"I DON'T see that I am so much better off," said Mr. Gordon, a man
who had recently given up drinking. "I lost my situation on the very
day I signed the pledge, and have had no regular employment since."
"But you would have lost your situation if you hadn't signed the
pledge, I presume," said the individual to whom he was complaining.
"Yes. I lost it because I got drunk and spoiled my job. But to hear
some temperance people talk, one who didn't know would be led to
believe that, the very moment the pledge was signed, gold could be
picked up in the streets. I must confess that I haven't found it so.
Money is scarcer with me than it ever was; and though I don't spend
a cent for myself, my family haven't a single comfort more than they
had before."
"Though there's no disputing the fact that they would have many less
comforts if you hadn't signed the pledge?"
"No, I suppose not. But I cannot help feeling discouraged at the way
things go. If I had the same wages I received before I signed the
pledge, I could be laying up money. But, as it is, it requires the
utmost economy to keep from getting in debt."
"Still, you do manage to keep even?"
"Yes."
"On about half your former income?"
"A little over half. I used to get ten dollars a week. Now I manage,
by picking up odd jobs here and there, to make about six."
"Then you are better off than you were before."
"I hardly see how you can make that out."
"Your family have enough to live upon--all they had before--and you
have a healthier body, a calmer mind, and a clearer conscience.
Isn't here something gained?"
"I rather think there is," replied Gordon, smiling.
"And I rather think you are a good deal better off than you were
before. Isn't your wife happier?"
"O! yes. She's as cheerful as a lark all the day."
"And doesn't murmur because of your light wages?"
"No, indeed! not she. I believe if I didn't earn more than three
dollars a week, and kept sober, she would make it do, somehow or
other, and keep a good heart. It's wonderful how much she is
changed!"
"And yet you are no better off? Ain't you better off in having a
happy wife and a pleasant home, what I am sure you hadn't before?"
"You are right in that. I certainly had neither of them before. Oh!
yes. I am much better off all around. I only felt a little
despondent, because I can't get regular employment as I used to, and
good wages; for now, if I had these, I could do so well."
"Be patient, friend Gordon; time will make all right. There are
three words that every reformed man should write on the walls of his
chamber, that he may see them every morning. They are 'Time, Faith,
Energy.' No matter how low he may have fallen; no matter how
discouraging all things around him may appear; let him have energy,
and faith in time, and all will come out well at last."
Gordon went home, feeling in better heart than when he met the
temperance friend who had spoken to him these encouraging words.
Henry Gordon, when he married, had just commenced business for
himself, and went on for several years doing very well. He laid by
enough money to purchase himself a snug little house, and was in a
good way for accumulating a comfortable property, when the habit of
dram-drinking, which he had indulged for years, became an
over-mastering passion. From that period he neglected his business,
which steadily declined. In half the time it took to accumulate the
property he possessed, all disappeared--his business was broken up,
and he compelled to work at his trade as a journeyman to support his
family. From a third to a half of the sum he earned weekly, he spent
in gratifying the debasing appetite that had almost beggared his
family and reduced him to a state of degradation little above that
of the brute. The balance was given to his sad-hearted wife, to get
food for the hungry, half-clothed children.
Nor was this all. Debts were contracted which Gordon was unable to
pay. One or two of his creditors, more exacting than the rest,
seized upon his furniture and sold it to satisfy their claims,
leaving to the distressed family only the few articles exempt by
law.
Things had reached this low condition, when Gordon came home from
the shop, one day, some hours earlier than usual. Surprised at
seeing him, his wife said--
"What's the matter, Henry? Are you sick?"
"No!" he replied, sullenly, "I'm discharged."
"Discharged! For what, Henry?"
"For spoiling a job."
"How did that happen?" Mrs. Gordon spoke kindly, although she felt
anxious and distressed.
"How has all my trouble happened?" asked Gordon, with unusual
bitterness of tone. "I took a glass too much, and--and--"
"It made you spoil your job," said his wife, her voice still kind.
