Alice Waters, or, The Sandown victory
page: 0 (TitlePage) [View Page 0 (TitlePage) ] ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SANDOWN VICTORY. A TEMPERANCE STORY,. BY CHARLOTTE St HLBOURNE, PORTLAND: F. G. RICH, PRINTER AND PUBLISHER, COB-. EXCHANGE AND FORE STREETS. 1867. page: 0[View Page 0] TO MY EVERARD IN HEAVEN, WHO, BY NO INDUCEMENT OR BRIBERY IN HEALTH, OR THE EXCRUCIATING PHYSICAL SUFFERINGS THROUGH HIS LAST SICKNESS, COULD BE TEMPTED TO PRESS THE INEBRIATING CUP TO HIS PURE LIPS, THIS LITTLE BOOK IS FONDLY INSCRIBED Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1867 by CHARLOTTE S. HLBOTBRNE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maine. ALICE WATERS. BY CHARLOTTE S. IILBOURNE. CHAPTER I. "OH Mother!" exclaimed our heroine, her flaxen ringlets in wild disorder; her dimpled,cheeks glowing with intense excite- ment, as she bounded lightly, and almost breathlessly into * the room of her cottage-home, where her mother was preparing the scanty meal for her little ones, on their return from school. "Oh, Mother! I ran away from Jennie and Josie, and Lettie; for I was in such a hurry to tell you the news, Miss Manners, our teach- er told us, that there was going to be a Temperance Lecture in the Town Hall this evening; and she said that we must all be there, and not forget to tell our parents and friends to come, too. And Oh! Mother! it is a woman that is going to lecture, and I am sure ; you will go, and Father, and all of us; please Mother mayn't we? I know that a woman never has lectured in Sandown; has there Mother?"Mrs. Waters did not reply, for there was a heavy shadow on her brow, and bright crystal tears were chasing each other 'merrily down her pale, sunken cheeks; and a heavy sob escaped . from her lips, as she caught a glimpse of her inebriate husband, reeling and muttering through the broken doorway of their delapi- dated abode. He was just in the prime of manhood; tall and well proportioned; with dark, brilliant eyes, a high, broad forehead, around which clus- tered a rich redundence of dark curly hair; and in his sober mom- ents a smile of almost irresistible beauty, played around his hand- some mouth and intellectual brow. Fifteen years before, Mrs. Waters, then the Belle of Sandown, had stood at the bridal altar and intrusted her life happiness to the keeping of him who had vowed to .cherish and protect her, so long as they both should live. She was then the envy of many a rosy-cheeked, bright-eyed dam- sel, for miles around. For none would have hesitated to become the bride of Joseph Waters, the successful mechanic, whose ihir fame not even the finger of scandal had dared to mar. The summer's sun never looked down upon a bridal pair more gloriously than it did upon them when they entered their cottage- , page: 4-5[View Page 4-5] 4 ALICE WATEBRN; OR, THE S JDOWJ ViCTORY. home, amid the cheers, congratulations, and heart welcomes of the youth and maidens, whose skillful devises and floral gifts had im- parted to it, the magical beauty of a fairy's retreat. Like a flashing meteor, all those scenes passed through Mrs. Wat- ers' mind, as shearaised her tearful eyes to the besotted form, reel- ing through the doorway, muttering imprecations upon the rude school-boys, who had pelted him with brick-bats, pebbles, and mud- cakes; jeering and shouting, "There goes old Joe Waters, drunk as an owl. Won't we have fun with him boys, up to his old hovel to-night, when he gets into his delirium tantrums." "I say, wife, I ain't drunk, only a leetle over. The fact is, Un6le Ben, down to the man and beast entertainment; that is, the "Bottle and Sheaf," got an old article in a new bottle; and I tried it, and found it jest the thing, that's all; only it made me a little dizzy, and I gave him a quarter for a sixpence; lHa, ha, ha; that' s a good way to empty a feller's pocket. The boys thought I was drunk, because the ballast was all gone, and I rolled a little, just like a half inflated balloon. But you have anticipated my wants zactly, wife, with a good cup of tea. Now dry up your tears, and give us a sprinkle of sunshine, and a bit 'of bye-gone, and I'll come out second best yet." "O, yes," said Alie, stepping coaxingly to his side. "And I'll wash all the dust and perspiration from your face. Bathe your head' with water just from the little spring down in, the hollow; comb your hair 'till it looks bright and glossy as it did long ago; brush all the mud nicely from your-besmattered clothes; and then Father, won't you go with us'? Oh, Father dear, do say yes, this once, to your little Alie; for Mother will be so glad. And Jennie, and Josie, and Lettie, and I will be so happy. John Lawton told me to-day, that I was nothing but a drunkard's child. And Laura Lee wouldn't play with me, because she said that my Father was a toper, and we lived in an old shanty, and didn't have anything to eat but bannock and browse; and she didn't think that the School Committee or Miss Manners either, ought to allow us to go to school with Ministers' and Lawyers' and Doctors' and Merchants' children. And her. Father was Esquire Lee; and her Mother said this morning when Ben. Blurt's wife called from the "Bottle and Sheaf," that she thoughl something ought to be done about it." Mrs. Blurt said, for her part, she had about made up her mind to send her daughters to "Moss Hill," or "Riverside," for she was sure that they never would know much about refinement, if they did have a Miss Manners for a teacher, so long as such children as old toper Waters' went there to school." "And they made fun of our old clothes that Mother' keeps so clean, and patches so nicely; -and called us rag-muffins, and said that a regiment of us would scare Jeff. Dayis out of Richmond, and every Rebel out of Dixie. And they thought it would be the cheap- est way that Government could end the war, by putting us under some enterprising General, and marching us down into the land of niggers and cotton-bags. Miss Manners didn't hear them talking so to me; but just before the school was done, she said that a Lady was going to give a Temperance Lecture in the Town Hall this eve- * ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SANDOW N-VICTORY. 5 ning, and wished us to tell everybody that we saw, to go and 'hear her. I was so glad Father, that I ran all the way home to tell Mother and you. Won't you go, Father, just this once, with Moth- er and alltf us, to hear a Lady give a Temperance Lecture l" "It's all a pack of nonsense, Alie; all this folderol;. got up just to make money, just as Ben. Blurt sells rum, to pick our pockets: and then sends his wife and' children out to hoot at us, and call us rag-muffins a d scarecrows. No, Alie, I hain't got money to fool away on that sort o' stuff. "O, but Miss Manners said that we shouldn't have to pay anything for going in. She said tlhat the Lady was working for God and the good of her fellow-beings; and she knew that He who told His Disciples not to take scrip nor staff with them, would provide for her journey. Yes, Father, she wants just such as we, who have no money to give, to come to her Lec- ture; please Father, just this once.") The water, combs, and brushes were brought into requisition by Alie's nimble fingers, which seemed to possess a magical power; for long before the Lecture hour, she had transformed that be- smeared, besotted face into the image of a man. And the clothes, though thread-bare and coarse, looked trim and tidy, from the ani- mated application of Alie's renovating, skillful exertions. Even Mrs. Waters seemed to catch the electric inspiration which animated her child, for she moved around with something of the elacrity of other days, in clearing away the fragments of their scan- ty meal and arranging the clean dishes in the most attractive posi- tion, upon the little shelf. There was, too, a hopeful light