Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1854-05-11

family, and the subsequent demolition of the
building in which he had so long resided
Here was blow that struck deep into the vi
tails of flial affection his mental and physi-
cal system both staggered under the oppres-
sive burthen of this sad intelligence. In vain
were all inquiries as to the whereabouts of his
lost relatives. Fruitless his utmost endeavors
and profuse expenditures. Advertisements
nor rewards availed to discover the object of
his yearning desires. So he endeavored to
subdue his emotions. But there was gnaw-
ing worm of solicitude and anxiety that was
continually preying upon his mind.
Time had already winged many a month
away since his arrival in New York. Frede-
rick Mortimer had invested portion of his
capital in mercantile concern in Pearl street,
and day after day found him efgr0sSed+ffi N tlie
affairs Of the counting room and warehouse.
Fortune seemed continually to favor him, yet
he would have given it all ransom for his
long lost, long loved mother and sister.
One morning he sat in his office-it was a
bright, gay morning in June-smoking his ia
vorite regalia. All business cares, like the
blue vapor curling from his cigar, took an
arial flight, and dissolved and mingled with
the air; for his mind was wrapped deep in
other thoughts in his meditation, his eye fell
on the slippers upon his feet. They were an
old dilapidated pair, well wrought in needle
work, by some fair hand, but time had made
sad ravages there, and like many human
wreck, were sole and body scarce able to hang
together. But there was history there
These were the last mementoes Of departed
mother, the same she wrought and gave to her
only son on the eve Of his departure for dis
tant land, and with them went mothers
were useless now, so old and worn, they did
but remind him of her who was more than
dead to him, and stirred up sOul-harrOwing
thoughts within his heart. So, bestowing one
lingering look, he gave the luckless shoes a
toss and saw them safely enshrined within the
precincts of the ash box that stood upon the
side walk. Still in his revery, he thought and
still his eyes did gaze upon the precious con-
tents of that ash box.
At length there came in her daily rounds an
old and wrinkled crone, with sack and poker,
and as she espied the shoes within the box,
her dull gray eyes twinkled and gloated with
avidity upon the prize. She was not unlike
the general order Of rag pickers in appearance.
Yet she was neither Dutch nor Irish, evident
ly, and there was in her features a look Of the
EXTREMIST melancholy and unhappiness as if
poverty, want and starvation had eaten away
all the finer lineaments of pristine beauty, and
left but the gross, hard and forbidding features
of the animals if the canker-worm had eaten
away the delicate and juicy fibres, and left but
the dry and whitening skeleton of the leaf be-
hind, 1t might have been that in by-gOne
days, she had received the libations of many a
worshiping heart that bowed at her feet it
might have been-yes, fancy might search the
long and dreamy vistas Of the past, and bring
up ghost Of departed fortune and happiness !.
II espied an old and wrinkled hag.
With age grown double picking Gold rags,)
And muttering to herself
For moment the old woman gazed alb
stractedly at the relics she retained in her
hand, her poker dropped listlessly at her side,
and she feasted her eyes on the wrought pat
tern with the closest scrutiny, needless of the
unlawful encroachments of another upon her
prior right to the contents of the box. Care
fully she examined them and muttered to her
self, and seemed lost in reverie. With eager
anxiety and most intense interest did Mortimer
watch the motions of the old woman. There
was strange feeling of sympathy and regret
bound up in those old shoes, which seemed
about to be ru,hlessly carried away. But the
peculiar manner of the woman created still
more interest in his mind, and as he scrutin-
lied those hard forbidding features there ap-
peared familiar ray of recognition cleaning
from the dark barren waste of forgetfulness.
Wrought up with excitement and curiosity he
beckoned the hag to him.
'Come hther, my good woman, l would
speak with you
What in the name of goodness, could the
gentleman want with the like of such poor,
miserable creature as me 2 muttered the wo-
man half audibly, as she hesitatingly, and with
no little apprehension, protruded her head
within the door Of the counting room, an i'm
mense sack of nondescripts slung over her
hand, and the ever present poker in the other
hanging at her side.
Just set your bundle outside the door, my
good woman, and sit down moment, wish
to speak with you
Somebody will steal it, sir
'Oh, never mind that I'll pay the damage.
Sit down. Now, will you tell me why you
apparently took so much interest in these old
shoes, and examined them so mnutely! They
are worn out and good for nothing. Is there
anything peculiar that you can see about
them.'
'Ah! lackady they did SO much remind
me Of a pair Of the same that made for my
own boy, SO long ago and was thinking if
these be'int the same The woman breathed
a long sigh.
so you were once in better circumstances,
take it, than you are now 9
All, me, yes, sir; we were well off agone,