The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1856-12-31

with cunning words and well told lies, and many
heliish arts of gallantry, had stolen from me
the heart of Annie; to whom she had sold, for
few words of glowing t1attery, all that ever
loved-all that ever, in my whole life, | priced
above life itself!' ..... ... . .......-
AS the old mans tale went on, his voice had
lost its tremulous feebleness, and the eyes that
no longer fell upon the carpet, blazed under the
lowering eyebrows with frightful passion. With
a sweep Of his hand he had pushed away the
half-emptied glass, and his clinehed fist, in his
vehement agony, seemed to sink deep into the
marble slab. The listener, at first, had leaned
forward in his eagerness to catch every word;
now he fell back into his chair, his fascinated
sves still following the unconscious speaker. and
rolled down his cheeks in streams.
Il rushed madly from the door. No sound
but one stunning buzz was in my ears; no sight
before my eyes but one black, impenetrab]e
cloudo | had no thought but of some crush
ing evil that had befallen me, and so l fed away,
and knew no more till | was hundreds of miles
from the land and the fresh sea breeze was
blowing upon my cheek. For years, under an
assumed name, wandered. Few cllmes are
there where | have not been, few sorrows and
privations that I have not felt since then. | am
wrnkled and gray, and shattered in body and
mind, and my life fs stained with many sins.
For all that | am-sordid and implacabIe and
vindctive as | am, and dead to every human
feeling-for all this am | indebted TO her | once
loved. And now hear an old mans curse!"
And Phil Hope stood upright, with his trem-r
bling right hand raised to heaven, the baleful
fire flashing from beneath his gray and shaggy
brows, his.paIe cheek ghast)y with unearthly
passion, and the thin lips writhing, and curling,
and blood1ess with revenge. And how, in the
terror stricken face opposite, was reflected back
that deadly ashen hue, and the dropped jaw
quivered in specchless horror, and the starting
eyebalIs rolled and gIared in dumb alright
"Tenfod for all the love that ever bore her,
for all the good that ever I wished her, for all
the 10y and gladness ever hoped to share with
her, upon her head, if she still liyes-upon her
children and her children's children return
scorn, and evil untold, and sorrow, and dark,
Implying despair! May all the evil that ever
| endured-aIl the torments that ever pursued
me over the worlds wide waste-all the deep
passions and deep corrodng suspicious that have
preyed upon my life-may they follow down to
The grave, without end, OF one moments sweet
reprieve, Annie Leslie and her damned para
mour. May--"
'Stop! In Gods name, Phillip Hope, hold!
Let fall your curses on the guilty head!' And
Phillip Hope recoiled at the sight of his own
vid face, so faithfully rendered back as the rich
merchant stood with arms outstretched before
him: 'ItwasI, villain as you call me, that found
Annie Leslie innocent and artless, in her native
valley, that sought in vain to gain her heart.
1t was that after every art and device and in
uigue were exhausted, sent under another's
name a message of sickness and distress to de-
coy her away TO lonely hut far off among the
mountains: it was that awaited there her COM
ing and dragged her away by force, under the
cover of night and the dark shadow ofthe forest;
| that snatched your betrothed from your arms
and sent you a wandering outcast through the
world. Annie Leslie escaped pure and unsul-
lied from my clutches, and returned to her home
to find her loved fed; and soon she laid down
her young head covered with shame and sor-
row. under the willow that weeps over her grave.
II it was who did it all.''
Up and down!--up and down through tie
long parlors, like some goblin's tramp, echoed
the haIting footsteps; the lofty mirrors sent back
to each other the image of that spectral face, as
it turned from one to the other and long after
the midnight bell had struck, the watchman
across the street .gazed in wonder at the oft-re-
turning profile of downcast, agedface, that for
moment was drawn so distinctly upon the cur
tain, and then changed, and shifted, and then
faded away And when the'bright beams of
The new year streamed far into the rooms, and
The master of the house, with heavy groan,
raised his gray head from the table, there on the
rich carpet, under the glaring stand, lay Phil
lip Hope, cold and stiff in DEATH
There still. through the long last night of the
year tramps up and down an unequal, heavy
step: and year after year though his foot never
stands upon its threshold, the owner Of that
stately dwelling starts when the last stroke of
the old year has sounded at the well known fall
ering football of the man whom he betrayed.
LIVE FOR SoMErH1NG.-The smallest insect in
creation has its appointed work to do. The atom
that floats before us, the softest zephyr, the
faintest ray of reflected light, each has its sep
arate portion of labor They alice for a
purpose-either for good or evil. Seeing this
as even unframed eyes and unculGvated intel
lects must how cu1 pabe are we if we have no
aim before u.s. if we listIessly arise and move
around-or worse, if we spend the time God
has given US to improve, in sou|les$ pleasure or
concentrating action. We may be poor, per-
secuted, sick, chained to adverse influences, but
no circumstances can absovc us from work
to do. We may be blind, deaf, crippled; He
who permitted our adversely, gave us our ap-
pointed path, and the light to walk therein
We may be Bunyans shut up in prison, our
limits circumscribed, our movements clogged,
but as far as we have capacity we can all
write pilgrmages. They may be written in pa
tent endurance Of suffering, in holy trust un-
der the darkness of affliction. They may be
written in penitent tears, and transcribed by
angels into the book of heaven.
And the work we DO. What shall it be-for
good or evil? Shall we exalt or drag down?
bless or curse, build up or destroy? One or the
other we must be pursuing. Our every look,
thought and action is reflected in pure or
perdicious influence.
A work to dol You are not excepted, wo-
man of fashion, nor you, gold worshippng man.
Through the walls of adamant built up around
your soul-through the thick drapery of self