Star of the Kanawha Valley. [volume] (Buffalo, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1856, 1855-01-24
BUFFALO, PUTNAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY

living heart wrung until every fibre
was broken. ] once had q noble, q
brave and beautiful boy, but he
was driven out from the ruins u his
home, and my heart yearns toknow
If he yet lives. lonce had q babe
a. sweet, tender blossom-but my
hand destroyed it, and it iseth with
one who loves children.
"Do not startle, friends; am not
a murderer, in the common accepta-
ton Of term. Yet there is . light in
my evening sky. A spirit mother
who again turns basi z Z e o. net .d 6F0 and
honor. The child-angel visits me at
night-fall, and | feel the hallowing
touch Of a tiny palm upon my fever
ish cheek. Ny brave boy, would for
give the sorrowing old man for the
treatment which drove him into the
world, and that MANNED him for life.
God forgive me for the ruin have
brought upon me and NINE" II r.:
| He again wiped a tear from his
eye. My father watched him with a
strange interest and a countenance
unusually pale, and excited by some
strange emotion.
81 WINS once fanetic, and madly
followed the malign light which led
me to ruin. Twas a fanaticwhen
SACRIFICED my wife, children, happi-
ness and home, to the demon OF the
bowl. ] once adored the gentle be-
ing who m injured SO deeply.
| RI was ndrunkard.s From>respec-
liability and afiucnc, plunged into
degradation and poverty. | drag:
gcd MY family down with me. For
years lsaw her cheek pale, and her
tnstep gfow>weary. ! left her alone
amid the wreck of her home idols,
and rioted atth tavern She never
complained, yet she and the children
went hungry. forbread. ~,
|, '"One New Year night, returned
late to The hut where charity had Civ.
en- us roof. She was yet up, and
shivering over the Goals. ldeman.
dcd food, but she burst into tears
and told me there. was none. i
Ifiercely ordered her to get some.--
She turned her eyes sadly upon me;
the tears falling fast over her pale
cheek. At that moment the child a
| woke and set up furnishing wall
starting tho dcspairing mother like q
scrpcnt's sting. ~
1--WE have no food, James-have
had none for several days. j have
nothing for the babe. My once kind
htfs must we .starve% -
| THAT sad, pleading face, andfhose
streaming eyes, and the feeble wall
of the child, maddened/me, and l.
yes, struck her a fierce BLOWN the
face, and she fell forward on the
hearth. The>furies Of hell boiled in
my bosom, and with deeper in
tensity Is l felt ! had committed a
wrong. | had never struck Mary
before, but now some terrible impulse
bore me on, and stopped as well as
| could in my drunken state, and
clenched both hands in her hair.
GOD Of mercy Jamesp exclaim-
ed my wife, rs she looked up in my
ficndish countenance, you will not
kill us--you will not harm Willie;
and she sprang to the cradle, and
grasped him in her embrace. /
caught her again by the hair and
dragged her to the door, and as lift
ed the latch the wind burst in with IA
cloud Of snow. With the yell of u
>fiend, / still dragged her on, and
hurled her out into the darkness and
storm. With a wild ha ha ! /
closed the door and turned the but
ton, her pleading morns mingIing
with the wall of the blast and sharp
cry of h r babe. But my work was
not complete. y
Iurne ed to the little bed where laid
my elder son, and snatched him from
his, slumbers; against his half ava
kened struggles, opened the door
and thrust him out. In the agony of
fear, he called to me by q name i
was no longer fit to bear, and locked
his fingers into my side-pocket. n
could not wrench that frenzied grasp
away, and with the GOODNESS ola devil, rs
] was, shut the door upon his arm, and
with my knife severed it at the wrist
, The speaker ceased a moment and bur.
ried his face in his hands, as if TO shut out
some fearful dream and his deep chest heav-
ed like a storm swept sea. Ny father had
arisen from his seat and was leaning for.
ward, his countenance bloodless, and the
large drops standing on his brow. Chits
crept back to my young heart, and / wish
cd I was at home. The old man looked |
up, and I never have since beheld such
mortal agony pictured upon a human face
AS there was on his. IA. !
1T was morning when awokc, and
the storm lad ceased, but the cold was
intense. | first secured d drink OF water,
Gnd then looked in. the accustomed place
Of Mary. As, / missed her, for the first
time, a shadowy sense Of some horrible
nightmare began TO dawn upon my won
dering mind. ! thought / had q fear.
full dream, but ! involunterily opened the
out side door with shuddering dread. ~
A !. 4.hn Joo~a o,,anad fha srnx-, r., .ef l.,