The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1858-02-19

ro.I Ral ia3mdsiijug 800 5a .a.Irag5
gtEd no8iaed adl 10. -nlnl o. ---la-
nal, and thinking meanwhile, Of iier ab
sent boy; thinking It was time for hin
TO return, and hoping that he will neve'
go to sea again. How quick the word
catch her eyc,-Arrived, ship Banner;
Lowell. ' ''y-
And il was Q week ago; he could have
been home BY this time he will come
tonight, she said, joyfully, IS she went
to communicate the good news to hei
husband. ,'
They watched for him in vain that
night and then Mrs. Heath suggested
what no mother ever failed to suggest
when the long absence Of child wa,
unaccounted for-hc must be sick; when
night after night passed, and they neither
saw nor heard anything Of Alfred, her
anxiety would let her rest no longer.
we will 60 for him, or at least 60
where We may hear Of him. said Mr.,
Heath, who now, as anxious |. his wife,
readily assented. ID "
Their simple preparation for the jour.
ncy were soon made, and with heavy
hearts they proceeded in search Of their
son, with little hopes ofgaining anything
more satisfactory than definite intclli.
gence Of his death. ' .' ''
1t was dark and rainy evening when
they entered the city, and after an hour
spent In fruitless enquiries they found the
place where Alfred had been carried
Little care had he received in the crowd
ed boarding house. There was none Of
the ncatness and order that shows better
in sick room than anywhere else
Rough hands had roughly tended him,
and pale and death.likc rs he looked it
seemed as II it mattered little what care
he had now. In the agony with which
the parents bent over the unconscious
sleeper, and marked tho. sunkcn cheeks
and wasted form, there was but one ray
of comfort; they could watch over him
they should not hear Of his death with
the sad thought that none but stranger
had smoothed his dying pillow.
The sufferer awokc from troubled
dream, to find his aching head supported
by his father and sec his mothers eye
resting on him with a look Of unuttcra-
bic tenderness. So faint was the smile
OF recognition with which he greeted
them, that only parents eye could have
caught the flittcring expression.
Cant live, can't livc,' said the doctor,
with professional carelessness, as he en-
tered the house next morning.
But his mother has come! ! said the
lan.lady.
That alters the case he may get up
again, answered the doctor, than whom
none knew better how much mother
could do.
But how frail seems the thread that
held that young and promising life. For
days it quivered and trembled with the
slightest breath, and the mother tearfhlly
prayed that It might not be broken. A
gentle care and kindly watching as ever
blessed a sick bed, had young Alfred
Heath, and not in vain; gradually he
grew better, and was able to walk with
his parents and asked them how they
chanced to come to him in the hour ol
need.
1T was the newspaper said Mr.. Heath,
Just three words in the paper told Us
your ship had come. Your didn't arrive
at home, and so We came to sec IL you
were sick. You'll soon be we'll enough
to 60 home, my boy, God, be thanked,
he added fervently, for sending US to take
care OF you
At length Alfred was pronounced well
enough to ride, and in few days the
pleasant old homestead gladdcncd his
sight. How beautiful It looked as the
sun shone on the vines in which il was
cmbowcled, with their wealth Of grapes,
just pur ling in the autumn sunshine.
No one so joyful as Mr.. Heath, who.
after being gladdencd by hearing Alfred
say he would not go to sea again, cx.
pressed his opinion OF newspapers in gen.
eral, and his own newspaper inparticulaI
in this wise:
4 am so glad, Millicent, that you took
that paper, for | count paper just the
mot necessary thing in family. We
should never have had boy here strong
and well, II il had not been for il. 1t Is
an excellent thing, and shall subscribe
for it as long as ! i've