"Yes. Curse the day I ever saw a drop of liquor! It has been the
cause of all my misfortunes."
"Why not abandon its use at once and for ever, Henry?"
"That is not so easily done."
"Hundreds have done it, and are doing it daily, and so may you. Only
make the resolution, Henry. Only determine to break these fetters,
and you are free. Let the time past, wherein you have wrought folly,
and your family suffered more than words can express, suffice. Only
will it, and there will be a bright future for all of us."
Tears came into the eyes of Mrs. Gordon while she made this appeal,
although she strove hard to appear calm. Her husband felt a better
spirit awaking within him. There was a brief struggle between
appetite and the good resolution that was forming in his mind, and
then the latter conquered.
"I will be free!" he said, turning towards the door through which he
had a little while before entered, and hurriedly leaving the house.
The hour that passed from the time her husband went out until he
returned, was one of most anxious suspense to Mrs. Gordon. Her hand
trembled so that she could not hold her needle, and was obliged to
lay aside the sewing upon which she was engaged, and go about some
household employments.
"Mary, I have signed the pledge, if that will do any good," said
Gordon, opening the door and coming in upon his wife with his pledge
in his hand. "There," and he unrolled the paper and pointed to his
name; "there is my signature, and here is the document."
He did not speak very cheerfully; but his wife's face was lit up
with a sudden brightness, followed by a gush of tears.
"Do any good!" she replied, leaning her head upon his shoulder, and
grasping one of his hands tightly in both of hers. "It will do all
good!"
"But I have no work, Mary. I was discharged to-day, and it is the
only shop in town. What are we to do?"
"Mr. Evenly will take you back, now that you have signed the
pledge."
"Perhaps he will!" Gordon spoke more cheerfully. "I will go and see
him to-morrow."
Mrs. Gordon prepared her husband a strong cup of coffee, and baked
some nice hot cakes for his supper. She combed her hair, and made
herself as tidy as possible. The children, too, were much improved
in their looks by a little attention, which their mother felt
encouraged to give. There was an air of comfort about the
ill-furnished dwelling of Henry Gordon that it had not known for a
long time, and he felt it.
On the next morning, after breakfast, Gordon went back to the shop
from which he had been discharged only the day previous. Evenly, the
owner of it, was a rough, unfeeling man, and had kept Gordon on,
month after month, because he could not well do without him. But, on
the very day he discharged him, a man from another town had applied
for work, and the spoiled job was made an excuse for discharging a
journeyman, whose habits of intoxication had always been offensive
to the master-workman.
When Gordon entered the shop for the purpose of asking to be taken
back, he met Evenly near the door, who said to him, in a rough
manner--
"And what do you want, pray?"
"I want you to take me back again," replied Gordon. "I have signed
the pledge, and intend leading a sober life hereafter."
"The devil you have!"
"Yes sir. I signed it yesterday, after you discharged me."
"How long do you expect to keep it?" asked Evenly, with a sneer.
"Long enough to reach the next grogshop?"
"I have taken the pledge for life, I trust," returned the workman,
seriously. He was hurt at the contemptuous manner of his old
employer, but his dependent condition made him conceal his feelings.
"You will have no more trouble with me."
"No, I am aware of that. I will have no more trouble with you, for I
never intend to let you come ten feet inside the front door of my
shop."
"But I have reformed my bad habit, Mr. Evenly. I will give you no
more trouble with my drinking," said the poor man, alarmed at this
language.
"It's no use for you to talk to me, Gordon," replied Evenly, in a
rough manner. "I've long wanted to get rid of you, and I have
finally succeeded. Your place is filled. So there is no more to say
on that subject. Good morning."
And the man turned on his heel and left Gordon standing half
stupified at what he had heard.
"Rum's done the business for you at last, my lark! I told you it
would come to this!" said an old fellow workman, who heard what
passed between Gordon and the employer. He spoke in a light,
insulting voice.
Without replying, the unhappy man left the shop, feeling more
wretched than he had ever felt in his life.
