Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1858-09-02
yntuestitp Storg.
7 III DU ELIST
A Thrilling Southwestern sketc,,
BY CHARLES suMMERFrGLp

A T midnight about twenty years agc
LA solitary youth steered his slende
canoe Gro the Arkansas river from tn
left toward the right bank. whence a
least n pair of eyes, from a cluster 0
towering shrubs watched intently all hi
movements. For Notwithstanding tn,
hour, everything was visible in the clea
light of a cloudless May moon, which
turned the wide water into a plain of tn,
richest silver, smooth as a mirror saw,
where the quick ripples sparkled at the
touch OF the rower's flashing paddle.
have called him a youth, but he wa,
more properly a boy of sixteen, with q
blooming beardless face. and a counte
nance radiant with child like innocence
although his form seemed manly, and hi
large blue eyes had that luminous, pierre
ing look which always reveals a soul un
accustomed to both guile and fear. In
deed, his entire appearance would have
delighted the gaze of a true artist. The
spacious white brow environed with a
wreath of glossy&urls, that strong, vel
stately neck, with its aristocratic CARR
age, that form SO massive for its age. but
statuesques in its symmetry, the beaming
eyes, the blooming yisage, and withal, the
buckskin dress SO fine in its Indian orna,
ments-composed together as fair a hui
man shape as ever the enamored moon
embraced since she stepped from Heaven
to kiss the sleeping Endyminn. Rnta
wurus can Reproduce the masculine era.
ees of that beardless boy, then the pride
of central Arkansas, Wade Thompson.
What! Wade Thompsonl That name
so terrible from the SHOWS Of Iowa to the
fiery sands Of the Mexican Gulf-from
the levee at New Orleans to the harbor
of San Francisco. The same-not a4 he
had been for years, tho wandering Jew o.
wild, unrest and pltless passions-but as
he was in the golden days of the morning
Of life, the light Of that old clerical faith
err eyes; the elective magnet of a sanity
mothers heart, the admiration of all thai
knew him. And | am about to tell what
changed him, what made him the merci
less men that he is.
As the n glided through the mid.
die Of the stream, the youth paused, raised
his padd@ drippingwith liquid pearls and
scanning the shore eagerly, murmurec
with a sigh:
Il must be too e~arly--there is no ont
there"
He glanced up with q half ~reproaclfu
expression at the calm, unsympathizine
moon, and signing again, 1T is the hour!'
dashed his paddles into the water and stoi
to the shore like an arrow.
Then drawing his canoe partly on the
sand he assembled the bank, peering ovel
the clustering vines, separated the wild
flowers, and called gu in a soft voice
trembling with an infinite tenderness Of
desire !: s8 Z
" ITALIA, dearest Thalia r
Ny own beautiful Wade,'' replied 0
musical, laughing voice, as a tall, dark
eyed woman emerged from a naturaI
bower Of rose bushes, and cast herself
into his arms. @
Then followed the tender embrace, the
kiss with lips of fire, the brief question,
and answer of blended tongues, and ali
the nameless beatitude Of love, that has
never known sin. TIE JOY of the woman
revealed itself in smiles sweet as starlight
and bushes burning like the tints of an
evening cloud, while by a singular con
trast, the passions of the youth founl
vent in arain Of delicious tears.
The first ecstatic transport of the re
union being allayed, the young man muir
INJURED: ~ @s5
Come dearest ITALIA, let US go yon
der and sit down. Iwant to talk to yol
a good WHILE"
He took her electric hand, and led he
a few steps up the river, to a large heal
of wood where the boats occasionally
landed to take in wood. There he ar
ranged a comfortable position as POSSIBLE
for the charmer, and throwing himself o.
his knees at her feet, so as to look full,
into that bewitching face, he gazed Vi
into those dark eyes a if worshippinI
some i~neffable divinity. 1t was, too,
divinity we all worshipped at some tim
or other in our cold, skeptieal dives, per
haps the first one ever adored, at the sac
rifce of the souls virgin purity-but al
me for how often in vain. aIkI
A concealed spectator would have re
marked a striking, if not a painful con
trast between the lovers. AS | have al
ready said, in all but form, he was mer
boy, while she appeared the proud, show,
handsome woman of more than twent
summers. her love seemed that of th
half passionate coquette but his was al
the tame homage as pure as ever glove
in the depths OF any human bosom. Sh
was evidently fond Of him, and agaiHs
the wishes of her parents, as this stole