beaming in her tear-faded eyes, as something of the bye-gone seemed float- ing back into her heart, surging through and through every fibre, with an elevating, life-giving power, which had so long been a stranger there. CHAPTER II. THE Town Hall was densly crowded, for it was an unheard. of event for a woman to lecture in Sandown; and everybody, from the aristocracy down to the dregs, mingled in one com- mon mass for the: nonce. Even Mrs. Blurt looked in, just to see what the woman would have to say against selling rum. "For her part, she thought that business just as good as any other; and when anybody had a license to 'sell it, she didn't see what business any- body had to interfere. And how in the world her Ben. could keep a public house without selling rum, she was sure she didn't know. Why, it was the main'stay of the house, and did more towards clothing and feeding the family, than all the money that they ever took from temperance folks, she was sure. If folks were a mind to make fools of themselves by getting drunk, she didn't see what that was to them; they held their license by permission of the Legisla- ture; and what's law, is law." Her harangue was cut short by a little commotion at the door, and a low whispering at the door, of, "She's come; she's come." All eyes were turned in that direction, page: 6-7[View Page 6-7] 6- ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SAJDOW. VICTORY. to observe a plain, unostentatious looking Lady in sable garments, conducted to the speaker's stand by one of the parish ministers, who had taken an active interest in the termperance cause, and also be- lieved in the efficacy of a woman's effort, in suppressing the great evil which was sweeping like the devastating tornado, over the length and breadth of our native land. - . "Look there," said John Lawton, who had just then caught a glimpse of another group, crouching timidly down, in the most re- mote corner of the Hall, as if afraid'of the glaring light, which fell fromd the central lamps; and the peering eyes of the heartless throng, which filled the spacious room. "Look there, Jim Lee; if there ain't old Joe Waters and his whole brood, sneaking off into that corner, just as if they had a right to come into the Hall, with all the first families of Sandown. Well, we may look for a flood next, after this unexpected flowing in of the Waters.- He, he, he-" "I shall look for the bursting of a rum-barrel first, John," said Jim, casting a malicious glance over to the occupants of that humble seat, in the corner. "A hogshead, you mean," said Laura, catching up the strain of their sneering remarks. "Wouldn't there be an explosion; and conflagration too, if he should come in contact with an electric spark, from one of those lighted chandeliers?" "I guess," said John, "that is why he chooses such an obscure seat. Well, I only hope he won't make his appearance this way in mercy to all lovers of pure air and free ventilation, while our egress is blockaded, as it is at present, by the swaying growd." Calm and dignified 'rose the speaker; clear and distinct her voice reverberated throughout the spacious Hall, attracting the attention of the audience, and even arresting the rude remarks upon the hum- ble group, screening themselves from the public gaze, in the shadow of that humble seat in the corner. They, too, were intently listen- ing to the speaker's remarks. Every word that floated through and through the spacious Hall, found its way to that little friendless group, as though to them alone, was their mission of peace and hope to be performed. First, she spoke of the obstructions which were thrown in the way of woman, as a public speaker or reformer, by many powerful and influential opponents, and many, very many whose presence at a public Lecture on temperance, would do much towards turning the scale in the right direction, would remain at home, rather than give countenance to a thing so absurd and ridiculous as a woman giving a public Lectrre on any subject, however important. "But," ahe continued, all are needed in this warfare. Some for picket-duty; some for advance-guards; some for rear-guards; some for life-guards; and some for home-guards. If we cannot drive the invaders from the field by a hand to hand fight, let us have divisions here and there, to flank him, and make him our prisoner. The foe is all around us; striding dauntlessly through our highways and by- ways, crouching stealthily around our dwellings, thrusting the dag- ger fatally to the heart's core, of our Fathers and Sons. Desecrat- ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SAJVDOWNW VICTORY. 7 ing our hearth-stones, and laying waste all the beautiful idols we have enshrined in our hearts and hombs. Their sacrilegious hands have polluted our sanctuaries; have stricken down the watchmen upon the walls of Zion, and rent assunder, the holiest ties of home and love. Have made Mothers widows, and children orphans.-- Have made rich men beggars, and- filled the church-yard with the victims they have slain. They have crowded the penitentiaries with loathsome occupants, and many have swung from the hang-man's noose, an appalling spectacle to some heart-broken wife; some aged mother; or homeless orphan. Hearts have bled at the approach of this mighty invader; cheeks have paled when the sound of his chariot wheels have been heard in the distance. 'Burning lips have sent forth the cry of anguish, and the wild pleadings of despair have rent the air, when, his desolating shadow has fallen like Egyptian darkness upon the threshold of their once happy home. But he strides on.-on- deaf to the cries of despair; blind to the tears which drench his pathway, from heart-broken widows and homeless orphans. On-on-through this field of carnage he strides victorious; gloating on the withering desolations his power has wrought.- Where are his opponents.?" she asked, looking earnestly around over the sea of faces, upturned with rapt attention, to the one who addressed them. "Who will stay the hand of this mighty conquer- or? Is there no little David amongst you? Who will dare to go forth with the sling and the pebble, to meet, and to slay this invad- ing giant? To palsy the strong arm which is raised with such de- precating power, over our homes and the loved ones there?" Again her eyes wandered inqtfiringly over the audience, as if waiting for a response to the earnest questions which had fallen from her lips. Far away in the shadow of a remote corner, she caught the scintillations of two earnest eyes, radiating from the upturned brow of a little rounded face, all aglow with intense interest and ex- citement. For a moment the speaker paused; her eyes rivetted upon that little earnest face and the group which surrounded it. Then she added: "Woman's influence has decided the fate of many a battle-field, and sent the wild shout of victory to the broken ranks of the vice tors and vanquished' Shall she now remain inactive, when sire and son are bound unresisting victims, by her side, and led captive to a bondage more cruel and hopeless than death and the grave?- When the breath of the monster mingles like the scorching lava 'mongst the fragrant flower-buds which have sprung up in and around our life path? Where his shadow falls like the plagues of Egypt, upon our hearts and homes? "But you ask, Who is this mighty invader? ' This great monarch who threatens such devastations to our homes and dear ones? And from whence does he gather his forces, go fearful in their battle array? "His name is Alcohol! His parade grounds are Rum-shops and Bar-rooms, and gilded Saloons, and dark cellars, where the wine sparkles temptingly in crystal goblets, and the drunkard's song min- gles with the clashing of decanters and the jingle of the gambler's dice. 