The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1865-02-09

sold in the market-place as slaves, poor d,
vid Matson among the rest s,oy ~ 4 y, !
j When . boy he had learned the trade !
. ship.carpenter with his father on tn
Merri mack and, d,now he was set at work i
the dock-yards. His master. who was ma,
urally kind man, did not overwork him. :
He had daily his three leayes of bread, an,
when his clothing was worn ut, its plac
was supplied by the coarse cloth Of WOO
and camers hair woven by the, Berber wo
men. Three hours before sunset he wa.
released from work. and Friday. which /
the Mohammedan Sabbath, was day of en-
tire rest. Once . year, At the season Gale,
Ramadan, he was left at leisure for Who'll
week. So time went on,-iays, weeks
months. and years Has dark hair becam'
gray. He still dreamed Of his old home OF
the Merrimack, and Of his good Anna ant
the boys. He wondered whether they We
lived, what they thought Of him, and wha
they were doing. TAs. hope Of ever seeing
them again grew fainter and fainter, and q
last nearly died out and ne resigned i'm.
self to bis fate a. a slave for Ife.
But one day handsome middle aged
gentleman, in the dress Of one OF his owr
countrymen, attended by great officer o
the Dey, enterad the shsp.yard. and called
up before him the American captives. The
stranger was none other than Joel Barlow,
Commissioner Of the United States to pro
cure the liberation 81 slaves belonging to
that government. He took the. men by the
hand as they came up. and told them they
were free. As you might expect, the poor
fellows were very grateful; some laughed
some wept for joy, some shouted and sang,
and threw up their caps, while others, with
Davil Matson among them. knelt down on
the chips, and thanked God for the great
deliverance.
This is verx affecting scene," said the
Commissioner, wiping his eyes. 81 must
keep the impression Of it tor my CoIumbi.
ad;"-and drawing out his tablet, he pro-
ceeded to write on the spot an apostrophe
to Freedom, which afterwards found a place
in his great epic.
David Matsnn had savei little money
during his captivity. by odd jobs and work
on holidays. He got passage to Malaga.
where he bough, MO, sh,wl for his wife
and a watch for each Of his hoys. He then
went to the gay, where an American ship
was lyingjust ready to sail for Boston.
Almost the Rrst man he saw on board
was Pelatiah Curtis, who had rowed him
down to the port seven years before. He
found that his old neighbor did no, know
him, so changed was he with his long
beard and Moorish dress. whereupon, with .
out telling mis- name. he began to put ques-
tons about his old home, and finally asked
him If he knew Mrs. Matson. ~ q.
II rather think do,'' said Psl.tiah !;
.'she's my wife"
"Foqr wifeI'' cried the othea "She is
mine before G,d an nan. an David
Matson, and she Is the m ,ther of nv chill.
dren." f ,
"Ani mine tot said Relst,h. 81 left
her with baby in her arms. IF you are
David Matson, y,ur right to her is ontlawed;
at any rate she is mine, and { am not the
man to give her yp"
aGod is great! said po,r n,vid Matson,
unconsciously repeating the familiar words
Of Nosle,n submission. "His will be DONE"
loved her, but I shall never see her again
GIVE ID 'se, with nv blessing, to the go,d
woman and the b,ys," and he S,nd ID OVER.
with sigh, the little ts,ndls c,neaiain /, the
gifts for his vide and children.
He shook hands with his rival. "Pelati-
ah," he said, looking back as he left the
ship. "be kind to Anna and my boys"
s4y, ay. sir - responded the sailor in
careless tone. He watched tho poor man
passing SLOWLY up the nsrrow street until
out Of sight "It's hard case for old Da-
vid." he said, helpins hi4 .elf to fresh cud
oftobacco, ''but I'm glad I've seen the last
of him."
When Pelatian Curtis reached home he
told Anna the story Of her husband and laid
his gifts in her lap. She did not shrek nor
faint. for she was healthy woman with
strong nerves but she stole away by her.
SELF and wsRt bitterly. She lived many
years after, but could nsver be persuaded to
xesr the pretty shawl which the husband
Of her youth had sent IS his farewell gilt
There il, however, . tradition that, in &C.
cosdance with her dying wish, 1t was
wrapped shout her poor oldsnoqlders in the
coffin, ond buried with her.
The little old buIl's-eye watch, which is
still in the possession Of one Of her grand
children. 70 now oil that remains to tell Of
D avid Aatsop.-the Lost man. S
o 3biz9-I-lArii EJousG. w4rTIER.
SMALL Pox.-The Palmer Jourpsl
in speaking Of the small pox. and .
cure for it, says: "About sixty cases
of small pox have been treated at the
State Alnshouse during the past three
months, with 2 single fatal result, and
that waa in the case of man who
was taken there in the last stages Of
the disease, from neighboring town.
The remedy used in all these cases
was a tea made from q plant known in
medicine a. "Sarraoenia Purpurea,n