Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1870-10-27
THE THIRD BOWL.

"Draw your chair close up. Pl
your feet on those skins, You wi
find them soft and warm. Ligl
another pipe, and Gil your glas
Philip. tis a bitter night NJ
old bones shudder when | hear til
, wind wall over the house an
through the oak tree Capital pune
that! John has a knack at the ar
icle that | have rarely seen cqualeC
and never surpassed, He is prime
Of servants, is John, if he is blacl
! have had him with me now--lC
me see, it must be thirty years, a
least--it is thirty-two years mex
Christmas week, and l have neye
quarrcled with him, and he has ney
er quarreled with me A rare his
tory for master and man, l thinl
it is because We love each other
weaknesses, and here he comes.
John, another bowl Of the punch
if you please. What not another
Certainly, man, I must have it. Thi'
is only the second, and Philip, yon
der, has drank half, of course. No
drank any! You don't mean to say
that he has been drinking nothing
but that vile claret all the blessed
evening? Philip, you dog, l thought
you knew my house rules better
than that But you always would
have your own way.
One more bowl, John--but one,
it shall be the last; and John, get
the old Maraschino, one Of the
black bottles with the small necks,
and open it gently. But you know
how, old fellow, and just do your
best to make us comfortable.
How the wind blows Philip,
my boy, 1 am seventy three years
old, and seven days over My
birthday was a week ago to day.
An old bachelorl Yea, verify.
One of the oldest kind. What is
the paltry sum Of seventy years :?
Do you think l am older in my soul
than l was half a century ago? Do
you think, because my heart beats
slower, that my mind thinks more
slowly, my feelings spring up less
freely, my hopes are less buoyant,
less cheerful, if they look forward
only weeks instead of years? | tell
you, boy, that seventy years are a
day in the sweep Of memory; and
once young, forever young, is the
motto of an immortal soul. |
know am what men call old; |
know my checks are wrinkled like
ancient parchment, and my lips are
thin, and my hair gray, even to
silver. But in my soul l feel that
am young, and shall be young
till the earthly ceases, and the un-
earthly and eternal begins,
l have not grown one day older
than l was at thirty-two. | have
never advanced q day since then,
All my life long since that, has been
but one dOy-one short day; no
night, no rest, no succession of
hours, or thoughts, or events, have
marked any advance.
Philip, l have been living forty
years by the light Of one memory
by the side of one grave.
John, set the bowl down on the
hearth. You may go, You need
not sit up for me. Philip and l
will see each other to our rooms to-
night, John. Go, old fellow and
sleep soundly.
Phil, she was the purest angel
that flesh ever imprisoned, a most
eautilul child of Eve. can see
her now. Her eyes raying the light
Of heaven-her brow, white, calm,
md holy-her lips wreathed with
,he blessing Of her smile. She was
rraceful as a form seen in dreams,
md she moved through the scenes
lround her as you have seen the
lngclic visitors of your sIumber
move through crowded assemblies,
without effort, apparently with some
3uperhuman aid.
The child of wealth, she was fit
ed to adorn the splendid house in
which she was born and grew to
yomanhood. 1t was a grand old
,lace, built in the midst Of a grove
If oaks that might have been seen
here when Columbus discovered
america, and seemed likely to re-
main a century longer.
must pause to recall the scene
Y of the spot. There was a stream
# water that dashed down the
ocks a hundred yards from the
ouse, and which kept always full
nd fresh; an acre Of pond, over
rhich hung willows, and naples,
nd other trees, while on the sur
nee the white blossom Of the lotus
odded lazily on the ripples, with
Egyptian sleepiness and langour.
The old house was built Of dark
tone, and had a massive appear
nee, not relieved by the sombre
hade in which it stood. The sun
hine seldom penetrated to the
round in the summer months, eX
ept in one spot, justin front Of the
brary windows, where it used to
e and sleep in the grass, as if it
1ved the old place. And if sun !
hine loved it, why should not /?
General Lewis was one of the
leasant, old-fa fashioned men, now,