'His Generals are the Liquor dealers. His badge of honor, the bottle of Rum ; and his martial tread, the drunkard's reel. page: 8-9[View Page 8-9] 8 ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SA JVDOW JN VICTORY. "Shall we give him the right of our highways and byways, that he may lead his formidable hosts unmolested, through the land, where the proud Banners of Freedomn is swaying in the pure mountain breezes, over our homes and loved ones? Shall we give him the flattering acclamations of greeting, though he ride in gorgeous state, upon his gilded car, whenii our dear ones are crushed in hideous mass- es, beneath his iron wheels? Shall we say to him, Abide with us, when his pestilential breath is slaying its thousands by our side; deso- lating and darkening the homes once gorgeous with happiness and love? Shall we install him in our high places of honor and power? And place at his command, the destinies of the present and future generations of this great Republic? No! no! If you do, he will despoil you of your birthright, and brand you with a name more in- glorious than that which sent the guilty Cain a vagabond, from his father's tented fields. Will you dare to raise meh to official power, who will hold the poisonous cup to his lips? Who will aid, or give countenance to a Rum-seller, or his nafarious, soul-destroying traffic? If so, some day its curse will fall upon your own head. It may be the casting of your single vote for a Rum-seller or his abettor, which has made your Brother, or Son; or may be Wife, a drunkard.- Which has frenzied the brain of the midnight assassin; and caused him to thrust the dagger to the heart of his friend, or brother man. And for your single vote, many wives have been made widows - many children, orphans. And many orphans have been made beg-, gars. Many a gray-haired parent has gone down with sorrow to the grave. Many a hillock has been reared in the potter's field. Many a broken heart has throbbed its last sigh of bitterness, within the gloomy walls of an Alms House, or Lunatic Asylum, just for the casting of your single vote for a votary of Rum. Rather let the hand be palsied by thy side, than raised to the ballot-box in vindica- tion of the Rum-seller. "Did you ever think that the casting of that single vote was just the one which decides the destinies of our homes; of our nation's welfare? That its influence moves .on-on-gathering strength and impetus on its way, 'till it mingles with the mighty evolutions which control the Universe; just as the little minutes make up the vast ages of Eternity?" CHAPTER III. "DID you ever?" said the mistress of the "Bottle and Sheaf," to the grocer's wife, who sat in close proximity to that dis- tinguished individual. 'Well, the massy only-knows what we are coming to, for I don't, when our husbands can;t carry on a legitimate business, without having women make stunip-speeches about it. I believe with good- old Paul, that a woman had never ought to speak in public; but if she wants to know anything, let her ask her husband at home, if she has got any; if not, let her be silent." "But," continued the speaker, "I would not have you understand -that the man who barters away his manhood at the ballot-box, in AL ICE WATERS; OR, THE S./JVDOWN VICTOR Y.' 9 faivor of this soul-destroying traffic, is alone responsible for the blight- ing curse which it brings upon our homes, and idols there. Women, either directly or indirectly, is the secret and controlling power which nerves his arm and guides his hand in the exciting contest. "It is even so. Few men- will withstand, or controvert the wise councilings of an affectionate Mother. Few will turn a deaf ear to the tender pleadings of a wife whom he adores, or to the betrothed who stands by his side, - gorgeous in her youth, beauty, innocence and love. Know, then, it is woman whom he serves. It is her in- fluence by which he is controlled. It is by her approval that the death-waters are deluging our streets; burying beneath its lava tide, the beautiful fabrications of a thousand hearts and homes.- She has no need to crowd around. the ballot-box, or occupy the official chair in'Congress Halls; for a husband, a son, or brother, if worthy of that claim and position, will do her bidding, and faith- fully represent her to the law-givers of the Land. *'Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates,' shall be the proud message which will return to you upon the pure breezes of Heaven, and which shall be caught ' up and promulgated by every son and daughter you have redeemed from the bondage of this terrible monster. Gray-haired parents will bless you when they see their Prodigal Son returning trium- phantly to manhood and honor. Broken-hearted wives will sing your praises, -as they wipe the last tears of anguish from their, pal- lid cheeks, when they stand again by the side o, a husband your influence has reclaimed. Desolate widows will arise from their depths of despair, throw off their garments of sackcloth and ashes, when the joyful tidings reach their ears, that the Son who wasdead, is alive again. Almhns-houses will be vacated; Lunatic Asylums will not so often be made hideous by the wild screams of insanity, miln- gled with the ominous clanking of- heavy chains. The dark, damp walls of a criminal's cell will oftener be tenantless. The desert will blossom as the rose, wheh this monster has been dethroned. And a jubilee, such as never before has been known in the Land, will resound from the East and the West, from the North and the South, in honor of the glorious achievement, wrought by the mothers and daughters of our American homes. And there will be joy in Heav- en; and the approval of the great Alpha and Omega will shine upon us as did the glorious Star over the plains of Bethlehem, cheering and encouraging with its signs of promise, the Watchmen from afar. Is not this enough toptimulate every mother and daugh- ter to action? To move forward undauntedly in this great work of reform and redemption? To annihilate the Dragon who has thrown up his lofty bulwarks against the advancement of national enter- prise and freedom? For we are not free men, when bound by the degrading shackles of Rum and intemperance. * "No enterprise is successful, where Rum is the stimulous to action. No home is a paradise, where the demon's dark shadow has fallen upon the threshold. No community is safe, where its vile and loath- some traffic is tolerated. Yet notwithstanding you will raise men to important offices, whose distilleries or extensive traffic in this instru- page: 10-11[View Page 10-11] 10 JLICE WATERS; OR, THE SAXDOWX VICTORY. ment of death, open the flood-gates of destruction, from whence flow the tens of thousands of poisonous rills through the Land. "Ought we to have rum-drinkers, rum-sellers, or their abettors, to become Rulers or Law-makers of the land? Who, among you, will answer yes? It should become a fixed principle among you. Nay , more. It should become a Statute Law; a National Law; firm and unchanging as that of the Medes and Persians, that no rum-drinker; no vindicator of the rum traffice, should ever be raised to or tolerated in official power, within our borders. 'Such a Law would prove the life-preserver of this great Reputhc. Then the traffic would becomne unpopular. Rum-drinkers would be reclaimed, distilleries would be demolished. And we should see the morning star of melenial glory dawning upon us, irradiating with its lumi- nous brilliancy, the entire Universe. "Should a man-let me ask again-be sustained in any communi- ty, who engages in such a traffic? Sowing broad-cast the seeds of suffering, crime, and death. Desolating homes, blighting the fair- est prospects, withering the brightest hopes, marring and defacing the noblest works of God. Who, among you, will answer yes? Who will not rather say that the penalties which have ever been imposed upon his victims, are more justly belonging to himself. "When a man goes outfrom those dens of infamy and debauch, with his brain maddened and deluged with the seething lava with which the Rum-seller has. tempted his burning and insatiate thirst, is lie more guilty if he thrusts the dagger to the heart of his fellow- man, than the hopeless Lunatic, chained within his grated cell?