The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-05-16

king . glass OF brandy and water. He m.
swers me, "There's brandy" without ma
king sny sign to show where, or indeed
looking In any direction at all, so that am
under the necessity Of hunting it up myself.
The ring Of the dime upon the board in
payment 10 equally powerless to arouse him,
from whati perhaps from vision Of,
scenes and faces far, enough away. next
propose, but this time TO myself, retiring
tor the night, and scraping the mud from
my boots as far as practicable, and assuring
myself Of the steadiness of the stick in ad-
nance, take my way 10 the attic.
must have been very tired and sleepy,
for can only recollect one moment when
the crscking Of the cane floor beneath my
step chimed in beautifully with the pattering
Of the heavy pin-dlops on the roof, and ]
think slumber seized me even as settled
down upon my primitive conch. had
hardly lost myself, as the expression is,
when was again aroused to consciousness
by voiees.in the apartment below. The
FIRST was that Of q woman, low and, shrill
impreesing meas coming from heart in
bitterest warfare with its destiny, and curi-
ously ct variance with the lulling sound Of
the rain, and the dull, heavy, mournful
gustiness of the wind.
ssUh John,o it cried in tones Of agony,
ssdo not let him die, he is my little angel!
John, oh, cannot let him die!'
sHush DEAR" said another voice, the
rough hard voice of man; 'swhy should
we ask to have him spared? Has our life
been so very pleasant that we should pray
for like boon for him 2"
!. The words, and the tone in which they
were uttered more than the words them
selves, revealed to me picture, suddenly
Illuminated as it were by fash of Heavens
lightning, in which noted all the details
Of one Of those unhappy lives so commonly
led by the sensitive and poor. 1t was with
no hope of turning back the tide of hurry
ing. events, and yet certainly with no idle
curiosity, that crept along over the cane
floor OF nv chamber toward the aperture
where could leisurely inspect the scence
below. oh, what would not have given
for the power and appliances Of the painter,
to have stamped its lineaments upon the
canvass. even rs Iaeaw them then! A man
and woman had entered, and were seated
side bv side on two rude boxes, stationed in
a corner of the apartment, which was pos
sibly the most comfortable locale, if sucn an
epithet NAV be applied to premises so utter
lv wet and cheerless. These two persons
seemed in full possession of the house The
proprietor had either gone out, or was coil
ed away to sleep in some corner hidden to
NV view. A second glance revealed a third
person, child of apparently not more than
i've or six summers, whose emaclated and
spasmodic frame was almost wholly con-
cealed by the protecting arms OF the man,
was so disposed, with the feeble candle-light
falling full upon them, that, in my desire to
read their story in their faces, almost inn
med,ately saw their each minutest line,
while all the world beside became nothing
but the blackest void, and my ear ceased 70
take note of the rain and gusty wind, and
heard nothing but the outpourings of these
| forlorn and seemingly forgotten spirits.
The man was apparently rather under
what is termed the middle age, Of small
stature, wasted aand thin, as if from long
care and self denial. His attire, even in the
abandon of that out-of-the-way spot, some-
hows bespoke the gentleman, and just as
plainly, too, the poor gentleman. As he sat
| holding his frail burden, every moment,
alas! becoming fyailer, vainly trying to
soothe it to a moments repose, and after
| each unsuccessful effort turning his beseech-
ing eyes to heaven, could read in his sharp
pale face, his high projecting, but not broad
forehead, his quick restless eye, flashing
with certain fire withal, and the unsteady
working of his mouth, the plainly written
story of high-hearted, disappointed man.
There was something his whole demeanor
which bespoke the man of pride of prin-
ciple, of genius too, but also Of irresolution
the most unhappy type Of all Gods images
on earth; the man who, seeing the prizes
with which life's lottery is teeming, and
knowing the way to reach them, yet lacks
! the nerve to follow therein, because the
cowardly doubt is still there, as to whether,
after all, the hig chest good is thus to be OBJ
tanned.
The woman, like the man, in one respect
at least was ssnot now that which she had
BEEN" and vet there were traces Of her for
,ner better self Pickering occasionally in
her face and mein. Although no smile
played upon her lips, which were once beau
| tiful, but were now thin and drawn tightly
together, as if to shut out from her heart
the atmosphere Cf a world that had never
seemed to love her, and no especial brill
lance flashed upon you when the lids were
raised from eyes around which were drawn
dark lines, and which stood out in painful
prominence from wasted cheeks: and al
| though her costume was of the simplest,
suggestive Of dull routine of daily tasks,
and nothing of the dashiness and bravery
of life, yet there was something, not exactly
visible 10 the outward eye, which showed
that this was not the destiny to which she
was born; else why should have seen her,
as in mirror Of the past, sweeping with
gallant grace adown gllded drawing-room,
or rousing to wild gayety a sea-shore or
hearthsidc party, by looks and tones fraught
with fire-like electric sparks? Even now,
in that worn, slender, compressed frame.
there was secreted a possibility Of fasclna-
! ton, which needed only the showers and
beams Of symsathizing hearts to awaken to
active being. Ye rude ones of the world,
We who take pride in, the scrupulous correct
ness of your dealings in your business re-
lations with other men, paying promptly
your pecuniary debts even to the uttermost
farthing, but who, in the calculating and
unfeeling pursuit Of your selfish ends, jostle
the pure. the gentle, and the uncompla.n ne
from their paths Of life, depriving them thus
of those simple pleasures which you know
think YOU that you will never be called 10 a
reckoning for this? -"
And the little child, who was overlapping
all this WEAKNESS and misery Of life, and
was soon to be little cherub-i actually
found myself chuckling over the idea that
he was cheating the old deceptive william of
world, and was cluding its clu' ches, even
by stolen march to heaven. No frittering
away of the beauty and glory of has young
life by unmanly, cankering cares. The
lustre of his roguish little eye was not to be
dimmed, the rosy fulness Of his mischievous
mouth was not to be wholly wasted, his
laughing curls were not even to be cut, till
he had lain them all in the bosom OF the
rotting earth which was their mother. l
have said that he was child of some five
or six summers. There was none Of the
! frostiness of winter about him. Nothing
even in his form, worn by disease, suggestive
of cold or bacrenness. He was delicate
summer flower, and now that he was being
crushed to earth,' it was a summer storm
that did it; rude gale, that might break
his fragile stock, and scatter far and wide
his fair frail petals, but which would none
the less certainly watt the essence Of his
fragrance and loveliness far beyond the