen bricks of the big batch the Government turned out a year or two ago. Why, do you not know that they manufactured magistrates by the wholesale ? Many of them were appointed — not because of their qualifications, for they were notori- ously ignorant — but because they w^ished to reward them for services to the party, and to insure their loyalty in the future." " I am afraid," said Mr. Brown, " when you have to depend upon such broken reeds, and have so many other obstacles to meet, you will find it difficult to successfully w^ork the Act." " Yes, we will have to meet and overcome difficul- ties ; but we have anticipated this from the first. I must confess, however, that I w^as disappointed at the attitude of some who, I thought, would be its strongest supporters. I find they are craven-hearted, weak- kneed, and afraid to give active assistance. They say it will injure their business ; so it is a matter of I THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 217 I were i con- ,0 act, ind of i, 'im- casion. D non- !urdon. compe- ions." ,ch the Ihy, do ates by- id — not notori- reward their have to many icult to JifRcul- irst. I I at the rongest weak- ley say itter of selfishness with them. If it fails, it will be because of the half-hearted support we receive from so-called respectable temperance men and moderate drinkers. I know the Act is far from perfect, because the liquor party in Parliament succeeded in introducing clauses that somewhat weaken its effectiveness, and they now attack it because of these very defects. But with all its defects, we would succeed in working it if we had the sympathy and hearty support of all its professed friends ; without this, though it came forth with the stamp of the Infinite, it would fail." " You think we have too many of the genus mol- lusk in the temperance ranks, Mr. Gurney ? These creatures, with no backbone, infest and curse the Churches of to-day, and I have no doubt they will prove the greatest curse to the temperance cause. A half-hearted friend in the citadel is more to be dreaded than a foe without." " Yes, Mr. Brown ; more to be dreaded, and gener- ally more to be despised." "I understand, Mr. Gurney, the liquor party are jubilant over the result of the trial. I heard Captain McWriggler expatiating upon it this morning, and he said the Act and all sumptuary laws of similar character are a humbug." "I have no doubt he will say so," answered Mr. Gurney ; " and so will all unprincipled demagogues. They are willing to pander to the liquor interests, or anything else — no matter how low and demoralizing it may be — if it only helps them to power. I under- 15 '. lit <•' ! ! 218 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, !■■ * ij M ' stood what he was at. He said to Mr. Martin, ' I told you it would end in a fizzle ;' and then continued talking to him in a similar strain for some time : and when he was through, the latter said ' he thought he was about right' But you know as well as I do, Mr. Gurney, that Martin is weak, and easily influenced." " Yes, I know it, Mr. Brown ; and all such men as he is will be approached, and, if we keep them on our side, it will be by making the Act a success from the first. In regard to yesterday's trial, I am willing to admit it was a great failure of justice, or, to use Mc Wriggler's classic language, ' a fizzle.' But he knew, as well as we do, what led to that result ; for, as I re- marked a few moments ago, the whole proceedings were a farce. Between the vexatious objections of Murdon, the pettifogger, who had cha7"ge of the de- fence, and of Sealy, who, I believe, had entered into a conspiracy with the former to defeat the ends of justice by browbeating and cajoling the other two magistrates, the trial was made a complete fiasco." " And there was some rather crooked swearing done there, was there not, Mr. Gurney ?" asked Mr- Brown. " Swearing ! I should think there was ! I shuddered as I listened to the evidence of some of the hotel- keepers and the miserable creatures they had degraded by their traffic. I was always aware that whiskey was a fearful demoralizer, and I have seen some striking illustrations of the fact before ; but the swearing done yesterday by men whose word a few i (!■ i THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 219 ' I told itinued e : and irrht he \o, Mr. iced." men as on our rom the lling to to use le knew, as I re- eeedings tions of the de- red into ends of her two ,sco." wearing ked Mr. uddered hotel- egraded whiskey ;n some but the a few years ago would not have been questioned, has de- monstrated, as nothing else could, its power to de- prave. Why, they twisted, and quibbled, and tried in every possible manner to evade the questions put ; they swore they were not certain the li(|uor they drank was intoxicating, when it was evident to all who heard them that the statements they were makinor under oath were untrue." " Are you not now more dubious as to the result than you were before the trial ? " " Yes ; I am willing to admit I am not so sanguine as I was," Mr. Gurney replied. " What with weak or else utterly profligate and unprincipled magistrates ; with opponents of the lowest and most vicious in- stincts, who have poor creatures that are completely under their control, and seem so lost to every vestige of honor as to be willing to swear to anything in order to screen those who furnish them with liquor ; with a large percentage of the press prostituting its power in assisting our enemies ; and with timid and vacillating friends to help meet this determined and unprincipled opposition, I must confess I am some- what troubled. But the thought of such men as Ashton, Morris, and Dr. Dalton, with their stricken and despairing families and friends, nerves me for the conflict, and makes me resolve that, trusting in God, I will light it as long as He gives me strength to do so; and, when I die, God will raise up those who will take my place and the place of those with whom I am associated. I am certain, in the end, our .' , I If 11 '^ f j. uff 1 220 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, cause will succeed. It may not be during my life. It may be long, long years hence, when the cause of temperance shall ultimately prevail — but it will pre- vail some time. We must remember that 'one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day;' and, though this prevalence of evil and the triumphing of the vicious may cause us to be impatient and cry out in our anguish, ' How long, O Lord, how long?' yet God will sweep away the scourge from our land, like He swept away slavery from our mother and sister lands. It is for us to pray, and watch, and work, and leave the rest with God ; and some day there will be a groat shout, and we will cry, some on earth and some in heaven, ' God has gotten us the victory ?' " " Well, Mr. Gurney, I, like you, believe that tem- perance will ultimately prevail ; but I do not believe it will be in the near future, and I am afraid this at- tempt will be a failure. If we try to push legisla- tion faster than public sentiment will warrant us in doing, we will defeat our object and help the enemy. In my opinion, there will have to be years of agita- tion ; and the great masses, who are eit ler indifferent or antagonistic, will have to be enlightened, and their sympathies enlisted, before a law like the present can be run successfully. I have to-day conversed with men who professed to favor our side, and yet they expressed great sympathy for Rivers because he was fined, and some of them gave it as their opinion that the Act would end in failure. I believe the farmers THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 221 ly life. MiHe of ^ill pre- me day lousand dice of jause us I, ' How !p away )t away It is for the rest at shout, heaven, hat tem- believe this at- legisla- xnt us in e enemy, of agita- iditterent nd their esent can sed with yet they he was nion that e farmers are very much annoyed because tlie tavern-sheds are closed against them ; and some say, if they had to vote arjain it would be to reverse their former one. The fact is, there must be a strong public sentiment in our favor if we successfully cope with those men who have their capital invested in the business, a;id who will fifjht with the vijjor that selfishness and desperation ever impart. To-day's trial indicates we have desperate and unscrupulous foes to meet, and that they can find miserable and degraded tools in attendance to do their dirty work, and help them defeat the ends of justice." " I am more sanguine than you are," said Mr. Gur- ney ; " and while I am willing to admit that the imbecility of the magistrates who professed to be our friends, the coldness on the part of a great many who, I expected, would give us enthusiastic assistance, and 'having done all, would still stand ;' and the manner in which both the tavern-keepers and their degraded tools, as I believe, perjured themselves, have made me a little less confident than I was before yesterday's exhibition. Yet I am still of the opinion the Act can be made a success. I, at least, am determined to do all I can to make it such." "I, like you, Mr. Gurney, was astonished at the reckless manner with which some gave evidence yes- terday, for while I was certain the defendant in each case was equally as guilty as Rivers, he was the only one who was fined, the others clearing themselves by equivocation, and what, at least, appears to me very ; ) I m ■ i ' l\ 222 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, much like perjury. And that miserable Grogson evi- dently was posted to swear straight through. I was amazed at his flippancy and his evident willingness to swear to anything that would screen those who had received him." " I am not surprised that you were, Mr. Brown ; for we know that Dr. Dalton and Ashton had no reason to swear to anything that was untrue, and we do not believe they would be capable of doing so, if they had, and they both swore that Grogson, and, in fact, the whole party, drank liquor on the night in ques- tion. So the latter actually perjured himself to screen a man who has taken hundreds of dollars from him, and is, more than any one else, responsible for his being the degraded wretch he is at present, and for his wife and children being in the most abject poverty." ^ " I remember him when he was in comfortable cir- cumstances and considered a respectable man," said Mr. Brown, " and rather a fine young fellow. He was illiterate, of course, but possessed good native talent and a fund of humor which seemed almost inex- haustible. He was a good business man for one whose early opportunities were but limited ; and his tact and shrewdness largely compensated for what he lacked in other respects. He married an estimable young girl from the neighborhood in which I was raised ; but he took to drinking, and from that time degenerated very rapidly, until he is the degraded creature you saw yesterday. His cronies have very THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 223 ;on evi- I was incness se who A'n; for ) reason J do not if they in fact, in ques- screen om him, for his and for , abject xble cir- Ln," said He was re talent st inex- for one and his what he stimable h I was hat time iegraded avc very appropriately given him the sobriquet of ' Whiskey Jemmie.' 1 understand his wife and children are ex- isting in utter poverty — brought, by his abuse, to be abject specimens of squalor and rags." " Yes, Mrs. Holman and my wife were to his shanty the other day, and found them actually in need of the necessaries of life ; and some time ago, when Mr. Mason took them some food, Grogson waited until he was out of sight, and then meanly ate up what had been brouijht for his starvinjj wife and little ones, and though Mrs. Grogson was ill at the time, and part of what was brought was prepared especially for her ; yet the brute devoured every morsel. And I heard they were laughing at Porter's, because, as they put it, he had ' sold the parson,' " " I believe Rivers has appealed, has he not, Mr. Gurney ?" " Yes ! on the ground that the law is ultra vires. It is appealed until next month, when the case will come before Judge McGuUet, and, as he is entirely in sympathy with the antis, I have no doubt he will decide in their favor. Then we will have to carry it to a Court of Appeal, when we hope to obtain jus- tice." "I have no doubt but you will," said Mr. Brow.. , " but, in the meantime, they will continue selling liquor, and, having no license to pay, they will en- deavor to have a perfect carnival of drunkenness. When they think it is time to strike, they will circu- late a petition to have the Act repealed, and the great 1 ' iff iii n 224 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. r'l majority, who will only look at the effect without stopping to consider the cause, will be in sympathy with them, and they will carry the appeal by an im- mense majority. Do you not think so ?" Mr. Gurney remained in an attitude of deep con- templation for a few moments, and then answered : " Such may be the case ; but we will have to throw our best energies into the work, and leave the rest to God. If we do our part and remain faithful to each other and the cause we have espoused, we will have done what we could; and if our efforts are for the present fruitless, we shall, at least, have no reason for regret." ^A.-- Tl' jrithout npathy an im- 3p con- jred : I throw rest to to each ill have for the ison for CHAPTER XXX. THE INSULT TO ALLIE ASHTON—HER GALLANT DEFENDER. IX months have elapsed since Mr. Gurney and Mr. Brown engaged in the conversation as pre- sented in the last chapter. During that period there had been a great many hotel-keepers tried and fined for selling liquor, though numbers had escaped through the utter depravity of both them and their miserable dupes ; and also because, in a great many instances, the magistrates who presided were utterly incompetent to try the cases. The hotel-keepers had pursued to the letter the diabolical policy they had agreed upon ; that is, they had defied the law, and sold liquor with reckless im- punity, having, when fined, appealed, and then con- tinued selling and giving it away until they had liter- ally accomplished their object, and flooded the country with liquor, making a perfect carnival of drunken- ness and debauchery. They could aftord to be lavish in their expenditure, as they had a wealthy corpora- tion to back them in their iniquity. 226 FROM WEALTH TO POVEKTY ; OR, '5! Among those who had been enticed to fall was the unfortunate personage who is the chief character in this story. Ginsling had been successful, and Richard Ashton had once more been led astray. Ruth had scarcely become convalescent when this occurred, and was again completely prostrated. The family were now only kept from want by the earn- ings of Eddie and Allie, though Mr. Garney and other friends were exceeding -y kind, and did everything they could, without wound' ^g the sensibilities of Mrs. Ashton, to help her and her iaxuily. Ashton was now completely demoralized. He had become so depraved by drink as to have lost all self- respect, and seemed to be regardless of the condition of his family. He had not only desisted from bring- ing anything in to help support them, but the miser- able man had, again and again, stealthily taken some souvenir of other and happier days, and pawned it in order to procure liquor. He had also become so completely transformed by drink that, in his wild, drunken frenzy, he would be cross and even abusive to his wife and children ; and there was that shadow of a great sorrow ever lower- ing over them, and that wearing unrest and fear that is ever the patrimony of those who are the inmates of a drunkard's home. It was now a providential thing for them that Eddie had procured a situation with Mr. Gurney i and that Allie, though she was so young, was able to turn her musical accomplishments to account, and I THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 227 jvas the icter in Richard len this d. The he earn- id other jrything of Mrs. He had all self- ondition m. bring- le miser- en some tied it in rmed by ould be en ; and r lower- 'ear that inmates ■em that urney i able to int. and give instruction in music to several pupils. They, by their united earnings, as we have before intimated, managed to keep the wolf from the door. Ashton was now most of his time absent from home, drinking at some of the hotels or groggeries, and he had become so utterly degraded that even Ginsling, the man who had been the chief instrument of his ruin, would avoid him ; and Rivers and Porter, and the other tavern-keepers, would turn him out on the street, as they did many others, in order to de- monstrate that the Dunkin Act was a failure. At such times he would stagger home if he was able, which was not always the case ; and once or twice he nearly perished from cold and exposure. Eddie fre- quently had to search through the groggeries to find him and lead him home. One evening, just at twilight, as Allie was return- ing from giving a lesson to one of her pupils, she had to pass by Porter's hotel oh her way home, and, when opposite the bar-room door, she heard her father in loud conversation with some one inside. Impelled by an impulse to rescue him from impending evil, she opened the door and walked in. She found herself in the midst of a bar-room full of drunken, ruffianly- looking men, a long row of whom were standing at the bar, with glasses in hand, while one of their number was proposing a toast of the grossest charac- ter. To her dismay her father was among them. She stood for a moment or two hesitating what to do, and she trembled violently, and experienced a sinking sen- " f, I !' it ! !i i t i P H i i . 