- Would he have committed that guilty act when clothed in his right mind, ere he bartered away his reason for the wine which sparkled in the Rum-seller's cup? "Who will not rather say that tie guilt and the penalty belongs to the man who furnished him with that instrument of death? "Too little sympathy has been shown to that unfortunate class- the Rum-drinkers. He has been cast out from the pales of respect- able Society. He is despised and jostled to and fro; trampled into the filth of the gutter; cast aside from your sympathies. And when one reels along with bewildered uncertainty, towards the wretched hovel, he calls his home, you smile encouragement to the horde of saucy children who follow him with their taunts and jeers, now and then tilting him against a lamp-post, or enveloping him in a cloud of dust and sand, they have thrown out to annoy him. On, on, they follow him, with their coarse, loud shouts and mockeries, 'till some petty official nabs him, drags him before a police Court, to hear the verdict of three, six, or twelve months in the house of correction. And this is to reform him and renovate the world. "Where is the prime mover of this act of misdemeanor and de- bauch? Behind the screen of his rum-shop, gloating over the dimes and dollars he has wrested from the hand palsied by the poisonous beverage, he has tempted him to drink. Or, may be, repeating the same act in this rum drama, with another victim. You don't think of arresting him, and sending him to pick oakum for the space of a few months, instead of his less guilty victim. Not at all.; he lives in an elegant house; belongs to your modern aristocracy, and is one .. , , . ' ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SAJNDOWN VICTORY. " of the supporting pillars of your State, city, or town laws; and inay be, is your Representative to Congress. He also gives large dona- tions for benevolent purposes, when he is sure it will find its way into some of the leading, journals of the day. He is one of the great wheels which keeps the whole machinery in operation. You court his smiles and hang upon the words of his lips, as though they were the inspirations of holy writ. Your vote has been cast to raise him to official power, amongst the Rulers of the land. His occupa- tion receives your and the scoan you are nourishing, will some day coil himself in a deadly embrace, around the heart- strings of your household jewels. Then, 'ere it is too late, go forth to the contest, like men; like women; firm in the determination to conquoer or die. Demolish the strong holds and fortifications of the monster. Strike down the weapons which have been reared by political strife. Search out the Easau, who would barter away his couutry's birth- right for a mess of pottage. Or the Judas, who would betray us in- to the hands of our enemies, or sell us into eternal bondage, for the thirty pieces of silver. CHAPTER IV. t-JHALL the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful cap- .,tl five delivered? But thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the mighty, shall be taken away; and the prey of the terrible, shall be delivered. For I will contend with him that con- tendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. "How can we wrest some of the children from the hand of the terrible and mighty? "Go to the gutters; raise from thence, your brother man. Dis- robe him of his filth, degradation. "Pour out upon 'the lacerations of his wounded spirit the soothing balm of sympathy, of hope, and encouragement. "Lead him with a brotherly hand to his comfortless home; to his heart broken wife; his starving children and there in the spirit of love and kindness, wrestle with him, in his sober moments, as Ja- cob wrestled with the Angel of God. "Restore to him the home which has been mortgaged for the rum- seller's poison. Restore to him the reason which has been dethron- ed, by the wine which sparkled in the wine-sellers cup. Restore to him the manhood which forsook him in the gutter. Restore to him the welcome greeting in your social circle. "'Give to him the right hand of fellowship as a pledge of your good faith in his restoration to sobriety and honor, and your labors will not be fruitless. He needs your sympathy; your encourage- ment; and the firm grasp of your manly arm. He, may be, has struggled nobly and manfully against the temptations which have dethroned his manhood. He has wept and prayed, where none but the All-seeing witnessed his painful and agonizing heart-struggles. He has resolved and re-resolved to abstain from the intoxicating cup, and pledged himself anew, over his sleeping-babes, 'ere he left them for a day of toil in his office or work-shop. But the Demon, who coveted his gold, met him on his way. There was no kindly arm y page: 12-13[View Page 12-13] 12 .4LICE .WATERS; OR, THE S IA"JDOWA. VICTORY, outstretched to save, and again he fell. Fell from his good resoIves; from his honor; his manhood; his self-respect; and from the respect of his brother man. "Will you turn from him in this, his hour of bitter need? Will you pass him by on the other side? Or will you raise him from his deDths of degradation; lead him out of the filthyl gutter and mirey clay, and never desert him 'till you have set his feet upon the sure and firm rock of sobriety and honor." There was a little commotion througlhout that vast assemblage. A swaying of forms, a turning of faces, which had been upturned to the earnest speaker with intense interest. A low buzzing which sounded like the far-off waters upon a sandy beach. And then a deep, heavy, unsuppressed sob within the shadow of that remote corner. "i told you there would be a flood, or an inundation, or some- thing of the sort," s'aid John Lawton, "when I saw the Waters' coming in so Ireely. Look Jim, old Joe is crying; or I amn a little so - so one of the six.'" "O, no," said Laura, "he's only been tapping his hogshead, to let out a little of tlh-e as; he will feel better presently, I dare say." And truly enough, old Joe Waters, as they called him, was crying, and many eyes were turned in that direction to witness the won- derful event. And little Alie, her pretty face bright, glowing, mand innocent as an Angel's, with now and then a sparkling tear-drop rolling from out the heavy lashes, was kneeling at his side, wiping- away the tears which trickled -through the fingers of her penitent, Father. She heeded not the sea of faces bent upon them. She heard noth- ing of the coarse jeers which passed from mouth to mouth, or the half suppressed giggle which those vulgar jokes had called forth. She only knew that for long, long years her Father had been wan- dering astray; and now hhe was returning, and in his right mind-. "Thanks, thanks be to God." The speaker proceeds--"Is there no balm-ini-gilead? Is there no rain-bow of promise spanning these dark clouds which threaten to engulf us by their gathering blackness? Is there no flaming sword to guard the Edens which are blooming here and there beneath the broad tree of our boasted Republic? There is. To the mothers and daughters of our American homes, belong the mystic power of this great reform and redemption. "Upon you depends the weal or woe of the youth who are cluster- ing like olive plants around your board, or the generations which are yet to walk in the highways you may east up for their feet, or grope along the dark forest-windings where the thick brushwood you have stumbled over, conceals the pitfalls which will entrap them, or deliver them to the ferocious beasts, crouching there for their. prey. "You do not shrink from the blasting, desolating breath of the plague or pestilence which sweeps like the fearful tornado around and within your dwellings." "You do not turn with trembling and dismay from the ghastly spectacle which disease and death presents to you, in a neighber's ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SAA'DOW AJ VICTORY. 