The Ohio organ, of the temperance reform. (Cincinnati, [Ohio]) 1853-1854, 1853-10-21

and III Il ose who peopled it and focked
about him then, until the forms OF his
slder children seemed to rise up from
the grave and stand about him'-so PLAIN,
so clear. and so distinct they were, that
he could touch and feel them. Looks
that he had long forgotten, were nxed
upon him once more; voices long since
hushed in death, sounded in his ears like
the music of village bells, But i was
only for an instant. The rain beat heaVl-
lv 1pon him, and cold and hunger were
Gnawing at his heart again.
He rose and dragged his feeble limbs
a few PAGES further. The street was 81
lent and empty-the few passers py at
that late hour, hurried quickly on, and
ia tramulous voice was lost in the Ylo-
Ience Of the storm. The heavy chill
again struck through his frame, and his
bIood seemed to stagnate beneath it. He
coiled himself up in a projecting door
! way, and tried to sleep.
KIT sleep had Aed from his dull and
H Glazed ewes. His mind wandered
\ Strangely, but be was awake and con-
scious. The we'll known shout Of drunk
| en- rnifth sounded in his ear; the glass
was at his lips; the board was covered
with rich food; they were before him
H he could see them all he had but to
! reach his hand and take them; and
i though the illusion was reality itself, he
H knew that he was sitting alone in the
Il deserted street, watching the rain.drops
| as thew pattered on the stones; and that
i there were none to care for or help him.
/ Suddenly he started up in the extremi-
/ ty of terror. He had heard his own
/ voice shouting in the night air; he knew
i not what or why. Hark! A groan
/ Another! His senses were leaving him ;
H half formed and incoherent words burst
I from his lips; and his hands sought to
/ tear and lacerate his flesh, He was GO
H ing mad, aud he shrieked for help till his
| voice failed him.
\ He raised his head and looked up the
H long dismal street. He recolIected that
outcasts like himself, condemned 10 wan
\ der day and night in those dreadful
\ streets, had sometimes gone distracted
| with their loneliness. He remembered
| to have heard many year, before that a
II homeless wretch had once been found
in a solitary corner sharpening a rusty
\ knife 10 plunge into his own heart, pre-
\ ferring death TO that endless, weary wan.
i dering to and fro. In an instant his re-
solve was taken; he ran quickly from
the spot and paused not for breath until
he reached the river side. .a-
He crept softly down the steep stone
stairs that led from the commencement
of Waterloo bridge down to the waters
level.
\ He crouched into a corner, and held
his breath as the patrol passed. Never
did prisoners heart throb with the hope
| of liberty and life half so eagerly as did
that of the wretched man at the pros.
pect of death. The watch passed close
TO him, but he remained pnobserved
and after waiting till the sound of foot.
steps had died away in the distance, he
cautiously descended and stood beneath
the gloomy arch that forms the landing
place from the river.
The tide was in, and the water flowed
at his feet. The rain had ceased, the
wind was lulled, and all was, for the mo.
ment, still and quiet; so quiet, that the
rippling of the water against the barges
that were moored there was distinctly
| audible to his ears. The stream stole
t Ianguidly and sluggishly on. Strange
> and fantastic forms rose to the surface
and beckoned him to approach; darA
cleaning eyes peered from the water
0 and seemed to mock his hesitation
Q while hollow murmers from behinC
0 urged him onward. He retreated few
It PAGES, took short run, desperate leap
s and plunged into the river.
e Not five seconds had passed when h
}. rose to the waters surface; but what
Is change had taken place in that shoI
e time in all his thoughts and feelings
d Life, life in any form; poverty, misery
Z, starvation, anything but death. H
a fought and struggled with the water ths
closed over his head, and screamed i
n agonies of terror. The curse of his ow
g. son rung in his ears. The shore-bl
ID one foot of dry ground-he could almo
re touch the step. One hands breadi
1 L. A