1 228 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, sation as she found every eye turned upon her. The voice of him who was proposing the toast was in- stantly hushed, and every glass was lowered and placed on the counter. There was a dead silence for a few moments, as all seemed intuitively to under- stand they were in the presence of innocence and refinement ; in fact, of a being superior to themselves, and one who was not accustomed to such surround- ings. " Do you wish to see me ? " said Mr. Porter. After a moment's ' atatiQn, in order to gain con- trol of herself, Allie answered his question in true Yankee style ; that i-i by *'<^>ing another. She asked, with great dignity — though she had to assert all her will-power to conceal her agitation : — " Are you the proprietor ? " " I am," said Porter. " Will you not step into the sitting-room ? " he said, with rough kindness ; for naturallv brutal as he was,' even he for a moment was toned down by the presence of the fair young girl. " No, thank you," she answered. " I came in to ask my father to come home. I heard his voice as I was passing by, and thought if I stepped in and asked him he would not refuse to accompany me." In a moment there was a marvellous change in the manner of Porter, and he asked, in reply to Allie, in a coarse, ruffianly manner : " Are you Ash ton's daughter ? " " I am, sir," replied Allie, straightening herself up, the manner of the question, more than the words, ,r. The was in- red and ence for > under- nce and mselves, irround- ain con- L in true le asked, b all her into the ess ; for lent was girl, in to ask as I was asked ^e in the Allie, in rself up, J words, THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 229 causing her cheeks to flush and indignant fire to flash in her eyes. " I wish, then," he continued, " you would take the drunken fool home, and keep him when you get him there. I have been bothered enough with him lately." " Why, then, have you, and others in your business, enticed him to drink ? He would not have been in the sad state he is to-day, sir, if he had not been tempted to do wrong. Would to God, for my poor mother's sake " (and as she mentioned her mother's name her eyes filled with tears), " he would never again put foot in this place. Father!" she said, walking over to him, and putting her hand affection- ately on his arm, " you will come, will you not ?" "Yes, my girl, I will," answered her father, who, though very much under the influence of liquor when she so unexpectedly made her appearance, seemed considerably sobered by what had transpired. He also keenly felt the degradation of having his pure, gentle young daughter in a place with such sur- roundings. " I will, my girl," he reiterated ; " and what you said was true. I was waylaid and tempted, and I believe it was all planned by him ?ird others of the same profession. Had it not been for this, you would not have found me here to-day, and would also have been spared this degradation. But if I and others had not been weak their schemes would have failed." " If you or any one else say I enticed you, or era- ployed any other person to do so, I say, in reply, it is n't, ' I i i ' I ,; r -I i- i.- 't '^..w Iji i 7 wm f f i 'if '1 1 -^.1 i '' ^1 ill 11 1 f f 230 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, a lie !" said Porter ; and he not only looked at Ash ton as he spoke, but also at his daughter. Ashton was maddened by the insulting remarks which were evidently intended for both. He turned almost savagely to Porter, and said : " You dastardly ruffian ! if you were not a coward you would not insult a young girl." As he said this, he struggled to get away from Allie, as if he would fly at Porter ; but she threw her arms around him, and, crying piteously, begged him to come home. " Oh, father !" she said, " I want to leave this horri- ble place. Oh ! don't say anything, but come home." " You had better leave," said Porter ; " and if you were not an old man, and your daughter was where she should be — at home — I would knock you down. I would allow no man who was able to defend himself to say so much to me without making him sorry for it." "You wouldn't," said a tall, athletic young man, stepping forward as he spoke. " Well, I will give you an opportunity to make good your words. I say that the man who is contemptible enough to make use of the language you have, in the presence of a young lady, is a bully, a brute, and a miserable coward. Now, make good your boast." Porter, stung by the epithets applied to him, sprang with the fury of a tiger at the young man who thus defied him ; but if he expected to surprise him by the suddenness of his attack, or to crush him with his vast bulk, he counted without his host, for the young i' THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 231 Ash ton emarks turned coward lid this, would id him, le. s horri- honie." if you I where 1 down, himself rry for man, 1 give I say ike use young 30ward. sprang lO thus by the ith his young man, with the agility of a cat, stepped to one side, and, as he did so, struck Porter such a blow that he fell to the floor as one dead. He then turned to Allio as if nothing had happened, and said, with gentle courtesy : " Miss Ashton, this is no place for 3'ou ; if you will leave, I will accompany Mr. Ashton and you home." " Oh ! is he dead ?" she said, as she viewed with anxiety and alarm the prostrate form of the brutal ruffian. " You need not be in the least alarmed about that, miss," said one who was bending over him ; " Joe Porter ain't so easily killed as that ; though I tell you, that young fellow's blow is like a kick from a boss. He did hit him a stunner, but I must say he just got what he deserved." Just then Porter, in wdiose face they had been sprinkling water, began to show signs of life and to mutter fearful oaths against Ashton, Allie, and the young man who had so nobly championed their cause. " Let us go," said Allie ; " let us leave this awful place. Come, pa, for he will soon be up. Oh, how can you frequent such a place as this is ?" When they stepped outside, they found the twilight was deepening into darkness. Allie thanked the young man for his gallant conduct, but would not accept his proffered escort : she said she did not wish to trouble him further. As they parted she shook hands with him, as did her father, and bade him a cordial good-bye. , \' tf^iff^fmmmmsmmm 232 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, :"i i\ i 13;: " I am very much obliged to you," said Mr. Ashton to him, " and shall never forget your kindness ; but I hope you may not get into trouble for your valor in our behalf." " There is no danger of that," he said ; " I am abundantly able to take care of myself. But, sir," he continued, "if you will allow one who is young enough to be your son to put in a word to you in the way of advice, I would say, do not be found again as you were to-night. My dear sir, you are altogether too good for such company as that ; and then, you involve others in your own degradation." " I know it, sir ; I know it too well. I take your advice as it is intended, and hope I may yet receive strength to follow it ; but I have failed so often that I dare not make a promise. God bless you, sir! Good-bye." The young man stood looking after Ashton as he disappeared in the darkness. Allie had started a little before her father, and had not therefore been a listener to their conversation. She had to call into a store to make a few purchases, her father promising to meet her at the shop-door and accompany her home. " There," soliloquised the young man, " is another poor fool who, possessing bright parts, is just about destroyed by drink. How many thousands there are, even in this country, just like him — going to ruin themselves at lightning speed, and dragging their families with them ! What a beautiful girl his l^-i . Ash ton IS ; but I valor in "I am , sir," he I enouf^h 5 way of as you ther too . involve ke your receive ten that ou, sir ! •n as he tarted a e been a II into a 'omising my her THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 233 daughter is ! What a figure ! What eyes and hair, and what a beautiful complexion ! How cultured and intelligent she appeared ! She cannot be more than fourteen or fifteen, and yet she seemed to have the thoughtfulness and self-possession of a woman. The idea of one possessing her refinement being in the den of Old Joe Porter ! I must endeavor to be better ac- quainted if we establish a business here. It was fortunate I went to make that enquiry. I guess Porter will not forget me for some time." •iF if\ I another jt about lere are, to ruin Lg their jirl hi§ 16 nun mmmmmm il F CHAPTER XXXI. RICHARD ASHT^ AND LITTLE MAMIE— MAMIE'S DREAM. ^i FTER Allie had left her father she hastened on, (4\^ determined to get through her shopping as quickly as possible, so as to be ready to accom- pany him home. She now began to doubt if she did right to leave him, even for a moment, for might he not now be led by his appetite to some other grog- gery, and then what would be the result ! She has- tened out, and rejoiced to find him waiting for her, and together they silently wended their way home. It was not their old home, for they were forced some time previous to this to remove from it to one that was much less pretentious ; for now they had to exercise the most rigid economy. Their present abode was a little rough -cast storey- and-a-half house, consisting of a main building and an addition. The main building contained three apartments down-stairs, one of which served for dining-room and parlor, and the other two were bed- THE THICKS OF THE TRAI'KIC. 2:jr) MIE'S ned on, )ing as accom- she did ight he grog- le has- or her, ome. forced to one had to storey- ig and three ed for •e bed- rooms. The up-atairs had not been finishod, though thoy had managed to fix it up so that Eddie could sleep there ; and by the mother's and sister's industry and skill it had been made quite comfortable ; but it /as not to be compared to tlie beautiful room which he possessed in his old home. The addition contained the kitchen and pantry ; and though very cold in severe weather, it served the pur- pose for which it was intended. The principal apartment in the main building was very small ; but though such was the case, and Mrs. Ashton was still weak and suffering, yet she and Allie had managed to give those little touches in its arrangement which indicated a cultured tasie and -nade it snug and cozy. The night in question, when Allie and her father came in, Mrs. Ashton was sitting in an easy chair, propped up by pillows. As she sat there, one could see that sickness and worry had wrought terrible ravages during the last year. Her thin, white face looked all the more ghastly because of her large, dreanjy eyes ; and her hands were so white and thin that they seemed as though transparent. Her hair, which had once been so golden, was now shimmering with silver ; and no one who had known her a few years previous would recognize her now as the same person. Surely she had passed "under the rod." The suffering she had endured would have turned the rich purple wine of some women's natures into vinegar, and the drunk- ard's home would have been a miniature pandemo- ; 1 ■P 236 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, nium ; but it had not been so in the present instance. Ruth Ashton had borne her sorrows meekly ; and, let me ask, what sorrow is greater than that which she had to bear ? She had seen the man that she loved for his noble and manly attributes, ruined by strong drink ; his bright intellect robbed of its lustre, ana his loving heart made sluggish and cold. What shame she felt ! For did not she and the children share in his degradation ? What humiliation of spirit they endured ! But she never spoke other than kindly to her husband. He had not the trite excuse of thousands of worthless husbands who are neglect- ing their homes and spending their money in the groggery, while their families are existing in squalor and famishing for bread. He could never say he was driven to drink by the naggings of a querulous wife ; for though tried almost beyond human endurance — so tried, that the poor heart was well-nigh broken, and her flesh had almost failed — she never changed in her manner towards him, but way still the kind, loving wife she had been from the first. When he and Allie came in, every eye was turned upon him to see if he was, as usual, intoxicated ; and when Mrs. Ashton saw that he was almost as sober as when ^3 left home, her heart was filled with joy. " Hurry up, Mamie," she said, " and give your papa a seat. Take his hat, dear, and get his slippers. If you are not too tired, Allie dear, hurry up with the supper." Ashton was touched by the thoughtful kindness of [ THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 237 instance. ly ; and, it which that she lined by ts lustre, I. What children of spirit tier than ue excuse 3 neglect- y in the n squalor i,y he was ous wife ; urance — broken, langed in tie kind, IS turned ied ; and sober as joy- our papa pers. If with the idness of his long-sutt'ering wife, and he went over to where she was sitting and tenderly kissed her. " You have been a true, good wife to me," he said ; " God never blessed a man with a better one. So sinned against, and yet so forgiving ; so faithful, so loving." Tears were in his eyes as he spoke, and then he gently kissed her again ; but Ruth never uttered a word. Ho sat down on a chair which was near the table, and, leaning his head upon the latter, wept bitterly. Little Mamie, who had grown considerably during the last year, had lost her baby manner, and possessed a mind much too mature for one of her ajje. She now spoke quite plainly, and seemed to understand the circumstances in which they were placed nearly as well as her elder brother and sister. She had of late always waited until she discovered what was her father's condition before she made any advances. If he was intoxicated she would sit, mute as a mouse, in the corner, with a look of thoughtful sorrow upon her face ; but if he were not, she would steal gently up to him, climb upon his knee, and then, leaning her head upon his breast, kiss and fondle him, and coax him to tell her a story, or sing her one of his nu- merous hymns or songs. And he always seemed happy to be the slave of this his youngest and frailest child, who, by her gentle witcheries, had so wiled herself into his ati'ections as to have a power over him that no one else possessed. He had not been sitting at the table long ere she gently crept up to him, and, climbing on to bis knee. ^ 238 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, 4 I !' i 1 t ] :< ,( f J i lifted his arm, and then nestled her cheeks to his until her streamlets of gold mingled with his grizzled locks. " Oh, papa !" she said, "don't cry — please, don't cry. I pray to God every morning and every night that He may keep the naughty men from giving you drink, and I am sure God will hear me ; then you will be as you used to be, and mamma will not cry as she sometimes does now." Mamie little thought how her words went home to her father's heart — what feelings of shame and re- morse they awakened. " Oh, papa !" she said, " I had such a wonderful dream last night. I dreamt I was in heaven, and it seemed such a beautiful place. There were flowers far more lovely than any I ever saw on earth, and the trees were filled with birds of all colors ;.and they sang so sweetly — more sweetly than any I ever heard. And there were thousands and thousands of bright angels, and they had harps in their hands shining like gold. And there were thousands of men, women, and cliildren there, all dressed in white, with some- thing bright and beautiful in their hands. And there seemed to be a great high throne, and some one sit- ting upon it — ;just such a throne as mamma showed me the other day in a book, only far more beautiful. And the face of the One who sat on the throne shone more brightly than the sun, and lit up all the place. Oh, papa ! I was so happy — more than when I have been playing with Allie among the flowers on a bright 3 to his grizzled on't cry. rht that ing you len you )t cry as home to and re- onderful L, and it flowers •th, and nd they r heard, bright shining women, ti some- id there one sit- showed autiful. le shone e place. I have bright 1^- THE TRICKS OF THE TRAtFIC. 