The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1849-10-18

II Wfi.,sSt2R lsS Hl1uule OF OCtODer.
| Filled the ar W ith dreamy and mqgics
light and the landscape
| Lay as if created ia al! the freshness of
childhood:
| All sounds were in harmony Blended
Voices of children at play-ihe Growing Of
cocks in the farm.yard,
! Whirr Of wings in the drOwsy air and the COO
I ing of pigeons,
All were subiued and low as tho murn1ur Of
love-"
! his dark wings, and sat brooding over tho
peaceful, pleasant village of Grassmere.
{ A terrible and malignant fever swept
through the town, spreading from house TO
/ house, like the fire which consumes dry
grass and the bright fresh flowers of the
praries. Old and young, husband, wife
and child, were alike brought low. There
were not left in all the village those able
to attend upon the sick. From the church.
es solemnly tolled the funeral bells, as one
by one, youth and age, blooming child
hood and lovely infancy, were borne to
the grave-yard-no longer solitary-for
the foot OF the mourner pressed heavily
over It's grass grown paths
Still the contagion ragged, until the self
ishness of poor human nature triumphed
over the promptings of kindness and char
ity. People grew jealous of each other;
neighbor summed neighbor;
.Sile nee reIgned in the streets
Rose no smoke from the fs-gleamed no
light from tie windows"
Save the dimj midnight lamp which from
almost every house betokened the plague
within.
None had shut themselves up closer
from fear of Infection than Deacon Hum
phreys. His gates grew rusty, and the
grass sprang up in paths about his dwell
ling. And yet the Destroyer found him
out, and like hound long seeming its
prey, sprang upon the household with ter
rible violence.
First the pure and gentle Naomi sank
beneath the stroke, and ere the setting of
the same days sun, Mrs. Humphreys her
self was brought nigh the grave.
Like one demented, pale with agony and
terror, the deacon rushed forth into the
deserted streets to seek for aid. His dear
ones-his wife and child were perhaps dy-
ing: where, where should he look for re-
lief-where, where find some kind hand to
administer to their necessities.
At every honse he learned a tale of woe
equal to his own. Some wept while they
told of dear ones now languishing upon
the bed Of pain, or bade him look upon the
marble brow of their dead. Others grown
callous, and worn out with sorrow and fa-
tigue, refused all aid, while some, through
excess of fear, hurriedly closed their doors
against him.
Thus he reached the end of the village,
and then the small, neat cottage of Mrs.
Norton met his view, nesting down amid
the overshadowing branches of two vener
able elms. From the day he had almost
thrust her from his gate, with cold looks
and unhinchIng eXtortion, Mrs. Norton
and the deacon had not met, and now the
time had come when he was about to ask
from her a favor upon which perhaps his
| whole earthly happiness might rest-a fa-
vor from her, whom in his strength and
her dependence he had scorned. Would
| she grant it! He hesitated-would she
not rather, rejoicing in her power now, re-
venge the sights he felt he had so often
and so undeservedly cast upon her. But
he remembered the sweet, calm look
which beamed from her eyes, and his
! courage grew with the thought.
Putting away the luxuriant creeper
which wound itself from the still green
turf to the roof Of the cottage, hanging IN
graceful festoons, and tinged with the bril-
liant dyes of autumn, seemed like wreaths
of magnificent flowers thus suspended, the
| deacon knocked hesitatingly at the door.
ltopened, and Mrs. Norton stood before
him, pale with watching-for like an an
gel of mercy had she passed from house
to house, since the first breaking out of
the scourge. In faltering accents he told
his errand; and o, how like q dagger did
1t pierce his heart, when with counte-
nance beaming with pity and kindness.
and speaking words of comfort. the widow
put on her bonnet and followed his feet
footsteps TO his stricken home.
All night, like ministering angel, did
she pass from one sick couch to the other,
tenderly soothing the rawlings of fever,
molstening their parched lips with cool,
refreshing drinks, tanning their fevered