Quasqueton guardian. (Quasqueton, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1856-1858, 1857-02-07

The young shopkeeper's business had
prospered beyond his most sanguine ex-
pectations; so that his devoted wife would
have willingly placed her little fortune in
his hands, saw no occasion to withdraw
it from her uncle, in whose hands it was
not only deemed to be safely invested but
was producing handsome interest
Robert Wilson was whole -souled
young man, without selfish thought in
his composition. He had married Angel
inc for herself alone, and had hardly be-
slowed thought upon her portion.
But the bad speculation had worried
him exceedingly. All the ready money
he could command had been exhausted
and in his extremity the thought had oc-
CURED to him that his wife could supply
his wife could supply his wants. The
idea of asking her for relief was, to
man of his high strung temperament, SO
highly repugnant, he only had courage
to hint at the services she might render
him.
With the money in his pocket which
Angeline had procured for him, Robert
Wilson fastened down Broadway. At
the corner of Park Place he paused and
cast furtive glance around him, evident
ly much agitated. He thought of his
loving wife at home; he had deceived her
and his conscience smote him. She was
all love and gentleness, and sincerity and
confidence, and he had basely deceived
her.-Should he not return, throw him
self at her feet and beg her forgivness?
Such course was certainly the most
grateful to his erring, penitent soul; but
he had made bad speculation, and
while there was hope of retrieving him
self, the demon of mammon within
prompted him to sin again.
Turning down Park Place, he entered
one of those gambling hells, which are
the curse of enlightened America. Again
he paused on the steps of the magnificent
establishment, to silence the upbraidings
of his conscience. The beautiful, loving
expression of his wife, languishing away
the tedious hours Of his absence in lonely
misery, haunted him. But the usual
consolation, the oft-repeated resolution of
the erring soul-.Only This time, and tl.~ :.
l will forever abandon the way of the
transgressor,' came to urge him on.
By the gas-light in the street he obser-
we'd dark form, closely muffied in the
ample folds of a Spanish cloak, approach
ing the spot where he stood. The stran-
ger paused by his side, glanced intently
at him and then entered the saloon.
He followed him. The hall flashed
with brilliant lights, and the gay and fash
ionable of the metropolis thronged the
scene. Men smiled as though the place
was not the gate of hell itself The old
and respectable of the bar and forum, and
the exchange were there, countenancine
by their presence and example, the ini-
guilty practised within those gilded walls.
Robert Wilson shuddered as he entered
the saloon. Yet why should he shrink
from the scene in which the respectable
men of the community hesitated not to
mingle? Poor, simple young man his
soul had not yet come to believe that
wealth, station and the honors of the
world can satisfy sin and hollow iniquity.
In an unguarded hour he had been lured
into den of thieves, by man of good
standing in society-the importer from
whom he purchased many of his goods,
and who held his notes in payment of
them. He had hazarded a few dollars,
though his conscience smote him all the
while. He won: he was in the hands of
those who were experienced in the man
agement of unsuspecting dupes. He
went away with his pockets well lined
with the fruits of his unhallowed gains.
Inflated by the ambition to become sud
denly rich, he went again-and the devil
lured him on. With firm resolution to
abandon these visits when he should have
added the gains of one more night to his
previous accumulation, he went third
time.-If he succeeded on this occasion
as he had on the two previous nights, he
should be able to pay the only note he
owed. The prospect of freeing himself
entirely from debt, suddenly and without
labor, tempted him to engage once more
in the exciting game. But the gamblers
had permitted him to run the whole
length Of his rope. The third night he
lost-lost all he had before won! All his
tancies were thus dashed to the ground
But the hope offreeing himself from debt
had taken strong hold on his imagination,
and he could not so easily resign it.