Ypsilanti sentinel. [volume] (Ypsilanti, Washtenaw Co., Mich.) 1843-1900, 1847-02-03

ious care-worn brow, fills with heavy echo
on the heart of the poorfnan who can bequeath
nothing but his blessing Those words, ssthe
day that IS comng," runk in the widows ears;
she had stepped out of her magic circle, and the
mist was cleared before his eyes. She now
felt, (and with the greater intenseness, as being
self-sought burthen,) that she had not only
to protect, to feed, and to cothe the pretty rosy
child she had pictured to herself running pratt
ting by her side, but, without rejecting at the
fist impulse of kindly nature, had taken upon
herself the awful responsibility of anothers fu-
ture. The lone old woman had caught eagerly
at the gift, without considering the heavy debt
that gift entailed. As she sat rocking me back
wards and forwards at the open door of her one
roomed cottage, and the night closed round with
oppressive stiffness; she felt for a moment ut
terly downcast, and bitterly asked herself what
right she had TO offer the shad6Wsof home,
which in the common course of nature must so
soon pass awayl Why, from a selfish wish
not to pursue the remaindstsof her way COM
panonIess, embitter the yGSfh.cf perhaps long
and weary life! But the remembrance of the
utterly destitute and friendless condition, in
which she had found me, comforted her; the
prospect of the workhouse was still less encour-
aging than the home she had to offer, and though
the future was as yet feaHully uncertain, ''There
was no knowing what might turn up, and the
boy might have luck;" SO resolving only to
think how she could do best for the present, she
retired to rest, having regained in great mea-
sure her former cheerfuness.
| Time passed, and at the age of six, had as
| yet done nothing to justify Mrs. Grum's proph-
ecy: and the mark on my hand, 1.-THE only evil
dence against me,) had considerably laded;-
| CHI ctoDnod If tho nefo of
our cottage, which stood alone, separated by
| some meadows from the rest OF the village,
and at my protectress's invitation, stepped in
| to share our humble meal, which was, in my
| mind far better calculated for two persons than
three. This consideration (added to an instinc-
tive aversion | felt for the old woman, arising,
perhaps, from seeing the grabbed and inalevo-
| lent expression of her countenance, whenever
/ our ewes met,) cnused me to turn sukily away
| from her awkward attempt to appear caressing
and take refuge at the little dusty windows.
whose panes resemble the bottoms of wine
bottles. Dim as it was, there the flies congre-
gated, and played their little harmless antics, as
merriIy as in the plate glass windows of 6
Piccadilly mansion. Unfortunately for then
land indeed ultimately for myself, in order t.
vent my ill-humor, and vile away the quarter
of an hour which separated me from my dinner
| lDC1ag IODHt tuGlU W hdTlOuS -HOeUlOui
WAYS and, as in order to kill tyrant, you wad,
first through the blood of his guards: so to my
crusade against time, did many winged victims
fall. Mrs Grum looked up to see if it wa
raining, and became aware of my occupation
in which do not, suppose there is child il
Great Britain who has not, at one time or an
! other, been engaged, and which, in my opin
ion, is only proofof progress of intellect. |
is the first instructive grasplng at power, thu
' natural assertion of mans superiority over th'
brute creation, and is certainly so far an limo
I! cent recreation, as the child at the time is un
/. conscious of the degree of torture he infiicts
s Not so however thought the indignant Mrs
Grum, who called on my adopted mother, an
: on all the saints III the calender to witness thu
: budding iniquity of the '.young murderer a
: she was pleased in kind anticipation, to ca
n me. cannot now call to mind the eloquen
arguments of which she made use, to prov
e that cruelty in dumb animals was the first ste
y always taken to greater crimes, and had bee
/; from time immemorial the infantine amusemen
is of every great villain that had ever existed
IF was thundesrtruck at my hitherto undistul
5 bed empire over the lives of bluebottes, bein
: called in question in this vehement Manner
y She failed, however, in convincing my proteC
= tress of the hopeessness of endeavoring to aver
r my fate: or that the best thing she could
C was to send me at once to the workhouse =
e Nv adopted mother continued Inconceivabl
is blind 10 the proofs laid before her of the trut
of Mrs. Grum's prophecy, and without takin
W her share OF our frugal dinner, the gossip d.
i parted, ostensibly because "she could not eat
I'd bit, after seeing them dead creturs;" but
n fact, painting with eagerness to im2art to tn
is rest ofthe village, what she called, ''the fires
20 workings of my destiny
l:..Iz l.,
N ing turned out such mild quiet, tractable chi
E. and the slow fulilment or her hitherto accura
E? oraces. She was also extremely jealous
er the praise Mrs Brown had gained, by the u
p expected generosity of poor labourer wi
$ ow voluntarily taking charge of another's o
e, spring. After this day however, owing to Il
indefatigible tongue ofthis prejudced old W
10 man, no frog was stoned within three mile
ty that was not Immediately set down as the wo
n of Andrew Birch; no corpse OF an untortuna
y cat could be found, that had died natural
ed unnatural, timely or untimely death, that W
ly not supposed to have fallen victim to {
st murderous propensities of Cain Birch, as W
SIS now universally termed. Not that the apps
On Iaton would have wounded my placid temp
"a so much, had they not taken most pdipal
is means of impressing it on me: and caned
er birched was, hundred times, for deeds ne
re er had perpetrated-deedS, which in themselv
er and committed by others, would have been not
IS ING, had not the good folks always before tn
= ewes the future announced to me by their 10
ny revered Mrs Grum. They for ever looked
u yond the slight, pale boy of twelve, to the A
'ss drew Birch they pictured to themselves IN
'ar ter yesrs,-with strength TO commit the nor
lat deeds of which they never for an instant dou
ter ed hAh capable. Each newly discovered slaug
Ter ter was looked upon as fresh step onVardi
on my fearful destiny; and even the increased $
re- of my supposed victims was made subject
ere graduation to the propounder of the propbec
nat and my rapid progress from fly to cat in
ere short a space of time gave promise that 500
= should be obliged to sit down and weep
ly, like Alexander, for new worlds to conquer,
81 for the revival of the mammoths and giants
MD Ill ,otbn,- h,;rr. lof. ,ro~+br of c..;cfvinr