239 summer's day. And the angels struck their golden harps ; and as the people and children sang, the music was more delightful than I can tell. I felt I was selfish to listen all alone, and that I must run and tell you all, that you might hear it also. But, just as I was about to start, I looked up, and you were stand- ing by my side, looking down at me. And, pa, you did not look like you do now, but as you used to look when I first knew you — as my own dear papa — only there was no gray in your hair. Then you smilod so sweetly upon me, that I knew you were happy ; and your face was bright and shining. I asked you where was mamma, Eddie, and AUie, that I might tell them what we were enjoying, and you said they were not here yet, but would be by-and-bye. " Then it seemed as if we all left the throne and wandered by the beautiful river and picked the beau- tiful flowers that were so fragrant. Then I said, ' Oh, papa, I wish my mamma was here !' and just at that time I awoke, and mamma was standing by my bed- side, smiling ; for, it being morning, the sun was filling my room with light, and little Dickie was singing. I told mamma my dream, and she said she thought it was because of what she was reading to me, and thtj stories she told me before I went to bed ; for, papa, she read that chapter which speaks of Jihe ' great multitude which no man can number, who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.' And she read me of the walls so high and beautiful, and of the streets of gold. She said no I* * '■' mimummimi. mmmm mimm 240 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, earthly home could equal it. And she thinks this, with Dickie's singing and the sun's shining, was what caused me to dream such a lovely dream. Do you think it was this that caused it, papa ?" Ashton looked down upon his fair, fragile young child, and, as he did sO, he thought how far he had fallen from such purity as she possessed. " No doubt, my dear," he said, " but your mamma's reading and the stories she told had something to do with your dream. But I think even the angels would come from heaven to whisper in the ears of one so good and beautiful as papa's little daughter." " Oh, papa ! " she said, " I wish we were all in heaven, and then we would be so happy. You would never drink again, because there would be no wicked men to give you whiskey ; for mamma said, * None that are wicked shall enter there,' and then mamma would not cry like she sometimes does now ; because there shall be ' no sorrow there, and God shall wipe all tears from the eye.' Do you not wish we were there, papa ?" The tears were trickling down the cheeks not only of the father but also of Mrs. Ashton and Allie. She seemed to them too pure for earth, and fit for the association of those bright spirits of which she had been dreanring. As her father did not speak — -in fact he dare not make the attempt, for if he had he could not have controlled his emotion — her mother said : "Mamie better not ask any more such questions. is this, IS what 30 you young he had amma's y to do } would ' one so all in 1 would wicked »ne that I would je there ,11 tears there, |ot only She :or the le had Lre not have btions. IMI I: THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 241 Papa, mamma, and all hope to be there some day ; but we want to remain to work for and love each other until God sees fit to call us home. Now, my dear, do not say anything more about it to-night, because you make papa and mamma feel bad." Mamie was subdued into silence, for a request from her mother always exerted a great power over her. She nestled so closely to her father's breast that she could hear the beatings of his heart, which, though he had fallen so utterly, beat only for his dear ones at home. It would certainly have been a subject worthy of a great painter to depict that pure, beautiful child, sit- ting upon the lap of her sinful, erring father. Her face so smooth and radiant, his so seamed and gloomy. Her eyes large, full, and deep, with the light of a pure soul finding expression through them ; his, blood-red and bleared from the effects of his re- cent and frequent debauches, and with the despair which was eating, like a canker, deep down in the heart, manifesting its intensity in those exponents of its happiness or misery. " Papa, your supper is waiting for you," said Allie cheerfully. " (Jome, mamma and Mamie, your chairs are ready." But we will leave this family scene to take our readers back to Porter's hotel. I'll ,' CHAPTER XXXII. A BARROOM SETTLEMENT OF A MISUNDERSTANDING. C^i FTER Porter had been lifted to his feet, and had (ky^ completely regained consciousness, he poured out a volley of oaths and foul expletives, and swore dire vengeance against Ashton and the un- known stranger who had championed his cause. " I'll meet that fellow again," he said ; " and when I do, I'll pay him with interest — you'll see if I don't ; and if that drunken fool, Ashton, ever enters this place again, I'll pitch him out quicker than he comes in. I have it in for him for giving me away to Old Service, and then swearing against me at the trial. Before long I'll get even with him for both. " If you were to throw him out. Porter, it might be worse for you and better for him," said Stewart. " If Ashton had all the money lie has left with you, I guess he would be willing to be put out — and stay out, too. I know it would have been a good thing for me if you, and others like you, had turned me out long ago, and never let me in again." ^*n3k^ ANDim. and had ! poured Lves, and the un- se. nd when I don't; his place •omes in. I Service, Before might be art. " If h you, 1 stay out, 12 for me out long THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 243 " T uccess. All over the county men were entrapped into drinking by the nefarious means employed, entailing, in some instances, horrible murders and. deaths from accidents and exposure ; and the misery which helpless women and poor little innocent children suffered, will never be known on this side of the judgment. The victims fell easy preys to their wily seducers, for when a man once contracts an appetite for spirituous liquors it is, in nine cases out of ten, easy to tempt him again to his fall ; and none knew this better than those who were engaged in this conspiracy, for they were old and experienced hands at the business. Mrs. Morris keenly felt her present position. She had belonged to a very respectable family — being naturally of a proud, imperious disposition — and to think that she and her children had been reduced to 'hen the lis home IS lifted n money hich had ilging in was one and they eir wiles, of how s it to say ton's, Dr. «ras, from cess. All drinking in some accidents 3s women never e victims en a man uors it is, acrain to hose who e old and ■ion. She y— being — and to duced to iH! ' r TVE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 251 poverty and rags through the drunken habits of her husband, had almost broken her heart. But this evening, when he came in with the marks on his face which led her to believe he had been cngaj^ed in another bar-room brawl — for this was not the Hist — the sense of their disgrace came upon her with such overwhelming force as to bow her proud spirit to the earth. During the day sheJiad been visited l:»y her sister's husband, whom she had not seen for years, and she had experienced that humiliation which those only can understand who have been in circumstances of comfort, if not of opulence, and through the mis- conduct of others have been brought to poverty and disgrace, and, under these changed conditions, are visited by those they have known in the days of their prosperity. The early opportunities of her brother- in-law had not been at all superior to that of her hus- band ; but he was now rich, residing in a palatial home, and the thought that he had louixd her sach a victim of poverty and neglect, added to her accumu- lated bitterness. Her husband, as he sat eating his supper, ever and anon cast his eyes to where she sat — her tears seemed to irritate him more than words could pos- sibly have done. "I don't see, ISell," he said, "why yon should sit there sulking after that style. I guess I'll go back to where I came from. I do hate a person to sulk." " I am not sulking, Henry," she replied bitterly ; -r mmmmmmm -mm ""■"HIMIIM 't 3- S:j, . t, IS {: I i m I 1 252 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, " but I am heart-broken with grief and shame. It was bad enough, surely, for me to be compelled to suffer the disgrace of being a drunkard's wifp and of being, with my children, dragged down from respect- ability to poverty and rags, without having to endure the thought that my husband — through his drunken, quarrelsome habits — had given people the oppor- tunity to bruit his name through the country as a bar-room bully." While she was speaking, her eldest son had entered the house. He was almost a man grown, and was a fine-looking, athletic young fellow. He, as well as his brothers and sisters, had suffered a great deal from his father's cruelty, and Mrs. Morris had fre- quently screened them from her husband's wild fury ; for, though he had often threatened, he had never so far forgotten his manhood as to strike his wife. His son had lately decided not to endure any more abuse, nor, if he could prevent it, would he allow his father to maltreat his brothers and sisters. He acted upon this resolve when, on another occasion, as we have previously stated, he, with the assistance of his mo- ther, had prevented him from smashing up the furni- ture ; though, in order to do this, they had to over- power and bind him with ropes. Of course they could not have succeeded had he not been very drunk. Morris at other times in his wild frenzy acted as though he had just escaped from bedlam. So foolish had he been, that there was scarcely a door or a piece of furniture in the house which did not bear some mark of these seasons of desperavlon. THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 253 Line. It lelled to and of respect- endure Irunken, 3 oppor- try as a 1 entered id was a I well as eat deal had fre- ild fury ; never so ife. 'His re abuse, lis father ,ed upon we have his mo- ne furni- to over- rse they y drunk, acted as o foolish r a piece jar some The son immediately saw that his father was in his most quarrelsome mood, for his eyes flashed fire ; and no sooner had Mrs. Morris stopped speaking, than he replied in his most rasping tones : " I want you to shut up, Nell, and if you don't I'll make you. I suppose, now Jim has come, you think you can run the establishment ; and because you suc- ceeded in tying me up the other day, you imagine you can do it again. I was drunk then. You had better try it on now if you think you will be able to complete the contract." " Oh, Henry ! " replied Mrs. Morris, " you know well enough that all we did was to prevent you from destroying the furniture and abusing the children, when you were so drunk as not to know what you were doing. Why do you go away and disgrace us, and then come back drunk to abuse us and make home wretched." " It was thrown in my teeth to-night by Tom Flatt," he continued, without noticing what his wife had said, " that you and that precious son of mine, who is now sitting there grinning, tied me up the other day and whipped me. I guess he won't tell me that again in a hurry, as I nearly finished . n ; and I gave him to understand if he did I should complete the job. Now, I suppose, Jim, you want to try it on again ; if you do, just come along — I'm not drunk now !" " Now, father, why can't you behave yourself ? You know we only prevented you from doing something you would be sorry for afterwards." , r f IH;;, I ; ■( i . f •'! 1 f' 1 ; 1 I I '< 254 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, Wlien Jim thus spoke he did not intend to be im- pudent to his father, but, on the contrary, to allay his temper ; but his words had just a contrary effect, for the latter immediately sprang to his feet and said, while his eyes were blazing with passion : " How dare you speak to me of behaving myself ? Things have come to a pretty pass when you dare thus to dictate to me. This comes from your mother encouraging you to disobey me. Now, you take your hat and go, or I'll make you." " I am not interfering with you, father ; and if you were yourself you would not want me to go. If you let the others and me alone I will not say a word to you." " Leave the house this minute," his father roared, " and don't dare to bandy words with me." " Father," said the son quietly, " I'll not do it. I am not going to leave my mother and the rest here alone to be abused by you." " You say you won't ! " he hissed between his clenched teeth ; " but you will, or I'll break every bone in your body." As he said this he ran around the table to the place where Jim was standing ; but the latter, nimbly avoiding him, dodged to the other side of the table, while the rest of the children ran screaming into an- other room. Mrs. Morris attempted to expostulate, but her voice was lost in the general confusion ; and Morris had become so enraged that he was literally frothing at the mouth. He chased Jim arouad the vi^ar*' :|Mi THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 255 ) be im- ,llay his feet, for nd said, myself ? ou dare mother ,ke your d if you If you word to • roared, t. I am re alone jen his every le place nimbly table, nto an- stulate, in ; and iterally .id the table for a few times, but his efforts proving abortive, he, in his mad rage, seized a heavy glass tumbler and threw it, with all his strength, at Jim's head. " Look out, Jim ! " screamed his mother, in a voice of horror, and the boy dodging, the tumbler just grazed the side of his face ; if he had not done so, it would have taken him square in the mouth, and would certainly have knocked out most of his front teeth, if it had not broken his jaw. But, though Jim fortunately escaped, Harry, the brother next to him, was not so fortunate, for he hap- pened to be standing behind — almost in line with Jim — and the tumbler, which missed the latter, struck him with terrific force just above the temple, and, glancing therefrom, struck the window-sash behind, shattering two of the panes to atoms from the force of the blow. The boy, with a groan, sank to the floor, turning deathly pale as he did so, and in a moment the blood began to trickle down his face. "Oh, Henry!" exclaimed Mrs. Morris, "you have killed Harry ! Oh, how could you throw a tumbler like that ? Jim, bring some water quickly." The mother bent over her boy, who lay as one dead ; and, as Jim came with the water, she bathed his head with it and sprinkled some upon his face. But their efforts to bring him back to consciousness were in ^ain, for he lay breathing heavily, but still insensible. Morris, after seeing the effects of his reckless folly, I i 256 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, t stood for a moment as one stunned. He was no longer drunk, but a sober and deeply-penitent man. His boy lying there as dead, appealed to his father's heart as no words could have done, and he now would willingly have sacrificed his life if he could have re- called the events of the last half hour. He came up to the bed, where Jim had carried Harry, with face almost as white as that of his wounded boy, and whispered : " I have not murdered him have I, Nellie dear ? Oh ! my God, I hope J. have not murdered him ! " And then, in his anguish, doing what he had not done for years, that is, sinking on hh knees in prayer, he cried, as his bosom heaved with agony : " God ! spare my child, and I will never drink again Then, rising, he looked at Harry for a moment, and as there was no indication of consciousness, he said to his eldest son : " Jim ! run for Dr. Dean. I am sure, my boy, you will not linger a moment longer than there is need of your doing. Life and death may depend upon your haste." Jim ran, and in a few moments returned with the doctor, who examined the boy, and said to the group who were so anxiously awaiting his decision : " His skull is not fractured. I think it must have been a glancing blow, and I will soon bring him to consciousness. It was a providential escape, however ; for if the tumbler had come direct, and struck him a little lower down, it would h^ve killed him." u THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 257 your ever ; lim a " Thank God ! " exclaimed Morris. " You may well thank Him," said the doctor, " for it certainly was a narrow escape for both of you ; that is, you just escaped from being a murderer, and the poor boy here from