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UNION. TUB CON'STItr 'ION AND TI1K.XAWS THE G UARDIANS OFOUK LIBERTIES
"YoLXLVIL
. IIHJiSBOROUGn, 'N. C., . WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18,; 1S6J.
No. 24019-
i MM 111 Iv.iv M:M M i& M) -Ml IU t - M
I LL DO IT."
BY VIXGIMA f. TOWNSSXD.
The river wrnt onita way to the sea.' It
heard the call afr off, nd felt the might?
swinging l the great tides, hat waited to
ri ceite it in their arms.
The dy was in the late summer, beauti
ful in ihe heaven, rejoicing upon the earth
AH thit Wat in the feeing, if n t con.
atiously in the thought ol 'lorn Bieck tint
afternoon, a he wandered a'ong the banks
of the user, pausing sojietimes a lew mo
ments on a green edge of helvinjr butk,
and dropping hi fishing-line into the wa
ti r, ami winging it there, but not waMnjr,
long for a nibble, though he wa an' ex pert
ai.gltr.
Nothing remarkable in this boj im afirtt
glance; nor, perhaps, afterward. A head
that promised well, surrounded by a crop
tti thick, light hair, strongly suggestive of
stubble ; a gait somewhat almiching and
giving a general impression of a rather
lornpuh, looaely built figure, though time
would probsbly tighten the joint and add
triiftiiin tu the nmcles; a ikin tanned tn a
rt nf ted brick color j ejes ol a blight ha
.el, the bet feature of the lce a straw hat
vurmounting all thit, and brown linnen
suit, just befitiiog a sc!ih4 bev of fourteen
tear.
3l here the lile nf Tom flrnrk was ho
.vreriog. lie had the faults and virtues nf
that aiage. With a go del (f noigh.
firM. iiMniaturitj, tod obtiacv, there was
a certain downrighudiies tnd inceritj
nbottt iHe bov, which promised a sou ad, vi
jrtit-us manhood.
. lie hated ti e his own strung, if not
elegant En;lih a M saesk." He scorned
a mi to, treacherous act, and vog rnsv be
certain, tf a boj des nt do that, there i
Lis matttiood.
This av I rmed an era in the bo'a life.
The next ne was to leave ha me forabosrd
in hm. fifty rndes awgy from the fiet
if land viUie where he had attrndl thr
ai adem v for half a doxen jetrs.
- The idd life was slipping awav fioin hint,
nd the new coniiag to him vau-,
large. unttid, and he panted with a b V
eager longing l entrr upon alt that was
new, Mrsnge, attractive la it. lie was nm
given tu enfmrnt of anv ort, bat amd all
'the keen, eiger wannin thoughts of the
lutarr ihl awaited lorn Hreck, nmething
ele made itself frit, snaie haunting memo
rte and regrets lor the UI life slipping
iv, gave t'i the familiar scenes the ri
ver, and lar blue hilU, and green reache
of field, a nrw power and sacrrdne.
All these things had brought the knr
down to the rier this afirrnoon.
would have one more gNNl lime with his
red ami line, btlore went awav. Hut
1v vague restlein of his thoughts snd
feeling, imparted themselves tn his move
aarnta. ,
. lie heard the birds tinging a-nong th
group or willows and voting aka alon
'the bank, he listened to the low palra d
the wtr ging down to the ses, he heard
.the lip of wmds in the branches, and some-
.thing tender s'ined in the heart ol Tom
Hreck, and tokened the rnand, immsiure
fare, into a thouglillalness which i: had ne
ver worn before.
I'm lK thiu(Mtf V"olh rsUnt.knj thioH
' las it all oer for him ? he akel him.
elf the climbing tne cherr) res in sum
.aer, the nil tings In aotomn, the rre cast
lag and skstings in winter, the tides on
the load of new mown har, from the raea
dowa'io ihegrratbrown barn, (he hunt for
VipirreU, the glorious times in the p'lj
giound, and all the rolling fan and sport
that had been hi delight ever since he
vdd rrmember?
