LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2664, 20 October 1882, Page 4

LITERATURE.

DIOK: A RAILWAY CONDUCTOR’S STORY.

{ Goncludedx )

* Well, we got up and got some breakfast, and than we went into the little parlor we had, and I took Disk on my lap, and pulled her head down on my shoulder, and put both my arms around her, and then I •oaldu’t stand it any longer; and I just broke right ont— ‘ Ob, Dick 1’ but that was M far as 1 got, for then we both broke down «nd cried. Lord, stranger!—to think o’ Dick doin’ that, and my makin’ her do it. After a while I said, ‘Dick, by the everlivin’ God, this shall never happen again,’ but the pat her hand over my month, and nays sho, ‘ Hash, George. Don’t say such sun awful thing.’ You see Diok’s religious, Mid oho couldn’t bear to hear mo say such a fearful oath. ‘ Don’t nay so, ’ she says, * for If yon can’t keep suoh a vow don’t make it •nd break it, for that will only make a bad Matter worse.’ And then, says she, ‘George, you know it will jn«t about kill me to have you drink so, bnt I don’t oare for that; it’ll kill you too. ;?o, if you can quit, do, and I’ll Co everything in"the world for yon.’ And then she hid her face again and cried. Oh. It seemed as I should go wild. 1 sat there and held her as aho sobbed, and cursed myself to myself for a heartless devil. 1 couldn’t find onrcea bad enough lor me ; but lha more I cursed myself the worse I seemed. And pretty soon Dick looked up, and she says, ‘George, am I to blame for this? Have I been a kind of poor, weak wife to you. Instead of the good, noble woman yon deserve, and to you’ve been disappointed and fane to drinking on account of It ? Oh, if have ’ 1 didn’t hardly mean to tell you that lest, stranger; but yon see I’m at U, and I might as well tell it all. Did yon over hoar anything like it in all your life ? to have her blame hot self for my diinkin’, when I’d been at It for more’n ten years, and wa’n’t fit to be thought of in the same year with her. But that’s just like Dick, 1 oau't tell you anything about it, stranger. Bnt, anyhow, I just promised Dick by all that was holy that this should be the last time, and I’d quit for ever. And I meant to keep my promise when I made it. I did, so kelp me G d. * Well, we Bat there, and by-and by Dick felt better, and she raid just the best things to me—didn’t say on© word against me, yon know, and klrd o’ kept talkin’ quiet like about other things, till we both got to feeliu* happy again, almost as though nothin’ had gone wrong. And then, just afore I had to go, Dick says, ‘ George, I ■want to oay a little prayer.’ And so we kneeled down together, and she pat both her hand in mine and hid her face on my neck, and she prayed. Sho says, *Oh Father in Jhaaren, help George to ba wbat li-< really is, the boat man in the world; and help me to bo to him the beat wife that ever lived. Amen.’ Stronger, there aint many words in that prayer > but if the best preacher that ever wont to glory had ’a’ prayed a month, ho couldn’t ’a’ said anything betior’n that. And then we stood up, and Dick kissed me, and I went out and eiartsd down to head quortere. Kow, it may seam ttrango to you, and almost out o’ reason, stranger; bnt as sure as yon live, after all that, prayin’ and all, I stopped and got a drink afore I pot down town ! It’s a fact 1 No": fifteen minutes after Dick had id that little prayer, and I’d swore I’d neve? touch another drop, I’d swallowed a gla:s o’ whisky straight That seems aw ful, don't it? Well, it was ; hut it didn’t seem bo to rno then. I didn’t mean to bs snch a U>r and sneak as I really was. You seo, I ruado myself think it was the beat thing to do. You boo, I was all unstrung in my •serves from my spree the day afore, Dick getttn’ hold o’ me the way she d : d unstrung mo all the worse; and I thought I'd take jast one glass for medicine—just to brace ar, you know, and steady my nerv-a. That's the way I reasoned to myself. Bat It was all a fraud—just a hellish fraud, and •Otbi-'g olio. What I rea'ly wanted was Straight whisky, and that’s the way with oil these fellers that quit only just for medicine, and take bitters, and blackberry cordial and »ll that kind o’ truck. Oh, I know how they do, for I’vo been there, and lied it out With the boat of ’em.'

