Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-06-21

ed and excitable child had become sensible
that the eye of Ethan Brand was fixed upon
him throughthe glasf.
''You make the little man to be afraid cap
tain," said the German Jew. turning up the
dark and strong outline of his visage from his
STOPPING posture. But look again, and. by
chance, shall cause you TO see something
that is very fine, upon my word,
Ethan Brand gaZed into the box for an in
slant. and then. starting back. looked fixed
ly at the German. What had he seen? Moth
ing, apparently; for curious youth. who had
peeped in almost at the same moment beheld
only vacant space of canvas.
81 remember you, now" muttered Ethan
Brand to the Snowman.
"Ah, captain whispered the Jew of Muir
embursh. with dark smile, 81 find it to be a
heavy matter in my show-box-this Impair
donable SIM By my faith, captain, it has
wearied my shoulders this day TO carry it over
the mountain"
"Peacel' answered Ethan Brand, sternly,
Cor get thee into the furnace yonder."
The jews exhibition had scarcely conclud-
ed, when great elderly dog-who seemed to
be his own master, as no person in the COM
panY laid claim to him-saw fit to render
himself the object OF public notice. Hitherto
he had shown himself very quiet, we'll
disposed old dog, going round from one to
another, and, by way of being sociable, offer
hand that would take so much trouble. But
now, all of sudden, this grave and venerable
quadruped, of his own mere motion. and
without the slightest suggestion from anybody
else, began to run round after his tail, which,
10 heigbten the absurdity of the scene, was a
great deal shorter than it should have been.
Never was seen such headlong eagerness in
pursuit of an object that could not possibly be
attained never was heard such tremendous
of harly nd
swapping, as if one end of the ridiculous
brutes's body were at deadly and most unfor-
giveabie enmity with the other. Faster and
faster round about went the cur, and faster
and still faster fled the unapproachable brew
ty of his tail. and louder and fiercer grew his
yells of rage and luminosity, until utterly ex-
hausted, and as far from the goal as ever, the
foolish old dog ceased his Performance as sud-
denly as he had begun it. The next moment
he was as quiet, mild, sensible, and respecta-
bic in his depOrtmentas when he first scraped
acquaintance with the company.
AS may be supposed, the exhibition was
greeted with universal laughter, clapping of
hands, and shouts of % Encore" to which the
the canine performer responded by waggine
all that there was TO wag of his tail, but APP
peared totally unable to repeat his very sue
cessful effort to amuse the spectators.
Meanwhile, Ethan Brand had resumed his
seat upen the log, and moved. it might be, by
a perception of some remote analogy between
his own case and that of this selfpursuing cur,
he broke into the awful laugh which, more
than any other token. expressed the condition
of his being And at that moment the merri-
mcnt of the party was at an end they stood
about, dreading lest the inauspicious sound
should be reverberated around the horizon.
and that mountain would thunder it to noun
tain, and so the sound be prolonged upon their
ears. Then, whispering to one another that it
was late that the moon was almost down :;
that the August night was growing chill, they
hurried homewards leaving the ime-buTner
and Ii tie Joe to deal as they might with their
unwelcOme guest. Save for these three hui
man beings, the open space on the hillside
was solitude set i'll vast gloom of forest
Beyond that darksome verge, the fire-lights
glimmered on the stately trunks and almost
black foliage of pines intermixed with higher
verdure of sapling oaks. naples and poplars,
while here and there lay the gigantic copses
of trees, decaying on the lcaf-strewn soil
And it seemed to little Joe-a timorous aud
imaginative child-that the silent forest was
holding its breath until some fearful thing
should happen.
Ethan Brand thrust more wood in the fire.
and closed the door of the kiln; then looking
over his shoulder at the lime-burner and his
son, he baGe, rather than advised, them to re-
tire to rest
"For myself. l cannot" said he; Il have
matters that ii concerns me to mediate upon.
| will watch the fire, as l used to doin the old
time'
'And call the devil out of the furnace to
keep you company suppose" muttered Ber
tram, who had been making intimate acquain-
lance with the black bottle above mentioned
But watch, if you like. and call as many de-
wills as you like; for my part, | shall be all
the better for a suooZe. Come, Joe"
As the boy followed his father into the hut,
he looked back at the way-farer and tears
came into his eyes. for his tender spirit had an
intuition of the bleak and terrible loneliness
in which this man had enveloped himself.
When they were gone, Ethan Brand sat
listening to the cracking of the kindled
wood, and looking at the spirits of fire that
Issued through the chinks of the door
These trifies however once so familiar, had
but the slightest hold Of his attention, while
deep within his mind he was reviewing the
gradual but marvellous change that had been
brought upon him by the search to which he
had devoted himself. He remembered how
the night dew had fallen upon him; how the
dark forest had whispered TO him; how the
stars had CLEANED upon him, a simple and
loving man, Watching his fire in the years
gone by, and ecen musing as it burned. He
remembered with what tenderness, with what
love and sympathy for mankind, and what
pity for human guilt and woe he had first
begun to contemplate those ideas which aftt r
wards became the inspiration of his life; with
what reverence he had then looked into the
heart of man, viewing it temple
originally Divine, and, however desecratcd
still to be held sacred by brother; with
what awful fear he had deprecated his pur-
suit and prayed that the objectionable Sin
might never be revealed in him. Then
ensued that vast intellectual development
which in its progress, disturbed the counter
poise between his mind and heart.
The idea that possessed his life had opera
ted as IA means of education; it had raised
him from the level of an unlettered laborer to
stand on a starlight laden eminencc, whittier
the philosopher of the earth, with the lord of
the universe might vainly strive to Chamber
after him. So much for the intellect But
where was the heart? That, indeed, had
withered, had contracted. had hardened, had
parishedl 1t had ceased to partake of the
universal throb. He had lost hold of the
magnetic chain of humanity. He was no
longer brother man, opening the chambers
of the dungeons of our common nature by
the key of holy sympathy, which gave him n
right to share in all its secrets; he was now a
cold observer, looking on mankind as the
subject of his experiment, and at length
converting man and woman TO be his puppets
and pulling the wires that moved them TO
such degrees of crime as were demanded for
his study.
Thus Ethan Brand became a fend. He
began to be so from the moment that his
moral nature had ceased to keep the pace of
Improvement with his intellect And now, as
his hi ghest effort, and inevitable development
AS the bright and gorgeous flower. aud rich,
delicious fruit of his lfe's labor-he had dis
covered the objectionable Sin.
..What more have / to seek? What more
TO achieve!n said Ethan Brand TO himself
'.My task is done, and we'll done"
Starting from the log with certain
aiacrity in his gait, and ascending the hillock
of earth that was raised against the stone
circumference of the lime-kiln, he thus reach
ed the top of the structure. II was space
of perhaps ten feet across, from edge TO edge,
presenting view OF the upper surface of the