The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-07-01
What a Child Saw.


Yesterday morning some people living
on MlcOmo Street entered house to find
father and mother beastly drunk on the
floor. and their child, boy four years old
dead in his cradle. The parents looked
like beasts-the child wore the sweetest
renderest smile on its white face that any
Of them ever saw. 1t bad been ailing for
days. and its brief life had been full of
hitter woe, but yet the women cried as
they bent over the old cradle and kissed
its cold cheeks and felt of its icy hands.
Father and mother lay down at dark
the evening before, and people passing By
heard the child crying and wailing. IL
was too weak 10 crawl out of the cradle,
and its voice was not strong enough to
break the chains of drunken stupor.
When the sun went Down and the even
ing shadows danced across the floor and
seemed to grasp at him the boy grew
afraid and cried 0st. The shadows came
faster, and as they raced around the room
and scowled darkly at the lone child he
nestled down and drew the ragged blan-
ket over his head TO keep the revengefni
shadows from Selling him. He must have
thought his parents dead, and how still
the house seemed to him.
:" It's dark, mother-it's dark" the
neighbors heard him wall but no one
went in TO comfort him and to drive the
shadows away. The night grew older
the feet of pedestrians ceased TO echo, and
the heavy breathing of the drunkards
made the child tremble and draw the COW
er still closer. His little bare feet were
curled up, and he shut his eyes tightly to
keep from seeing the black darkness.
BY and by the ragged blanket was gent
ly pulled away, and the child opened his
eyes and saw great light in the room.
sis it morning?" he whispered, but the
drunka,ds on the floor slept on.
Sweet tender music came TO the child's
ears, and the light had driven every shadow
away. He was no longer afraid. The
aches and pains he had suffered for days
past went away all at once.
{" Mother! Mother hear the music!'
he cried, and from out of the soft, white
light came an angel.
I" am thy mother!" she softly said.
He was not afraid. He had never seen
her before, but she looked so good and
beautiful that he held up his wasted hands
and said:
81 will go with you"
The music grew yet softer, and the mel
ody was so sad and tender, and vet so full
of love and rejoicing, that the drunkards
on the floor moved little and muttered
broken words.
Other angels came. and the light fell
upon the boys face in a blazing shower,
turning his curls to threads of gold. He
held up his arms and laught d for joy.
"Heaven wants you ~ the angel whis-
pered. Earth has no more sOrrow-no
further misery. Gomez
And he floated away with them, leaving
the sleepers lying as il dead. The golden
light faded out, the music died away, and
the house was again filed with the grim,
threatening shadows, which sat around the
sleepers and touched their bloated faces
with their gaunt skeleton fingers, and
laughed horribly when the drunkards
groaned in uneasy slumber.
When people came in the shadows went
out. The sleepers still slept their soSden
sleep and no one minded them. Men and
women bent low over the dead child,
smoothed back his curls and whispered:
Poor. dead bOy!"
They knew not that he had seen the an
gels, and that they had borne him to heav-
EMS gate.-Detroit Free Press.