Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1859-11-04

hind the great swinging doors Of the place
Presently he re-appeared with pot of por
ter and piece Of bread and cheese, viii. h
Edith partonk Of on seat outside the door
fof the public house which she could not be
persuaded to enter. A passing milkman
supplied her with Refreshments for her chill
1lren-and thus was their first mcafin Lon
| Ion taken.
From travellers on the road Harry had
acquired information respecting cheap lod
gings, and consulting dirty card. he made
out that at the east end Of London the,
might obtain shelter on the lowest possible
terms. Thither they repaired. and the Mex
tsiay miserable garnet in one Of the worse
|neighborhools of London received the wan
derers. iss3
f. Wecks-months passed away. Occasion.
+ ally Harry procured few days work, bn,
whatever he earned was invariably sqna,,-
dered in drink re- Had it not been fsir she iii.
tie hoard which E.siti, had held 10 with /
mser's clutch. and some TRIES which she
obtained BY making shirts for wholesale
dealer. she and her children must have star
we'd long ago. Harry himself was seldom,
home by day. and how he existed she knew
not. It was Of no use to question him; and
as to persuading him to alter his way Of life
the poor broken-spirited woman had long
despaired Of that.
One day as Langley was longing about
the door Of one Of the inns at which the cna
ches from the west Of England put up, the
Highfyer Bath stage drove up and scarce
ly had it stopped before to bis astonishment
he heard himself accos.ed BY name Look
ing up, who should he see on the box Of the
stage but an old acquaintance Of the Bath
tavern-the fashy gentleman, Mr., Shar-
key?
"Hillo, Harry my chicken Y he exclaim-
ed, shaking Langley by the hand "Why
who the deuce could have thought to meet
with you in London? But whv-~wh--
what's the matter with you, man? Why
don't you speak p
why, the truth is, Master Sharkley,
that things amt with me exactly as they used
to be--in fact. Pm desperately hard up
You may see that plain enough
''Well, your togs are none Of the best,
certainly-but | say, Harry, I'm not the
man to cut an old friend because he's down
in the world, and who knows but what I
may put spoke in your wheel aud set you
going again-eh! But come, let's 20 into
a quiet corner Of the parlor and drink to our
meeting
Nothing 10th, Harry accepted the invita-
ton, and before two glasses Of punch had
been consumed by him, he became, as usual
communicative.
But wont your wife's uncle assist you
fork out? He's plenty, hasn't he r. asked
Sharkey.
mot gninea-the old curmudgecn =
exclaimed Harry; though, to my knowl-
edge, he has many a score il his strong box
for ever since the Westhury Bank broke, be
takes care Of his own money!
Then why the deuce don't you help your
self to some oft ? Who has greater RICH,
to it, | should like to know, tI,an his own
niece's husband y slyly insiuua;cd the tenn
per.
| Harry shrank back aghast No, drunk
ard us he knew himself to be, he was no,
yet felon: but after few more glasses, the
thought that he had a right to some Of old
Vowles's gold became familiar to him. He
struggled with sch evil thoughts. though,
and promising his companion to meet him
again that evening at the same place. he
Went to a low tavern where he was in the
habit of idling away that time which, prop
erly improved, might have gone far to ex
tricate his family from absolute want.
That night he again met Sharkey-ag
was he piled with liquor. and the more he
drank. the more fs he became to engage in
any desperate adventure. In the course of
the drinking bout, sotiie friends Of Sharkey
arrived, and Harry vas introduced as one Of
themselves. A long aud private convcrsa-
ton was held by the party. aud il was not
until Saint Paul's clock was striking three
that they broke up. Sharkey supplied IEar-
ry with funds sufficient to purchase hin, bit
ter clothing, ard il was arranged that i'll Or
der to prevent E.iith's suspeeting anything
she sh' uld be told BY her husband that !ic
had been engaged BY ;neschan, e. drive ];
wagon some distance into tie country ans
that the said merchant had advanced him
the means Of making respectable appear
ance.
Although Harry had drunk deeply, yet
the exciting conversation III which he had
been engaged. prevented his becoming 50
much intoxicated as he must otherwise haze
been. Flushed with the p aspect Of havin.
abundance Of gold, he was even in better
mood than usual; and when he placed hi, foat
on the first step Of the ricketty stairs which
led to his garnet. he stood for moment to
assume calmness which he did nor feel. ~
But it was necessary he thought. to pacify
Edith, and pang Of remorse started through
his heart at the sudden remembrance cf all
she had sacrificed aud suffered on bis &C.
count But he smothered the rising repen-
lance and crept softly up stairs, lest she
should be asleep.
But asleep she was not. The gray dawn
was just appearing through the window.
making the roofs and chimneys of the sur
rounding houses indistinctly visible. and
paling the fame of the candle. now nearly
burned down to the socket of its holder
Edith's head was resting on the palms Of
her hands that in their turn lay on the hard
coverless table. On her lap lay her babe.
covered with her shawl; Ellen. still un-
dressed, lay clasping her little brothers
form on wretched mattress in one corner
Of the room, and in another was the unoc--
cupied bed of the impoverished pair
When Harry softly opened the door, she
lifted her head. which had strange, sad