The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1858-10-20
WHOLE NO. 1O5.

Harvey and she only met casually du-
ring several months, and that only un-
der circumstances that did not permit
of a private interview. During that
time the infatuated young man had be-
come the talk of the neighborhood. His
dissipation and gambling losses had
involved him in pecuniary embarrass-
ments unfortunately to a greater extent
than was generally surmised. At length
they met. 1t was Sunday, and Annie
was returning from school at some
distance from her home, in which she
occasionally assisted as teacher. The
part of the road was secluded, and they
had often met there in the sunny
days of their love.
well, Frank ? said Annie, sorrow
fully, as she regarded his changed ap-
pearance, his haggard features, sunken
eyes and utidy apparel.
Forgive me, Annie = he exclaimed.
1 know Ihave done wrong. but one kind
word from you, one of your sweet. looks
will soon make all right again.
i have nothing to forgive said An
ME, TREMENDOUSLY; for his pleading s-Ass
had touched a chord that had never
ceased to give forth music. Il have
only to lament that we are not the same
to each other that we once were.'
why should we not be so again.
asked he. 49,
ASK yourself and Judge she replied.
Misinterpreting her subdued, almost
tender tone and manner, he began pas
sionately to entrea. for renewal of their
engagement. Annie, though her heart
beat violently as old memories swept
through her brain, was firm in her re-
fusal. She had disciplined herself into
the conviction that he had no right to
demand any sacrifice on her part. He
was the transgressor, and from him alone
must come the atonement. Would that
all girls similarlarly placed would think
as Annie did!
You love me no longer!' exclaimed
Harvey, bitterly.
L do not love the spectre of Frank
Harvey she replied. Return to your
former self, and you will find Annie
Lee still Annie Lee.'
Imagining she referred to his loss of
property, he said, with sneer, Il see
how it is-you have heard of my mis-
fortunes, and we are not equal now. I
am poor now-and you scorn me because
l am poor
'Poor!' rejoined Aannie, warmly.
You are only poor in character. Money
of itself does not make or confer worth.
If you had not penny in your pocket,
and were the Frank Harvey of other
times, 1 would gladly give you my hand
and my father would as gladly consent.
Oh, Frank, Frank, whether you have
been led astray by your own evil promp-
tings, or fallen before temptation, there
is Tune to relent, time to change, time
to turn back to your former self, and,
will say, time to come and see Annie
Lee as you did in the bright days before
you fell away from me, from yourself,
and oh |! Frank, think of it, from your
Maker 7
| And SO they parted without another
word, Harvey a prey to remorse, for as
he watched her receding figure, the
sound of Sabbath bells fell on his ear,
and as they awoke the past, they dis
turbed his stagnant and hatred present,
and he wept. But the day of his de-
liverence was not yet at hand. Depravi-
ties that stop short of crime punishable
by the laws are only corrected by the
! seyerest chastisement, and thorough
cleansing of the moral being.
Self-degradation will drive man or
woman to the most desperate extremi-
ties. In some stages of their disorder
they are unable, if willing, to bear up
against the wind of their difficulties.
Like dismantled ships they drift help
lessly on the lee shore Of ruin. 1t was
so with Harvey. He was overtaken by
adversities and could not bear up against
them, although he still had the means.
The spirit of the gambler and tippler
possessed him, and his property wasted
away like snow in the sun. In himself
Ihopelessly degenerate, he had no hope
in the future, and became reckless. Long
after he had ceased to hold any COM
munication with Annie, or her father, a
lglimmering of his actual position flashed
across his mind, and he vowed a refor-
nation but it is only terrible shock
that can rouse such beings to sense
OF their danger and duty. 1t came with
electric force.
AS he was proceeding homewards
late one night, and was passing the cot
tage of the miserable tailor, he was ar
rested by the piercing shrek of wo-
man and the cries of children-cries
that never appeal vainly to mans heart.
By an impulse which he could never
afterwards account for, seeing the door
open, he entered and beheld spectacle
that curdled his very blood. On the
floor lay the tailor dead-in fit of
druken passion he had burst blood
vessel and gone to his dreadful account
His three children were crying by his
side. and on some rags in a corner lay
his wife prostrate, dying in the last
stage of consumption. The crimson
and black clouds through which Harvey
had looked at the world for many
day vanished-his former self started
up. like bright angel, and he applied
himself vigorously to the exigencies
OF the case. He reused the neighbors,
procurep the attendance of a medical
man, and bestowed on the afflicted fam
lily all the money he had about him.
Annie will not let them starve,' he
mentally observed as he proceeded to
the farm sad and thoughtful. He found
an execution on the premises. He was
ruined, and knew it, but did not lament
or bewail his fortune. On the contra