Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1850-08-30
ATAIE OF HoRRoR -WbilsNravelling

d couple OF weeks SlnCey we neaFQ from
the lips of a friend one of the most heart
rending ~recitals we have listened to for a
time. He was pot of from a steamboat at
or near Wolf Island, about Is miles below
the mouth of the Ohio, for the purpose Of
collecting a debt from a man living about
five miles back in the country, on the Mis-
souri, side, we think. With a carpet bag
in his hand, he had followed a harrow path
about three miles, when he came across a
small cabin. Yet" cabin /" would not de.
scribe the place of habitation, for such it
proved to be. It was a little di~lapidated
shed, with nc. boards on one side and great
c~revices en- the ether side and in the roof,
He would have passed it by, but means
from the inside told that it was occupied.
Wishing to inquire his road, he stopped,
and stood before the open side Of the shed,
and gazed upon a spectacle, which, as he
said, was present before his eyes days af-
terward, and haunted his sleep. We de-
scribe what he saw, as he told US, only
saying that strange as The story may seem,
full reliance can be placed upon his words.
There was not a bed or chair in The
shed, but stretched upon the bare ground
lay the body Of q youthful looking VIC
man, who had evidently just died. Her
form was almost a perfect skeleton yet
the face was that of a refined and beauti-
full woman. On her breast lay an infant
about six months old, with its mouth TO
the breast Of its mother, and dead And
sitting mp in a corner of the shed, and
staring the traveller in the face with glaz-
ed eyes was what he thought another
corpse. but life was yet in it. The figure
was that of a girl, apparently about ten
years old. She could not rise to her feet,
i AID yet she was not sick. She was litter
: ally dying OF strvation By the side OF
: the woman and clasping her hand, lay a
man covered with blood and apparentIyin
: a dying state. Add to itis the filth Of the
e room AMI the half naked condition Of the
sufferers, and we wonder not that the scene
n long haunted the observer. He went in
The girl could not speak, but the mar
e cried water in a feeble voice, and poin
ted 10 the girl, as if 10 attract the stran
3. gers attention to her. The traveller. Mr.
ls j., Of Cincinnati, fastened away, takln,
t. with him a Tin pan, and says he never raj
harder in his life than he did about half
d mile to a small stream he had passed.
IS On his return, be found the man still a
y live. and gave him water, which he eager
r iydfanl;. He could then speak in a whiy
per. He pointed to the girl and said
she's starving" Mr.. J. gave the gi
ne some water, which appeared to revive he
) and she tried to talk, but could not. Wit
ne much difficulty he learned fIom the ma
lie that there was a house about a mile d;
an tsnt, TO which he hurried. On bis arriy
10 there be found only a negro.
lie While getting some provisions. and ha
on tening back with the man, the latter i
up formed him that the cholera had brokt
ere out in that neighborhood. and the fami
owning him had left for the time being.
he He said the little girl of the shed had d.
lad ly made her appearance there FOR prov
I'm ions until about three DAYS back-that {
Of man and woman had been sick for a 10
ate time, &c. On their return, the man VI
has dying and lived but an hour. The lit
ng- gIrl was revived by food. and before tn
'er- took her away could talk. She said 5
and had been sick herself, and could not W,
ght to the house for food, and that her mott
died the day previous, and the baby ab
> the same time. and that her father |
lsa- tried to kill himself when they died.
am was horrid. The child was taken to
low house, and tie rest Of the unfortun
family buried. The child afterwards
res ted her name was Mary Williams,
oet- Mr., ]. thought from what he could ga
eA er, the family had formerly lived in \
ioe- Albany. but an what New Albaay he ca
ern- not ascertain, more than as the child s
there were q great many houses I'd
and it was evidently New Albany, n,
writ. The negro said the family had been ii
own several weeks and came directly c
and, his master had left. As there vas q
bat family in the neighborbood, the pei
dis having also gone whom Air. J. wishe
doc see, the girl, who vas sick and exhaa
was left with the negro, who prom
short faithfully to attend her, Yet there .
re. but little hopes Of her recovery. Il
re of never been our misfortune TO hear a 4
er OF horrible tale Of reality titan. this.
inee EpaaspiAs ia JogEaa
n of
-, - l7TSty 1pr IT, ornNsgc- -. A