being murdered. I have often warned you, Morris, against drinking, and told you it would end in some terrible catastrophe. I should think you would now reform." " God lielping, I will." Dr. Dean was a very strong temperance man, and had been an active supporter of the Dunkin Act. He had, in fact, used all the power of his intellect to make the legalized selling of liquor a thing of the past ; he was also an accomplished and eloquent platform speaker. His friends, after earnest solicitation, had obtained his consent to come forward as a candidate for Parliamentary honors. So he was at the present the recognized opponent of Capt. Mc Wriggler, whose superior he was both morally and intellectually. After a while he succeeded in resuscitating Harry. The latter opened his eyes, and as he did so they fell upon the doctor. "Where am I, mother?" he enquired. "What is the matter ? What is the doctor doing here ? " " Never mind now, Harry dear," she said ; " you have been hurt, and if you are very quiet we will tell you after a while." Having shut his eves as if he were satisfied, or as if he were too weak to pursue the enquiry any further, the doctor felt his pulse again, and remarked : " He [if m i' Ui i 258 / FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, will be all right in a short time." He then gave them instructions as to how they shoifld proceed in case of contingencies, and turning to Morris said : " I believe you have signed the pledge more than once, and a few moments ago you remarked you would never drink again. Did you mean it ?" " I did, and, God helping me, liquor shall never enter my lips again." " Here is a pledge," and the doctor produced one. " Will you sign it ? I always carry one with me to use on such occasions as this." " I will, sir. And I am thankful to you for your interest in me. Pray for me, that I may receive strength to keep it." Morris signed the pledge with trembling hand, and no sooner had he done so than his wife, throwing her arms around his neck, kissed him. " Thank God," she said, and then, casting her eyes heavenward, she prayed : " 0, my Father, aid him to keep his promise." " You kept sober," said the doctor, " for several weeks after the Act came in force, and then you were, with several others^ tempted to drink." " Yes," said Morris, " I was coaxed to drink by the sheriff, though I was weak and foolish to listen to him." "It was a vile conspiracy," continued the doctor, indignantly, " and I am certain that some of those in the county who are now infamously degrading the most important offices in the gift of the Crown are among the conspirators. I am personally acquainted >> THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 259 with numbers who were seduced to their ruin by this devilish conspiracy, entailing an amount of misery that it IS impossible to estimate." Before the doctor had finished speaking, Jim, who had been sent to have a prescription filled out. came running m with a look of horror on his face. " They are looking for you, doctor," he said, " to go down to Flatt s. They say Tom has murdered his wife." "Another victim," said the doctor sententiously, and then he hurried away. t M I 1 4 II = ^m saaB li ^- i M vi CHAPTER XXXIV. II I * ■ iii(* is TOM FLATTS HUT— A DESCRIPTION OF THE SCENE IN WHICH HE MURDERS HIS WIFE. HEN Flatt arrived at the hovel where his wife and children burrowed (for they could scarcely be said to live) he found them in the most ab- ject misery. But I will ask my reader to accompany me to it. Imagine a log shanty, twelve by sixteen in dimen- sions, roofed by troughs, or what appeared to be halves of hollow logs. The back of the shanty on the out- side was not originally more than six feet high ; but as the logs which formed the sides and ends had so rotted that by their own weight they had settled con- siderably, it was now much lower. The shanty con- tained two windows, which were ornamented by having two or three old hats used as substitutes for panes of glass, and the panes which were not broken were so cracked and splintered that they were in emi- nent peril of being blown out at every violent gust of wind. «^. i? ^ I THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFBIC. 261 limen- halves e out- but ad so con- con- d by s for roken emi- st of But the exterior of the shanty, dilapidated-looking though it was, gave no conception of the squalor and wretchedness which its walls confined. I will in- troduce my readers to the inmates. Mrs. Flatt was an undersized, dark-complexioned little woman, who at one time possessed considerable personal beauty ; but she had been so worn by toil, hard usage, and insufficient food, that she now ap- peared little else than skin and bone ; in fact, she as much resembled a mummy as a being through whose veins throbbed the blood of life. In different attitudes — on the clay floor, on the two miserable beds, and on the old broken chairs and benches of the hut — were distributed six children. They, if possible, were more squalid and wretched- looking than their mother ; for though it was mid- winter, not one of them was so fortunate as to pos- sess a pair of shoes, but they had frequently to run out from the hut into the deep snow in their poor little bare feet, which were red, cracked, and bleeding from the cold. The miserable rags in which they were clothed did not serve to cover their nakedness ; and their blue, pinched faces pathetically spoke of want and neglect. The youngest of the number was a babe, some five or six months old ; she was lying in a creaky old cradle, which squeaked when rocked as if uttering a discordant protest. She was a poor, pallid, little thing, that scarcely seemed to have strength to utter her low moan f)i pain, as she lay famishing for the rr ii' 262 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, nourishment which the now starved mother was un- able to supply. The next older was barely able to toddle round on the clay floor ; and they ranged up from that until the eldest of the six was reached, who was a bare-footed, bare-legfjed girl of eight. She was, however, so dwarfed through rough usage, insufficient food, and exposure, as to be little larger than an ordinary child of six. " Mamma ! I want a piece. I'se so hungry ! " cried the third child from the youngest — a little boy, about four years of age. "Oh, mamma! I do want a mece." " And so do I, mother," cried the next, a little girl of five. " Oh ! why don't dad come with the bread ?" " Piece, mamma, piece ! " whined out little Katie, the next to the youngest. " Piece, mamma, piece ! " she cried out again piteously, as she toddled over to her mother, and, hanging on to the skirts of her dress, looked up with a famished longing that made the latter sob convulsively. " Oh, children ! " she said, " mother would give her darlings bread if she had any, but there is not a crumb in the house ; no, dears, not one poor crumb, so I can't give my children any now ; but I hope your father will come home and bring some bread with him ; and if he does, then you shall all have some. Don't cry, now — ^you make mother feel so bad." " Mamma," said Nannie, the eldest girl, " I wish father was dead/' ^*>,^ THE TRICKS OB' THE TRAFFIC. 263 \ I: I" re her Lot a 'umb, hope )read I have )1 so wish " Hush, child," said the mother, sharply ; " you must not talk so." But in the mother's reproof there was an utter want of the emotion of horror at the as- tounding and unnatural wish of the child. It .seemed as if she was reproved for giving utterance to her thoughts — not for entertaining them. In fact, the mother had often in her heart entertained similar sentiments, and wished that her drunken, brutal hus- band were dead. When they were first married, Flatt had treated his wife well for a time, and they lived as comfort- ably as people of their means and limited stock of intelligence generally do. But he began to indulge in drink, and from that period until after the Dunkin Act became law, he seemed to be predominated with the instincts of a brute. He worked but little at his trade, which was that of a brickmaker, and the small amount that was earned by him was mostly squan- dered in drink. Mrs. Flatt tried to keep her children from starving by taking in washing ; and very fre- quently the brutal husband and father would return from his drunken orgies to eat the scanty meal she had toiled so hard, with weary body and reeling brain, to procure for her children. If, under such provocation, she ventured to protest, she would be answered by blows, and many a time she had been beaten black and blue by the brutal monster. After the Act came in force he had remained sober for several weeks, and there was comparative cheer- fulness and comfort in the hut where he resided ; the I I r 264 FUOM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, i[H'' children, during that brief period, had plenty to eat, and they did not dread his coming home for fear of a beating. But it was not long before he was brought again under the force of his old habits. He was, in fact, met by those who had been appointed to induce him to drink ; and they were as successful in his case as thev had been in the other instances which we have mentioned. From that period the life of Mrs. Flatt and her children had been utterly wretched. Is it strange she had lost all affection for the brutal ruffian who had the right, by law, to call her his wife? or that his neglect of both her and their children, his kicks and blows, had driven out even the last vestige of respect, and that now detestation — yes, even intense hatred — had taken full possession of her soul? And once, or twice, as he lay in his drunken slumber, utterly in her power, the awful thought had possessed her that she could, in a few short minutes, , revenge herself for all his a]juse by taking the life which had so utterly cursed and blighted her own. And then, when, coming to her better self, she medi- tated upon the sin of harboring such thoughts, a feel- ing of horror crept over her and chilled her h^ood ; when, throwing herself impulsively on her knees, the cry had gone up from her heart : ; " Oh, my Father ! save me from temptation." The reader, after this explanation, can easily under- stand how it was she rebuked her child for giving ex- pression to her thoughts rather than for entertaining them. ms^^ THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 265 jO eat, r of a ought ras, in nduce is case ch we t* Mrs. id. brutal 1 wife? ildren, le last 1— yes, of her •unken t had inutes, e life own. medi- a feel- ^ ood ; iknees, inder- igex- iinmg " But, mother, I do often wish dad was dead, and I might as well say it as thinl, it," said Nancy. " And so do I," boldly chimed in little Jack, a pre- cocious and manly little fellow of seven, who very much resembled his mother ; " for if he was dead he could not beat you and thump us until we were black and blue, mother. And he would not eat up every- thing from us, and drive us all out into the snow." The mother sternly rebuked the children for talking in that manner. " No matter how bad he is," she said, " he is your dad, and it is very sinful to be talking after that style. " Hush, children ! " she whispered; "I guess here he comes ! " In a moment the only noise which could be heard in the shanty was the low moan of tho baby, as it lay in the crrdle, while from the outside could be heard the heavy, uneven thud of advancing footsteps. "Drunk as usual!" whispered little Jack; "now look out for thumps and bruises. Oh ! " he whispered through his clenched teeth, "I wish I were a man, then he wouldn't beat us like he does now, for I wouldn't let 'un do it." " Take the baby, mother, and run over to Tremaine's," said Nannie; "I'm afraid he'll kill you." " No, Nannie, I'll not run; if he kills me I can't help it ; I'll not run away any more. I'm afraid it will come to that some day, but I will stay and take care of you all, no matter what happens." The children had just managed to crawl under the 18 i-r^ 1 "« 1 1 1 It 1 If tf; ji 1 f r : 1 ; ; ■ » 1 1 ^^ ■ A, , 1 1 ¥■ ii 1 ; 1 y 266 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, two dilapidated beds when their father liftf the latch and stumVjled into the room. "Oh! what's the matter, Tom ?" said his wife, as at a glance she took in his disfigured face. " What's that to you ? " he replied with an oath. "If you'd get me something to eat, it 'ud show more sense than asking what's none of your business." " There is not a bit in the house," she replied, and then, stung into reckless madness by his asking for food when he had spent for whiskey the money with which he had promised to procure , she continued bitterly: "The children have been crying for some- thing to eat for the last t j hours, in tones that would melt the heart of a stone, and I hadn't a crumb to give 'nm, and you, who have been spending on drink what should have bought it for them, have the brazen im- pudence to come horn 3 drunk, demanding food. Go to the cupboard and get j^u some, if you think there is any there." " Now, Nance, I don't want any of your chin music, but I wants you to get me suthin' to eat. You can't fool me ; I knows you has got it in the house." " God knows, Tom, there isn't a bit. Do you sup- pose if there was a'^y I would let the children be cry- ing for it and not give it to them ? If you think so, you don't know me yet ; for I can tell you it would have been given to them two hours ago, and not saved for one who allows his own flesh and blood to starve, while he spends that which would furnish them with bread for rum in a rum-shop. THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 267 the 3, as at I oath. ' more id, and nor for y with itinued sorae- ; would to give k what ien im- d. Go V there music, u can't lu sup- 1)C cry- ink so, would saved starve, n with The reader might be ready to assert, after reading this connubial wrangle, that the fault was not all on one side, but that Nancy's sharp tongue was in some measure responsible for Tom's drinking ; that, in fact, if she had not been such a termagant he might, at least, have been an average husband. But if you have so concluded, I will endeavour to disabuse your jiiind ; for Nancy, before she married Tom Flatt, was a smart, good-tempered lass, but his continued neglect and abuse had vinegared all her sweetness, and she was not of that temperament which could boar ill- treatment without giving expression to her feelings. if, in her youtii, she had been surrounded by difierent associations, and then married to a man who could have appreciated her, she might hav^e developed into an intellig-nt, loving woman; but the terrible wretched- ness of her lif-^, brought about by the faults of her husband, had turned all her nature into bitterness. And let me ask any of my gentle reade s if, under similar circumstances, honeved words would have been uttered by you? If you had suffered such treat- ment, and not only you but your children, who were bone of your bone and tlesh of your tlesh, do you not think you would protest? If you were being dragged down into the slough of poverty, disgrace, and wretchedness, and you knew that he who was thus dragging you down could, if he were a true husband and father, place you in a position of comfort and re- spectability, but who was devouring from you and your children food that you had earned by tlie most 268 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, i( menial drudgery — by the sweat of body and brain — and leaving you all to nearly famish for bread, would you not remonstrate ? Nay, would not feelings of out- raged confidence, of soul- anguish, sorrow, and shame coin themselves into bitter chiding words which you would be powerless to repress ? How many thousands of sweet, pure souls, who, in their innocent maiden days, were the embodiment of gentleness and affection, have, after marriage to some brute in human shape, been brought, by years of neg- lect and abuse, to become that which is among the most maligned and despised of all creatures — a scolding wife. We must, in all fairness, admit that such Nancy Flatt had become. Her nature, as we have said, was intense, and she had endured a great deal in her early married life. At first she would gently remonstrate, but as years rolled on and she had not only to suffer neglect and abuse herself, but her helpless little ones also, her remonstrances became tinged with tlie acidity of her soured nature ; and finally as toil, neglect, and hunger reduced her to the haggard, dejected creature we have presented to the reader, she would meet Tom's oaths and blows with her only weapon of de- fence, and pour out sharp, rasping words from her woman's tongue. "I tell you what it is, Nance," said Tom, in answer to her chiding; " I want you to shut that jaw of thine and get me some grub, or I'll make you wish you had never been born." TIIP] TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 209 " You have made me wish that a