1 home. You do not close your doors that the wild cry of despair may not mingle with your household mirth; men flee in dismay from the homes of pestilence and death, but woman rushes ear- lessly into the midst, to the rescue of its helpless victims. "Softly and spirit-like she glides from one apartment to another, laveing the throbbing temples; .holding the cooling beverage to the parched and bloodless lips; soothing with her low whisperings the frenzied impatienc;e of helpless victims; closing the eyes of the dy- ing, and shrouding the forift that lies cold and stiff in the repose of death. i "Firm and fearless to the last. she stands at her post, midst that scene of devastation and woe. In many a home, some loved one has been wrenched from the monster's grasp,' and the yawning tomb, by her timely efforts and self-sacrificing love. "And then, when the eDidemic has passed away, and healthier breezes are sweeping over the land, she feels that her mission is not all performed. Widows are left homeless, and children are left or- phans. And like the good Samaritan, she mingles her tears withI their's, and pours the balm of consolation into their crushed and bleeding hearts, while she generously divides with them the abun- dance which God has kindly intrusted to her keeping. She shrinks not from the appalling spectacle within a prisoner's cell. And where man has deserted, there she whispers to the mana- eled criminal, of Hope --of Heaven, 'till, like electricity, her voice thrills every fibre of his heart and soul, and he wrestles in faith with the God to whom she has directed him, and receives the joyful as- surance that his sins, though many, are forgiven him; and all through the instrumentality and gentle teachings of a true iand faithful woman. "She fears not the scorching rays of a far-off heathen clime, where many an unhappy wife has been wrenched from the funeral pyre; many an innocent babe from the Ganges wave, by her timely efforts. Many a sooty mother, as she chants her evening song to her rescued babe, raises her heart in thankful praise to the christian's God, for . the timely teachings of a true and noble woman. -"The widow and the fatherless follow her with words of praise and grateful emotions. For they were hungry, and she fed them; nak- ed, and she clothed them; and their prayers go up to Heaven, like a cloud of incense in behalf 6f her, and her God-like efforts. "Even upon the battle-field, she has rushed unappalled, through the ranks of soldiery and the blinding smoke, undaunted by the thun- ders of cannon and musketry, to the rescue and relief of the woun- ded and dying. If woman has done all this, can she not do more? Will she not do more? Will she not arise against the mighty forces which are arrayed against the honorable advancement of her cher- ished ones? Will she not dash the poisonous chalice, raised tempt- ingly to the lips of her promising boy? Or cast out from their se- cret nooks, the instruments of death, concealed to slay her noble husband in the noontide of usefulness and- manhood? - Never tolerate the first glass at home or abroad. - Never suffer the wine-bottle to be called into requisition, at your fashionable banquets. Never smile encouragement when the glasses pass jovially around page: 14-15[View Page 14-15] "JALICE WATERS; OR, THE SAJI'DOW JJ. VICTORY. at another's sumptuous table. For, remember that a woman's smile of encouragement has led many a man, and woman, too, to inebri- ation, and to perdition. Yes, many a woman is as much a drunkard as the sot who lies buried in the filth of the, gutter." "These are frightful assertions, but nevertheless, there are many who know their truthfulness." "Better be like the over-sensitive girl, who did not dare to smell of the rose, for fear of being intoxicated by its delicious fragrance. Or like the old lady who refused a rum-drinker the loan of her horse, for fear it would get him into bad habits." "Is it not a pity that their mantle did not fall upon some of the Ladies of the present day, who lavish their most witching smiles upon a rum-barrel, because, perchance, it assumes the garb and ap- pearance of a 'gentleman who sports a splendid equipage or occupies a gorgeous mansion?" "Never smile encouragement to the man who will press, with rap- turous delight, the wine-cup to his youthful lips. Never give him your heart and hand, 'till he gets an honorable divorce from the rum- jug, and a quit-5daim of rum-shops and gaming-saloons. Don't look at his handsome face or genteel figure, while he hides the Demon Rum beneath his rich vestments." "But the sin is not altogether there. I have known ministers to keep their liquor-closets. And deacons their oil-jugs; their tincture. of rhubarb; their spiced bitters, in case of an attack of some chronic disease, with which their imagination was afflicted. What wonder, then, that subordinate church-members get light-headed over the fumes of brandy they make use of for a weak back or sprained limb?" "Is it then any longer a mystery how King Alcohol obtained his seat of honor amongst us? Is it longer a mystery how he sustains it? Or that he rides in gorgeous state upon his gilded car, unmo- lested, through our streets and highways?" "Is it a marvel how the many little votes find their way into the * official ballot-box? The majority of these votes are thrown careless- ly in, not by professed rum-drinkers, but by men who keep their liquor-closets in a sly corner, for the accommodation of the house- hold, or for medical pnurposes." '"He is more of a man who wallows in the filth of the gutter, than the one who sneakingly hides himself behind the screen of his liquor- closet." "So longs as you suffer the interests of the rum-party to be decided by the ballot-box, just so long will the majority of votes be cast for the rum traffic. Let it no longer be made a hobby to obtain official power. Look at the result of your blind proceedings. For surely the increasing Distilleries and Rum-shops, Alms-houses, Peniten- tiaries, the wives and children of inebriates, the victims of this po- litical rum-traffic, and police Courts, will answer. Away with this terrible monster; let him find no foothold or hiding-place amongst the honorable Law-givers of this, our boasted Republic." i"And I am sure there are temperance men and temperance women enough, to drive him from this field of carnage, where he now strides victorious, drunken with the blood of the victims he has slain, and crushed beneath the wheels of his moving juggernot." ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SAJDOWA VICTORY. 