Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1860-01-21
MISCELLANY. .
The Old Mans Sad Story.
A TALE FOR DIsOBEDIENr BOYS

A TALE FOR DIsoBEDIENT BOYS.
"Whot are you doing in the churchyard,
pldman, looking so gloomy and sad 2"
sssAlr young master | have enough to
t3siRe lnc sad and gloomy, when L dwell on
Y the days gone by"
60, are you thinking of days gone by p
Well, tell us some of their history"
81 will tell you some of their history but
y could almost cry as [ do it, Do you see
that tombstone? There are those beneath it
that i love All it's sixty long years since
saw tliem when ran away from home"
y Ran away from home! How was that ?"
SsIt seems to me but as yesterday that
q ran away from home. That cottage there by
qs trees. | was then but ten years old it
Mas my birthday too. [ got up at sunrise
Z w&ileamy father and mother were asccp.-
May and many time | had been undutiful
aether, and unllind to my father and
y the tlQy before he told me how wrong it was
3 He,sp0ke kindly and in sorrow, but my pride
would not bear it, Ithought would leave
home
80 Ky father coughcd as went by his door,
and thought heard my mother speak to
him 50 / stood moment with my little bun
1ale ~ my hand, holding my breath. He
3 cough 4a again-I have seemed to hear that
S0ughgn every part of the world
ilen had unlocked the front door my
& ifedrtf filed me, for my sister had kissed me
over nisht, and told me she had something to
cell me ia the morning. | knew what it was !;
she had been knitting me pair of 6artors to
ge nc oamy birthday. [ turned back and
ned Che door of her little room, and looked
Rt}9l SE;s but my tears fell on the bed clothes,
WIN swas afraftfiS would wake her Half
81 blinded, Igropcd down stairs.
4 II 4. I
st0os, She easement ratified above my head,
ispkad6np, and there was my mother. She
ssIoke to me, and when | did not answer, she
seried aloud to me !; that cry has rung in my
ears ever since, and in MY very dreams.
81 As-I hurried away, felt, ] suppose, as
CsiA felt when he murdered his BROTHER
father, my mother, my sister had been
: kisl3 to me; and had bccn unkind to then; ;
81 ia leaving them, felt as if | had been
grlerias sde,n ALL"
lad been a robbcr I could not have felt
S& {,re guilty. But what do say this for p
MS afobbor | was robbing them of their
pace. [ was stealing from them what the
fole world could not make up for them yet
h went, O that [ could bring back that
i heir! It's sixty years ago; it seems as but
4 yetsgdoy !"
Well, my poor old man, where did you
8 go} and when did you come back again 20
~Gol j went to sea and was out all over
tn, world for ten years. After ten long years
i caAae back again; hoped to see my home
and the dear ones / had left for | was sorry
enough by that time
~. g came back again. The hills looked as
sapprfle~ps they dd when FUSED to climb them.
Z The rocks were cawing amongst the elms Dy
the chnreh. wondered whether they were
fI Al ~. -. Il. II ~
of the hedge, and the old seat where my fa-
ther used to sit, but there were no signs of
him there A little farther on was the patch
g3of ground which my sister called her garden,
but she was not walking in it, Yondcr was
sthe bedroom window but my mother was not
Hooking out of it, 0, how thought of her
8 List cry
saw how it was There are nono of
ees hero thought l. or things would not
5k as they do Father wouldncyc let the
grow in this fashion or let the thatch
faIlSiI !; mother and sister would never suffer
tbat straw through the broken panes. I'll
saEfat the door anyhow. lLark how hollow
aal Nobody stirs, All is silent as the
ttves I'll peep in, said to'mysclf, at the
winaRw.W All! it's an empty house, that's
cISan How could it be otherwise? | had
borne nlanya hard day on the sea, but c)u!d
a0tsbcar this.
he elderbcrry was in blossom, Just rs it
wassMher ran away; and the woodbino WIS
as fresh as eye', running up to the window
out Of which my mother called me-"
fsBut it was Of no use in stopping here
! III cross to the church. yard, thought / and
& SEQ If the clerk lives where he did. But per-
hslilsps ho wouldnt know me. My cheek was
se d rose when wont away, but the sun has
aladb ih another color now. Why, this is a
~ cote How narrow the path is between
ii 4 graves; how full the churchyard is Of
them There is the old sun-dial standing
slseFe vet. The last time was in that church
s5y father was with mo remember the vi
eg prcSehing the text My son, hear thou
fse distinctions Of thy father, and forsake not
law Of thy mother" Oh what q curse
81 bring upon US, When VIC despisc Gods no
wsss my upcle's grave under the
Efeg, stepped aside to look az it,
var atope. Why thought [,
= q to the bottom "In
gcroft that's my