The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1871-11-10

powerful enough 10 enable me to give
up everything but life. Aye, and even
life if need be- and my only regret in
so doing would be that in dying for you"
Enough Willie, / WILL! But oh,
remember, that in doing this, not only
forfeit home and my fathers love, but /
make myself fatherless, and win my
fathers curse. Yet think not that | re-
gret-nO, for its for you; you, who are
more than father, home, life, all to me.
But if you should break the sol
emn vow you've made to me, and
should / see you going the drunk
ards downward path, il would kill me.
My heart would truly break; slowly,
perhaps, but none the less surely"
Gear not, darlingl God forbid l
should ever cause this dear heart
which has sacrificed so much for me one
pangW
Three years have lapsed since Those
solemn VOWS were interchanged. Three
years has the gentle and lovely Mary
Ainsley been the wife of a-drunkardi
Yes, start not, dear reader. Did you
think he made that sacred promise to
that beautiful and loving woman in
earnest? Yes, he was in earnest at the
moment; he meant-that is, he thought
he meant-to keep his word; but, alas,
what is the promise or the sacredly
sworn oath, of a confirmed drunkard.
Less than a eypher.
For several months he adhered firmly
to his sOlemnly made plege; then his
old appetite seized him, and he yielded
without a struggle, and went down by
swift steps, lower and lower, till he be-
came, in less than one year from his
marriage, a reproach among men.
And, as is usually the case, drunkenness
led him to other, and if possible, lower
sins All self-respect he had lost, and
of course his downward progress was
rapid.
Thus, at the end of three years, he was
blot upon the fair face of humanity.
His handsome fortune had dwindled to
bare subsistence, and actual want
threatened him and his little ones. Two
lovely babes whom in his hours of
drunken fondness he caressed with
maudlin accent, or whom in his parox-
ysms of drunken rage his wife hid from
his sight, made innocent music in his
home.
And what of her? Aye, what of her,
who had said that, should he break
his vow, she would die of a broken
heart? All, her prophecy was being full
filled; she was dying of a broken heart,
and she had been for many a weary
month, slowly, but none the less sure
ly. At her marriage, her father, even
as he had sworn to do, had disowned,
disinherited and cursed her; and since
that hour, she had never looked upon
his face, nor heard his voice, save in the
terrific dreams which haunted her
troubled slumbers.
When the knowledge of her husbands :
] N.w
her grief was heartrending-and with
a. the elOquence and tenderness, and
despair, and grief Of a crushed soul, on
her very knees she implored him To
think upon his holy promise TO her,
and not to break il again, rs he valued
/ the veal or woe of her immortal soul.
! She reminded him of her fathers disin-
heritance and curse, Isolation from home
and friends, and all for him. She re-
minded him with tones and with tears
/ that should have mOveda heart of stone,
how she had made him her world, her
all Of life; and asked him if this was to
be her recompense.
Then he remembered his promises,
but only held them for brief day as it
were, then fell lower than before.
] And she never besOught him again,
never reproached him, never COM
] liAeAAAANhT lGNNA ElAt allN ONAMdltl AOhGll
save Whitening cheek and quivering
! lip, and low-toned voice, and face that
never smiled-of the sorrow and despair
/ that consumed her.
aNay, grieve not for the dead alone
! Whose words have told their hearts sad story: /:
/ Weep for the vOiceleSs who have known
The cross without the crown-of glory!
l ., hearts that break and give no sign,
! Till death pOurs out her cordial wine
/ SlOw-dropped from misery's crushing press"
FOrsaking the outward world entirely.
she devoted herself to her two babes and
/ her household duties. Whenever her
husband came home himself-which
was very seldOm-she received him with
all the tenderness of her undying love,
and strove to smile and be cheerful, and
by every means i'm her power to make
home the pleasantest spot to him; never
alludlng to the past, but ever speaking
hopefully of the future-their future
theirs and their children.
Thus she soothed her breaking heart,
and stified her grief, telling it TO none
but God. And God-the all-pitying, the
all-seeing- her relief.
Her husband had so long noticed her
cheeks paler and thinner, and her ewes
brighterand larger, that he had grown to
believe that she was not seriOnslV af-
spring." rs he said.
But one morning, as she lay languidly
on her bed, her cheeks burning, and her
eyes glittering, she said to him as she
saw him preparing to 20 out, as usual:
willie, dear, dear darling! don't 90
out this day, if you've any love left
for me-stay with me to-day; for some
thing tells me il will be INV last Oh
earth,n and she burst into convulSive
weeping.
For once, at least, he was startled.
alarmed. He flew TO her side, raised her
in his arms, laid her head upon his
breast, and besought her not to die: TO
live-live for himi and his life should
be devoted to her comfort and happiness.
MaTy!-my wife, my darlingi my pre-
cious one, my all! OH, live but for me
ana III never drinkanything but water
Whlle lie shall last. Forgive me, dear
angel! I've been brute, a monster
only live, and I'll be all that ever vour
dear heart could aSk.u
"Nay, It's tOo-tOo late. my dear one
Blessed wOrds-blessed resolvesi Had
they been made and acted upon long
ago, might have staid; but now, VIII
lie, ii Is too late, I've gricved and suf-
fered too long-I'm broken all to pieces
you know / told you, on that day
when / promised TO be your wife, that
should you break your vow, my heart
would break-and now I'm dying of that
broken heart, Willie. For three long
years and more, my heart has been
slowly but surely breaking. Pve
loved you, and do, i'm this my dying
hour, as never woman loved man before;
and in silence I've born all; loving you
in all your frailty, and never upbraiding
you-yet / must leave you now. But if
my early death shall be the means of