15 "Courageous work and faith combined, are the materials to kill the monster Alcohol; to destroy his lite-guards; beat back the strong forces stationed to defend him, all over our beautiful land. Only make use of these materials, and the work is done; the monster is dethroned. Our homes are redeemed, and we are free. CHAPTER V. "ONE of the materials is this," she continued, at the close of her Lecture, unfolding a large roll, which contained a temper- ance pledge, and the names of hundreds, who had thus manifested their intention of becoming laborers in the great harvest field of a temperance reform. "How many Volunteers will enlist in the glorious cause amongst you? Remember it is to redeem your homes and love ones from the most deadly and devastating foe, that has even invaded our shores; from a bondage more cruel than the the grave, that has cursed, and desecrated our hearth-stones. Where is the lady, or the gentleman, who will signify to the audience, and the World, that they have taken their stand on the side of Temperance, and reform? ,Have you'intemperate friends? None just ready to plunge over the terrible abyss, with outstretched arms, crying, "Save me! save me! or I perish." Are. you all riding safely and smoothly over the sea of life? Past the breakers, and the sand bars, and whirlpools, which have swallowed up thousands upon thousands, which were floating fearlessly as yourselves, all' in sight of the am- brosial flowers, elysian fields, and sunlit shores of fame and for- tune. "But the little cloud, floating in the azure depths of a summer sky like a fleecy vapor, above the smooth surface of the sparkling tide, gathered here and there an atom, from the foamy spray until it be- came fearful in its magnitude and strength; shutting out the glorious sunlight; the beautiful fields, gorgeous flowers, and coveted shore, lashing with its furious breath the wild waste of water, into the dangerous whirlpools, mocking even the wild cry of "Savb me! save mne!" as they found themselves iu the deadly grasp of the yawning gulf." She had come down from the speaker's desk, and was standing upon the edge of the platform, with her hands extended, and her form bent efltreatingly to the audience, with her massive scroll sway- ing to and fro, coaxingly and invitingly over that sea of wondering, anxious, undecided faces, upturned to the earnest speaker, listening with intense interest to the inspirations which fell from her lips, as though she were indeed, some spirit of mercy, extending her arms to pluck them from the gulf which was yawning to receive them. For a moment a hushed and breathless stillness pervaded the en- tire assemblage; then a slight rustling far away in the obscurity of a remote corner, nearer and neareri like a soft summer zephyr, it seemed floating through that hushed assemblage. Alie Waters had edged her way with trembling timidity, through the long aisle, 'till she stood beneath the swaying scroll, her little page: 16-17[View Page 16-17] 16 A/1LICE W ATERS; OR, THE S VADO WJ VICTORY. round face iupturned, all aglow with excitement, her beautiful (ves sparkling with emotion, her ruby lips tremulous with fear and tn- certainty, as she whispered: "Please, main, can little girls and little boys sign your temperance pledge? O, I want to be a temperance girl so much; and so does Jennie and Josie, and Lettie-all of us. And I have come up to ask you if I may write all our names down on that paper. O, I know we shall be so happy when we are temperance children; and then we shan't care if John Lawton does call us rag-muffins and scare-crows. O, if my Father would only sign your pledge, too; and I know my mother will," she continued, after having traced those four pretty names upon the vacant space. "I will come back agcain," she said, whispering to the Lady upon the stand, as a new thought seemed to pervade her mind. And away like a floating zephyr, she glided on - on -'till she knelt in a beseeching attitude, by her weeping Father. "Dear Father," she whispered, "I have signed the pledge, and so has Jennie and Josie, and Lettie. And now, Father, dear, please sign it too, and we shall be so happy; and Mother won't cry any more; and the boys won't throw mud-cakes and brick-bats, and say, ' there goes old Joe Waters, drunk as an owl.' And Ben. Blurt won't take any more of your quarters that we need for bread; and we shall -never, never be called scare-crows again; n-or the children of an old drunken Father. "And you'll grow good and healthy, and handsome, and happy. And we shall all be proud that our Father is a temperance man; and we needn't live in that old shanty any longer, because you will be proud and good, as you was before you went into old Ben. Blurt's bar-room. And, clear Father, Mother is going, too; don't stay here all alone, please don't." She took her Father's trembling hand and led him unresistingly through the wondering crowd, up to the speak- er's stand, and with a look of proud triumph, she said, "i My Father is going to be a temperance man." For a moment Josephi Waters stood erect, wiping away the blind- ing tears; then casting one sweeping look over the astonished mul- titude, answered, firmly and distinctly, "Yes, thanks be to God, to this woman and little Alie, I am going to be a temperance man. Nothing but the wine that God brews, shall henceforth sparkle in the cup that is raised to my lips. "I have drank to the bitter dregs. I was just on tht verge of the whirlpool, which never lets go its deadly grasp. I had got into the strong current, and was rushing down, down over the horrible breakers, where no mortal arm could save me. Wife, children and home were forgotten, in the wild excitement and madness which hurried me on- on - to destruction and perdition. "; Theochild has grasped the Lion by the mane, and trampled the Adder beneath her feet; and through her instrumentality I am saved. The name of Joseph Waters, traced, upon this pledge, shall attest the truthfulness of my assertions. "Who, of my old associates, will bear me company? Come now, my comrades of the bacchanalian bowl; come now, 'ere your cry of, ' save me. save me, or I perish,' goes out too late." ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SAKDOW T VICTORY. 17 Another little commotion was visible' through the dense crowd, and one after another, of Sandown's tipplers, grasped their old com- rad, Joseph Waters, by the hand, saying, "we have long borne each other company, and we will not part to-night. We will not wallow in the gutter while you are pursuing the highway which leads to for- tune and honor. We, too, have been plucked from the consuming fire; from the yawning gulf, by the little hand and earnest entrea-, ties of a true and noble woman." Many more followed the good example of Alice Waters, whose name stood first on the temperance list of Sandown, on that event- ful evening of a* (female) temperance Lecture. "And now," said they all, who that evening had taken a stand on the side of temperance and reform, " now let us give three cheers; three rousing cheers for the Lady who has dared to do what woman has never done before; come into Sandown, right in the midst of our Rum-shops, Bowling-saloons and Shanties, reeking with the fumes of Distilleries and debauch ;' black with infamy and neglect; noisy and clamerous 'till the midnight hour; hideous with appalling curses and the bacchanalian songs. With homes deluged by the overflowings of the turbid waves of intemperance, rolling their dark shadows of death over the length and breadth of this entire com- munity." "And for what? For the accommodation of rum-sellers and their nefarious abbettors, notwithstanding the ruin and death caused by its unhallowed influence and the hundreds of young men sacrificed through their agency upon that bloody moloch. It was made a hob- by to obtain official power; and there was a Judas in the midst, who had his eyes on the bag which contained the tribute money." "From this night, let us tolerate no more rum-selling, nor rum- drinking in our midst. And now let our cheers ring out, as cheers never before reverberated through the aisles of Sandown Hall. for the woman who, without money, and without price, has so faithfully and so eloquently addressed us on this eventful evening. "And three cheers more for Alie Waters, who has headed the van to this great and glorious reform." 