Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1855-05-03
From Vermont


q limbs trembled, and his face wa
!, pale as death, for Vermont was tn
l. home of his youth, and perhaps
d the wounded man might have beer
g the playmate of his childhood; per
IS haps schoolmate--knew his parents
o his brothers and sisters. He cluDe
q convulsively to the table, and will
II contending emotions ofrapid thought
g and the weightaof injury be had in
S flicted, he could scarcely keep upon
J, his feet. A stimulant was given the
S dying man, he was momentarily re-
a lieved from that weakness the body
S is so subject to after severe wound,
! when the doctor inquired ifthere was
, any friend in the city he wished sent
) for.
YES he replied, my wife--she is at
! the City Hotel, on the corner Of Clay
and Kearney streets-tell Mary to
hasten, for | am badly hurt
/ A nah was sent to bring his wife.
Doctor said the gambler, save
that mans life, ,and there is my bank,
and ten thousand dollars in Bur
goyne's-you shallhav it ALL
The doctor felt the pulse OF the
man and probed the wound anew.
The gambler watched him with the
greatest anxiety until his inspection
was finished, when the doctor shook
his'head, in token of impossibility;
the gambler sat down by the side of
4 the wounded man, and bathed his
head with water, and staunched the
flowing of blood from the wound
until the arrival of his wife; she came
accompanied by few frieh DIS; as he
role women bear their misfortunes,
she bore hers. Not a word of re-
proach escaped her-words of cheer
fulness only came from her lips, as
the tears coursed down her cheeks.
To her inquiry as to the chances of
her husbands recovery, the doctor
assured her that there was no hope;
that the wound was mortal; that in
few hours he would die. She sank
down upon her knees and invoked
the mercy of a forgiving Godu upon her
dying husband and his murderer.
The gambler asked the forgiveness
of the wounded man for the wrong he
had committed, and also that OF the
wife. which was readily granted.
This said he, is not obeying the
sacred injunctions of my aged father
and mother-not TO gamble. l have
faced death thousand times and
still l have escaped; the balls Of an
enemy have whistled past my ears as
thick as hailstones, and the bursting
bomb has exploded at my feet; still
| have lived-oh God! and for this!
High above the red tide of battle
have carried my country s fag-and
that won for me name among men;
when not one comrade was left to
tell Of the deeds of the battle, ,es-
capped unscathed. Why was | not
killed like the rest? All that was
proud and pleasing to man have had;
and if could recall'this last act by |
living upon carrion,s sleeping in a pau
per's grave, and renouncing every
proud act Of my life, | would do it'll
was bornin the same village with that
man; we have been classmates sto7
gether at the same school; received
instructions fromthe same aged man;
we were born beneath the same roof;
and oh Go1tthe same mother gave us
birth! He must not die he is my
brother
And the gambler sank inn swoon
upon the floor. The wounded man
raised himself upon his elbows; his
glossy eyes wandered about the room
as if in search ofsome particular per-
son. - =. =.
{ Mary said he, is brother William
here? - and the words cboked
in bis throat, the gurgling blood
stopped his utterance: and he sank
back corpse. The wife knelt again,
but it was beside dead body, and
invoked the mercy Of God upon his
soul,and forgiveness for the murderer.
The gambler awoke from bis swoon,
and staggered up to the wife and
said: !. - -'@
MARY, would itwere otherwise,for II
have nothing to live for now; the
dead and dying do not want anything
in this world; take this certificate Of
deposit to our aged father, and tell
our parents we are both dead-butjl
oh! do not tell them how we died' !,
.ga i-s5ls - :