Nebraska advertiser., 1864-07-21
it. and it Iivelh with one who loves chill

dfen. tfcIe-a a nst l6rete
"Do no, be startled friends; / am not
a murderer in,he Comnon acceptatiOn Of
the term. Yet, theresis a light in my
evening sky. A spirit mother. rejoices
over the return of her. .pFodigal sen.l The
wife smiles upon him whosagain turns
back to virtue and honor The child
angel visits me at nghtfall, and feel the
hallOwing touch of a Tiny palm upon my
feverish cheek. My brave boy if he yet
lives, would forgive the sorrowing old
man for the treatment which drove him
into the world, and the blow that MANNED
him for life. God forgive me for the
rpinI have brought on me and mine.nn
He again wiped a, tear from his eye,
My father watched him with a. strange
Interest, containing unusually pale, and
excited By some ssrange7emotion. dasd
Il was once a fanatic. and madly fol,
lowed the mahgn clight3which ledsme to
ruin. Twas a fanatic w. en- / sacrificed
my wife, children, happiness and home,
to the aeeursed demon of the bowl. Il
once adered the gentle being whom ip-
jured SO deeply. s ssu z
81 was a drunkard. From respecta-
bility and afluence, | plungad into deg
radiation and poverty. dragged my
family down with me. For years l saw
her cheek pale and her step weary. l
left her alone amid the wreck of her
home idols, and rioted at the tavern. She
never complained, yet she and the chill
dren went hungry for bread.
"One New Years night,1 returned
late to the hat where charity had given
US roof. She was yet up, and shiveripg
with the cold. | demanded food but she
burst into tears and told me, there was
none. ] fercely ordered he 70 get seme.
She turned her eyes sadly upon me, the
tears falling fast over her pale cheek. AT
this moment the child lu the cradle awoke
and sent up famishing wall starting
the despairing mother, like a serpent's
sting, o ad, 81 slm al, ba31
| "We have no food James--have had
none for several days I have nothing
for the babe. NY once kind husband,
must we slarye 2' q .g-arl.--,-6 =.
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 deeper intensity as feltI had com.
mitted a wrong. / had never struck
Mary before, but nowrs some terrible i'm
pulse bore me on, and stopped as well
as | could in my drunken state, and
clenched both handsin her hair. s4.a
q God Of mercy, Jamesn exclaimed
my wife, asshe looked up to my fendish
countenarce, ''you will not kill us-you
will not harm Willie" and she sprang
to the cradle, and grasped him in her
embrace. Z caught her again by the hair
and dragged her TO the door, and, es
lifted the latch, the wind burst in with q
cloud Of snow.' With the yell Of fiend,
still dragged her On, and hurled her
oat in the darkness and storm, With a
wild ha ha closed the door and turn
ed the button, herpleading means mingled
with tie wall Of The blast and the sharp
cry Of her babe. Bat my work was not
complete. ~ gdT
! 81 turned to the little bed where lay
my elder son, and snatched him from bis
slumbers and against half awaked ytrug-
giles, opened the door and thrust him out.
La The agony Of fear, be called to me BY
a name was no longer at to bear, and
locked his fingers into nay side pocket. !
could not wrench that frenzied grasp
away. and with the coolness of a devil
as was, shut the door upon his arm, and
with knife severed it away-a. 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 heaved like storm-swept sea, My
father had risen from his seat, and was
leaning forward, countenance bloOdless
and the large drops. standing out upon
his brow. Chills crepl back to my heart
and l wished was. at home. The old
man looked up, and nerer have since
beheld such mortal agony pictured upon
a human face as there was on his.
cit was morning when ] awoke, and
the storm had ceased, but the cold wa;
intense. l first secured drink of water,
and then looked in The accustomed place
for Mary. As ] missed her, for the
first time, a shadOwy sense Of some hoF.
rible nightmare began to dawn upon my
wandering mind. ! thought had had a
! fearful dream, bui ingolun.aritY opened
the outside door with shuddering dread,
As the door oponed, the snow burst IN