thousand times, Tom," she answered with passionate bitterness. " See that wasted arm," and suiting the action to her words she stripped up her sleeve; "look at my fleshless face — what has brought me to this but starvation and drudgery ? Hear the moaning of that hel})less babe in the cradle, crving: for nurse that st{»-rvation has dried up. Oh, Tom ! how can you spend your money in whiskey when you know we are starving at home ? You knew when you left this morning there was not a morsel of food in the house, nor money to buy it, for you have not brought in a cent for weeks ; and you promised when you left to come right back with bread, but instead of that you have spent the day in drinking whiskey and fighting with great hulking loafers like yourself, and now you come home to abuse your wife and children. You are worse than a brute; for brutes do provide for their own flesh and blood, while you have nothing better than oaths and blows for yours." With fearful oaths Flatt sprang forward to answer his wife's passionate arraignment of his conduct by the method he usually adopted on such occasions — that was, by the irresistible logic of his ponderous fist. As she saw he was about to make the rush, her first impulse was to open the door and run for safety, for well she knew, from a terrible experience, that when he was aroused he had the ferocity of a brute with the temper of a demon. But as she was about to do so she saw he did not heed the cradle which lay in his m m ;< ■ i «■ ^1*:^ h V! Is f! . ft i, : ;1* i 1 270 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, way. The danger of her child caused tlie mother to be heedless of her own, and, with the wild cry, " Look out for the babe, Tom !" she sprant^ forward and snatched it from the cradle, thus bringing herself into the power of the furious brute. In his mad rage lie picked up a trowel which, unfortunately, lay near him, and, as his wife was rising with her babe, he struck her with terrific force upon the head, the sharp corner of the instrument cuttinf; through the flesh and imbedding itself deep into the skull, carrying the hair with it. " Oh, Tom ! you have killed me !" she groaned, as she fell forward on her face, covering her babe as she fell. But even in that terrible moment she must have had some thoui^ht of it, for she manacfed to shift over on her side, clasping it to her breast as she did so. All the ferocity in Tom's brutal nature seemed to be aroused, and the sight of his wife's blood running: down over her forehead and dyeing with red the pallid face of his child, which one would think might have moved even a demon to pity, only seemed to arouse the latent tiger within him, for he struck the prostrate woman again and again, until she settled heavily on to the floor and was limp and still. This act in the tragedy was complete, for Nancy Flatt was dead, and her in- fant lay clasped in her arms bespattered with the life- blood of its dead mother. The children, who had been cowering under the beds, witnessed the terrible scene, and though they were frightened at their father's and mother's jangling. LT-^ THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 271 I [ling, as they thought it would result in the latter being beaten — which was usually the case — at first they kept perfectly still, for fear of what the result might be to themselves if they drew their father's attention. But when he struck their mother with the trowel and she fell forward with her face bathed in blood, they gave vent to their terror in wild and frantic screams. " Oh, dad!" cried little Jack, almost fiercely, " you've killed our mamma." And as he thus spoke he stepped boldly out and faced his father, seeming to have lost all fear in the presence of the calamity that had be- fallen them ; and then he and Nanny escaped from the house and ran over to Tremaine's. When they reached there Nannie, who had outrun her brother, burst into the door and said in a ghastly whisper, which appeared all the more horrible because of her pallid face, over which her hair was streaming in tangled masses, giving her a ghost-like appearance : " Oh, Mr. Tremaine, dad has murdered mother ! Run quick, sir, and see ! " Just then little Jack came up with face as pallid as Nannie's, and though panting for want of breath managed to say : " Dad struck mother with the trowel ! — and cut an awful jrash in her head ! — and her face is all covered with blood — and I think she is dead." Tremaine, who was really a noble fellow, though he unfortunately did indulge in strong drink, i'urnf'- diately ran over to the shanty, and when he arrives there he found the children's fears were well founded, nmna* WISiH rii'-fc I ':l R I I I i i 1' m Ik '''' ^ *'- Ik -■'' -I » It' 'i ■ ;.r ;:'■ ^ 1 1 iii ^ I l< ; 'It! fit-' i 272 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. for a spectacle so ghastly in its details met his view that, strong man as he was, he stood for a moment as if bereft of motion, and even thought. Nancy Flatt was lying stark dead on the floor, and her babe, which was yet muttering its low moan of hunger, was clasped close in the arms of its dead mother, and was dabbling in the blood which had flowed from the wounds in her head and face. Tom was not to be found. He had evidently realized, when it was too late, what would be the consequence of his terrible crime, and had fled to escape the Nemesis, in the form of avenging justice, which he knew would soon be on his track. I will not, however, enter into the details of his capture, imprisonment, trial and execution ; for Tom Flatt was executed for the murder of Nancy, his wife ; and on the scaflfold he, as thousands of others in similar circumstances have done, blamed his wife's murder, his own sad fate, and his children's orphanage, to love for strong drink. Reader, was Tom Flatt alone responsible for the murder of his wife, or were there not others who, at least to some extent, shared with him that responsi- bility ? Could the man who sold him the liquor, or he who manufactured it, or the Government who drew revenue — which to all intents and purposes was blood money — from its sale, or the intelligent electors who, in the exercise of their franchise and by their sym- pathy, endorsed that legislation, escape all responsi- bility ? My dear reader, ponder this question, for great issues are involved in your conclusion. f ;^ CHAPTER XXXV. JOHN, JUN:s WEDDINO-BARTON'SMURDER-LUELLA SEALY'S SUICIDE— QINSLING'S TRAGICAL DEATH. W^HE truth of the aphorism of Solomon — " Whoso V.J diggeth a pit shall fall therein" — is verified by- multiplied examples the wide world over every day of the year, and it received a very striking verifi- cation in the events which we shall chronicle in this chapter. The reader will recollect that the leading mind among the cpnspirators was John Sealy, Esq. He was the one who suggested the infamous scheme, which was afterwards adopted, of leading as many poor un- fortunates as possible to drink. He did not calculate that into the pit which was thus dug for others he himself, or some member of his family, might possibly fall. But we anticipate. His only son, John, jun., had been associating with low companions and conducting himself in a manner that was not at all satisfactory to him, John, sen., or to Mrs. and Miss Sealy ; and, to crown all, they had every r ■PW 274 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, !'■! i reason to believe he was actually paying his addresses to Miss Angelina Porter, a daughter of Old Joe Porter, who kept the groggery. This, of course, was very distasteful even to Mr. and Miss Sealy ; but language would fail us in any attempt we might make to de- lineate the utter consternation of the high-toned Mrs" Sealy when she became satisfied that the rumor was founded on fact. She had afjain and aijain remon- strated with him, but without effect, as he had treated her remonstrances with good-natured contempt ; and when she resorted to harsher means and applied con- tumelious epithets to his intended, he returned a Roland for her Oliver, so that she, finding it was useless to try to influence him, sulkily retired from the encounter. But though baffled in that direction she was deter- mined not to give up ; for she thought if she could not accomplish her object by one method she would resort to another, and thus she might possibly succeed. She, in fact, determined to address a letter to Miss Porter, to see if she could not influence her. Acting upon this impulse, the vain and foolish woman sent her a very insulting epistle, such a one in fact as could only emanate from a coarse and vulgai* mind. Miss Porter treated it with the contempt it merited, and did not even mention to John, jun., that she had received it; and he might have remained in blissful ignorance of his mother's folly had she not in her in- sane fury L^pifcefuUy said to him : " I have sent the low, designing thing a letter, giving her to understand what we think of her, and what she may expect if ^*i^= THE THICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 275 her schemes are successful and she entraps you into marrying lier." Tliat information drew the retort from the dutiful and ati'ectionate son that Angelina Porter was his mother's equal in every respect, and that she need not "take on such airs" and make such a fuss, because the former's father kept " a low groggery," as she termed it, when she knew that her own father (tliat was his own maternal grandfather) made all his money at the same business ; ** and you know, mother," he added, " grandfather was not a bit superior in any respect to Joe Porter, though you so affect to despise the latter." "You know you are saying what is not only false, but also insulting to your own mother," she answered ; and now she was weeping bitterly. " I knew you had become low in your aims since you had associated with the set you now think so much of, but I did not think you had become so abandoned as to scandalize your own dead grandfather." " But, mother, you forget you are scandalizing one who is nearer to me than grandfather was to you, and that you sent her a low, scurrilous letter, full of bitter taunts and insults, which you intended should annoy her." " If she gets you," his mother answered, with a sneer, " I guess she'll forget it. I want to inform you," she added, and she had reserved this broadside for her final effort, " if you marry that low creature I'll dis- own you, and I know your father will cut you off 11 Sili: IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 iii IIP 112.5 ■- m " m U 112.2 12.0 1.8 LA. Ill 1.6 v: (p //. "c-l e. c*J (J> >:■ o /. / /J. Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN S1REET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ iV iV :\ \ % V ^^ 6"^ ^^^ .^1> ? » «I-J ,v W^. .■^ m- C/j ^ <> i i 276 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, I.,'; with a shillinfif, and let you go to her and her low, drunken sot of a father to find a livinj]j." " You and father can do as you please, and so shall I," he almost savagely retorted ; " but dad had better sweep his own doorstep before he complains about his neighbor's being dirty, for he is not very select in his own company ; and if he does not keep a groggery, those which are kept in this town have few more attentive customers. I only know of one who can claim to excel him in this respect, and that is he whom you have, by your schemes, almost compelled poor Lou to accept as her affianced husband. I mean that distinguished member of the bloatocracy, Stanley Ginsling. Consistency is a jewel, mother, you know> and if you are consistent, you will not come down on me for marrying one whose father you term ' a sot, and at the same time scheme to ally your daughter to one who is a perambulating whiskey barrel." Mrs. Sealy did not try to answer her son ; she felt, in fact, if she were to attempt it, she could not pos- sibly do justice to the subject ; so she gave him what she intended for a withering look, gathered up the skirts of her dress, and swept majestically from the room. That evening she had a long consultation with her husband in regard to the matter, the result of which was a very stormy interview between the father and son, when the latter, having been threatened with dis- inheritance if he did not break off from all association with the Porter family, gave the father to understand r THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 277 low, as it was a matter that more especially concerned him- self, he should observe his own mind in regard to it, and his father might dispose of his property as it pleased him. The climax was reached when the residents of Bay View — for that was the name of their villa — heard that John, jun., and Angelina Porter were married. He had, in fact, the license in his pocket at the time he held his interview with his father, and had gone directly after to the groggery of his intended father- in-law, and having secured the services of the Rev. John Turn well, the ceremony was privately performed. Porter and his son-in-law celebrated the wedding by getting gloriously drunk. This caused the young bride intense pain ; for though she had been long ac- customed to such scenes, it came closer to her when her own husband was involved. John, jun., did not go near his father's residence, nor indeed take any steps towards reconciliation, for, he said, " the old man will come around all right after awhile." He, for the time being, kept bar for Joe Porter, and was one of his most bibulous, though not one of his most profitable, customers. In fact, he ws^a generally intoxicated each day by noon, and before night was stupidly drunk. His father, who really thought as m'^ich of his boy as it was possible for a man with such a nature as his to think of any one, heard he was going rapidly to destruction, and felt some effort must be made to save him. He had a conversation with his wife 278 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, hi in regard to fche matter, and though she declared she would never forgive her son for marrying into such a low family, as she knew it would subject her to the cynical and sneering remarks of some of the set with whom she associated, yet she concluded it was better to make the best of the matter, and not, by a course of coldness, drive him utterly to destruction ; so she agreed with her husband when he said he thought he had better go and see him, and, if possible, wean him from his present debauch. Mr. Sealy owned a farm of two hundred acres, which was situated on the shores of the bay, about two miles east of Bayton. It had been the old home- stead, and he had always intended to will it to his son ; but since the memorable interview, when the latter had spoken so defiantly, and then followed up his words by forming the alliance against which his father had warned him, Mr. Sealy, in his anger, de- termined to carry out his threat, and cut his son off without a cent. But when he found he was likely, if left much longer with his present surroundings, to degenerate into a dissipated loafer, he relented, and now determined to offer it to him if he would settle there immediately. The fact was, that now the evil effects of drink was brought home to him, and his only son was one of its victims, he suffered very keenly indeed, and was willing to humiliate himself and make considerable sacrifice to save him. With this end in view, he went to Porter's quite THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 279 I early one morning, for he was almost certain he would have to be there before his son had an opportunity to indulge to any extent, if he expected to find him sober. When he arrived at the groggery Old Joe had just opened up, and was taking his morning drink, which his trembling hand indicated he sadly needed. " Good morning, Joe," he said. "Morning," replied Joe, gruffly, in answer to the salutation. " Where is John, Mr. Porter ?" This question was asked in Mr. Sealy's blandest tones, for he was suf- ficiently acquainted with human nature to perceive nothing would be gained by being cross. " He hasn't come down yet." "Will you kindly tell him I would like to see him ?" " Yes, I will. But won't you have a glass of some- thing to drink as an appetizer ? You must have been up early." As Porter spoke he handed down a black bottle labelled " Old Rye Whiskey." " I don't care if I do take a smile," Sealy replied. And taking the bottle from Porter's hand he poured a tumbler half full, and drank it down as if it were so much water. " I will now run up-stairs and see if John has tumbled out yet," said Porter ; and suiting the action to the word, his bloated face and burly form disap- peared through the door. HMiiiiie h" i A ' »; \ 280 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, In a few moments John, jun., appeared, his face bearing palpable traces of his last night's debauch. I will not enter into a lengthy narrative of the in- terview between father