"And thus I am met at my first effort to reform!" he murmured,
bitterly.
"Hallo, Gordon! Where are you going?" cried a voice as these words
fell from his lips.
He looked up and found himself opposite to the door of one of his
old haunts. It was the keeper of it who had called him.
"Come! Walk in and let us see your pleasant face this morning. Where
were you last night? My company all complained about your absence.
We were as dull as a funeral."
"Curse you and your company too!" ejaculated Gordon between his
teeth, and moved on, letting his eyes fall again to the pavement.
"Hey-day! What's the matter?"
But Gordon did not stop to bandy words with one of the men who had
helped to ruin him.
"It's all over with us, Mary. Evenly's got a man in my place," said
Gordon, as he entered his house and threw himself despairingly into
a chair. "But won't he give you work, too?" asked Mrs. Gordon, in a
husky voice.
"No! He insulted me, and said I should never come ten feet inside of
his shop."
"Did you tell him that you had signed the pledge?"
"Yes. But it was no use. He did not seem to care for me any more
than he did for a dog."
The poor man's distress was so great that he covered his face with
his hands, and sat swinging his body to and fro, and uttering
half-suppressed moans.
"What are we to do, Mary? There is no other shop in town," he said,
looking up, after growing a little calm. "Doesn't it seem hard, just
as I am trying to do right?"
"Don't despair, Henry. Let us trust in Providence. It is only a dark
moment; yet, dark as it is, it is brighter to me than any period has
been for years. A clear head and ready hands will not go long
unemployed. I do not despond, dear husband, neither should you. Keep
fast anchored to your pledge, and we will outride the storm."
"But we shall starve, Mary. We cannot live upon air."
"No," replied Mrs. Gordon; "but we can live upon half what you have
been earning at your trade, and quite as comfortably as we have been
living. And it will be an extreme case, I think, if you can't get
employment at five dollars a week, doing something or other. Don't
you?"
"It appears so. Certainly I ought to be able to earn five dollars a
week, if it is at sawing wood. I'll do that--I'll do any thing."
"Then we needn't be alarmed. I'll try and get some sewing at any
rate, to help out. So brighten up, Henry. All will be well. It will
take a little time to get things going right again; but time and
industry will do all for us that we could ask."
Thus encouraged, Gordon started out to see if he could find
something to do. It was a new thing for him to go in search of work;
and rather hard, he felt, to be obliged almost to beg for it. Where
to go, or to whom to apply, he did not know. After wandering about
for several hours, and making several applications at out of the way
places with no success, he turned his steps homeward, feeling
utterly cast down. In this state, he was assailed by the temptation
to drown all his trouble in the cup of confusion, and nearly drawn
aside; but a thought of his wife, and the bright hope that had
sprung up in her heart in the midst of darkness, held him back.
"It's no use to try, Mary," he said, despondingly, as he entered his
poorly-furnished abode, and found his wife busy with her needle. "I
can't get any work."
"I have been more successful than you have, Henry," Mrs. Gordon
returned, speaking cheerfully. "I went to see if Mrs. Hewitt hadn't
some sewing to give out, and she gave me a dozen shirts to make. So
don't be discouraged. You can afford to wait for work even for two
or three weeks, if it doesn't come sooner. Let us be thankful for
what we have to-day, and trust in God for to-morrow. Depend upon it,
we shall not want. Providence never forsakes the man who is trying
to do right."
Thus Mrs. Gordon strove to keep up the spirits of her husband. After
dinner, he went out again and called to see a well-known temperance
man. After relating to him what he had done, and how unhappily he
was situated in regard to work, the man said--
"It won't do to be idle, Gordon; that's clear. An idle man is
tempted ten times to another's once. You will never be able to keep
the pledge unless you get something to do. We must assist you in
this matter. What can you do besides your trade?"
"I have little skill beyond my regular calling; but then, I have
health, strength, and willingness; and I think these might be made
useful in something."
