The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1856-02-07

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the saIne fescr. aud she had been carried. to
the hospital when il became impossible Tor
hir family tn care for trf longer. '.ps9oT -
Her first inquiry was for her baLe---l,er
sccond for letters.s The little one was
brougl,t TO. her,. lively and, blooming, nm.
touched by the sickness and sorrow around ;
but there were no letters. Matte received
her disappointment without word. She
only clasped her unconscious baby 10 her
boso'n. and dfcetly tarncd. her face from the
cold obscrrant eyes of the nurse. 49,, -.,.,-
Matte Ind a good constitution and she
rapidly recovered her strength, SO that not
many day elapsed before she WAS ,lischar-
ged from the hospital. With her infant in
her arms she went out al,me--a stranger, il,
a strange city, and pcnniess. All day shr
wandered through the streets and sought
employment. But in vain. Nh one would
employ a pale, feeble woman with an infant
demanding portion other lime. And so
night came. and she had M shelter. s-z
Late at night, still with her bal.y sleeping
in her arms, she wandered down beside the
| river. Fatigue aud anxiety had crazcl her
feeble brain. The splnshing waters perhaps
suggested relief, or tempted her 20 cn, her
weary life. At any rate some passers by
heard splash and smothcred shrek, but
silence so quickly followed, and the darkness
was 50 iiic,Ise, that they f,ncied themselves
mistaken and so moved on. 33lrg
The next morning a;cfowd of peopic were
| landing from one of the up river boats. A
tail, athletic Young man sprang on shore
among the first, an,l after few hurried in
qnirics ofa hackman, hurried up the street.
He had gone hut short distance when a sad
proecssiun arrested his attention Some ne
groes were carrying upon a plank, the drip
ping body of woman which they had Just
taken from the river, and crowd was gath.
efing around. The young man stepped for.
ward, too, TO gszo upon the drowned wo-
man; but no sooner did lie catch glimpse
OF those distorted features than terrible
groan burst from his heart, aud pushing
through the crowd he cast himself upon the
body, with the exclamation 'sri
'Matiie, my wife, DOVE meet thus as
| The man was Waiter James, and thus he
met his wife and child, for clasped to the
cold bosom Of the mother was her dead in
fifit. Tears fell from eyes all unused 10
weeping mt this touching sight, and many
were the proffers Of sympathy and aid which
were poured into the bereaved husband, be,
reaved indeed, now, and utterly alone
Matte and her baby were lail beside the el
der child, and then Walter sought hi.
home, TO endearor, If possible to trace ou
the mystery of the lost letter, which lla,
caused so much suffering aud so man,
deaths.
1 When he had returned from the interior
to the place where lie had been employed
he found all Mattics letters awaiting him.
| by them he learned the loss Of the none,
letter, and Of her arrival and the sickness o
her clild in st. Louis. Without loss O
time he set out for ST. Louis, and arrive,
there only TO look upon the drowned corpse
Of his wife and child, and TO find his it'll
household band all broken mp. And it WA
with vow of vengeance on his lips, that Ia
started for his home.
No sooner had he arrived there than in
vestigations were instituted which ere lon,
resulted il, tho discovery Of the systemali
thefts of William Ellis He was arreste,
aud, finding the evidence Of lis guilt over
whelming, at length made q fnll confession
Of his crimes and, among other things O
the robbery Of Martha James's letter. III,
was sentenced for a long term of years I,
the State Prison, and there, with The gull
Of n murderer upon the heart, lie expiate
the fearful crime which he committed. :
Conscience thunders at his guilty SOUL, an,
in the darhness Of the night, in the dreary
cell where he liss, the pale, distorted feature,
OF the drowned mother and her child haun
his mental vision and the despairing gaze o