The train stopped at a station, and my companion stepped out upon the platform to banter the boys who ware braking ft down freight. Returning, ho went on—‘l tell yon, s'ranger, man’s a carious animal. He'll not only lie to others about whiskey, but he’ll lie to h.maolf. He’il lie just as fast as he can talk about anything connected with hia drinkin’. That’s a pretty rough thing to say, but It’s so, and there's millions o’ men’d tell you so if they’d be honest, but they won't be, thxt's what's tho matter with ’em. Now you see how it was with mo. I promised, jus; as sacredly as I could, never to drink again, aud I meant to do so as I said, and yet I’ve told you just what I did. You see, I got off alone and got beat by a good excuse. Well., I took one drink, and it steadied me <’or/n. and made me feel so good that pretty soon 1 took another. You see, X thought then I’d kinder taper off, and it would be easier. That’s another good excuse, you boo. And that night I went home and spoke up os cheerful to Dick as though it was all right and I’d kept my word, and she let on as though she thougnt I had. And that’s where wo both missed it. You see Diok knew I’d been drinkln’, but she loved me so she couldn’t bear to let me know she did, and I thought I drunk once and she didn't find me out, and so 1 could again But the thing run along, and every day I’d drink more or less, and just aonssin’ myself for it every time, too; but still keepiu’ at it, till one day about a month after my first spree I got to goin’ again, and it waa the same old story right over, only worse. Stranger, there aint anybody but what’s been through somethin’ o’ the kind that knows anythin’ about It Well, I was brought homo again drunker’n ever. But Dck was just the same. She never said, 1 1 told you so,’ or anything like that, but got right to work to get me through, as she did afore, only gentler and better, If such a thing coaid be. It’s no use tollin' you a “out gettin’ over that time. It was just about as it was afore, only I was more discouraged and Dick was better and braver’n ever. I wanted to promise her again that this should bo the last time, but she said to, as she did afore. But I promised, anyhow, end Diok prayed God to help me to keep my promise, and 1 meant to then more’n ever before ; bat inside of a week I was at it again, on the sly. I didn’t even let the boys know o’ my drinkln’. And I tell you. stranger, when it comes to that, a fellow’s got about as low down as be can get. * 8o 1 kep' oa till about the Ist o' November, lyin’ to get my liquor, lyin'_ about drinkln’ it, and ail the while thinkin’ I’d stop. But one day I got on a slide again, and I don’t balieve I evor did get so full afore. I was fijhtin’ drunk, and that night tho boys cart lad me home on ft shatter. Oh, I w>ia used up bad. But Diok begun on me just as before, without a word. I don’t hardly know whether to tell you all o’ this or not, et’angcr. Yes, I will—you won’t know all o’ what a woman Diok is if I don’t. Well after the boys went away, and D.ck waa workln’ over me, I got wild. I raved, and tore ’round the house, broke the furniture, drove the nigger woman out of the house, and worso’n all, I—l struck Diok. Yes I did, stranger—struck her right over the head, with the round of a chair, and out a gash two Inches long, just over her left eye. She carries the mark o’ that blow to this day. The blow knocked her down for a minute, but she got up and never minded herself, but just ’tended to me, and the blood a-rUnnin’ ell down her face—Dick’s fase, you understand. Well, when I see the blood on her faoe It kind o’ scared me, and after a while Diok get mo quiet and off to sleep, and then she went ont and got the surgeon, and had her forehead sewed up, and then come back home and sat up with me all night. Oh, you don’t be4a to know yet what kind of a woman Diok is. That’s what she did, stranger. There aint one woman In a million that would ’a’ done it, but she did, and would ’a’ done it again, if she’d had to, God bless her.

* When I woke np in the morning Dick was movin’ 'round the roam tryln’ to get a little breakfast, You see the nigger didn't come back after I drove her out, and I don’t blame her. I rolled over and got out o’ bed, pulled on my clothes, and chucked my feet Into an old pair o’ slippers, and shuffled toward the door, Diok says, * Where are you goln’, George!’ * I’m goin' out to get a drink,’ says I, as harsh as I could speak. (I never spoke to hrr like that when I was sober, afore or slnca ) ‘ I’m gone to the devil anyhow, and I might as well moke a olesn job of it while I’m at it. I’ve been drlnkin’ right along ever since I promised you to quit, and 1 osn’t stop, so I might cs well go fast while I’m goln’ ’ and I started out. Then Blok says, ‘George, yon needn’t to go, I’ve got some whiskey here.’ And she went to the closet and took out a quart flask, full, and give it to me. She did, for a fact, stranger. She’d gone out In the night and got that bottle Ailed for mo to drink, Well, I drank abont half the bottle without ever takln’ It from my lips, and between then and eight o’clock I drank the balance. That steadied me a little, and I ate a little breakfast, and then I went and sat down on the bed by Dick. I didn’t say a word. What could I say ? I jest sat down and took hold of her hand. Oh, my God, stranger! It makes me almost faint now to think o’ that mornln’. Diok waa pa'e, her head waa bandaged up, and she’d been alttin’ np with me all night. Bat she let me take her baud, and hold It, too ; and she never said one word against me for drlnkin’, or breakin’ np the furniture, or strikin’ her, or anything And wo set there, that way, for about five minutes, not sayin’ a word, but just lookin’ down on the floor and thlnkin’. And then Blok says, quiet like, ‘ George, yon can’t last long at this rate. I’ve knowed all the time since you ooma home that first night that. In spite of all your promises, yon was drlnkin’ all the time, and I did wrong not to let you know I knowed It; but I didn’t think it would ever bo so bad as this. But, George, oven if you have got so in .the habit of drlnkin' that you can’t stop, can’t you do this—get your liquor and bring it home and drink it here, and not try to deceive ms, or have those awful men bring you home so off from the street.’

