Sally. Second the motion.
John. Ned, I withdraw all objections to your proposal regarding Mary.
Ned. Thank you, Mr. Nutter.—Mary, are you going to make me happy?
Mary. I’m going to try, Ned. And where there’s a will there’s a way, you know.
Will. Mother, you don’t know how happy I feel to be with you again, to see the old home, everything about the room so familiar; even the little brown jug has a familiar look. It was my first temptation.
Jarius. Yes, boy, it was a family temptation. I knowed it would work trouble. Ah, if the liquid poison that slays was never allowed to show itself in the home, there would be fewer desolate hearthstones, fewer blighted lives.
John. You’re right, Jarius. When that boy fell, it opened my eyes, and not a drop of liquor shall ever enter my doors.
Jarius. Jes’ so. Stick to it, John Nutter. It was a bad speck. It turned your boy adrift; but, thanks to a mother’s love, he fought and conquered.
Will. (Comes up and takes Jarius’s hand.) Thanks to you, thanks to you!