'Alie Waters.' Let that be our pass-word, our watch-word, our countersign. And let her name become a household-word in every home she has redeemed from the curse of Rum. 4 "Let 'Alie Waters' be emblazened in letters of gold, upon every badge which composes the- regalia of the Sons and Daughters of temperance ad reform." And the old Hall shook as never before, while the thunders of applause, and cheer upon cheer, reverberated and re-reverberated throughout its spacious walls. CHAPTER VI. DID you ever?" said Mrs. Blurt, to Mrs. Grocer Smith, as they edged their way out from the excited throng and deafning cheers, reverberating through the old Hall. "Did you ever see such a whirlwind as that woman has got up in Sandown this evening?" I don't believe in women Lectures, at page: 18-19[View Page 18-19] 18. ALICE WATERS; OR, THE S AtDOWJX VICTORY. all. My Ben said no good would come of it, when he heard that she was going to give a Lecture, without any admission fee. Why, you know there have been a good many men along now and then, to give Temperance Lectures, but they hired the hall and had a good smart price for admission, and nobody went to hear them, .on- ly those who didn't drink at all, and those who had plenty of money to spare and the like. "But old Joe Waters and his clique-la! they never thought of spending a quarter to go and hear a man tell them that they mustn't drink any more rum. Why, I've heard old Joe Waters, say many times, if these men were in earnest and wanted to reform them, and do all the good they could, why did'nt they go out, as the old Apostles went in olden times, without purse or scrip-be- cause, he said a laborer was worthy of his hire. And if they had the good of their fellow beings in view, rather than filling their pockets with filthy lucre; and would labor without money and with- out price, that their efforts would be rewarded, and the Master who who sent them into the harvest field, would see that they didn't want for bread. "Well, you see, none such ever came to Sandown, till this woman; and I don't believe in Woman's Rights at all, Mrs. Smith. Well as I was going to say, till this woman drop't down from, the Lord knows where, I dont: right in our midst, and gave out a notice for a free lecture in the Town Hall, inviting every rum-drinker and drunken sot, to come and hear her. "Did you ever see such audacity in a woman? And to stand up before so many, with such a brazen face, and talk in the way she did. How she put it on to Esquire Lee and Deacon Lawton. Why, they buy more brandyfor the rheumatiz and dispepticks, than Joe Waters and all his clique, for their appetites. All the difference is, they go to bed, because their rheumatiz or dispepticks, or sun- then is a little wus, and Joe Waters, lays down in the gutter. He's drunk and they are sufferin from their ale-mints. It's nothing to us you know, what use they make of it, so long as we get a pretty good price, and hard cash at that. "Why, my Ben says-and we've kept the 'Bottle 'and Sheaf' some ten years, more or less-that he's laid up a thousand dollars, clear profit, from the liquor barrels every year. And he aller's thought Sandown was the best place for his business, that he could find anywhere this side of Mason and Dixie. "And now to think that, that .brazen-faced womph must come and get up such a whirlwind in public sentiment, and turn all our plans, topsy-turvy, just at this time, when Ben was going to build that elegant house, on that piece of land, Joe Waters sold for rum, and we got it terrible cheap too. I say, just at this time, when Betsy Ann, was going to marry the richest man in town, and we wanted to give her such a grand outfit. and all that." "Yes, Mrs. Blurt," answered Mrs. Grover Smith, it is a terrible pity that that woman did come jest now; for Mr. Smith never had his cellars so full of liquors, in the twenty years that he's kept store in Sandown. "He said that prices were rising so fast, and so much sent away ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SA JVDOWJV' VICTORY. 19 to the army here and there, that he didn't think that he could lay in too much of the critter, while 'twas cheap, and more'n that, he expected to make the greatest spec thal he had ever made, since he had moved into Sandown. "And now, I'm afraid his fat is all in the fire, and he jest been to the expense to renew his license, and then to lay in such a surplus besides; so that he could make great profits when the prices were up. And we were jest fixin Sally Mariah and Victory Jane off to the city, for a winter campaign; and John has got to go to another college, because old Harvard took a notion to sniff up their nose, at somethin that he did or didn't do, I don't know which, and if that liquor has to stay in the cellar without being sold, and who knows, but what those new candidates or reprobates, or what do you call them, of temperance, may get so over zealous, that they will make a bonfire of it, or wash out the old gutters, that Joe Waters and Jack Long, and a score of others, have taken for a way side Inn. "Well I don't know what the world is coming to next. But this I do know, that I don't like such liberal minded ministers,',as that Methodist Merrit. t"Only think of his toe-nailing that woman, into Sandown Hall, and introducing her to such a crowd of spectators. . Well I never went to hear him 'preach, and never shall. And asto woman's rights, I don't believe in them at all Mrs. Blurt, and I motion that we peti- tion Legislature to put a stop to it altogether, if they want to sell any more licences for the liquor trade." CHAPTER VII. THE morning following the memoriable event in Sandown Hall, Alie Waters went tripping along lightly to the village School, and with a heart throbbing with joyous emotions; and a face over which the happy smiles were dancing with the roses and dim- ples and sunlight, which sparkled out from the clear depths of her beautiful eyes, glided buoyantly into the school-room, grasping the teacher by the hand, exclaiming, "O, Miss Manners, I wanted to tell you so; my Father is a temperance man, and I am so happy. Now we can go to school all the year 'round, and the children won't say, 'There comes old Joe Waters' rag-jags and scare-crows.' And mother says we shan't be hungry any more; and the old cot- tage is going to look almost as good as new, and we can go to meet- ing and to the Sunday-school, where we went .ever so long ago; and they won't call us names and say, ' How's your Dad;' and 'Does your Marm know you are out?' And make fun of our clothes and our patched shoes, and our old Bible, and little Jennie's curls, and Josie's hat. And Father never will go to /ld Ben. Blurt's again; nor lay in the gutter, nor let John Lawton and Jim Lee pelt him, with mud-cakes. And he never will make my Mother cry, and keep us up all night, with his delirium dandrums; and --- " "And I know more than that," said Miss Manners, smiling at the happy, earnest gestures and expressions of the noble child. "I know a little Alio Waters, who teased her Father so prettily that he page: 20-21[View Page 20-21] 20 ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SAA"DO W." VICTORY. could not say no, to go with her to the Town Hall. And then she knelt and wiped away his tears so tenderly, and took his hand so entreatingly when she asked him to throw away his rum-jug and sign a temperance pledge; and told him that she and Jennie, and Josie and Lettie, were temperance children; and Mother was only waiting for him to go with her; and '0, Father dear, do go, just this once, with little Alie, please.' "Then she led him through the jeering crowd, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, but her poor, perishing Father, and his cries of, ' Save me! save me!' Yes, her little hand grasped him with a de- termination to hold on, until his feet were on the firm rock of safety and in the high road to sobriety and honor. "Who of all my school," she continued, casting her eyes over the well filled seats, -" who of my school, has achieved such a victory as Alie Waters?" "She has led on a band of the most degraded and hopeless of Sandown's tipplers to victory and reform, with a zeal and determi- nation that has known no parallel