Nebraska advertiser., 1868-11-19
From the Progress.
THE HISTORY OF A FELoK.
M wrTov n. srANsBuRY.

BT hilton II s~TAEsBUKY.
II was cold and dreary Winter; thick the
snow lay on the ground,
And tho wind Il Whisled shrilly, with q sad
and mOurnful sound;
Through many a Gaping Granny came the
bowling Of the blast,
And the straggler drew his cloak around, ana
shuddered as he passed.
There was darkness IN the heavens and dark
ness in the street.
And oil other sounds were sWaLtoWeoAh bhe
rattliDg Of the sleet
on the Ieaky roof It battered with motion
strange and dread,
And a noise that might have Issued rom the
dwellings Of the dead
In allow and gloomy garnet, a wasted figure
Unfed. -unnursed, untended In the deepening
Her eyes We're cleaning brightly, but the
hollow, CHASTITY stare
Told Of coming dissolution, wrought by sick
The straw was scant and meagre, and no fire
a. gave out heat,
Andsave the bare, uneven floor there was no
And aragged child was kneeling by his moth
or, half awake,
And sobbing az her misery as though his
heart would break.
Day broke, and men came thronglng TO gaze
or a woman who had persisted Of starvation
Andthere were twelve whOscanned the corpse
with cold a careless eye,
To discover, things permitting, how the crea-
ture camel 20 die!
I could not bear TO hear their J~ests-what
mattered Il 70 me
Where they bore the senseless body, so the
soul itself was freet
Nc friend was left to guide my steps-to Join
me in my play,
50 I turned my back upon them all, and sob
bling, Ned aWayi
turned my back upon them, and sobbing,
fled aWayi
Icouid not longer finger there, where all were
For though a child OF poverty, my heart beat
thick and fast,
And it seemed as though each moment was
doomed 90 be my hast.
An day I wandered idly, little needing where
IGtrayed,
Though my feet were bare and frozen, and the
win at random played.
Each gust that swept around me sentashtver
But the IRE that blazed within ne made
me senseless 20 its roar.
Another night drew on apace and from many
a window high
Came the cheerful fire light, glimmering on
the tragglers passing by;
And the voice OF mirth and revelry was borne
upOn the air,
To hearts where grief had set It's seal, but
found 40 echo there.
Faint with walking and with hunger (fOodI
had not known that day,)
] stole Within a firmly porch, to sleep my
But a hand was laid upon me, and a rough
Wn1rn haHn mo rfun
And tina night / found a shelter tat a va
grant might despise.
10 were idle 20 detail how, from day TO day, a
spurned by Christian men. and doomed 20
wear q harsh existence through.
How, by nataral gradations, in the course Of
I iehTned z last 10 lead the life that's led by
men 81 crime.
First, trammeled as a vagrant in a prisons
lOathsOme cell.
Where men OF blood and men OF peace I'm
strange communion dwell,
Then force by sheerS tarvatiOn to trampleo on
What other course had I, when Death was
knocking a tiny door?
I was horn with human feelings-I was born
with human soul,
/ arr fashioned like my fellows, and We seek
. AAAAAA AAAA
Then why, instead OF friendly words and ad-
mOnitiOns kind,
DO they driUe me into courses I would fain
hove LEFT behind?
j. q that my clothes are ragged, OF my speech
too rudely free.
That they hunt me like a beast OF prey, and
will not let me be?
God, that made me, be nay witness! but to end
this fearful strife
/ would work my fingers to the bone to lead
an honest lifei
But when seek employment I am viewed
with scOrn n fear,
And the purse-prOud sons OF fortune mark
my garments with q sneer,
And Gil backs are turned pom me, and the
lovely pAss me by,
As a thing OF blight and leprosy, TO famish
and 70 diel
But It's past, I hank my Maker; my blood is
ebbing slow,
Ny breath is falling fast, and cold and dim
my eyeballs grow,
The grey walls OF my prison cell no longer
meet my sight,
And round about me gather shades that mock
the gloom OF night.
Ny limbs have lost all feeling, and across my
brain doth come
A dull and death-lIke thrObbing, III IN
beating Of a drum;
Ny nerves have ceased their m~otlOn-one
strugEle-'tis the lastl
A groan-a gasp-a shiverS sigh, and all
was past.