Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1852-05-31

priest who resided in the place was lillk
better off than themselves. i He had prom
lsed them,. however,, 10 send every day Il
the post office for the. expected letter, bu
morning and evening came and passed t.
the furnishing family. and it came not.
The last spoonful Of Oatmeal was made
into Cruel and placed ON the table. The
poor mother, already wasted TO skeleton,
was lying on the coach of,straw, her face
wrapt in the ragged coverlet. A thin hand
removed The covering, and held cup to
her mouth. With strong effort she
pressed her parehed lips close together,
and turned away her head. tassa
! Thomas said she, take my part Of the
Cruel Iii will give you little strengl h.
and go 10 his Reverence; who knows Dut
what that letter may have cotne?' - RI
Thomas was sitting with bis face buried
in his hads. Raising his,sunken eyes, he
said, huskily: ..-
1T is no use, Kate. If tho money was
in my hand, | could not crawl to the neur-
est market to get bread
sNay, CO. exclaimed the. pale woman,
striving to rise. IL the money cannot
save our lives, yet it will be blessed to hoar
once more from the dear boy before we
die. s''@' : =
Mary, who had been moving about the
room like shadow, at the mention Of her
husband, threw herself on the bed beside
her mother and sobbed aloud The bi.tei-
est drop in the bitter cup she was drinking,
vas 10 die without a farewell from that
loved one SO far away. '.,ss-'.-< .'1-,.5 +.
Il will go,' said the old man, rising. The
holy Virgin grant il may have come! :. -
He tottered few steps towards the door,
and fell fainting and exhausted. lie never
rose again.
Two days after the scene we have been
describing, a lille pale>faced man, in the
peculiar garb ofthe Catholic clergy, might
have been seen walking quickly towards
The cabin. Everything was still as death
around, and his heart misgave him that all
was not well. He raised the latch and
pushed open the door and there before him
lay the whole family, still and cold III death.
He stood for moment, horror>struck al the
scene, and then, raising his hands towards
heaven, he exclaimed, Holy mother, help
us! Surely The Lord will not utterly fors
sake his people! ~
He had brought the expected letter,
which he had just received. A las! il came
too late, the kind>hearted priest turned
away with tears from the scene of death,
and, returning home, he wroie an account
of the sad fate of the family, and inclosing
the letter he had received, sen. it to James
Moreen.
The winter passed heavily away 10 poor
James. Every day brought sad tidings Of
the woes Of his country, and he trembled
at the thought that bis family might be in
volved in the general calamity. At.ost the
fatal letter came. |. was handed to him
in the store, and with heart whose throb-
biogs might have been almost heard, he
entered The counting room, und requested
one of the clerks TO read it, the young man
broke the seal, and glanced over The terri.
bic contents. He looked up, and Moreen
stood before him. pale and trembling. He
had watched the expression Of his face, and
knew that there were evil tidihgs.
Read il'-readi, iii he exclaimed, with q
husky voice. Let me know ii all.
He read with trembling voice, and
poor James leaned against the desk for sup
port. Every feature was conyulsed with
agony, and his breath came OF long and
irregular intervals, but when the terrible
certainty came over him that they were
dead-aH dead-had died Of starvation;
he uttered shrek, and tell, fainting, on
the floor. He was removed 10 bis lodging,
and for many days raved in wild delirium.
Reason at length returned, but his heart
was broken. Hope was dead within him
He fingered on few weeks, and sunk
quietly into the grave. A few whom his
virtues Ind won, on his sod and early fate
moved to sympathy laid him down, not
without q tear, in his long resting place.
But the memory of his worth and his woes
had almost passed from the minds Of man;
and tho grass grows green on The mound
where his true heart sleeps in peace-yes.
sleeps in peace, though no Kindred dust
lies near; nndthe foot Of the stranger treads
lightly o'er his bed, yet he sleeps in peace
in his nameless grave. 5.<a--.,. -...s-
Down to the pillow of the grave,
There comes no haunting dreams of woe"