Show A HAPPY NEW YEAR it was 10 in two hours more the clock would signal the closing hour of the year and twelve months would have flown since john the husband of the repining wife left his home to seek a livelihood for his wife and family in the gold gathering sections of the great west during all the time of his ab absence selice mary allen alien had not heard from her husband she knew nothing of his whereabouts nor whether or not he would ever return hax had he perished on the great american desert or had he drifted off with evil com companions pardons and cast aside those whom he once loved so dearly and for whom he had set out to gain a livelihood these were questions which flasher flashed vividly across the mind of the distressed woman as she sat in her humble cabin listening to the tick tock took of their ancient looking timepiece time piece while her three little ones nestled snugly in their warm cot dreaming of new years which they had heard their mother so often speak about poor woman she had toiled with all the drudgery of which she was capable during the days of the year just closing in order to properly clothe and feed her little ones and so busy had she been that few moments had gileni her the chance to sit in her low backed chair and ponder as she was now pondering few times indeed had she ever thought of her husband being untrue to her or even unmindful of the charges that he had sworn so devoutly to care for and protect did john still cherish in his heaxt heart the love that once held sway for his wife and little onest ones once was when he would sit by the open fireside and there prattle with the children as though he were one of them or had he if living become hardened like the class of men he had set out to mingle with and forgot all yea all of home children and wife the more mrs allen alien pondered oves over these things the more nervous she became feeling as she did that all was not just right that john had either met an untimely ending or he was not himself why had haa he never writ written benr since his departure he had promised to for his last words to his wife as he fondly kissed her goodbye good bye were mary be cheerful I 1 will return shortly be good to the children I 1 will write you and tell you just how I 1 succeed had he forgotten his promise N no no it could not be r john had too goedl a heart for that he was too devoted to his family circle to so estrange himself he must have met with some un looked for calamity for in all his eagerness to seek out a livelihood for his dear ones he could not no would not heave such a burden upon them as that of forcing them to drag along through a whole twelvemonth twelve month without any tidings of the man they so much doted upon the children were now in a deep sleep except that every now and then the wanderings of the mind would cause them to become restless and make them mumble to themselves words which were not distinctly audible to the fond but fretful mother the hands of the old fashioned clock continued journey around their figured dial and only a short time remained until the bells in the church towers would begin to augur the passing of the old the opening of the new what a vast difference in the environments of mrs allen alien to those of two years before when the husband was a prosperous town merchant and in sufficiently good circumstances to surround round his charges with everything that tended to mark the beginning of a new year with joy and gladness these were conditions for reflection these grated upon the poor womans comans memory and drove her to that state of mind wherein many are led to pronounce this life not worth the living but such a sentiment however found not lodgment in mrs allens aliens heart V she was too broadminded broad minded for that too charitable too mindful of her little ones and too hopeful that perhaps after all john would some day return and surround her and the babies wit with h all the happiness and joy that his heart was prone to bestow upon them 1 the hour of twelve arrived there was vas a a solemn stillness pervading the neighborhood of the allen alien household the mother wept in her deep reflection but she had not given up hope despite the thoughts that in two hours had flirted flitted through her memory with light nin ning 9 like rapidity she retired just as the church bells began to toll and in their jingle a solemn prayer went up in which the father was petitioned to grant unto that family the knowledge whether or not their mainstay john allen alien had met with an untimely ending had forsaken those whom he once loved or had been placed in such circumstances as to make it impossible for him to communicate with them that petition was a fervent one and escaped from the lips of mrs allen alien with a quivering earnestness that betokened sincerity of the deepest type 0 gracious and most merciful father said she grant unto us this night thy roly holy spirit we axe are desirous of knowing what has become of one who once loved us so eo dearly john allen alien but who left his family circle just a year ago to seek tor for them a livelihood in the mining sections of the great west lias has he peris perished bed father has it been thy will to thus deprive Us of our mainstay our earthly provider if go 0 o grant 0 lord that thou wilt make known unto us that such is the case at the same time giving us the power and nd endurance to withstand the try 1129 ig ordeal if he has not been thu removed removed grant us 0 father the knowledge of his hie whereabouts that in our ur sorrowing hours we may find consolation tion in knowing that he still lives that mat he is still true to us albeit that we have not heard from him since his departure the conclusion of this prayer brought ought resignation to that faithful woman her countenance beamed with fiPP meBs as she uttered the word A unell and although she spoke not another other word it was clearly evident wat that her humble petition had fallen on attentive bentive cen tive ears and that a response ahugh ugh perhaps inaudible had came 48 an answer even before the prayer was finished that night mrs allen alien slept pt well and in the morning the same g m beaming countenance that held 1 sway g I y when her eyes had closed in sleep was still ln in evidence and as ma johnnie Toh nnie and katie were lifted out of Q bea each received a loving kiss from a hn mother as she assured them that arl papa would soon return b the first of january ninety seven brought happiness to a fireside where borrow arow ayt and the tears teare of bitter part ine y K marked ed a contrary state a year beof fore hn allen en the lost the unheard cia the 6 prayed for returned and ash as he e clasped yea a loving and devoted wife and took in his arms the young ones he was so loth to leave he recited to mary allen alien a tale of extreme hardship greater perhaps than that which the mother at home had had to bear telling her how he had drifted into the frozen alaskan regions how he had been isolated and cut off from the rest of the civilized world for nearly ten months all the while living on scanty rations yea so scant that the very shoe leather cast from the feet was a sweet morsel at times john allen alien after leaving home had joined an expedition bound for klondike they reached the headwaters of the yukon in the early spring P julme me and from there drifted along its tribu baries to a place so s remote that humankind outside of their own ranks was scarcely ever seen the gold sought for was obtained but while digging for it the party had bad dwindled from a dozen to half that number six having perished in the cold their provisions began to run out and they were put on rations this condition coupled with the extremity of the weather reduced their ranks to two john allen alien and joe brown these men proceeded homeward with apiece in gold dust at dawson they succeeded in getting purchasers for their claims this gave each an additional and w with ith the so secured and an experience which nothing would prompt them to go through again they schemed and planned foot by foot and mile by mile to reach their happy inland homes which both made it a point to arrive at by new years day it is needless to say that a transformation was brought about in the circumstances cum stances of john allens aliens family now they axe are living in peace and happiness with everything that their hearts desire and as the father looks back upon his position of a year ago i he utters a prayer to god that his life was spared while his dear wife mary still continues to petition that same source from which came such a ready response to her prayer and which gave to her and the family that which was really and truly a very very happy new year |