to ruin to his son."

"That's bad," said I.

"Bad! It is awful to think of. There is not a finer young man in the
country, nor one with better mind and heart, than Willy Hammond. So
much the sadder will be his destruction. Ah, sir! this tavern-keeping
is a curse to any place."

"But I thought, just now, that you spoke in favor of letting even the
poor drunkard's money go into the landlord's till, in order to
encourage his commendable enterprise in opening so good a tavern."

"We all speak with covert irony sometimes," answered the man, "as I did
then. Poor Joe Morgan! He is an old and early friend of Simon Slade.
They were boys together, and worked as millers under the same roof for
many years. In fact, Joe's father owned the mill, and the two learned
their trade with him. When old Morgan died, the mill came into Joe's
hands. It was in rather a worn-out condition, and Joe went in debt for
some pretty thorough repairs and additions of machinery. By and by,
Simon Slade, who was hired by Joe to run the mill, received a couple of
thousand dollars at the death of an aunt. This sum enabled him to buy a
share in the mill, which Morgan was very glad to sell in order to get
clear of his debt. Time passed on, and Joe left his milling interest
almost entirely in the care of Slade, who, it must be said in his
favor, did not neglect the business. But it somehow happened--I will
not say unfairly--that at the end of ten years, Joe Morgan no longer
owned a share in the mill. The whole property was in the hands of
Slade. People did not much wonder at this; for while Slade was always
to be found at the mill, industrious, active, and attentive to
customers, Morgan was rarely seen on the premises. You would oftener
find him in the woods, with a gun over his shoulder, or sitting by a
trout brook, or lounging at the tavern. And yet everybody liked Joe,
for he was companionable, quick-witted, and very kind-hearted. He would
say sharp things, sometimes, when people manifested little meannesses;
but there was so much honey in his gall, that bitterness rarely
predominated.

"A year or two before his ownership in the mill ceased, Morgan married
one of the sweetest girls in our town--Fanny Ellis, that was her name,
and she could have had her pick of the young men. Everybody affected to
wonder at her choice; and yet nobody really did wonder, for Joe was an
attractive young man, take him as you would, and just the one to win
the heart of a gi