The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-12-29

, ;ts nallor. The bystanders acknowledged
with sfaudder the presence OF deatn.
The wretched author OF the calamity
erins terrible grin, half Of agony, haii Oh
| triumph. $50 ,u.,, r
ha' killed un, for sure p a..
And with that be falls writhing and dles
like crushed viper. o,
| And just then big burly figure comes
pushing through the crowd pr,ndrs+b ara
you hurtY Where are you, sir? Have ye
any o. We seen clergy"
| And then he catches sight OF the deaa
body, and all he can find breath TO say Is,
ooh, nv God, he is dead ~
".
| But Charles Brandreth was not dead'
"Better he had been," he thinks, when,
after a long, lingering recovery from Inc
worst, he learns from the doctor that ne ls
hopelessly distgured, and that he will be O
d, formed cripple for life
r. q shudders and turns away from q gen.
rio Ia, nd that is laid on his shoulder--oh, so
softIvl Il does not put him to physical
pain, but it racks hum with mental torture IRE;
for there l..s the ghost of poor Rose-tne
s en- now of the pretty girl he knew
WAITING on him, tending him, nursing MN,
patiently, deyotedly. unwearyingly. but
ap"mehow he feels there is barrier between
tbem-not the cruel old barrier OF prlde
that no had built up. In his Illumination.
in the silent hours Of waking, in the con-
slant school Of pain, he has learned TO see
clearly now. The barrier is none OF MS
raising. 1t is interposed between tnem py
Rose. If he were the merest stranger, SIZE
comld not keep him more coldly at dis
tance. with her face em0tionless as mask
md her demure eyes, sir" and :" NO,
lie nrays for death but he feels that ne
will i've And the thought OF what lie
means to him now is uncomfortable.
One dav when he is, us he supposes, alone,
he complains aloud, repr oachl1g himself
for the past. zu,.o,
II blighted her life, and mine is darken,
ed. ! killed the prettiness IN her lace, anu .i
mine is made a horror. l deserve IL; anu
vet il is sad to think Of the doom the doc
tor passes-a distigured, deformed cripple
for lite !" ~, . r,,,s
round his neck, and a shower OF kisses on
his forehead, and he hears Rosie's voice
sobbing: "My darling my darling! Ter,
! / dare to call you so noW-my own Ivy
own! Bearer to me now than e!er!~
doubly dear, for they Will not s'o"i 'o0
| from me now !" -
" Merciful Heaven what have l done 10
deserve this p he gasps: ,d
! And from that day he begins TO menu
fast.
There is little more to add, but that little
is good. .s,, .,,o amin
Sir Ranulph, dissatisfied with the opln-
ion Of the local surgeon, sends to town LOT
the first surgeon Of the day, who comes 1es
down with his cheerful face and his noble
~ray head-grown gray, in the service OF
sslfferinc humanity-and he takes brighter
view of the case, and more correct one,
which is better still:
For bv the time Charles Brandreth1s well
enough to move about again, and goes to
take the fat college living for which he ex-
changes his fellowship, you would never
guess, from bis straight, well-prop!ortloned
figure. that he. had ever been such snat-
tered wreck as he has been. There's just
the shadow of limp in his walk, ana
there's the white seam of long scar on MS
brow but you can only see it when you
arc very near him. ~ :,
But Rose, his beloved wife, who IS
nearer-and dearer-to him than any one
else in the world, vows she cannot see any
thing of Disagreement, or any fault or
imperfection at all, in her husband.