The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-09-13
From Hours at Home
A THEFT FOR LIFE.
ICONTINUED.

the pictures that he paIntedl ana ne
wrought them so swiftly and well
that, suddenly looking up, he saw
| them every one brightly illumined in
his darkening cell. There, just over
the barred window, hung a@tiny por (
| trait. That must have the light, for
it is "his mother his mother, who
only staid with him just long enough
to paint the outline of herself upon
his boy heart, and now, onIthis night
| Of all others, her son remembered.
her wonderfully well.o She seemed to
stand beside him, and let fall the fn-
| gers of her hand, softly winding about
| them the curls of his head; and, with
a sudden recollection, the thief put
up his. hand to feel the short, stiff
hair that had forgotten childhood and
curls, and with0a groan he muttered,
Mother, motherl" and bitterly he
shook off the years thatlay between,
and went weeping back to the threshr
I old OF life. 7sdi 9y7Bts iTiw noY s
| Z The next pictured how his tears had
frightened it when he looked upla A
wide-spreading river-meadow lay in
/ all its sheen of glory. Bound in green
of grass, edged with gold of lilies, ran
the river past the meadow. A group
of fishermen crested ON the bank. A
tiny boat had just come to shore, and
! its fair rowers had left it to gather
( flowers in the field. One bent to
treasure a group of summer yiolets.s
Her hand seemed staid, by what?
I Look closer; do you see q serpent
dlcoiled, with horrid head, to strike the
4 fair hand? Who is it that strikes the
. serpent? You viii need to look very
Fciosely to. recognize the thief IN his
cell. And the young, sweet, grateful
face that keeps no treasure back at
! this instant, giving out such food of
health and beauty, that you feel as if
you could look forever. A wan, sweet
face over which Jenny stoops, holding
the precious cup of tea is, like it, only
a thousand fold more beautiful to the
prisoner. ,ss1s ri WII ,G11 Is
He turns away almost gladly from
the meadow picture, and looks upon
that large one. A pretty village
church, with fhrong of villagers
going in; and, standing just here at,
the central door, we look in, up the
long aisle, and see two figures kneel-i
ing to receive the pastoral benedic-
| ton. With sudden start, the thief
rose up and paced his cell, walking
fiercely and fast, until a throbbing
seemed to come upon, his heart, and
with hands pressed upon it, he stood
still and looked at another picture
The church again-not the same, but
! yet a church, with baptismal font, and
tholy drops of water cleaning on two
infants heads, that looked wonder
ingly up to know what these things
could mean. s..-...-- ,hisf.sa as's) 9.
z sOh, Godt Tgaye them to thee, then
and there, and thou wilt keep thine
own" murmured the man, and he
caught by the window bars. and lifted
I himself up TO see how Gods heaven
might look on this night. The stars.
were there, SO calm and cold. But
j they are not calm and cold, they all
a ways beat and throb, as, if striving to
tell US some new hymn of joy" he
said. "Oh, why can / not hear it?"
and ne dropped back again to- his own
thoughts and the darkness. Rough
4 outlines of the past grew in his mind.
4 Death, loss, treachery, FIRE, and, at the
/ last, cruel, absolute want had come up
on him, and is it a wonder that on this
night, prisoned for theft, the thief.
1 stood up suddenly before the, noun
tain Of his wrongs, and cried out, rob,
God where art thou2'iv0, 40
4 For answer, came the jailor, who
started little at the excited manner
1 Of his prisoner. % einS 'assssA
4 Here is something for you to eat, {"
\ said the jailor,y and he deposited the
prison fare before the prisoner, and
went his way. ......,.. AlAQsS0 Asg'1
ldlG .-...,.., o35z-44-4-SBk, .s1s.sh. -
| 1t was evening again, and again
came the soft knock at the door. and
the young girl, and the basket.
4 "a FIRE burned brightly now, for
Fred had been outsandEin with bits of
fuel, gathered from places. Ply Ply
Where is my father?" Fred asked;
JtWhy does he not gomez Tell him we
have had, food enough to- day, and we
would rather see him. 81 Grace looked
panied. The mother helped her.
q" Your father aeannot Gomez she
1 said t"..he can only send us something
to eat now You'mnst be patient and
4 ask no questions"
:. " am sure he will come back
EsoonsP said Oracle by way of com!
fort, and she stole up to say very low
4 few words, not meant for Jenny and
i Fred, nor yet for you, and me-a few
words from the prisoned thief to his
Z wife. 3j Fhd4 , .dIfaAg .4lIa a0I
The days wore on. October's glory
laid itself down before the throne of
snow e91'i .siGaaI, N - n Las
The prisoner was sentenced to three
months Imprisonment. The judge
knew not of the sweet, wan face, and
the hungry little ones that tempted
beyond manhood's power to. resist.
The prisoner had no one to plead for
him, so the majesty of the law was
q vindicated, and the thief wentto work