and son; suffice to say that everything was amicably arranged, and in less than a month from the date of the interview, John, jun., and his wife were settled in the old Sealy homestead. For awhile Mrs. Sealy was cold and distant, but finally she became reconciled, and frequently visited them with her daughter, who from the first had treated her brother's wife with kindness, having found her an amiable and well-disposed little thing, who would have made some man a good wife. But she was not composed of stern enough stuff to have influence upon her husband. John, jun., certainly did not indulge in drink, after his removal from his father-in-law's, to the same extent as he had previously done, but yet he had got to be such a victim to the habit as now to become i'.itoxi- cated at every favorable opportunity, which nob only caused his wife excruciating pain, but was also the source of annoyance and sorrow to his parents and sister. But though Mr. Sealy was sorely troubled by his son's conduct, and was led to realize, at least to some extent, the worry and shame that is associated with having a near relative an habitual drunkard, strange to say it did not seem to change his views in the least in regard to the drink traffic, for he still re- mained as stern, and uncompromising an opponent of teetotalism as ever. 1 THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 281 li I i It was about a month after John, jdn., and his wife had commenced housekeeping that Miss Sealy came to spend a week or two with them. She, in facti thought she might have a restraining influence upon him, as he had genuine affection for her, whom he had always found to be an affectionate sister and true friend. While she was there, Stanley Ginsling, who, with- out loving, she had been coaxed and badgered into recognizing as her afiianced husband, came to see her. John, jun., had, previous to this time, frequently met him since the day when, conversing with his mother, he had employed such stinging epithets to express his opinion of him, but had now changed his mind. In fact, he now thought he was rather a good fellow, and had promised to use his influence to over- come his sister's evident aversion. Ginsling brought with him a flask of brandy. It was the same flask that he used when tempting Richard Ashton at Charlotte, and he and John, jun.. indulged so freely of its contents as soon to be con- siderably under its influence. Miss Sealy perceived the state they were in, and blaming the former for leading her brother to thus debase himself, gave him to understand his presence was extremely distasteful to her, and that he might consider their engage- ment broken off; for, no matter what influence mij^ht be brought to bear, she had made up her mind, after what had just transpired, she would never marry him. Her brother, in his drunken foolishness, had gon9 19 mmmm 282 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, • in to remonstrate with her ; but now, thoroughly aroused, she had requested him, in indignant terms, to mind his own business. " It is bad enough," she said, " to be disgraced by a drunken brother, without run- ning with eyes open into greater misery and degrada- tion. I told him our engagement was broken, and I meant it." John, jun.'s wife also rebelled. She had borne a great deal with patience; but when Luella came in weeping bitterly, the former rated her husband soundly, and told him, "If there was not a change for the better she would leave him." The two women had then retired to the parlor, and the two men went out injO the kitchen to smoke. " I don't see what is the matter with Lou," said Ginsling ; " she is as cross as a badger. She gave me my walking-ticket, and told me not to return again. I wonder if she has seen Barton lately ? " " I don't think so. I know he has not been per- mitted to go to the old man's; though I heard dad say he has been seen several times hanging around there, but he never goes near except he is drunk, which now is pretty nearly all the time. I suppose you heard he had lost his position in the bank ? " " Yes, I heard. The fact is, I told Smith, the man- ager, I was surprised he had not turned him off long ago. " I tell you what it is, Ginsling, he was pretty badly gone on Lou, and I believe she liked the beggar. But I never took any stock in him ; and if I were the old I I THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 283 DUghly rms, to le said, lit run- jgrada- , and I )orne a ame in 3undly, 'or the en had mt out a," said ave me i again. en per- rd dad around drunk, uppose man- flf long badly But ,he old r man, and he came hanging round, I'd shoot him like a dog." "And so he should. I know, for my part, I would not be annoyed by the drunken nuisance. I only want a good opportunity to pay a debt I owe him, and then he shall have it with compound interest." Ginsling was quite under the influence of liquor when he made the remark in regard to Barton, and the one to whom he was talking was far from sober. They could both see the mote in Barton's eye, but failed to remove the beams from their own. When Ginsling .spoke of owing Barton a debt, he referred to an incident which had occurred some time before. He had been one evening in " The Retreat," which, my readers will remember, was kept by Ben Tims ; and while he was there William Barton had come in, just enough intoxicated to be reckless, and Ginsling himself was far from sober. The latter said something which the former eagerly construed into an insult, and to which he replied by knocking him down. Tims had then interfered, and led Barton into another room, leaving Ginsling to stagger to his feet as best he could. The latter, after picking himself up, went to the wash-room and staunched the blood flow- ing from his nose, which Barton's blow had made more bulbous than usual, washed all traces from his face, and then left ; but before he did so, he vowed he would be even with him yet. " You had better look out. Barton," said Tims > " that rascal will have his revenge if you give him 284 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, |i any chance, and I believe he is as treacherous as he is cowardly. •I'm glad you hit him though, only I'd rather it hadn't happened in my place." " He gave me an opportunity I was waiting for," replied Barton, now seemingly almost sober. "I'll risk all the harm he is likely to do me." Tims knew very well how it was with the poor fellow, but he had too much good taste to refer to it. It was of this bar-room squabble Ginsling spoke when he said he "owed him a debt which he was determined to pay back to him with interest." John, jun., who was cognizant of the facts, re- marked, " If he were in his (Ginsling's) place, he'd be even with him yet." " I can't help but suspect that he has seen Lou lately, and I am half inclined to think she likes him yet ; if she didn't, she would not have used me as she has done to-night." " She may have," said John, jun. ; " but the reason she was so huffy to-night was because you were drunk. But who's that ? " he suddenly exclaimed — I believe it is Barton !" As he spoke, he drew back his chair from the win- dow, and gliding therefrom, stealthily crept to where he could observe all Barton's movements, but where the latter could not possibly see him. Ginsling also arose as stealthily as possible, and glided behind John, jun. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and they could see almost as plainly as if it were day. "Yes; it is Barton!" whispered Ginsling; "and I believe he is drunk." a,s he is nly I'd ig for/' . " I'll le poor QT to it. J spoke he was cts, re- :e, he'd en Lou :es him i as she I reason u were imed — e win- where wliere ng also behind ht, and ay. and I THE THICKS OK THE THAFFIC 285 " I wonder what the idiot is goin«^' to do ? " (lues- tioned John, jun., "here he comes towards the house." " Let him come," said Ginsling ; " I guess we will be ready for him." Barton staggered towards the veranda — which ex- tended around three sides of the house — and after one or two attempts to step up on to it, was at last suc- cessful ; then, muttering to himself, he came towards the window, where the two men were observing him. "Hush !" said Ginsling, "he seems to be having an interesting soliloquy, and possibly we may hear what he says." In the dead stillness of the night Barton's low mut- terings could be heard distinctly: " I am bound to see Luella," he said ; " I know she loves me, for she has told me so a hundred times, and she is too pure and good to lie. I saw her coming here this morning, and I am determined to see her and hear my fate from her own lips. Oh, Luelia ! I am sure you love me, and if you will promise to be mine I will swear never again to let a drop of liquor pass my lips." He looked ghastly in the moonlight, his pale face with its background of jet black hair hanging in tangled masses down upon his shoulders giving him a weird appearance. He became fiercer in his gesticu- lations as he continued his strdnge, wild soliloquy. " I must know to-night from her own lips or I shall go mad." " He's that already," whispered Ginsling. " Mad as a March hare." 28G FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, I " There will l)e no sortlid father and niotlier to in- tcrferi; with us here ! They want to sell you to that craven-hearted sot, Ginsling ; but he shall never have you, for before that shall happen I will stranj^le him, even if I have to hang for it" As he thus spoke he advanced closer to tlie window. But he suddenly clasped his hand over his heart and exclaimed : " Oh, Luella, I'm shot ! " and the same in- stant, the report of a pistol sounded sharp and clear on the still night air. The shot was fired by Ginsling, who, maddened by the epithets Barton had applied to him, had drawn a pistol, and, before John, jun., could interfere, had fired through the window straight at his advancing antagonist. "Oh! you have done for him, Ginsling," said his com- panion, *' and we will both be arrested for murder." " But you can swear," replied Ginsling, " that he threatened to murder me, and was advancing to break through the window." Just then the front door opened, and Luella Sealy ran around the house on the veranda to the spot where William Barton had fallen ; for, after receiving the shot, he sank gradually to the ground. When she reached the spot her frantic screams sounded through the house, and echoed and re-echoed over the quiet bay. ** Oh, William ! my darling," she exclaimed, " has he murdered you ?" As she thus spoke she sat down upon the floor of the veranda, and lifting his head into her lap kissed him, THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. ■ ing his views — remembering his former course — have remained neutral, or, in a modest manner, have en- deavored to convince men he was influenced simply by his convictions ; but he was so lost to good taste and what he owed to his holy office, as a professed priest of Him who said, " Woe unto the world because of offences ! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh," as to take the stump as a blat >.iit opponent of what the great mass of the good and pure of the county were advocating in order to arrest the ravages of the greatest curse that ever destroyed mankind. He soon became a recognized leader of the rum party, and there is no doubt he influenced some, as he was constantly quoting Scripture and twisting its meaning to suit his purpose, conveniently forgetting to mention those passages that would consign the major portion of those whose cause he was advocating to everlasting infamy and woe. As might be expected, the party he was assist- ing pointed to him as a model clergyman ; many of them who had not read a passage of Scripture for years, having shaken the dust oft' their Bibles, turned to the verses to which he referred, and when in the taverns, so intoxicated as to be scarcely able to stand, they, with maudlin utterances, and serio-comic grim- aces, would unctiously quote these hackneyed texts in the pauses which intervened between their drinks. The night the returns came in the liquor party, finding they had carried the county by a large ma- jority, had a grand torch-light procession, and the " Dodger," with Capt. Mc Wriggler, his western friend, 3 — have ave en- simply od taste rofessed because )me ; but I," as to ^hat the ity were cfreatest became jre is no '• quoting purpose, passages ;e whose .my and ,s assist- Imany of ture for turned in the ,0 stand, lie grim- led texts drinks, party, Irsfe ma- land the friend, THE TRICKS OF THK TRAFFIC. 299 Aid. Toper, the president of tlie a.ssociation, Rivers, Bottlesby and Capt. Flannigan, were elevated into an open " bus," and drawn by their enthusiasctic ad- mirers through the principal streets of Bayton. ' They had hoisted a broom in the front of their vehicle as an emblem of their victory. " What does that mane, Mike ?" queried one of the army of ragged, blear-eyed tatterdemalions of his mate. " Why, don't you know, Patsy," replied his friend, " that it manes our party have made a clane swape of the cowld-wather men ?" As the procession swept on the band played " See the conquering hero comes," and Augustus Adolphus Dodger, who was vain enough to suppose it was all meant for him, stood smirking, smiling, and raising his hat to the mob of the " great unwashed " with as much pride as if he had been a mighty hero receiving the homage of his countrymen after returning from a splendid victory. If a stranger had formed his opinion of the citizens of Bayton from those who made up that procession it certainly would not have been a favorable one ; for respectable men in the ranks were the exception, not the rule. It appeared, for the time being, the denizens of the lowest dens of the town and the surroundinfr country were holding a drunken Saturnalia ; for, as numerous kegs of beer were rolled out into the street and tapped, while liquor of a much stronger character was furnished without stint, it was not long before it was almost literally a huge reeling mass of drunken- ness. Ever and anon some hero, smitten by the deadly 300 FROM WEALTH TO POVKllTY. shaft of king alcohol, would tumble from the ranks of the ragged regiment, his place being immediately sup- plied by another volunteer, who was also willing to vigorously tackle the enemy, though he should fall in the conHici. It only required a slight effort of memory to decide as to the vast superiority of the virtuous Christian band, who were victors in the former contest, to the reeling host of Bacchanalian revellers, who were now, with howling songs of exultation, celebrating their victory. And yet in some of the leading journals the next day there were editorials rejoicing over what they termed " the triumph of liberty," thojgh, if they were open to conviction, they had but to observe the character of the majority of those who were celebra- ting their conquest to conclude it was for the time being a supremacy of vice over virtue, of brute force over principle, and of selfishness over philanthrophy. How respectable papers of acknowledged ability could join in the brutal shout of the ruffianly host — thus lending their powerful influence to sweep away the barriers which the good and true had been endeavoring to erect, that the onward tides of vice, crime, and misery, might be kept back — we will allow them to answer ? We will observe, however, that in our opinion, it is not an indication of wisdom in a great public journal to array itself against the great forces of tem- perance and morality ; for we believe it will discover, possibly when it is too late, it has destroyed its influ- ence with those whose good opinion was best worth possessing. inks of ly sup- ling to fall in decide iristian to the •e now, T their lals the r what if they rve the celebra- le time ;e force hrophy. ,y could b — thus vay the avoring me, and hem to opinion, public of tera- iscover, s influ- t worth CHAPTER XXXV [I. DEATH OF LITTLE MAMIE— A PROMISE. S we have for a time lost sight of Richard Ashton t ; d his family we will now return to them. He had become almost an imbecile, being a complete mental wreck, his family^having to watch him as they would a child to keep him from obtaining liquor. He was now so weak in this respect that he would actu- ally steal away, if he could do so without being observed, not returning until he was brought back completely intoxicated. They had become quite poor ; for though Mr. Gur- ney was giving Eddy a good salary for one of his years and experience, yet, as Allie, who had become weak from worry and over-work, was forced for a time to desist from giving music lessons, his earnings barely sufficed to procure life's necessities. Little Mamie was now becoming quite frail. She had in the early part of the winter contracted a severe cold, which, having settled on her lungs, congestion had ensued. She, after a protracted illness, was now no'2 I'HOM \vi;Ai;ni to pov iiiriv ; ok, h if t'()iiVMl«'S('(>iit ; v«'t it WHS »'viv oarth, Itiit, like ii beautiful llowor, was wlowly iau here, nuiujma ; but you will con\e to be with me, Eddie and Allie will be comiui;- too, some day, when (lod calls them, and we will all be liome tom't'her." Her mother was deeply moved, but endeavored to conceal her iMuotion from her little dauirhter, " My darliuix must not talk of leaving \is ; we couhl not spare our little Mamie. No doubt, dear, but you will t^et better, now^ the spring is cominj^, and soon you will bo out with the tlow^ers." Mrs. Ash ton had to endure the aj^ony that an in- telligvMit, loving mother must always experience when an almost idolized child, that she could press to her heart forever, is fadincj from her. She could see her dear, loving, bright little daughter — who was very precocious, talking more like a girl of ten than one of only tive — slowly, almost imperceptibly, failing every day, and every day becoming more bright and beautiful ; but it was the beauty of the flower that loiiH" lor y fale, knowing storing him long before THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 311 he awakened out of his stupor and faintly asked • " Where am I ? What has happened ? " Mrs. Ashton replied, " You have been hurt, dear but he still, and don't agitate yourself now, for you will know all about it after awhile." He shut his eyes at her request and lay perfectly still. Eddie, in the meanwhile, had gone for the doctor, and in a few minutes returning with him the latter proceeded to examine Mr. Ashton. He found him very seriously, if not fatally injured. He had been first struck on the temple by a cane or club. This blow of itself was sufficient to do him very grave in- jury, but it had been followed by brutal kicks on the prostrate man's body. The doctor pronounced two of his ribs broken and his spine seriously injured. "Will he recover, doctor ?" asked Mrs* Ashton "I would like you to give me your Jionest opinion as to what you think the result will be." " We must leave results with God," Mrs. Ashton ;' He has been brutally beaten, and what I fear most IS the shock to his nervous system. His constitution was so seriously impaired previous to this attack that I have the gravest fears as to the issue." He never arose from his bed ; though he lingered for several days, and gave his wife and family the sweet consolation of knowing his whole trust was in Christ, through whose merits and intercession he ex- pected to have an abundant entrance into His king- dom. Before he died his ante-mortem statement was taken, when he said he just had a glimpse of the 312 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. ' »-. ff • person who struck him, and he believed his assailant was Joe Porter. He remained conscious to the last, and the parting with his wife and family was very atfecting. He asked Eddie to be faithful to his mother, which he promised to be. " Oh, Ruth," he said, " I have been a very unfaithful husband. Rum has been our curse, but I know you forgive me, darling." He then kissed them each ; asking them to meet him in heaven, and in a few moments after quietly departed. Thus died Richard Ashton, in the flower of his man- hood, a victim of the drink curse ; for rum had broken his constitution, robbed him of his intellectual vigor, reduced him and his family almost to beggary, and he was finally murdered by one of its vendors. He was endowed by his Maker with a bright intellect and a loving heart. In his early manhood he fell heir to an ample fortune, and was blessed with as good a wife as God ever gave to man ; but rum, " cursed rum," had blighted all his prospects, made life a failure, and was instrumental in bringing him to an untimely grave. They buried him by the side of little Mamie in the beautiful Bayton cemetery, " Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, to wait the resurrection of the just." Joe Porter was arrested and tried for the crime, but, as several of his creatures swore he was present in his bar until after ten o'clock that night he was acquitted; though the public believed he was the criminal, and he was despised and shunned by all but the lowest dregs of the populace. ■J assailant 3 parting ng. He A^hich he ave been )ur curse, en kissed a,ven, and his man- id broken ual vigor, •y, and he He was Bct and a heir to an »od a wife rum," had , and was ' grave, ie in the ashes to [rime, but, lent in his icquitted ; linal, and le lowest CHAPTER XXXIX. t MR. GURNEY SPEAKS HIS MIND— DEATHS OF DR. D ALT ON AND AUNT DEBIE. j'^HE antis were wild with joy because of their complete triumph ; and certainly, looking at the result from their standpoint, they had cause to rejoice, for their victory was far-reaching in its re- sults. It strengthened the opponents of temperance throughout our fair Dominion — yes, beyond its bounds — while it certainly had a depressing effect upon its staunch supporters, for they were well aware the failure would not be attributed to its true source — that is, the bitter opposition it had met with from its unprincipled opponents, the lethargy of many of its pretended friends, and from other causes which we have already mentioned in this book. But it would be published " from Dan to Beersheba " that it had received a fair trial, and, after being " weighed in the balance and found wanting," had been spurned from the county with contumely by the intelligent electors. " I told you it would never succeed," said Bottlesby to Mr. Gurney, just after the repealers had gained 21 n n :n4 FROM WEALTH TO POVEIITY ; OR. their victory. " The fact is, Mr. Gurney, while every one respects you personally, because they know you are an honorable and upright citizen, having the best interests of the public at heart, they think you are a little off on this matter of total prohibition. I tell you such a law will never be successful, because people will not stand to have their private rights in- vaded in such a manner. No man has a right to dic- tate to me what I shall eat or drink ; and it is because the intellgent electors have thus thought, this tyran- nical bill has failed." Mr. Gurney thoroughly despised the speaker, be- cause he knew he was a low, cunning knave, and a thorough-paced hypocrite. He was also aware of the part Bottlesby had taken in opposition to the bill ; that he was one of the chief cjncoctors of the hellish scheme which had for the time being proved so suc- cessful, and that in giving the reason he did for its defeat he was simply lying. Mr. Gurney thought, therefore, he would take advantage of this opportu- nity to " give him a bit of his mind," and lead him to understand he was not ignorant of the means em- ployed by the rum party to accomplish their purpose. "It would probably have been better, Sheriff," he said, " not to have entered into any discussion in re- gard to the matter ; but as you have thought fit to do so, and have advanced v/hat you say is your opinion as to the cause of the failure of this bill, you must not feel aggrieved if I plainly give you mine. And as I have listened with patience until you were through, kindly do not interrupt me. Now, I do not believe, as you THE TRICKS OF THE TUAFFIC. 315 lile every now you the best row are a n. I tell 1, because rights in- Tht to die- is because this tyran- )eaker, be- lave, and a vare ot* the ,0 the bill; the hellish )ved so suc- did for its .y thought, is opportu- lead him to means em- e\r purpose. Sheriff," he ssion in re- •ht fit to do opinion as ust not feel d as I have »ugh, kindly ieve, as you say you do" — and Mr. Gurney laid particular stress upon the you say — " that the Act was a faihire be- cause men would not have their private rights inter- fered with — though I know there are many who are 80 selfish as to be willing to allow thousands to perish rather than practice a little self-denial ; but that is not the reason of its failure. It failed, sir, because there was a vile conspiracy against it ; and what made the conspiracy successful was, that among the leading conspirators were officers of the law — the very men without whose active co-operation it was impossible for it to be successful. Allow me to illus- trate what I mean by an anecdote : A few years ago there was a gang of desperadoes, who operated in one of the south-western states. They robbed every one with perfect impunity for several years, all at- tempts to capture them proving abortive, for they seemed, in some mysterious manner, to get notice of any move made in that direction. But, strange to relate, the people in that section did not cry for the repeal of the law against stealing ; on the contrary, they determined to vigorously use the means placed at their disposal until those who had violated its pre- cepts had received the punishment they merited. At last one of the desperadoes, having been taken ill and expecting to die, revealed the secret of their suc- cessful evadence* of the law. It was because there were some in league with the outlaws who were officers of the state, who, being in a position to know, would warn them when any attempt was to be made to capture them* Now, sir, this is a case in point ; n. 'I r r, ■. I fif 316 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, for I have no doubt there has been a huge conspiracy to defeat the Dunkin Act in this county, and among the conspirators there have been many whom, for- sooth, we must look upon as the guardians of the law." " Why, sir," broke in Bottlesby, " there have been among those who opposed the Act ministers of the gospel, and numerous others, whose characters are above reproaclv. " I admit tliere have been, and these, no doubt, con- scientiously oppose all coercive measures, but in my opinion, such are comparatively few in number. The opponents of the Act are principally those interested in the liquor business, whose craft is in danger; the great bodj' of their poor, miserable victims, comprising among their number the vilest elements of society ; designing politicians, who pander to the liquor vote ; and the great mass of the indifferent, who will throw their influence upon which ever side they are led to believe their interest lies. The liquor party have appealed to their selfishness ; and because this class is not as rule intelligent, by employing such orators as Dodger, anr'. by a lavish expenditure of money, they have succeeded for the present in getting their sup- port — but, I warn you, it is only for the present. The masses are becoming more enlightened. With enlightenment there will be broader views of duty — of what they hold to fellowmen and what to God. They will then be able to place the proper value upon the shallow sophistries of the paid demagogues, whose mission is to mislead them. w^ ■• THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. .317 nspiracy d among om, for- is of the ave been rs of the icters are oubt, con- )ut in my iber. The interested anger; the comprising af society ; iquor vote ; will throw- are led to 3arty have this class is orators as noney, they their sup- he present, ned. With of duty- hat to God. value upon )gues, whose " I ask you to mention to me one appeal that was made to anything high or holy by Dodger or either of his confreres the other day. You cannot do so, be- cause they only appealed to the passions, prejudices, and selfishness of those whom they were addressing. You have gained the victory now, and we view it with sorrow, though not with despair ; for we will, by the help of God, pass the Scott Act in this county, which is, I understand, a more mature piece of legis- lation than the Dunkin Act. Its framers, having been active participants in several temperance campaigns where the latter has been on trial, have embodied in the new bill what they have learned by experience and observation ; even not failing to learn something from the rabid and unfair criticisms of their opponents. We, who have wrought and toiled to drive the liquor curse out of the country, lose nothing in a pecuniary sense by yov.r victory — we had a higher purpose in view than our own gain. It is the poor, miserable in- ebriates, and their wives and children, who will suffer ; and when the news of j'^our victory was flashed over our Dominion, it caused sorrow^ to visit the hearts of thousands of the purest and best, while a fiendish howl of exultation went up from every low groggery and brothel that the tidings reached." Bottlesby stood like one stunned, as t^^vr words of indignation and scorn flowed from the lips of Mr. Gurney. He made no attempt to reply, but grew angry as he realized that the laUer was well aware of the active part he had taken in the plots of the rum ■( .1 318 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, If- m t party ; finally, cursing him as an old fanatic, he walked rapidly away. About the time the conversation which we have related occurred. Dr. Dalton had an interview with Marv Fulton, who had once been his betrothed bride. She had been visiting some of her friends in Bayton, and Dalton called to see her, but so absolutely w^as he the slave of his appetite as to be under the influence of liquor when he did so. He begged her to reconsider what he considered her cruel decision, and to receive him on the same terms as of old ; but she kindly though firmly refused to accede to his request. With tears in her eyes she told him she loved him yet, and should never love another ; " but," she added, " I can- not place the slightest reliance upon your word, you have broken it so often ; nor will I ever marry one who is so addicted to drink, as it would, in the end, involve us both in bitterest misery." He left her that night in a state of desperation, and she was the last person who saw him alive. For a short time his absence was not commented upon, as he frequently absented himself for lengthy periods from his boarding-place ; but as weeks passed away and there were no tidings of him, the anxiety of his friends became intense, and advertisments were inserted in the leading papers asking him to reply, if alive. Re- ceiving no response, a reward was offered for any in- formation regarding him ; but this also proved futile, and a year passed before they had any idea of his fate. One day a boy who was gathering wood on the beach, which separated the bay from the lake, when going THE TRICK.S OF THE TRAFFIC. :3if) e walked we have ew with led bride. L Bayton, ly was he influence reconsider io receive he kindly ;st. With n yet, and d, " I can- word, you [iiarry one the end, •ation, and For a ipon, as he riods from away and his friends nserted in ilive. Re- or any in- ived futile, of his fate, the beach, hen going ^e into a thick grove of cedar bushes which grew luxuri- antly there, was stricken with horror to see a ghastly human skull grinning at him. He immediately ran to Bayton to tell what he had found, and he looked almost half -dead with fright at his discovery. Those who went back with him searched and found in the skull the mark of a pistol ball, and buried in the sand, 'neath the skeleton fingers, was found a Smith & vVesson revolver. In the side pocket of his coat his wallet was discovered, with its contents un- touched, and among numerous other articles was a letter addressed to Charles Dalton. Thus perished, at the early age of twenty-six, one who possessed a bright intellect and noble nature, but who had, after being the source of inexpressible sor- row to his friends, been brought to an untimely and dishonored grave through the drink curse. Mary Fulton now dresses in deep mourning, and still remains faithful to her vow never to marry. She says her heart lies buried in the grave with Charles Dalton, and her pale, sad face seals the testimony of her lips. When Aunt Debie was informed of the doctor's death she said — "Did I not tell thee, Phoebe, two years ago, when I dreamt of them plucking the ears of corn, that Dr. Dalton would die before long ? Thee sees it has come troo, and I've never known it to fail. I wonder if James Gurney would laugh now ?" As the old lady spoke it would be difficult to con- jecture which was the predominant sentiinent of her mind — sorrow, because of the untimely death of Dr. m' 320 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY. ir: h II Iff; ]j Dalton ; or a certain feeling of triumph, because her predictions had proven correct. Aunt Debie always claimed credit for her prophetic powers if any person happened to die of whom she had dreamt; and if they did not, she asked her auditors just to wait and time would vindicate her. Of course the old lady was correct in that, for, if they waited for a sufficient length of time all would die." " Thee told it as straight as could be," said Phoebe. " I was sari in it would come troo, for I never knew thee to fail Tut what a blessing it was that his mother died be*^ re this terrible deed was committed." Genuine tears shone in the eyes of Phoebe as she thus spoke. "Yes," said Aunt Debie, "God is sometimes like Jacob when he blessed Joseph's children with crossed