The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1877-09-27
and q grieved expression to be read in

asked the boy in soft voice, don't
you remember how she was tossed upon
your knee, clasped in your arms and
kissed with true fathers love? You
remember her, don't you? And you re-
member that when she was babe you
had house of your own, store, lands,
and friends by the hundred ?''
"Daisy ?-Daisy 2-Daisy 2-yes, re-
member her," unused the drunkard.
"And you remember how you came
home drunk one night, fell over her
cradle in the darkness, and your heavy
knee crushed the life out of her little
body You called it an accident, but
your wife knew the truth. Almost from
that hour you began to go down hill"
"I will kill you'll will kill you |"
hissed Big Nose, as he rose to his feet
and made grasp at the boy. The child
did not move an inch, and yet no blow
could fall upon him.
You remember the twin boys, Charlie
and Chester, don't you?" continued the
boy, in the same pleading tones. "Your
wife was grieving herself toward the
grave over your conduct, and your store
had been taken from you when they
came. All they were rosy and bright,
and color came again to the mothers
cheek as she taught them how to kiss.
How did they die, Nose Williams
Don't you remember how one night you
were fished out of the gutter, beastly
drunk, carried home by friends and left
on the steps9 Your wife helped you into
the house, saying never word, but her
eyes full of tears. Her forbearance
angered you, and you seized the lamp
and hurled it at her head. 1t passed
hey ond, struck the bed on which the
children lay, and the flames which leaped
up and consumed half your house burned
those little bodies to a crisp Answer
me, Moses Williams, do you remember
that awful night? do the terrible cries
Of the children and the fearful shrieks
of your poor wife come to your ears
as the sun goes down and the night
creeps on?"
I-I-you lie-I'll get my knife and
kill youW shouted the excited man.
His face was white as chalk, his eyes
fairly blazed, and the truthful words
of the strange visitor were knives in his
heart.
I'll slash your throat across !" he
hissed, as he rose from the bed and
started to cross the room. He made one
step, halted, and then with wild scream
he sprang on The bed and crowded back
close to the wall.
"Snakes? Yes, they are here" re-
marked the boy; as he turned his head
toward the other end of the room. "See
them creep and twist Hear them snap
and hiss There'll be more along pres
emily, and it will be an awful sight to
look down upon them But let me finish
my story: The awful death of your
children had no effect on you. The
tears and prayers of your wife were I'M
needed. The entreatjes and arguments
of friends did not turn you one hairs
breadth from your downward career.
The day came when you had nothing,
and the day came when fourth child
walled at your dreary hearthstone. Your
wife was in rags, your cupboard bare, and
through the broken panes the snow
flakes of December softly crept to chill
the poor child's soul Do you remem-
ber those days, Moses Williams? Days
when you even pawned the Bible from
the house, and robbed your wife of her
rags, that your beastly appetite might
be gratifed for the moment Look at
me while / ask you if you remember
how that child died p
"Snakes More snakes !" whispered
Nose, pointing into the darkness.
"Yes, l see. How their eyes glitter
in the darkness How their tongues
dart out and in like threads of fire But
do you remember that awful night in
midwinter when you slept on q tavern
bench, leaving wife and child without
food, fire or light? How the wind
screamed and howled that night How
the cold crept into the houses and made
people shiver in their warm beds ! What
did you find when you tumbled home
next day-not with food or fuel, but to
beat and abuse your patient wife and go
back to your hell again? The child was
dead, frozen to death, and your wife
had but little life left. She had burned
the straw in the bed to keep the icy hand
of death away, and had then wrapped
the babe in the tick. You murdered
that babe, Moses Williams All your
hands are red with blood-the blood of
the innocent, the suffering, the patient
and kind !"
"I'll throttle YOU'LL tear you limb
from limb - howled Nose, as he sprang
from the bed.
The boys great blue eyes looked into
his with pitying expression. The drunk
ard grasped at his throat, struck at his
face, and screamed in wild rage as his
hands touched nothing but thin air. A
sharp hiss at his feet made him cry out
in terror, and as he sought refuge on the
bed again the boy went on:
"Look around this room Bare
walls, broken floors, torn paper, great
spiders swinging from their webs in Il e
dark corners To this den your crippled,
heartbroken wife followed you. Only
one in a million would have thus clung
to fend like you. All the kicks and
blows and cruel words and suffering of
score of years had not been enough to
harden her heart against you. In this
dark and noisome den she hungered for
food and felt afraid of the dark shadows.
You crept down here time after time and
beat her with your fists, and cursed her,
and sought to murder her. Do you re-
member her death, Moses Williams
Does it not come up to you like letters
of ire-how you staggered down here
one midnight and dragged her off her
dying bed and left her on the floor to
breathe her last (! Her last words were
of her children-and of you! You have
lived on, glad that she was dead, but now
your hour has Gomez
"Great God ! but see there I" hoarse-
ly whispered Big Nose as he pointed
across the room.
81 see them" calmly replied the boy.
10 4