Litchfield enquirer., 1852-11-04
From iks NationOl LatS S'liSsHcsr. The Orphan Boy.
"He faded. yet SO calm and .meek,. So gently wan, sO gently weak"

schooner hadi once more relapsed into midnight qulet and repose. l sought my hammocksand soon fell asleep. But my slumbers were disturbed by dreams, which, like the visions of a fever, agita. ted and u1nsrved me :, the late strife, the hardships of my early life. and a thousand. other things mingled together, as figures in phantasmagoria. Sud denly ahand was laid on my shoulder. and, etarting up, 1 beheld the surgeons mate. ...-
 Little Dick. sir, is dying. The said. !, sprang from. my hammock. Little Dick was a sort of pro!"gy of mine.- He was pale, delicate child, said to be an orphan, and used to tender nurture {: and, from the first hour l joined the schooner, my heart yearned towards him, tor 1 too had once been friendless and alone in the world. He had often talked 70 me in confidence of his mother, whose memory he regarded with holy reverence. while to the other boys of the ship he had l,ttie to say {; for they were rude and coarse, he delicate and. sensi tive. Oflea when they jeered him for si' EsslsasAolE, ls would got apst! 7 !. ez ?! himself and weep. He never complained of his lot. though hls companions inn posed on- hin continually. Poor lad his heart was in the gave with his lost parents: .. ..s +...
 l.took strange interest in him. and had frightened his task as much as possi- ble. During. the last 6gh. I,iad. owed ny life tc him, for he had rushed, in just as sabre stroke was levelled, at me, and by interposing his cutlass, had averted the deadly blow., In the hurry and confusion l had forgotten to inquil e if he was hurt, though. at, the time, l inwardly resolved to cxeit all my iuflu- ence to procure him m;dshipman's 5 warrant Ill requilal of this service. It was with n pang of, f,reproachful agony, therefore. that l. leaped to my feet aud exclaimed,
 You doa'. mean it {? he is not d; jag, {?
 l fear, sir, said the messea ser,> una, he cannot live till smol ming
 And l. have been lying idly here, exclaimed. 1. wi.h remol se.. Lead me .o him.
 'He is, delirious, but in> the, intervals of reason he asks for you, sir, and as the man spoke We stood by. the bedside ol the dymy boy.
 The sufferer did not lie in his usual hammock, for 1t was hung in the. yer, midst of the crew. and the close all around it was too s,ihlng bu. he had been carried under an opsn hatch Way, and iMd> there in a. llttle open. space about four feet square. Fronl,the, sound of the rippIes 1 jadg,d the schooner was ia, motion, while the clear,.. calm blue sky, dotted with. mgriads of stars. belokened that the fog. had broken away. flow calm it smiled down on the wan face of lhe boy. Occasionally lish; current of wind-oh, how deliclously cool i'll that pen.>up hold -eddied down tue hatchway, and lifted. the dark chest, nut locks uf the sufferer. as, wi.h his isead reposing ia the lap of au>old vete- ran. he lay m-an unquiet slunosr. Ills shirt cellar was uuou.toned, and hls childish. bosom, as white as that of gi'l.~was open and exposed. The wound ui which he was dying had, been in lensely painful. but within the last hall hour had somewhat lulled, tholsh even now his thin fiagers tightly gsasped the bed clothes, as Ii he suffered the great est agony.
 A batl 'e-s'ained, and grey -haised .sea-- man stood, beside him. holding. a lantern ia his hand, and gazing ssrrowfully upon, tue sufferer. The surgeon knelt with his finger upon the boys pulse. As l approached they, allA iooked up. The veteran who held him shook his head and would have spoken, but the tears gathered in-his eyes. The surgeon said.
 'He is going fact. .peos fellow; doyou see this ? and he lifted up a ,ich gold locket which had lain. upon. the bays breast. 'Hc has seen better days.
 l could not answer. for my heart was full. Here was the being to whom, but a, few ho3rs before. l. had owed my life "a poor. slight. unprotected child.+ lying before me. with death already written on his brow, and. yet had never known his danger, and never sought him out after the conflict. How bitterly my heaA reptoached me in that hour. They noticed my agitation, and his old friend. the seaman lha. held his head, said sad. y: n
 Poor little Dick. you'll never see the shore you have wished for so long. But there'll be more than one Che spoke with em otion) to mourn over you.'
 Suddenly the little fellow opened his eyes and looked vacan;ly around.
 .Has. he come yet 2 he asked in a low v,ise. -.why won't he come ,?
 I am here.' said l, taking tic little fellows hand don't you know me, Dick?'
 He smiled faintly. and said--