"Yes," answered the mother.
"What did he say?" eagerly inquired the father.
The mother informed him.
The father, looking toward the bed, remarked half to himself:
"I hope he will be sober enough to talk to me before I leave the house."
"Why, John," hastily began the mother, "you speak as if he were an old toper."
"Well, Mary. I did not mean it that way. But I have been worried ever since that minstrel crowd has been gathering at the tan-yard. Of course, I never knew Alfred to drink whiskey but they all drink more or less and Alfred is not the boy to pa.s.s anything by there"s any fun in."
"But they had no business to give a boy whiskey," argued the wife, "and I would see about it and I would make an example of them if I were you."
"I will do all of that and more," warmly answered the father. After a pause, he resumed: "They tell me they were all in Wyatt"s cellar and Cal Wyatt drew a tin cup of high proof whiskey. Alfred put the cup--"
Alfred was following the father"s words. At the mention of the word "cup," his stomach rebelled again. His father was holding a vessel, his mother supporting the boy"s head.
Turning his head, the father e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed: "Phew! If that isn"t rot-gut I never smelt it."
Alfred pretended to go to sleep and the father and mother talked long and earnestly. Their solicitude for the erring boy, touched Alfred to the heart. He had not realized until this moment the meanness of his actions. When Alfred fully realized the misery and suffering he had caused his parents, he was impelled to crawl to them and kiss the hem of their garments, promising never to cause them pain from the same cause again.
Let it be recorded he did not realize immediately when he drank from the cup, that it was whiskey. After the first swallow or two he became oblivious to his danger. He felt that he was forever disgraced. He thought of getting out of bed and fleeing, he cared not whither, only to get far away from the scene of his disgrace.
We do not know that the boy resolved that he would never touch, taste or handle whiskey again. We do not know what resolutions he made to himself, but we do know that whisky never pa.s.sed his lips again until he was more than a man grown and then rarely and in very small quant.i.ties.
Alfred slept. When he awoke it was daylight. The sun was shining brightly. His first thought was that he would be late for work. Then he heard the voice of a neighbor woman, one whom the mother disliked, one who was noted for her tatling propensities. As an excuse to call she had brought fruit for Alfred. The boy overheard her inquiries as to his condition. She whispered long and earnestly with Lin. The latter, looking down at the pale face of Alfred began questioning him:
"Well, I see ye"re alive yit, I gess ye"ll k.u.m out of hit. I s"pose the hull durn town"ll be laffin" at me. I never dreamed ye wus jus corned.
Ef I"d knowed, I"d brot ye out uf it quicker; I"d jus made a hull tin cup uf hot mustard--"
Alfred heard no further than "tin cup." Flopping over on his stomach, endeavoring to hold down the last remnants of his innards, he begged to be left alone. But Lin kept on:
"An" yere I sends fur the doctor es innercent es a baby an" up an" tole him Sammy Steele"s mewel hed histed ye. An" when he was feelin" roun" ye I thot he was feelin" fur busted bones, an" durned ef I ever knowed even when ye begun throwin" up on the carpit thet ye wus jus drunk."
Lin continued: "Ef I hadn"t sent fur the doctor it wouldn"t be so blamed green lookin" in me. I"ll never hear the las" uf hit. I"ll bet Sammy Steele"s mewel"s ears will burn, the hull town"ll be talkin" "bout thet mewel. They"ll say he"s a powerful kicker," and Lin laughed despite herself.
"Why, fur weeks after Joe Sandford got into thet fix with his wall-paper show clothes folks would laff when I went into meetin". I could tell what they wus thinkin" uf the minnit they"d smile. Un the wust part uf hit is I went over to Mrs. Todd"s an" we cried fur two hours. Mrs.
Todd"s brother got kicked in the spinel string (cord) with a mewel an"
he died the same nite. He never moved after he wus kicked. He wus ossified from head to fut."
Alfred laughed. Lin corrected herself by saying: "Thet"s what Mrs. Todd sed ailed him, but I knowed she meant "palsified"."