hands. We say, at some visitation of His providence, that seems hard to us, ' Not so, father ;' but He knows where He is placing His hands. It was in mercy that He took Rebecca that she might not have to bear still greater sorrows. She is better where she is, and I shall soon be with her ; then these eyes shall no longer be sightless, but shall be brighter than in youth. O ! I long to be where I shall see the King in His beauty, and the glory and loveliness of the Father's home ; where, these deaf ears being unsealed, I shall hear the rapturous music of those who surround the throne and swell the rapturous songs of the redeemed." Aunt Debie's wish has since been granted, and she has gone to meet the friends of her youth in the land where they will part no more. cause her prophetic m she had r auditors Of course ey waited lid Phoebe, jver knew s that his oramitted." as she thus etimes like ith crossed providence, He knows mercy that ,0 bear still e is, and I I no longer ith. O! is beauty, iier's home ; lall hear the the throne ed." id, and she lin the land CHAPTER XL. CONCLUSION. IX years have passed since the events narrated in the last chapter transpired. Judge McGullet, Sheriff Bottlesby,and Old Joe Porter, have in the interval been summoned to attend the last assize. The latter died of delirium tremens, and it was whispered around that his family were afraid to bring a physician, because he raved so of the treacherous slaying of Richard Ash ton. The judge was said to have died of brain fever, and the sheriif of inflammation ; yet it is an open secret that drink was the real agent in their destruction. Rivers, Ben Tims, and the others whom we have mentioned, are still plying their nefarious trade, which will in all probability ultimately involve themselves and their unfortunate customers in a common ruin. The temperance men are not disheartened, but in- tend ere long to try and pass the Scott Act, which has more grip to it than the Dunkin Act, in King's County ; for in every county the friends of temperance V' "'■Pl II ill. lU I 322 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, can apply to Government for the appointment of a stipendiary magistrate, from whose decisions there can be no appeal So the antis, as they have found to their cost in several counties where it has been tried, cannot trifle with it as they did with the latter. The liquor party know this to be the case, and so they have lately held a monster meeting, which was pre- sided over by the chief distiller in the Dominion — a man who has become a millionaire by the manufacture of that which, no doubt, has destroyed thousands of men, caused untold misery in thousands of homes, and sent, God »nly knows the number, to a drunkard's hell. Whhh he has manufactured has, no doubt, pre- pared many men to murder their wives ; mothers to neglect, jtai ve, and even destroy their children; and, 1 have no hesitancy in saying, I believe has caused more wide-spread devastation and ruin in this Dominion since its establishment than what has been caused in the same period by those two destructive agencies — flood and fire combined. The meeting was convened for the purpose of taking steps to fight the Scott Act in every county where it was submitted, and*it was there resolved to employ the " Dodger " to again take the stump as the champion of their life- destroying trafl[ic. " I can assure you, gentlemen," said one present, who had lately come from a county where the Scott Act was in force, and who had been fined until he was forced to give up the business, " you are not fighting the Dunkin Act this time, for it was a thing without THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 823 ment of a s there can B found to been tried, atter. The md so they h was pre- lominion — a nanufacture tiousands of : homes, and a drunkard's ) doubt, pre- ■es; mothers pir children ; believe has ruin in this hat has been destructive meeting was to fight the IS submitted, "Dodger" to of their life- present, who the Scott Act until he was not fighting thing without vertebrae or claws ; but the present Act has both ; yes, and teeth, too, as I have found to my cost. What we have to do is to resort to every means to defeat it ; for if it once becomes law in a county then we are done." Before the meeting closed forty thousand dollars were subscribed by those present to stubbornly contest every inch of ground, and if possible still to keep this fair province under the demon rule of "Old King Alcohol." The liquor party in King's County are not so con- fident as they endeavor to lead people to think they are, as may be gathered from the "following # conversa- tion between Rivers and Capt. McWriggler, M.P. He has gained the coveted position ; but it is the opinion of the most intelligent men in the riding that the whiskey-horse, which carried him to victory this time> will utterly fail him in the next campaign. " I hear," said Rivers, " that old Gurney and his set are determined to pass the Scott Act in this county, and Murden says it is a much more perfect bill than the Dunkin Act was." " Yes, I believe they are," said McWriggler, " and, as far as I can learn, it is about as perfect as any sumptuary law can be ; but Toper says they will have that fixed all right. George Maltby, M.P., member for Eastmorland, is going to introduce a clause next ses- sion, if possible, which will utterly destroy it. The clause stipulates that there must be a majority of all the legal voters ; and as there are hundreds who cannot be induced to go to the polls, you can easily see, if this !f jaiU!! ' ml f ='■ 'i'4 1 I: j 324 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY; OR, amendment carries, it will make the Act as good as nil. Maltby could not have been elected had it not been for the help he received from the association, and he will do anything to retain their good will ; for it is only by their favor he can l^ope to win again." " But supposing he does not succeed," said Rivers, " what will you do then ? " " I don't think there is much danger of that in the present house. In fact we have calculated pretty closely, and have every reason to be satisfied with the conclusion at which we have arrived ; but if he fails we hold j^nother trump card. Allsot, in the senate, will introduce a rider to it, which will be so heavy as to break its back." Mc Wriggler laughed at his play upon words, mani- festing the fact that on'^ person, at least, could enjoy his attempt at wit. We will now bid a final farewell to these worthies. Their plots have so far been successful, but the end is not yet. The untimely death of the majority of those who were their associates in iniquity should, one would think, be to them as the handwriting upon the wall, to warn them what would be their fate if they still persisted in their course. But such men seem to forget that God's w^ord, which is certain of fulfilment, says : " The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. " The Lord shall laugh at him : for he seeth that his day is coming. . . . THE TRICKS OF THE TRAFFIC. 325 5 good as ad it not ssociation, [ will ; for again." id Rivers, ,hat in the bed pretty id with the , if he fails the senate, 30 heavy as rords, mani- jould enjoy se worthies. b the end is •ity of those should, one ig upon the ate if they en seem to fulfilment, |nd gnasheth seeth that "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spread- ing himself like a green-bay tree. "Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found." Mr. and Mrs. Gurney still reside in Bayton, and his business is the most prosperous in the town. They have not grown weary in well-doing, but are now actively engaged agitating the public mind for the submission of the Scott Act in King's County, and they ardently hope they will live to see the day when a prohibitory law shall be passed in our Dominion, and the liquor curse shall be banished forever. Mrs. Holman is still actively engaged in helping on, with pen and voice, the good cause of temperance, and has deservedly won for herself a continental fame. Eddy Ashton, who is a fine specimen of handsome* intellectual manhood, has, by his business tact and energy, so engratiated himself into the good will of his employer that he has now for over a year occupied the position in Mr. Gurney 's establishment which was formerly held by his father. He removed with his mother and sister to the house which was their home the first happy year they spent in Bayton, and it is as beautiful and cosy as ever. Allie developed into a beautiful and cultured wo- man, and shortly after they were again settled in their old home, desisted from giving music lessons ; there were, however, for some time those mysterious preparations which are the certain precursors of a wedding. And a wedding, my dear young friends, in 326 FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY ; OR, » r i« :i i due time there was. Allie was the happy bride, the bridegroom being Frank Congdon, the young man who so chivalrously came to her rescue when she was so grossly insulted by the brutal Joe Porter. Cong- don's father, who was a retired merchant, had had ex- tensive business transactions with some of the Bayton establishments. It was to settle some old standing accounts that Frank first went there, and, while tak- ing a stroll for the purpose of viewing the town and its surroundings, he went into Joe Porter's to make certain enquiries, and met with the adventure which we have already narrated to the reader. He had at that time formed such a liking for Bay- ton that he resolved, with his father's consent, to pur- chase a partnership in one of the leading dry goods firms in the town, of which he is at the present sole proprietor, and doing a flourishing business. He had not been long there when he sought out Allie, who had made such an impression upon him that it was a case of love at first sight. Closer ac- quaintance served to deepen that impression ; for he, who was himself a noble, intelligent young fellow, when he became more intimate loved her, not only from a mere passing impulse or fancy, but from a deep and ever deepening respect for her intelligent) womanly, self-sacrificing nature. In fact, they became affianced lovers, and the wedding day came as such days do. Mrs. Gurney insisted upon furnishing the trouseau, and there was a small but select company at the wedding. mde, the ing man i she was r. Cong- d had ex- le Bayton standing vhile tak- town and i to make ure which rfor Bay- nt, to pur- dry goods resent sole iought out upon him Closer ac- for he, ng fellow, not only ut from a intelligent> ley became le as such lishing the company ►n THE TRICKS OF THE TRAITIC. 327 As Allie stood by her husband a fair young bride, her mother, in memory, went back to a wedding that took place over twenty-five years before in the dear home land, and she prayed that the daughter might not have to "pass under the rod" as she had done. Eddie is still unmarried, and lives "with his mother* And Ruth is now happy, though that happiness is mellowed by the sorrows through which she has passed, and the memories of the loved ones she has lost ; but the hope of meeting them again is the rain- bow that spans the sky of her existence, shining out radiantly in her hours of mist and gloom, enabling her to say, even when most cast down : " The Lord gave, and' the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." Friends, we will now say farewell. The sad tale which you have read but faintly conveys an idea of the misery, degradation, and sin which is caused in thousands of homes by this blighting, withering traffic. Oh, rum! cursed rum! I hate it with intensest hatred: for it dims the brightest intellects; it sullies and makes impure the most spotless and the best ; it spares neither frail and unprotected womanhood, in- nocent childhood, nor hoary age ; it enters like a ser- pent the Eden called home and seduces its inmates to their fall, thus turning this paradise of love into ^ hell of fiercest passions and intensest hate ; it entaiia upon the drunkard's children in their very existence a patri- mony of depraved appetites and unholy passions ; and 32« FROM WKALTH TO POVERTY. it supplies the prisons and lunatic asylums with a large percentage of their inmates, the gallows with its victims, and hell with lost souls. If what he has written will be effective in winning any from the ranks of the indifferent, or from the ranks of those who op- pose prohibitory laws, to become active, energetic workers in the cause of temperance, and what he convinced is the cause of God, it will amply repay The Author. < s 1 lums with a ^allows with what he has om the ranks lose who op- /e, energetic i what he )ly repay E Author. TE]sj::PEi^.A.isroE booic:s Ammunition for the "Scott Act" Campaign. THE OLD VICE AND THE NEW CHIVALRY. BY I. TExMPLETON- ARMSTRONG. 12mo. Cloth. 178 Pages. Illustrated. Price 75 Cents. " This is ono of the best temperance books it has been our privilege to read. The evils of intemperance are portrayed in vivid colors, and interest awakened and maintained by a copious supply of facts from antiquity and more recent times," — Canailian Baptist. " It is written in a very lively and attractive style. Its author understands the art of putting things." — Canada Prvabyterian. HISTORY OF THE Great Temperance Reforms OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, Exhibiting the Evils of Intemperance — The Methods of Recovery — The Woman's Crusade, and the Triumph of Reform. With numerous illustrations in steel and wood engraving. BY THE REV. JAMES SHAW. Cloth. 527 pages. Price $2. 78 & 80 King Street East, Toronto. C. W. COATES, Montreal. S. F. HUESTIS, Halifax. HMi -.1' \ii A BOOK FOR THE TIMES. THE Liquor Problem in all Ages. BY REV. DANIEL DORCHESTER, D.D. A BOOK OF 6f)6 PAGES OCTAVO, BEAUTIFULLY BOUND, AND PRINTED WITH HANDSOME TYPE. The Freshest, Most Comprehensive, and Most Successful Temperancb Book in the Market. AGENTS WANTED EVERYWHERE. Ministers, Teachers, Students, Temperance Workers, Farmers, Ladles, and other Intelligent Persons, are wanted to canvass for this work. It will be sold oxly bv .sub- .'^cRii'Tiox, and cannot be obtained in any bookstore. Temperance Workers will find this Booh a Great Help in their Can.paigns. The book is selling verj' rapidly. Agents report sales of from u to 20 a day. Now is the t-nie to canvass. I 1 RELIABLE AGENTS WANTED IN EVERY TOWNSHIP IN CANADA. For information as to price, etc. , etc. , Avrite to WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher, 78 & 80 KixG Street East, Toronto. [MES. 1 Ages. :. D.D. D, AND PRINTED [ost Successful [fit. \^HERE. 5, Farmers, Ladles, SOLI) ONLY Bi' SUB- bookstore. f{ a Great Help : sales of fi'oni 5 to .vass. SHIP IN CANADA. ubiisher, c East, Toronto. TEMPERANCE BOOKS. Ten Xigrlits in a Itor-Rooin, Tln../v'r*'""*'"^- ^^^•«-^^^- Boards. 15 cents. Tlnee Nights nith the Washi„,.to„ia„s. iiy r. S. Arthur. Boards, 15 cents. Three Years in a Maii-Trap. A Bar-keeper's Experience. By T. S. Arthur. 15 cents rhrillingr Tales of the Fallen. By T. S. Arthur. 15 cents. A Man-Trap, and The Fatal Inheritance. iwo Temperance Tales. By Mrs H St.u pages, 25 cents. ^ ^' ^- '^kelton. Paper, 152 The Temperance Lesson Book. Bod^DllS ftTerdC f^t^ r '\' ^«^-- - the Benjamin VV^ood S/ch"l"nV m! a'^^ rVl'if "^& p «^ 12mo, 2mper, 25 cents. ^•^•' ^^^•^•. l^L.I>., F.R.S. Text-Book of Temperance. ByDr.F.R.Lees,F.S,A. .2mo. pape., 312 pages, .0 ce„ts. t^anada Temperance Manual ^P/SI1S'^*^' "^"^^^^^^- ^^ ^-^- Geo. E. Foster, Band of Hope Manual : Directions liow to form Iiin,l« «f tr ^ Bands of Hope, and Band o ' Hope^lSarTo "^.f"'^ ''^^• Dialogues, Recitations, Hymns etc «x ' ^f^'^ther with Price eacli, 5 cents. "^""^«' ^tc. By Kev. Jas. B. Dunji, Talks on Temperance. By Canon Farrar. 25 cents. The Cauiida Temperance Act of 1878 (The Scott Act.) 10 cents. 78 & 80 Kix„ .Stukkt East, Toronto C. W. COATES, M0NTRK.L. s. p. hueSTIS. H.l..x. -J.i.'S.-^Ji^-IVItV.'M THE TEMPERANCE BATTLE-FIELD, AND HOW TO GAIN THE DAY. A book for the young of all agea. Full of humorous and pathetic stories. BY REV. JAMES C. SEYMOUR. Illustrated. Cloth. 188 pages. Price 65 cents. '* It is specially adapted to imbue the minds of young people with right views on this subject," — Guardian. THE \ -TRAPS OF THE CITY. A Young Man's Warning to Young Men. BY REV. THOS. E. GREEN. Illustrated. 12mo. Paper. Price 35 cents. TEMPERANCE TRACTS. BY REV. W. H. WITHROVV, D.D. The Liquor Traffic Paper, each 5 cents. The Physiological Effects of Alcohol 10 The Bible and the Temperance Question 10 Prohibition the Duty of the Hour 5 Is Alcohol Food ? 5 Intemperance: Its Evils and their Remedies 15 Send for our List of Temperance Tracts and Pamphlets, 78 & 80 King Street East, Toronto. C. W. COATES, Montreal. S. F. HUESTIS, Halifax. I'll' OKIS- [-FIELD, morons and cents, ung people with ; CITY. ig Men. 3ents. ACTS. D. r, each 5 cents. 10 10 5 5 15 Pamphlets, rGr& JTO. TIS, Halifax.