New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-03-24

Ethon BRAND made no objection, nor eeemed |
hardly to notice it. lie sat on o log of wood,
looking steadfastly at the iron door OF the kiln
When the child was out Of sight, and the swift
and light footstep ceased to be heard treslng |
first on the fallen leaves and then on the rocky |
mountain path, the lime burner began to regret |
his departure. He felt thai the little fellows
presence had been q barrier between his guest
and himself, and that he must now deal, heart to
heart, with a man who, ON his own confession,
had committed the only one crime for which
heaven could afford no mercy. That crime, in
its indistinct blaekness, seemed to Overshadow
him, The lime burners own sins rose up with
in him. and made his memory rioutous with .
thropg of evil shapes that asserted thier kindred
with the master sin, whatever it might be, which
it was within the scope Of mans corrupted ma
ture to conceive and cherish. They were all OF
one family they went to end fro between ms
breast and Ethan Brands, and carried dark
greetings from one to the other
Then Bartram remembered the stories which
had grown traditionary in reference to this
| strange man, who had come upon HIM hke
shadow of the night, and was making himself Mt
home in his old place, after so long absence that
the dead people, dead and buried for years,
world have had more right to be at home in any
| familiar spot than he. Ethan Brand, 1T was
| said, had conversed with Satan himself in the
lurid blaze of this very kiln The legend had
| been matter of mirth heretofore, but looked
grisly now According to this tale, before Ethan
| had departed on his search, he had been accus-
toned to evoke a fend from the hot furnace OF
the lime kiln, night after night, in order to CON
fer with him about the objectionable Sin; the
man and the fiend, each laboring to frame the
| image of some mode of guilt which could neither
be atoped for nor forgiven. And, with the first
| CLEAN Of light upon the mountan-top, the fend
crept in at the iron door, there to abide the in.
tensest element of fire, until again summoned
forth to share in the dreadful task OF extending
mans possible guilt beyond the scope Of Heavens
else infinite mercy.
While the lime burner was struggling with
the horrors Of these thoughts, Ethan Brand rose
from the log and flung open the door Of the kiln.
The action was in such accordance with the idea
in Bartram's mind that he almost expected to
, see the evil one issue forth red-hot from the
4 raging furnace.
Hold, hold!" cried he, with tremulous
, attempt to laugh, for he was ashamed of his
fears, although they overmastered him. Don
for mercy's sake, bring out your devil now -
, "Mani" sternly replied Ethan Brand, I" what
{ need have l of the devil | have left him fal
behind me on my track. 1t is with such halt
way sinners as you that he busies himself
Fear not because open the door. do but ACT
a by old custom, and am going to trim your ir'
. like lime burner, as / was once.
a He stirred the vast Goals, thrust in more wood
and bent forward to gaze into the hollow prison
q house of FIRE, regardless Of the fierce glow tina
0 Redeemed upon his face. The lime. burner 50
e watching him, and half suspected his strang
Z guest Of purpose, if not to evoke fend, a
|, least to plunge bodily into the flames, and thu
J, vanish from the sight Of man. Ethan Brand
!. however, drew quietly back, and closed the doc
;. Of the kiln,
!, ~ have looked" eaid be, "into many hu
% man heart that was seven times hotter with slr
J. full passion than your furnace Is with FIRE. Blu
,f found not there what sought No, not tn
: objectionable SIM"
e sswhat is the objectionable SIM" asked tn
d lime burner, and then he shrank further froi
d his companion, trembling lest his question shout
70 be answered.
N sit is sin that grew within my own breast,
r replied Ethan Brand, standing erect, with
ii pride that distinguishes all enthusiasts of h
es stamp ga sin that grew no where else! III
D. sin Of an intellect that triumphed over the sem
of of brotherhood with man and reverence for Go
i, and sacrificed every thing to its own NIGH
n claims! The only sin that deserves recon
pense of immortal agony! Freely, were it to
lis again, would incur the guilt. Unshrinking
he accept the retribution!"
no "The mans head is turned muttered I
lime burner to himself He may be a sim
~. like the rest Of us. nothing more likely, but
hy | be sworn he's mailman too"
:. Nevertheless, he felt very uncomfortable
mr. his situation, alone with Ethan Brand on t
" wild mountain side, and was right glad to he
. the rough murInur of tongues, and footsteps
h :. what seemed pretty numerous party stumbh
70 | over the stones and rustling through the unde
brush Soon appeared the whole lazy regime
sw that was wont to invest the village tavern, col
II. pretending three or four individuals who h
,te drank flip beside the bar-room fire through
!, n the winters, and smoked their pipes beneath I
re- stoop through all the summers, since Eth
. Brands departure Laughing bosteTously, a
of mngling all their voices together in unceren
wv NOUS talk, they now burst into the moonshi
"a and narrow streaks of firelight that illuminat
,Iy the open space before the lime-kiln. Bartr
he. set the door ajar aeein, flooding the spot W
bv light, that the whole company might get a f
y view of Ethan Brand, and he of them.
~ There, among other old acquaintance, wa
once ubiquitous man, now almost extinct,
W. whom we were formerly sure to encounter
' the hotel of every thriving village throught
ia the country, 1t was the stage agent.
fall present specimen of the genus was wilted 0
rn smoke-dried man, wrinkled and red-nosed, il
IN smartly-cut brown bOb-tail coat, with br
If buttons, who, for a length of time unknown, l
,cL kent his desk and corner in the bar-room, 6
Mo was still putting what seemed to be the 50
MD cigar that he had lighted twenty years a
the He had great fame as a dry joker, though,
be haps, less on account of any intrinsic hun
in than from certain flavor Of brandy toddy
the tobacco smoke which impregnated all his id
lose | and expressions, as well as MS person.
Tres Another well remembered, though strane
arm altered face, was that of Lawyer Giles, as |
ned pie still called him in courtesy-an eld'
,av. ragamufin, in his soiled shirt sleeves and
sDe linen trousers. The poor fellow had been
torney in what he called his better days
be sharp practitioner, and in great vogue am
,ree the village litigants; but flip, and sling,
tome toddy, and cock tails imbibed at all houl
morning, noon and night-had caused hin
mo slide from intellectual to various kinds and
with grees of bodily labor, till at last, to adopt
own phrase, he slid into soap-vat. In o.
,.for words, Giles was now soap boiler in a 81
ear, way. lie had come to be but the fragment
are human being-a part of one foot having
,ear chopped eff by an axe, and an entire hand
away by the devilish grip of steam eng
In Yet, though the corporal hand was gon
,gb spiritual member remained for stretching (
Z He the stump Giles steadfastly averred that he
. he an invisible thumb and fingers with as viz
sensation as before the real ones were az
him tated MANNED and miserable wretch he
81 but one nevertheless whom the world could
call trample, and had no right to scorn, eith'
raw this or any previous stage of his misfort.
still since he had still kept up the courage
,der spirit of man, asked nothing in charity
from with his one hand-and that the left o
the sought stern battle against want and hC
circumstances.
AMONG the thronp. too, came another Del