Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1839-01-31
sooo,,s - said she, you've got every thing.

havnt got pint NJ meal nor u Pech o' Po II
atoes for my children. Stop-l'm mistaken;
here's all old rum jug in the house, tllats
,een in your house often enough; you ongn'
20 have that and there's a ragged straw oeu'
you shall have them both aud any !h'hg e'se
You'll find, if you won't let Barny nave any
more rum. You've made your bargain,
Shocks, your own way; but there's 'nllo
party to il, and that's the devil: fouve Eo'
poor Barny's money in your til' anu 'ne uu
yirs got your soul in his fire proof anu ne"
keep it there safe till the day OF Judgment.
Uncle Zeke offered 'Bjah Cody a hand-
some present if he would turn her out VI '"e
shop. A. SoLsp nm.
swered 'Biiah, with look that showed p'a'n-
ly enough how much he enjoyed Uncle Aeke
torment. a.
aLook here, Nelly Belcher," snid Uncle
Zekc-and he was getting wrat'iy' lot ne
stamped his foot pretty considerable smart
the second Tuesday of November next, the
court will sit, and you shall answer Tor ,his.
"What care for your court" rePlieo sne;
the time will come, and 1t may come this
hour, when higher will cit and you ea,'
answer for more than oil this thousano ioiu;
Then, you cold.hearted old man, J wiil Icas
my poor ragged children before the bar OF a
righteous God, and make a short story OF
their wrongs and OF that poor young mans
who has fallen by your hands, Just as surely
as though you had killed him with ra'sbane
There's none Of you here that doesn't re-
member me and Barney when VIC were nar-
ricd. Now, ask if you ever dreamt lnat ". we
| shonld come TO this5 Was there ever lit
| ,le farm better managed? And if was not
a careful faithful. industrious vito to Barney,
| I wish you TO snv the very worst TO my face
And were my little ones treated? Hadn't
,hcy whole clothes for Sunday, and wasn't
,hcy constant at meeting for years, till this
curse crept in upon us like an adder? And
tll then did YOU ever see likelier man than
Barney? And as for his kindness to me and
the children till that hour, it's for mo to wit
ness and say it before ye oil, that before
he tasted this old mans liquor, there never
was hard thought or bitter word between
| us. He was the boy ofmy foolish love when
he was seventeen, aud tho man OF my choice
when he was three and twenty. ] gave HIN
an honest heart, that never loved another
and the trfle of worldly goods that my moth
or left me but he has broken the one, ane
souandered the other. Last night, as l lay
upon my straw bed, with my poor children,
I,hought of our young days, and our little
projects of happiness and as ] saw pool
Barney, in my fancy, just the trim lad that
he was, with his bright eye and ruddy cheek
felt my eyes filling with tears, as they're
filling now. I hope may never shed anoth
err" SAID she, dashing them off with the bacl
of her hand. and resuming her look OF ven
reonce. "Im going to cross your threshholt
for the last time, und now mark me well.
ask you, once for all, to sell poor Barny ~
more liquor. Ifyou do, will curse you III
die, as the destroyer of my husband and
will teach my children to curse you when
am am dead and gone: as the de.''0ye. OF '.e'
father" =,
Il Uncle Snooks continued to sell rum tt
Barny Belchcr as before, whenever he 60
any money. Ii was thought by good man!
that Nelly had lost her reason, or very nca
it, about that time. She soon found out Bar
nv got rum at the shop; and sure enough
she brought her four little children, and
standing close to the shop door, she curse
\ Uncle Zeke, and made them do go too.
worried him exceedingly. Whenever sh
b, met him in the road, she used to stop shor
j. \ and say over form tha. she had, in 10
= voice bu, every body knew, by her ralslr
!. her eyes and hands, that che was cursln
:. Uncle Zeke. Very few blamed her: n
. case was very hard one, and most folks e!
= cused her on the score OF her MINDS beir
j." unsettled by her troubles. But even the
- she made hes children obey her, wheth
:, present or absent, though it was sad 81
never struck them blow. 1t almost mat
me shudder sometimes when I've seen the:
: children meet Uncle Zeke. They'd get OF
of his way as far as they could; and whe
!. H he had gone by they'd move their lips, thoug
!, you could not hear word, and raise up the
= ewes and hands, Just as their mother ha
, taught them When thought these chlidrc
were calling down the vengeance OF heave
i upon Uncle Zeke, for having made the
= : / fa,herless, it made my blood run cold.
After the death Of her husband, she b.
;, came very melancholy, and great deal mo
80 after the death of her two younger ch
dren. She did not curse Uncle Zeke aft
=, that. But she always had a talent for rhyr
- ing; and she used to come and sit upon
;. - horse block before our shop, and sing 8.
., of song, that was meant to worry Uncle Eel
:; and It did worry hin dreadtully, especia
-, the chorus. Whenever ho heard that,
- seemed to forget what he was about, a
=" - every thing went wrong. Twas somethl
q like this
ne He dug q pit rs deep ns hell.
ct And into it many a drunkard fell
re- He dug pit for sordid pelf.
NJ And into that pit he'll fall himself.
1t One time, when poor Nelly sung the ch
,r rus pretty loud, and the shop was rather fu
g. Uncle Zeke was so confused that he pour'
half pint Of rum, which he had measure
e, out, in his I'LL, and dropped tho change IN
I'd the tin pot, and handed it to the customer.
I really felt for him; for about this til
g. two of his sons gave him sight of troub
nt. They used to get drunk and fight like s.
IS pcnts. They shut the old gentleman co
cellar one night, and ono Of them, when
lie was drunk, slapped his father in the face
tie They did nothing but run him into debt:
at last he got to taking too much hims
,e, lust to drown care. Old Molly was rig!
OIL for Uncle Snooks fell into his own pit bef
he died.
N. After the Temperance Society was form
he lost his license, and got to he starv
poor, and the town had to maintain him
, a He's been crazy several years. l wen
in see him last winter, with father, who has tr
to get him into the State hospital. 1t m
you me feel ugly to see him. He didn't kr
rny me but all the time | was there, he
so II ,,rn;pr bia thumh and fnper as thouri