Richland beacon., 1873-11-15

| fun, and LAUGHED, rs if l did not care.
| Nevertheless, my heart grew sad and
was disturbed until his face again ap-
peared at the door, and he would laugh
at me with those great white teeth and
quickly replied, Husband, oh, the
! husbandn
"But it was so queer, for Just as soon
as he was with me again, my spirit for
teasing returned, and L would say:
"'I think it is the child after ALI
| "Then he would take the bov from
my breast and dance him ioyfully up
and down and say, 'You are rightr
'Then he would give me good kiss,
and thus our little innocent Jars were
never quarrels, and ended in perfect
content"
She gazed for a moment silently be-
fore her, while Thomas sat nodding his
head sadly.
"You sec," she continued, "it is nee
essary to tell you all this. ii it does
seem foreign to the real subject, it be-
| longs to it, for it became a matter of
most heart-rcnding thoughts to us after
| ward. This question asked i'll Il joke
| became frlgntfll tact.
The woman was SO overcome she
| could scarcely continue, and her eyes
turned Il mute appeal for help toward
her husband, but he only shook his
head mournfully, making a motion with
his hand as If to bid her speak on. look
ing into her eyes lovingly, as if to cheer
her.
"Well, the story we told at the time
| of the accident was true in every par
| ticular, mp to our arrival at the railroad
track. There it was a little different,
and we hesitated in giving the exact
manner of the horrid occurrence. We
have never fully understood ourselves
why. 1t would have been better, 1
think, if We had not made secret of it
much of this weary shadow that has
clouded our lives woald have worn
away, had we talked it over with an
other person. That is why we give you
our confidence now, hoping an intelli-
gent, right-minded man like yourself
will advise and Judge if | have erred.
"It happened thus: As my Anton
and L led father toward the track |
imagined heard the locomotive, hut |
could see nothing, as Il heavy fog lay on
the ground, and Isupposed the monster
was tar, far away fr m us, and the mo-
ments were precious. My poor Thomas
was suffering terribly, saying his feet
was burning like caustic, and it was
only step and We would be over,
and had Thomas not had the misfortune
to stumble, We would have crossed
safely.
"They both lay il the middle of the
road, Anton to the right of me, Thomas
to the left, and in that instant their
startled Cry and the shrieking roar of
the iron monster fell on my ear, and
through the dense fog L saw his burn
ing, greedy eye fastened on my dear
ones, while the fiery sparks were thick
ly scattered about, as if hell itself had
opened to devour them.
ooh if 1 live thousand years, the
horrors Of that moment will remain, as
/ realized I could save one of them,
only one
"Ah! sir, sir |! Human nature may
be subject to million different dis
tressing heartaches and mental strug-
giles, but heap them all into lifetime,
it is as nothing compared to what L en-
dured in few seconds.
"I~have often wondered since, how
it was possible the mind could cOmpre-
hend SO much while subject to such in
tolerable suffering and fright, as now,
thought after thought flashed through
my brain in so short a time.
"My mother-heart yearned for my
child, and seemed to grasp it while
the hand of God Himself seemed to
hold me toward Thomas. / thought,
was he not thine before the child? Did
you not swear at the altar never to for
sake him? It seemed, then, as if l
loved him best he was more useful on
earth. Then / thought, oh! horrible
raven mother to desert your child
But the thing was upon us. heard
mems voices warming through the mist.
1t was as if they tried to stop it, but
failed. 1t cut the darkness and rushed
towards us with one bound 1 turned
from my child, grasped for my husband,
and, with the strength of a giant, raised
him off the track, turned, but the awful
monster had passed, leaving me the
crushed remains of my child"
She stopped short, as if suddenly
frozen in body and soul. Her husband
trembled in every limb, clntching at his
beard as if it could steady him. l sat
speechless witness of this fearful
grief. My sympathy had no words my
eyes must have told them how deeply L
entered with them into this touching
history. 'I.st
Thomas recovered himself first. Go
ing to his wife he tenderly placed his
arm around her. She started with the
magnetic touch, looked up at him, and
then at me as if waiting for me to pass
judgement.
1 could only take her hand between
my own and say:
"Poor, poor mother! Noble woman
Righteous wife p At this, her eyes
beamed as if suddenly relieved of a
dark veil; a flush of genuine happi-
ness covered her face the whole coun-
tenance OF the woman changed from a
sluggish horror to an Incompatible re-
lief.
Thomas stretched his hand toward
me; his eyes flashing with Joy, his
head erected with manly pride, and for
the first time in years his broad shining
teeth appeared through q smile again.
"Gpd reward your kind heart and
good words, siys che cried. cit seems
a. il We dSfed 6g5appy once morep
F>She embraced heF husband, looking
loving 80 - hsA and softly asked:
| "Do yon l99kso, Thomas ?"