The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1869-03-18

| dy In It, now attuned by love, that wish
/ ed to linger upon my ears unbroken, ike
the strains of some songs have. heard
and which haunted me for years. a3d -
| In moment, the candle shed sickly
light around the little room. Little, in
deed, and unfinished TO nethingness -
One scantily covered bed wasaH But with
| IN l saw a sweet. wee face that made me
forget all else i approached it, and laid
my hand upon the pulse of the little suf-
ferer. vss 49, -
Who are your 7" she asked, drawing
back In alarm 49, r - =
4 SsHe IS doctor, Bessie; a dear, good,
kind friend, replied her sister and from
that moment she became perfectly passive
1tr1h not require one much lesrued m
materia medica to see what was required
I made the proper prescription, saw that
it was tenderly administered, told the elder
sister that would be back in few mo-
ments, and resisting all her attempts to
| light me down the stairs, groped my way
into the street. I had noticed an eating
house at but.a little distance as we came
| along, and statement Of the case, backed
| By thesal powerful king of the world, gold,
soon procured the loan Of disused stove,
q couple of chairs, fuel. light, and proper
/ foed, and in a brief half hour that little
room wore something like an air Of com
| FORT Another hour. and the eyes of the
/ child were closed in slumber, and [ urged
her sister to seek repose, but IN vain. 8
- AT least, lie down and let me cover
you with my cloak, +" I urged.
| "No, doctor" was the constant reply,
II cannot. am SO happy. It must have
been God that directed my wandering
steps to you" aa
And so we sat. with the night wind
rearing without, watching the almost an
gelie face Of the peacefully slunbering
child-sat and talked of what 1 was most
anxious to hear. But the conversation Of
| those long hours can be condensed into a
very brief space.
She who would have sold her body for
/ the sake of giving little longer of life to
her sister was the daughter of. wealthy
parents. But few years previously, she
/ could have held her head as high as the
| highest. Both birth and education fitted
her for it. But misfortune eame-a Sc
ries of disasters upon land and sea, against
which no human forethought could have
guarded, combined with treachery and in
gratitude of the deepest die, swept away
all. La their footsteps followed the death
9 her mother, leaving an infant Of but a
few months old. The fond father strug-
gled manfuliy against the tide for a brief
time, then his health gave way, and he
followed his wife through the dark valley
and beyond the shining river, leaving the
elder sister to provide for the younger.
I "For time continued the girl, L was
able to live comfortably by the sale Of the
furniture and articles of value / possessed
Then-but why should I so unbosom my
self to stranger % she asked, stopping
suddenly and looking me full in the face
Because I replied, with a smile at
her earnestne ness, because you have found
a true heart, and one that can feel for
you
| eyes, may kind heaven be thanked p
! she replied, 4 feel that it Is SO. Well, /
struggled on-fought on were the better
word" she continued, the lines about her
mobile mouth suddenly becoming hard
! Il fought for life, sometimes teaching,
sometimes obtaining little sewing, IN
short, doing anything that my strength
permitted, until sickness came. Still, l
gave net away to despair. Truly, [ was
| bound to the stake-a sweet one-my dar
ling sister Of the insults | received
while seeking work, I shall not speak
They must remain forever locked IN my
breast" and the pallid face flushed scar
let at the thought.
"And found no employment" !"
'sNone. Piece by piece | parted with
the little furniture was the possessor OF
until what you see was all that remained !"
''N1y poor child y
1T Is true" | saw that she was nerv-
ing herself to tell me something that was
painful, very painful, and would have stop
ped her. but she resolutely continued, at
! is true, some money was offered me by
more than one man, but { instantly and
Indignantly hurled it back in my insuiter, 5
face Then, great Heaven upon this
bitter night, with all hope gone, determ-
ined to sell my body to some surgeon
"What In the name Of Heaven could
/ have put such an idea into your head y!
I do not know cannot tell Some
where, had either heard or read OF some
thing of the kind.
"You must have been very desperate =
'sOn the verge of destruction | had
but one dream, one desire, to save my
darling even single hour of pain.
Have you 70 relatives
aNot single one that I know OF. Both
of my parents were enly children, and
their parents came from foreign lands !"
She paused and turned tesmooth the hair
of The slumbering Bessie, and imprint a
kiss upon the curl-Ereathed and snowy
brow and thought what desperate trials
one Ike her must. haze nassed throuoh In