Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-09-06

too. vanished, and the waters OF obllv-
ion swept over the locality once say
ed to the lares and penates Of conjugal
bliss.
The excitements aetendant upon
the earlier gold discoveries subsided.
San Francisco took On the guise of a
respectable, we'll regulated city, like
her more matured contemporaries and
rivals. Meantime the civil war cast
its horrible shadow over the land,
drawing thousands away from their
peaceable homes in the west. At its
termination a Scared and weather
beaten soldier appeared in the old
haunts Of the basket maker. He had
lost vivacity, but the familiar stock
miraculou8ly sprang to life upon the
walls and shelves, and in his old seat
sat Ethan Blake, turning off, with
painful awkwardness. the work which
had formerly emerged with such celer-
ity from his hands. Formerly remark
able for his afability, he now wasted
few words upon any one, and having
consumated bargain, would seat him
self again with the same lethargic
look in his soft, dark eyes, and every
indication that the world about him
had passed from his thoughts.
But one day there came to the
stand of this poor basket maker Wis
liant, at the mere sound of whose
voice the workman'S whole manner
underwent change. 1t was only a
little child, who had broken from her
nurse, in pursuit of hoop she had
been trundling upon the sidewalk, and
which as though directed by fate, he
rolled into his shop. Yet at the sound
Of that infantile voice, the artisan
threw down his implements and
spraag from his seat, like one awaking
from dream; and before the nurse
could reach the spot he had caught
the tiny being to his heart and cover
ed her fair face with kisses.
Affrighted by the suddenness Of the
gesture, the child uttered a scream,
and struggled to be sat down; when
the nurse arriving, the errant hoop
was recovered aud the infant torn
rudely from the manful arm that en-.
circled her.
The basket maker took two or
three rapid strides in his circum8crib.
go workshop, over which the darkness
Of night appeared to have settled
: He seemed TO be endeavoring to curb
al outburat of feeling, but some secret
spring had been stirred within him
and the attempt was a vain one.
= at is fatality" he muttered. This
? could never have come of accident
: Why do we, wretched, inefficient be
ings that we are, shape and plan, a:
. we fondly deem for ourselves, fashion
| ing 10y night the deeds we enact 10y
: day, when an untoward destiny is ev
: er at hand to perver. our high hope;
l to its ends ?"
! Anuncontrollable impulse suddenly
+ seized him. He took his cap, and
5 without pausing to tasten the door
hurried down the street in the direct
ion taken by the nurse and child.
In the home to which these latter
betook themselves, there were no ev
idence ofthat poverty which prevailed
in the comfortless and uninvitiug ap
artments of the handwriting me
chanic. A luxurions dwelling. sur
D rounded by all the evidences of thrift
offered striking contrast to the rick
= city tenement Of which the baske
maker was the sole occupant.
. The latter had paused at some dis
tance, but near enough to discover tn
t features Of a beautiful and elegantl
{ attired lady, who came to the doc
Il aud caught the child in her arms, a
t he had done but few minutes before
For an instant his brow lost it
i gloomy aspect-a glow Of mingle
> recognition and pleasure beamed fror
Il his eyeS-with arms wide extende
0 he was rushing to join the little grour
: when tall, manly figure appeared b
IL the side of the lady.
= The mechanic staggered backward
\ step, and then striking his breasts
if to repress sudden pain, strod
- back to his shop, that had now becom
: his lair.
= Yes for in that narrow den he n
= longer sang and labored as of old,an
:, he was still less inclined to do so now
\ \ His neighbors wondered at and avoi(
~ - ed the solitary man; and even th
= children, with that readiness which th
- great world manifests in tramplin
= upon the footSore and sick at hear
a hurled nicknames at The poor artisan
20 Again the passers missed the basl
ct maker. His little shop was clio
- ed, and on the shutters was a sma
II placard, bearing the talismanic word
~ "To Let"
- For many nights thereaftea lionel
l., muffied figure watched at diStan,
= - the shadows thrown by the fickeriI
~ lights upon the window curtains
= the mansion Of opulence. 1t W
- rumored that all was not so fair al
= full of content within those walls
might have been supposed. The sour
- of blows and the cries of an imploril
~ female voice were often heard at nigl
~ and then the house was deserted. I
=, - "husband," for such the relation
bn which he appeared to stand iowa
the doting mother-had abruptly fe
a leaving a note of farewell, and a smi
~ sum of money to cover his heinous 81
- Mother and child had vanished.
lis The poor creature took huml
er- lodgings, and sought to maintain ht
an self by some employment best adapt
to woman's skill. From time to til
g: gift would come from some amor
mt nous source, which enabled her t
&C. more easily to bear the poverty tt
he had fallen to her lot. The remittan
ev- always came in close envelope, wi
he out line or signature,and was attrib
ed by her invariably to the deserter,
bis though the superscription was in
me strange handwriting.
as. At the appointed hour on moor
om night midsummer, two persons
in opposite sexes approached each otl