"So do I. Now to start with, I'll tell you what I'll do. If you will
come and open my store for me every morning, make the fire and sweep
out, and come and stay an hour for me every day while I go to
dinner, I will give you three dollars a week. Two hours a day is all
your time I shall want."
"Thank you from my heart! Of course I accept your offer. So far so
good," said Gordon, brightening up.
"Very well. You may begin with to-morrow morning. No doubt you can
make an equal sum by acting as a light porter for the various stores
about. I can throw a little in your way; and I will speak to my
neighbors to do the same." There was not a happier home in the whole
town than was the home of Henry Gordon that night, poor as it was.
"I knew it would all come out right," said Mrs. Gordon. "I knew a
better day was coming. We can live quite comfortably upon five or
six dollars a week, and be happier than we have been for years."
When Gordon thought of the past, he did not wonder that tears fell
over the face of his wife, even while her lips and eyes were bright
with smiles. As the friend had supposed, Gordon was employed to do
many errands by the storekeepers in the neighborhood. Some weeks he
made five dollars and sometimes six or seven. This went on for a few
months, when he began to feel discouraged. The recollection of other
and brighter days returned frequently to his mind, and he began
ardently to desire an improved external condition, as well for his
wife and children as for himself. He wished to restore what had been
lost; but saw no immediate prospect of being able to do so. Six
dollars a week was the average of his earnings, and it took all
this, besides what little his wife earned, to make things tolerably
comfortable at home.
Gordon was in a more desponding mood than usual, when he indulged in
the complaint with which our story opens. What was said to him
changed the tone of his feelings, and inspired him with a spirit of
cheerfulness and hope.
"Time, Faith, Energy!" he said to himself, as he walked with a more
elastic step. "Yes, these must bring out all right in the end. I
will not be so weak as to despond. All is much improved as it is. We
are happier and better. Time, Faith, Energy! I will trust in these."
When Gordon opened the door of his humble abode, he found a lad
waiting to see him, who arose, and presenting a small piece of
paper, said--
"Mr. Blake wishes to know when you can settle this?"
Mr. Blake was a grocer, to whom ten dollars had been owing for a
year. He had dunned the poor drunkard for the money until he got
tired of so profitless a business, and gave up the account for lost.
By some means, it had recently come to his ears that Gordon had
signed the pledge.
"Some chance for me yet," he said, and immediately had the bill made
out anew, and sent in; not thinking or caring whether it might not
be premature for him to do so, and have the effect to discourage the
poor man and drive him back to his old habits. What he wanted was
his money. It was his due; and he meant to have it if he could get
it.
"Tell Mr. Blake that I will pay him as soon as possible. At present
it is out of my power," said Gordon, in answer to the demand.
The lad, in the spirit of his master, turned away with a sulky air,
and left the house.
Poor Gordon's feelings went down to zero in a moment.
"It's hopeless, Mary! I see it all as plain as day," he said. "The
moment I get upon my feet, there will be a dozen to knock me down.
While I was a drunkard, no one thought of dunning me for money; but
now that I am trying to do right, every one to whom I am indebted a
dollar will come pouncing down upon me."
"It's a just debt, Henry, you know, and we ought to pay it."
"I don't dispute that. But we can't pay it now."
"Then Blake can't get it now; so there the matter will have to rest.
A little dunning won't kill us. We have had harder trials than that
to bear. So don't get discouraged so easily."
The words "Time, Faith, Energy!" came into the mind of Gordon and
rebuked him.
"There is sense in what you say, Mary," he replied. "I know I am too
easily discouraged. We owe Blake, that is clear; and I suppose he is
right in trying to get his money. We can't pay him now; and
therefore he can't get it now, do what he will. So we will be no
worse for his dunning, if he duns every day. But I hate so to be
asked for money."
"I'll tell you what might be done," said Mrs. Gordon.
"Well?" inquired the husband.
"Mr. Blake has a large family, and no doubt his wife gives out a
good deal of sewing. I could work it out."