Alfred again laughed. Lin knew she had made a mistake; she was sensitive and it nettled her to notice the smile on Alfred"s face. In tones quite testy she advised him to "hold his laff "til he could feel hit. Ye needn"t git so peart, ye hain"t out of danger yit, ye"re liable to have anuther collapse or sumthin" else. Ye"ll never look as white aroun" the gills when ye"re laid out in them linen sheets ye stole fur yer show."
Lin "wondered what gran"m.u.t.h.e.r would say when she heard of his "sickness"." At the word "sickness" Lin winked with both eyes.
"I"ll bet a fip Uncle Ned will say: "Well, he"s another notch nearer h.e.l.l.""
Alfred did not consider the reference to Uncle Ned, but grandmother came up in his mind and he determined to go to the old lady and tell her the whole truth. And this he did and, instead of condemnation, he received advice that strengthened him in avoiding many of the same sort of pitfalls thereafter.
The tin cup incident ended Alfred"s connection with the tan-yard but Alfred never regretted his experience. The work was most health-giving and muscle developing. The examples of industry and integrity learned from Sammy Steele have been a guiding post in the life of the boy.
Alfred had not been in his employ long until he was permitted to conduct small trades with the customers who visited the tannery.
One day a highly respected farmer brought in a hide. Alfred weighed the hide and figured up the amount due the farmer when Mr. Steele entered the room, pa.s.sing the compliments of the day with the farmer. The hide was spread out on the table. The tanner folded it over as if to ascertain if it had been damaged in the skinning process. At the first touch of the hide he looked into the farmer"s face, and in a careless tone, asked:
"Been killing a beef?"
"Yes," drawled the farmer.
"Eh, huh, eh, huh," nodded the tanner, "what did you do with the carca.s.s?"
"Oh, we found a market at home for it. We got a big family," replied the farmer.
"Eh, huh" a.s.sented the tanner. Reaching over, he took up the slate, rubbed out Alfred"s figures, figured the hide at about two-thirds the amount Alfred was about to pay the farmer.
To Alfred"s surprise the farmer accepted the cut in price and hastily took his leave. The tanner looked after him in a contemptuous manner, turned to Alfred and inquired if he knew the farmer.
Alfred answered: "Yes, he"s a neighbor of my uncle. He belongs to the Baptus Church and I heard the preacher say if G.o.d ever made an upright man, he was one."
"Yes, yes," answered the tanner, "G.o.d made all men upright but a murn hide will warp most of them."
A murn hide is one taken from an animal that dies of a disease. The sensitive touch of the old tanner detected the diseased hide immediately.
Alfred has applied this incident to many deals in his life and a murn hide became one of his pet references to a crooked transaction. The tie of friendship between Alfred and Sammy Steele lasted while the tanner lived.
Sammy Steele had not acquired a fortune in all the years of his hard labor. A skilled workman, he respected labor. No employe of his was ever tricked out of his wages. He was as fair to the poor as to the rich and both trusted him. In an uncouth world he was a gentleman; he bowed as courteously to a wash-woman as to an heiress.
An honest man, he was Alfred"s boyhood friend, his friend in manhood.
Alfred loved him while he lived and respected his memory after he was gone.
If there were more like Sammy Steele in this world there would be better boys and better men.
CHAPTER TEN
If every man"s eternal care Were written on his brow, How many would our pity share Who raise our envy now?
Lest those who read these pages through feelings of sympathy for the author, or influenced by curiosity, may gain the impression that the people of Brownsville were not as staid as the exacting proprieties of society demanded, it must be pointed out that there was not a bar-room in the town. The two bakeries, William Chatland and Josie Lawton, sold ale by the gla.s.s. Every tavern sold whisky by the drink from a demi-john, jug or bottle that was kept locked up. The landlord carried the key and served his customers from a gla.s.s or tin-cup. He poured out the drink, limiting the amount to the condition of the one served.
Alfred would never admit Pittsburg in advance of Brownsville except in one thing--the mirrored palaces where only cut gla.s.s was used in serving the thirsty.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Bill Brown]