" And then he felt strange strain and
;cha bout bis heart. What did if all
."em? He straightened, himself tip.'the
tlotvl glowing under tke reddUh tan of his
'hteks, . . ..-,.:
' At that uament.Tnm Ur'ck caught sight
f a tall, lack, gritr.1v hetdrd and bardtd
n, with a scorched straw hat, and trou
sers nf faded, tlut, stowljr driving an of
' lesm down the river road.
Tht farmer looked at the boj, then bnw
ed tft'him pleaantlr, and pawed out of
sight with the alow oen and the wagon;
but that 6ight had touched the kej note of
another memnrjr in the soul of Tom Hreck,
' Hit months ago,-he, with half a d zen
other fellow's, had "robbed thai msn'a water
mel"n field, and stripped the vines nf all ita
ripened trait. The plan waa concocted uu
a holiday alternoon and executed that very
evening. It happened tn be a favorable
one lor the utidfrt.kiog, a moon with a lace
of gray clouds ovrr it, and the bya we
joht ripe for a frolic, as thev called it, after
a half day of rough sport. Nobody thought
ii , "mean,? stealing," at the time.
If uch a suspicion had flashed acfos
Tom's mind, he had put it away with some
ol the masims of the school boy morality.
Numbers had seemed to justify a deed
from which alone hi concienc and his
sense of honor would hve shrunk dismay
rd, and Tom hd gone with the rest.
, The vines wero nS'd, the melons eaten
or destroyed, and the bya had their fun.
aOf course the fanner was wrathful enaugH
when he discovered the theft neit day, and
threatened Jo protecate the perpetrators ;
but these had never transpired, an they had
all gone "scot free."
;.Toin had forgotten the whole thing, but
now the deed came out of some unlocked
door and stood before him for jut what it
was -mean, dishonest, stealing!
lie w need a little under that lst word,
he tried lovarnUli the deed over with the
current ideas of hs clas toboNter it up
with uch words as fun, and "good
time' and "jolly trick," but through all the
varniah thermal features hnwed themselves
lor just what they wre, a -id the faUe word a
could not sustain the bad deed before the
bov'a better insiincts.
fotu Hreck wished he had taken nn part
tery Uotr, .hat he writ- to wreck mf, tKe a'-erm'-lon tealing withed he had
. ''! t V,l!l :'1 .lilt'l '
1 Here'a one of Vm,'', with another slw
under his tan. It was mean, soeaking,
thing, though I. did n't, see it in that light at
the time. , Vou see we boya got into a fro
lic and were ready tn go any lengths with
one helping on the other, . Hut I'm asham
ed of the whole linns now. and I've come to
siy o to you, Mr. Wirt, and pay you fori
si i if I
tne snare I nan in u,; , - i 4 , . i j
Farmer Wirt stood still, surveying the
boy from under the deep rim. of; his straw
hst. " Well, Vm beat, now !," he said, at
last. I never thought of latin', it oo you,
Tom. You've ahown jou had some good
timber in you, though. , Give me ihe names
of the others who hid a hand if) the scrape,
and we'll let bygones be bygones betwixt
us." ,.;.-.. '.-.- t f
" Twnuldn't be fair to tell on the others,
Mr. Wirt. You cn aen that. Here'a a
dollar, though, to pay for tny part of the
micliief,M tumbling in bis "poefcet, end
bringing out the note at last, and slipping
it into the old man'a hand, who, to tell the
truth, felt little reluctance at taking it;
but he loved money, snd he reflected that
it was fairly hi due. , ;
Of conrse it costs something to be honest
in this world and the earlier. Tom Breck
learned and lived that the better.
So they bnr went his way with a ligh
ter heart, -The blue of the sky seemed
fairer the sung of the river gladder than
before. . i i
lie could go awav to-morrow with dean
heart and hands The deed which lie had
donethe triumphs he had achieved -would
be a great shaping force in his youth.
, Boy a and girls, reading this, be of good
coursge. ila'e and acorn whatsoever is
mean sod sly. Don't think that numbers
ceti ever give dignity to a bad act, or even
make it anvihing but what it is, false and
icked. B true to ourselves, and Icct-
' Yanceytille Lemon Shell. 1 I t f
Trinity College Peter Doub, profesof
of biblical literature. - . ., .,:
ialitbury DittrktRev. Wm. Clou, D. D.