‘ I tell yon, stranger, that let daylight through me. I saw then that Dlok knew me through and through—that she know what a lyin’ hound I’d been, and had knowed it all the time. Pretty soon she put her arms around my neck, and said, '» George, you know I’d die in a minute to save you. I promised, when I married you, that I’d stand by you, and he a true wife to you, as long as I lived, sad I’ll do it, for In your heart of hearts you’re the best man in the world, and I can’t bear to have you away from me when you’re wild with liquor. Oh, George, George I you must not get away from mo. I know it all. You are a noble man, but the fiends got hold of yon, and made you what you never shall be ; fer you and I together will beat them, with God’s help and blessing. You must tell mo everything after this, and I’ll do the same to you. If you must drink, drink here at home with mo, and never try to deceive me ; bat love me, and trust mo, and I will you, and then we’ll win. for God will bless our honesty and love.” That’s what she said, stranger, and stronger, that got me I You s-.e, there wa’n’t nobody, nor nothin’, In heaven or on earth, that could a’ done for me what Dick did. And she rust said another one o’ them litt’e prayers of hors, and then I kltsad her and prayed the first real prayer I ever prayed in my life—jast prayin’ God to bless her —and then I went cut to my work. And afore God, stranger, from that day to this, I’ve never put a drop o’ Honor between my Ups, and I never will ! ss soon as I see that Diok knowed it all, and made up nij mind to go to her when I couldn’t go alone —then I was all right And so I quit, and all hell couldn't make mo begin, and Dick knows it. bhe neytr Bays anything to me about it, never asks mo about it, or suspects me; but we just understand each other in a quiot way, and that’s enough. I’ve learned to distrust myself and to trust Dick. Oh, Dick’s a woman, she is I ‘We’ve had a lot of trouble since then, but we’ve boon mighty happy, and Diok’s always tryin’ to comfort me and help me, and keeps up wonderful herself. Lately she's been bepgln’ me to leave the road. She’s lonesome, I’m away so much, and I’ve been thinkln’ for a good while I’d quit, and now I’ve made up my mind to, anyhow. The last trip but one that I made, one of the boys that was brakin’ on the freight jnst ahead o’ ours,' fell off between the cars somehow, and was all cut np. Well, Dick found out about it, and it nearly set h‘T wild, for sho said I’d bo bi ought home that way lomotime, and then s.ie’d be left :>.ll alone. And oho bogged u o bo hard that I told her I’d quit. 80, after I got into

Ohio ago this morn in', I took tho passenger took to Michigan City, to most the pay-car there, and get my discharge. I oan get something to do, 1 know, and Diok says It t can’t she’s g t a *ewln'-m whine anl two wash-tubs, and she’ll take In sewln and 'V askin' rathor’n have me oa the road. But I don’t think I tee her doin’ that, just vet not while I’m alive. It’ll be two o clock to-night when I get home, but Diok knows I’m o’Diia’. I telegraphed her this tvenln , and she’ll bo np, and ha v e the coziest little fire and the nlosst cup o’ coffer, and a little juppor made up, that ever wai In all the world. And she’ll hear me come a-orumpln along on the sidewalk, and sha’lt open the door and the light’ll shine ont ■ oh, say, stranger, you couldn’t ttop over one train, and come up and see Dick, could you? Oh well, that’s so, * business is business,’ sna ii you can’t, why It's all light; only I’d like to i-ava yon know Diok, that’s ali. Bor s le’a the best wunan the Lord evor and. in spite of all onr trouble-*, she’s one o the hippiest women tkat lives, and I reckon that man don’t breathe that a any happier or ptonder'n I be. I don’t, stranger, for a fact. ‘ Well, here we are, all safe as a dohar. 1 thought Jack ’n’d take her through all right. ‘Taint every feller that could ’a' done It though, you want to know. Goodnight. I’ve talked a good deal to you, but then I’ve had something good to talk about, that’s one thing sure. Good-night! Qod bless you! Oh! I say, stronger, Jaok has palled her down a little furthor’n common to-night. The brakes didn’t hold, I guess, and if it was daylight, I could show you the house where we live, right up to the head o* this street. I’ll tell you, though ; the train 'll stand here tan minutes, while they change engines, and, If you was to keep watch, maybe you'd see the I’ght shine out when Diok opens the door 1 Good-night 1 Good-night, stranger! ’ He stepped briskly ont along the walk, and presently a bread gleam of golden light flashed ont Into the darkness. It glimmered for a moment and was gone. The door had closed upon George and Dick, shutting them into tha sacred radianoo of their home, and into my hea t for ever.