The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1861-02-20

pfOulSdl son. y ne vile smiles upOI
him who turns back to virtue anC
honor. The angel child visits me al
nightfall, and / feel the hallowine
touch of a tiny palm upon my feverish
cheek. My brave boy if he yet lives
would forgive the sorr)wing old man
for the treatment that sent him into
the world, and the blow which MANNED
him for life. God forgive me for the
ruin which I have, brought upon me
and mine"
He again wiped tear from his eye.
My father watched him with strange
intensity, and a countenance unusual
ly pale, and excited by some strong
en- otion.
was once a fanatic, and madly
followed the malign light which led me
to ruin. was fanatic when | sac
rifced my wife, children, happiness
and home to the accnrsed demon of
the bowl / once adored the gentle
being whom | wronged so deeply
/ was drunkard. From respec-
liability and affluence / plunged into
degradation and poverty. | dragged
my family down with me.
7" For years | saw her cheek pale
and her step grow weary. | left her
alone amid he wreck of her home
idols, and rioted at the tavern. She
never complained, yet she and the chill
dren often went hungry for bread.
One New Years night / returned
late to the hut where charity had Civ
en- us roof. She was still up, shiv-
ering over the Goals / demande
food but she burst into tears and told
me there was none. ] fiercely ordered
her to get some. She turned her eyes
sadly upon me, the tears falling fast
over her cheek.
At this moment the child in its
cradle awokc and set up a famished
wall, startling the despairing mother
like serpent's sting.
We have DO food James-have
had none for two days. / have moth
ing for the babe. My once kind hus-
band, must we starve ?"
T" That sad, pleading face, and those
streaming eyes, and the feeble wall Of
the child maddened me, and I-yes, /
struck her fierce blow in the face,
and she fell forward upon the hearth.
The furies of hell boiled in my bosom,
and with deep intensity as / felt that
| had committed wrong had new
er struck Mary before, and now some
terrible impulse bore me on, and /
stopped down as well as I could in my
drunken state and clinched my hands
in her hair.
Good of mercey,n exclaimed my
wife as she looked up in my fiendish
countenance "you will not kill us,
you will not harm Willie" as she
sprung to the cradle and grasping him
in her embrace. I caught her again
by the hair, and dragged her to the
door, and as | lifted the latch, the
wind burst in with cloud of snow
With the yell Of fend / still dragged
her on, and hauled her out in the dark
ness and the storm. With wild ha,
ha, | closed the door and turned the
button, her pleading means mingled
with the wall Of the blast and the sharp
cry of her babe. But my work was
not complete | turned to the little
bed where lay my Oldest son, and
snatched him from his slumbers, and
against his half awakened struggles,
opened the door and threw him out.
In an agony of fear, he called me by
the name | was no longer fit to bear,
and locked his little fingers in my side
pocket. | could not wrench that fren-
zied grasp away, and with the cool
ness of devil as [ was, shut the door
upon his arm, and with my knife sew
cred the wrist ~
The speaker ceased a moment, and
buried his face in his hands as if to shut
out some fearful dream, and his deep
chest heayed like storm swept sea.
My father had arisen from his seat and
was leaning forward, his countenance
bloodless, and the large drops standing
ont upon his brow. Chills crept back
to my heart and | wished | was at
home. The old man looked up, and
never since have ] beheld such mortal
agony pictured upon human face as
there was on his.
1t was morning when I awoke, and
the storm had ceased, but the cold
was intense. / first secured a drink
of water and tnen / looked in the ac-
cushioned place for Mary. As | miss
ed her, for the first time shadowy
sense of some terrible nightmare be-
gan to dawn upon my wandering mind
Il thought | had dreamed a fearful
dream, but. inyoluntarily opened the
outside door with shuddering dread.
As the door opened the snow burst
in, followed by fall of something
n 4