in the annals of the world. "And Alie Waters, gentle Alie Waters, is destined to become a household oracle, wherever a son or daughter of temperance and reform, have planted their glorious standard." Two years have passed away since the eventful evening when a woman gave a Temperance Lecture in Sandown Hall, where the name of Alie Waters was first upon the pledge. Has old Joe Waters broken his pledge? Has he ever become intoxicated? Or lain in the gutter? Or had any of his " delirium dandrums?"Never! From that evening he set his face as a flint against every temptation. He walked hand in hand with his old comrads; but not over to Ben. Blurt's bar-room; not into the gut- ter; nor even into grocer Smith's cellar. But he took an opposite direction, high and dry, where the sun- beams sparkled in gorgeous splendor, 'midst the fragrant blossoms that bestrewed his pathway. It was very evident that Joseph Wat- ers had got to go up, if he went at all, for he was down, down to the foot of the hill, and even wallowed in the mire. There were some good men in Sandown, and they helped him a step or two, up the hill. First, they all went to give him the right hand of fellowship, as the Lecturer had suggested. But every hand had a gift to bestow upon some member of the household. The liberal minded minister, Mr. Merrit, had a new Bible with purple velvet cover and golden clasp, for Alie. His wife and some of her sister church-members astonished her with a complete Sun- day outfit, for which she knew not how to express her thanks and admiration -only by a flood of sparkling, laughing, frolicking tears, that would chase each other in merry mood around the dim- ples of her rosy cheeks. Mr. and Mrs. Waters were made the recipients of many a gener- ous and needful gift; and in a few weeks the drunkard's hovel was transformed into a beautiful little fairy-like, looking cottage, all by the generous exertions of the liberal-minded minister, and some by his warm hearted, active temperance friends, who were ready to roll away every stumbling block which obstructed the rugged ascent ALICE WATERS; OR, THE SA NDOWjv VICTORY. 21 of Joseph Waters, which little Alie, aided by the eloquence of her who labored not for hire, had led him into. And old Judge Bliss, Who had labored with all his might and main to overthrow the usurper which had taken such a conspicuous position in Sandown, and sent in eloquent appeals and petitions in vain, to the Legislature,. against the license system, was so elated with the little whirlwind, that a woman had set in motion, and the hurly burly which it caused amongst the votaries of rum, that he went right up to Joe Waters' hovel and shook him with such a hearty grasp that Alie thought he had got into another delirium dandrum. But she soon found out her mistake, when the old Judge, after the introduction of a hearty shake in which his bandanna was called into requisition several times, pulled out a huge roll of Uncle Sam's "promise to pay," and told him that he was commissioned to deliv- er that to the man who had thrown off the yoke of the old monster Alcohol, and taken a decided position on the other side of the house. Joe Waters couldn't stand that, and he fell right down on his knees, as he had many times before, in the old gutter, grasping the old Judge by the knees, trying with all his might to say something that wouldn't come through the cobwebs in his throat. But the old Judge said it was no matter about that, and he would see him again sometime, when this little squall had blown over. He was evident- ly in a hurry, for he made his exit through the hovel-door, flourish- ing his bandanna vigorously -in a style that would compete with any "two forty" this side of Dixie. Two years have passed away since the memoriable event of a temperance whirlWind at Sandown Hall. That now neat, little flourishing village doesn't look as if it had ever been blackened with the fumes of distilleries and rum-shops, noisy and clamorous with the bacchanalian's song and muttered curse. Vice has hid her dark visage within some stealthy covert, or emigrated to a more genial locality. The drunkard's chaplet of thorns has been trampled in the dust by many a youth and veteran of the sparkling cup. The smile of hope and happiness, once more mantles the cheek of many a mother and wife, erst drenched with the tears of anguish, rung out from their bleeding hearts. Children no longer beggared, ask for the crumbs which fall from the rich man's table. Churches have been reared, and the Sabbath-bell chimes melodious- ly around their happy homes. The pure mountain breezes bear upon their renovated pinions, the glad Rices of the redeemed, chanting their songs of temperance, freedom and reform. The gutter is deserted; rum-shops few and far between. And a Temperance House has been erected in the public square; and its sign is a female form, half enveloped in the foamy spray of a clear, sparkling, gushing fountain, holding in her outstretched hand, a mystic scroll to a little girl who vastly resembles Alie Waters, lead- -ing from out a filthy gutter, a band of reeling inebriates. The sign of the "Bottle and Sheaf," hangs by just one solitary hinge, creak- ing and moaning as it sways to and fro in the angry blast, like some page: 22-23[View Page 22-23] 22 a flICE WATERS; OR, THE SAXDOWAT' VICTORY. lost spirit, bemoaning the retribution which guilt and crime can no longer avert. Somehow, things didn't go with Ben. Blurt, as once they did. That little whirlwind kicked up a terrible mess in'his porridge-dish, and he never after could get things just to his mind. To be sure, Esq. Lee and Deacon Lawton got something now and then, when they had a bad spell of their alemints; but the spells didn't come on quite as often, nor last quite as long as they did, but "La! 'twas nothing to what it used to be." It was very evident that the liquor trade was over, in Sandown. So the "Bottle and Sheaf' and "Grocer's Cellar," put their heads together and sent a sealed proposal to Uncle Sam. But whether the proposal got lost, or exploded after its arrival, no one ever knew; and it was a greater mystery to Uncle Ben and neighbor Smith, than it was to his opponent in the Village Square. Betsey Ann somehow, hasn't got married yet, and they say, the richest man in town don't go there half as often as he did; and there is some talk of his going down to the Federal lines, with a load of " greenbacks," conscripts, I believe they call them. "Sally Mariah and Victory Jane, didn't 'make such an all-killing dash in the city as they expected to." So Mrs. Grocer Smith said: "For all the young men that they would-look at, had gone to war; and the rest wasn't good for nothing at all. And so they came home, jest as they went, after having spent a thousand or two, for an outfit and expenses, and 'twas terrible dear living in Boston this winter. "And then John, he got into another scrape after that Harvard affair, jest as we had got him into another college-which cost us a good round sum, besides his expensive wine parties and the money that he has lost gambling. Well, all this you know, coming as it did, after that unprofitable speculation and heavy invoice of liquors, has well nigh set us afloat; and I don't think that Sandown is a good place, for either of us to make much of a spec, Mrs. Blurt." "Ben said so, sometime ago; but then he's been holding on, hoping that Betsey Ann might get married, but that conscript ex- pedition has put him a little aback, and he says theve is ho other way for him, than to move over into Chancery, and your husband is going too; so we can be neighbors aud keep up our old acquain- tance as well as if we were in the 'Bottle and Sheaf' and Grocer establishment. And this all comes of liberal minded ministers; of female lectures; Alie Waters, and what they call the SANDOWN VICTORY. " THE END.