3 1
l ad ti e m.iril ctt to tell the brs jit ' rg the r'uht in the face, say bravely, with
. . . e .i i .t " I -r iii A.. ;
st he ili"ux't f the whole thing, even
if they hail Lughcd at him wihed he
culd go away tHiw i the new ahNd, and
ihe new scenes without - that memory
fnklin: to hia Mmajkts; call it whtt you
wuuid, it was just s'eiling, and nothing
better.
Hut what could he do? dragging his line
uncoaaciously alongthe river, while voase
thing witlno wh-jicedj wmIi coielliiij
authority Jut mu -ake a clean br at
ol it, Tom Hreck. He a man. (in and ac
knowledge your ':re in the thrfi. Tell
the farmer tou wi; jtiv for your part ol
the stolen melon. coura- you won't
betry the other boys, but free our own
conscience of this mean deed which clmgs
to and soils it.H "
Hut you see Tom didn't like to do this
thing. The farmer might not tske this
confession very kindly, and then the boy
would hear of it. and aneer over his " old
wwman'a conscience." And was robbing a
water ntelof, pauh such a grave, solemn of.
lence, after all I
It was trating." si id the voice of au
thoritv iuide. Ualling it " fun," sport,"
and ifi ih ie hne wonU. could not change
Ihe fact. 'I here it stood, a mean- coward
ly thing, and the numbers that were in it
didn't excuse the work. The nnlv brave
thing was to go courageously and face the
truth, and not run away from it like a cow
ard; when he wa already a thief.
The words stuns, Tom stood till.low
ly winding up his line, the round face full
d an unusual gravity.
At tai he looked up. The sun nf the
summer day smiled, in the west, the sha
dows of the trees lay long and thick on the
grass.
111 do it !" said Tom Hreck, at Isst, a
sudden flash of reole all over hm face,
and he set'oft down the river road, where
a mile beyond lived the farmer whom be
had robbed,
The boy met the old man at his great
barn gate'vthich his team had just entered.
Eager and breathless. Tom panted out:
" You remember, Mr. Wirt, that your wa
termelon vines were robbed last fill!"
Yea, air," Mid the farmer cracking ti
whip. A precmua set of rascals got ahead
f m that time New scented outs annl
Appointments of the Worth Cirollaa EL E.
Conference. ;
The thirty-first session of the North Car
olina Annual Conference of the Methodist
EpiCpl Church, South, held at Wilming
ton, adjoarnid sine die on Tuesday night
last. The appointmente as announced are
as follow: - .
Ralrigh Dhtrictfiev. I A. IfcnJren, P. E.
tialrigh City II. T. Hudson.
Rjleigh Mi'on M J Hunt.
Wake Circuit II II t.'ibbons.
Smithfield A U Raven.
Tar Itiver James P Simpson.
Iiuisburg J A Cimninggira.
Granville John Tillet.
Ilenderkon Ira P Wyche.
Nashville To be supplied. ;
WiUrn MMn To be supplied.
Kittrell Spring Female College John
S ft Clrk, ChspUin and Professor.
Jamea Reid, Agent of Sunday Schoolt
for the Ntste.
mUtboTough DitritlRtv. IV. II. Bobltit,
i P E .
HilUbornugh and Company Shops II N
D WiUon.
Chapel Hill and Haw River 0 J Brrnl
. Durham'sU S Webb.
Pittsborough Joseph B Martin.
Fnnklinatille llira.n P Cste.
South (Jinlford-1'h.irles II Phillips.
A'amanre 'fred Nortnae.
l,feburgJoeph II Wheeler.
, Person Paul J Carawav.
tlrange Adolphos W. langurn.
Grtemborough I)i$triet .V, F. Sriil, D.
. , D. P.E.
Gree sborough Wm lUrrlnger, W 0
Wilson, 8upernumerrv.
