Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1853-09-21
Cbuirr IitrrntnrR.
~~O0~~~oO~oo-o~-Oo---o0O ~-O~0~o-o~-o-o~
The Man anG the Demon.
BY T. s. ARTHUR.
PART FIRST-THE MAN.

though the golden sunlight fingers yet on
the hill-tops. 1t is the closing hour of
lovely day in June.
Hark ! a manly voice has broken the
pervading stiffness.
"'Md pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Bo ever p halnbls there's ne place like hOmo.@
How sweet the fine tones swell upwards !!
How in every modulation is perceived some
varied expression of the sentiment convey
ed in the words. The man singing from
heart-fulness. Home is, to him, the dear
est spot on earth the lovcliest place in all
the wide, wide world, humble though it be
Listen '..
can exile from home pleasure dazzlesn vain,
Y, give me my lowly thatched cottage again !"
There he comes, just emerging from that
little grove of ccdars, where the road winds
by the pleasant brook-side. How erect his
form! How elastic his step! What a
light is thrown back from his bare and
ample forehead
Yonder, where the valley seems to close,
but in reality only bends around a noun
tain spur, to open in a new and varied beau
ty, stands neat cottage, its doors and win
dows vine-wreathed and flower -gemmed.--
Above this home of peace, are spread
the leafy branches of a century elm. In
summer, this guardian tree receives into
its BOSOM the fierce sun rays, and tempers
them with coolness. In winter, though
shorn of its verdure, it breaks the fury Of
the strong northwest, so it falls not too
rudely upon the nesting cottage.
In this sweet and sheltered spot, are the
household treasures of Henry Erskine.-
He has gathered them here, because his
love seeks for them all the external bless
ings his hand can give. Years are gone,
this cottage was the home of his gentle
wife. Here he had wooed her, and here
won her trusting heart. Time bore on !;
death and misfortune scattered the old
household, and the pleasant homestead pas
Sod into the hands of strangers. On the
day 1t was sold, Erskine coming suddenly
upon his young wife, found her in tears
lie pressed to know the cause. Half was
revealed and half but guessed. Love promp-
ted the resolution that -vvNs ilAs6Osatly fvrIu-
ed. Three years afterwards, Erskine, thro'
untiring labor and self-denial, had saved
enough to purchase back the cottage, into
which, with a new and higher sense of en-
joyment, he gathered his fruitful vine, and
the olive branches already bending above
and around him.
The best husband, the kindest father,
the truest man in all that valley, was Hen
ry Erskine. He had been absent few
days on business, and now returning to his
home treasures, it was from the fullness Of
his heart that he sung
"Home, home-sweot, sweet home!
BE it ever so humble, there's no place like home =
And as he sung on, and strobe forward
quick eagerly listening ears caught the mu
sic of his we'll known voice, and ere he ha,
reached, by many hundred yards, the littl
white gate that opened from the road to hi
dwelling, tiny arms were tightly claspin
around his neck, and soft lips pressing hi
cheek and forehead.
Oh what gushing gladness was in hi
heart How large it seemed in his bosom
How full of good desires and bounteou
wishes for the loved one who made his HON
aparadise
"Dear Annap How many times di
he say this, as with both hands laid upo
the fair temples of his happy wife, b
smoothed back her raven hair, and gaze
into the loving depths of her dark brigt
eyes.
The sunniest day in the whole calendi
of their lives was this. As Erskine sat
mid his children, with their gentle hearte
mother at his side, he felt that the cup
his happiness was full to overfowing.
And yet-ah why are we forced to te
it-ere the evening of that reunion h;
closed, a faint shadow had fallen on Il
heart Of Mrs. Erskine. She had been
ware of an unusual degree of elation on t
part of her husband in rejoining them
ter that brief absence, but thought of it o
ly as an excess of gladness at getting hor
again. Two or three neighbors called
later in the evening, when, in agreeme
with very bad custom then prevailin
something to drink was brought forth, a
before the neighbors retired, the undue
ovation Of spirits noticed by the wife
Erskine had increased to a degree that i
her IN no doubt as to its source.
How sober you look, Anna DEAR S;
Mr. Erskine, with his usual tenderness
manner on the next morning. Are y
not we'll
ooh, yes, but what terrible strar
dream had can't shake off the effec
And yet know it was only dream
A dream is that all p said Erski
with smile. But what was it my de-
1t must have been something terrible,
deed, to leave shadow upon your spiri
A very strange dream, Henry.
thought we were sitting at the table Jus
we were sitting last evening, with our p
SAINT neighbors around us. You had
taken glass from your lips after drink
my health, as you did then. You pla
it near me; so that / could see into i
the bottom, where still remained 81
portion of liquor. Something fixed
gaze, and, presently saw in miniatul
perfect image of your face Surprise
looked up, bat you AMI all the comp