Litchfield enquirer., 1842-02-17

Geenv tastefully yet not gaudily dressed,
 modest, yet not bashful, entered the room!
 with light, yet imposing step, gracefully
 hanging on the arm of the stately young
 carpenter. There was hcahh in the fine
 ly developed form. and tlrere was gladnessI
 in the rich blue eyes. The happiness of
 the present, the pleasing an,iciparions of
 he future, beamed brightly in her counte-
 nance, and revealed the workings of a hearl
 full of hope aud devotion.
 Carleton was net less an object of admi-
 ration. His open manly brow, loaded
 with rich curlS of dark hair; his full mel
 low eye and elegantly turned mouth, slan,-
 ped him at once as a fauIIless specimen of
 humanity, created in the image of hts Ma
 ker.
 Two years later and was guest at the
 house of Carleton. Caroline had becomeS
 "a mother the mother af beautiful boy E
 She was the picture of contentment. Hei
 maiden smile still sat on her lips; her
 bright blue eyes had grown yet brighter
 still, and her step was light and buo yant as
 sn the day her wedding. Carleton wass all life, health, aud activity. Happy in tue bosom of his litlle family, respected by all, | land full of hope, he gave new impulseE ato all around him. His clear head made him safe counsellor, and his ready wit, ab brilliant companion. In word, he had } becnme the master spirit of NJ.
 Five years rolled away, and I had not ]
 seen Carleton. In 1880, accident once more threw me into the village of NJ. l dthere met Carleton and warm and k b, precisely the man l had parted with five years ago. He was, thought, less self k possessed, less energetic, and less guarded s 4n his conversation. His humor seemed <
 coarser, and in his manner there was a sor, l of flashing lightness, not exactly in keep ling with his former character. His eyes,
 too, thought, had lost something of ,hcil
 wonted briliancy, and the color of his facrs E Iappeared deeper than at our last interview. ! Yet so many years had elapsed since ou meeting, changes were 10 be expected, andF besides, there was really so much of the '
 frank William Carleton still left, that my 3''nwelCome suspicious. In the course ofk our short interview, old rcccollecIions were revived, old scenes rehearsed, and new subjects introduced. Carleton was so bril-. : liant. so happy, and so much like his form { ler self, that at the end of an hour had quite forgotten the embryo impressions ex- cited at the moment of greeting.
 In the evening was at his house. II my attention had been arrested on n,eetingN
 Carleton, by some unde6nable altera,ouH
 n his appearance, it was doubly so when Caroline, or Mrs. Carleton, made her ap- Ipearance in the sitting room. She was cheerful, but her cheerfulness seemed rath- Z CT forced than spontaneous. Her brow was slightly elouded, and her beautiful blue eyes appeared more fixed and cast flown than formerly. She affected Co be gay, but evidently it required an effort to Joe so. There was, too, an appearance of marked submission, mingled with fear in : her submission, altogether unlike her won't ! led, hearty ebulilious of feeling. thought :
 l could perceive also, that when her eyes met those of Carleton, there was an ap- pearanee of sonsething like shrinking, ol restraint, as th"ugh there were certain < bounds beyond which she dare no, pass !!All certainly was not right. noticed d. gain tic unnatural flush on Carleton's face.
 It was now more apparent than at our meeting in the morning. A sudden con- tviction of the trUth flashed across my mind. ] did not cmbody the idea; gave |it no language; but there it was enihron- |e'. like demon, and as ineffaceabe as the impress of eternal trull,-C Carlrton scos |drmkOrd.
 or this terrible trush obtained evidence on the following morning. ! need not re- peat i. here. l Jeff ,i.e village and saw n" more of him for several years; and when subsequently did. he was perfect wreck both in person and fortune. Indeed, never saw more disgusting lump of hu-
 Mani'y. BIoa.ed, filthy and bru,ish, he had been at different times, an inmate of
 the work house, the jail, and the house of |eorreciiom, from all which he came forth
 seven-fold more a monster of drpravity, than when he entered either. Poor Caro-
 line she had drained the cup of wretch
 cdness to the very dregs! She had been
 driven from her pleasant home-her furna- rurs and wardrobe, piece after piece, had passed out of her possession, till at Mst she and her little boy were tenants of miser-
 able hOvel in remote corner of her na- 3ttVc WWus D thcH dOOCc NdVuOu ~OuluE at times 6ad his way; aud thsre, instead of meeting frowns and reproaches, instead of being repulsed and driven from she door las an oHtcast and a scourge, she who in the budding hour of womanhood, had sworn fidelity and love before the altar of her God, extended to the iust inebriate the hand of affection and kindness. There hs who had sunk in the scale of Humanity,