Gul.'ordJohn W Lewis, W n Richard
son. '
Trinity College and High Paint II Cra
ven, President Trinilv College. '
Thnmaville II K Hruton, President
Female College.
- DavWson W B Mrschum.
Ashbornogh R P'Bibb and Zebediah
Rush. - ' v
Forsythe-Jamea W Wheeler.
Stokei Tn lie supplied.
Msdisnn Joseph C Tna ' '
Wentwnrlh H C Barrett, ' i
f
v t
Salisbury Calvin Plyver. . v
Rowan JaaFSmoot.
Kui Rowan Thoa I Triplett.
Mocksvilla Jas K Mann. ,
Yidkinville J no C Buie.
Jnnesvilla and Elkin Win II Call.
. Mount Airy M L Wood.
, Surry To be supplied.
Wilkes laic F Kearna.
Alexander To be supplied. " '"'
Iredell M C I'nomaa ; W W Albea, itt
peraumcrary. South Iredell-W ti Birnea.' ' 1
Sutesville K A Yates. - -
South Yadkin M V Sherrill.
Blue Rulgc Mission R T N Stevenson.
fFahington DiitrictRcv. R. S. Moron.
P. X. '
Washington John S lion? .
; Warrenton J P MooreVf B Reeks, ai
pernumerary. " ' ' '
Koanoke W C fianan. " u' ' 1 " : :
Wilson Chas C UotUnn. ' -
Tarborough John W Jenkint.
Williamson W 11 Weelar.
Martin Jas J llines ?
Plymouth W Clegg.
Matttmukkeet W It Moore; I Hill, su
pernumerary. :., . .. ,
Portsmouth, Ocracoke and Cape Hattrras,
Geo E Wyche.
Bath Musion 'I i be supplied.' '
Cburch of the Strangers, New York City
Chaa F Deems. i
Ntwbtm DittrictRev. Jul IP, 7ieker,
1 ' !,r P, E, '
Newbem R A WilHa.
Beaalort J B Bobbitt. .
Straits and Cape UwdrwtM Tav tt'swt-1-plied
;, ' t ' i ' . .....
Morchcad City and Trent W JtuW,
John Joi es, supernumerary.
Kinston Caswell W King.
Bnow-llill T B Uicaid. .
Neuse Mission-Nathan A Hooker. '
UokUburough John - H Williams.
Everetisvilie I). Culbrath ; one to be
supplied.
Wayne Mission To be supplied. i
Nuse Jas B Bailey. t
Wlmingtfn Di$trict!ev. L. S. Burk
ktud.P.E. Wilmington, Front Street, J II Daily.
Fifth Mrest S I) Pealer.
Topsail A 1) Butts. , -
Kenanaville C M Anderson.
Magn.dia-B D Culbretb.
Clinton J II R.bbws.-
Cokeabury T S Gattis.
H'aden C M Pepper. '
Elizabeth-W M Uoby. '
South River Mission To be supplied.
Whitrville Jaa B A I ford. '
raithville One to bs supplied; W ftf
I) Moore,' supernumerary. ' 4
Brunswick Tu be suppluid. ' '
Onslow D C Johnson.
Mariner's Chapel, Wilmington J N
Anurew";
feytttwUt DittrietRev. S. D
p. e. ;
FayettevilleT W Guthrie. ' "
Cumberland Geo C Bryan,
Rnbesnn W 8 Chaffin.
Rockingham Joa Wheeler
Montg"ery-B C Phillips.
Upharia John K Thompiunt
. Cape Faar-t W Avent.
Joneiborough Gaston Farrar,
Trot Thoa Moes.
Deep River-Frank II WoJ.
A letter tn the Herald siyt Serrelart
Reward ia negotiating for tke purchase tf
Cuba, snd tke Spanish Govetnmeat Iftok".
favorably towards the proposition.
Governsr Haight prophesies that tht
child it now liviDgwhft will aee.Californij
populated with twenty millioaa, and Sat.
Francisco a city with two millions finks
hifanta. "
w wa w ' w i
' ' ' : .... .
A Texas piper s,ayt iwett pofatr.fi r
so plentiful an tu be hardly worth hir yi
'"I ' ' '. -