The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1878-05-08
rIfE Oa.D NAN ENFORTUNATE
q Local Sketch.

q Local sketch.
s. The a.I mau came into the Auditors of
A, again tlla other evening. The boys in
a. generally speak to him indy, and
n ueur.y slip into his hand a shining sill
e. quarter with their right hands, under
IN temporary deIusion that their left hands
81 totally guorant Of the transaction.
81 The OLD man has a history with many
n ching passages in it. He was a soldier
a he war of 1872, ana if our United States
3 rernmeus WAS after the thing that was
~ ctly fair ami square, it would find in
IL one Of ir- most worthy pensionary sub
y Is. He IS eighty four years old now.
b fore tHe war he was well otf-owned a
u ur.tioa III Georgia with twenty negroes
n & % plenty of stock This was the gradu
u accumulation ofan average life time Of
n rtrv, -obriety and industry. Plain
II simple BIB his habits and aspirations he
u is entirely satisfied with the abundant
ormtor.s 10 bouutiful Providence had be
6taw,d upon him. But the cruel war came,
IL {, intensified bosom Of devastation swept
81 him there was nothing left of that life
& lue OF labor but the trees and soil. The
j 1rb OF an hoIr inspired by the evil genius
81 war and plumber stripped the old man
b ire. And then death entered his once
happy bat now desolated home and re-
d owed tile companion of his youth, the
sCmlort af hi- manhood and the prop of
old age.
Il - ID 4
D. great Sherman tide, but some of them
esuaiHrd with him ont of pure mpathy
b. lhr-t,uu- Ha MA been kind anu good
b them aII their lives aud here was a good
opportunity to display the gratitude which
/ e}d asJroug hold upon their heart strings
lGith the assistance of these the old man
II t about the reconstruction of his shatter-
0 homestead. and he soon got himself in a
lhir way 90 live again; but he missed the
leaI+r care aud companionship Of her who
I'll under the heavy stroke Of the iron for
lna OF war. His household servants no
Bed Gle heavy shadow gradually settling
.ip5n his brow, and beset him to go and see
HAu-s Libby
"Nis- Libby" was at this time a spinster
pf dirty summers. She had been an in
mate of the family for years, had watched
b. the bed side of the departed relict,
Eipoi the death damp from her brow, aud
badly clothed her for the tomb. The SER
sant, knew Miss Ltbby-~that she was kind
And good-and they liked her and wanted
b. see her installed as mistress of the hous",
Pm To have the right to wait on the OLD
mau.
The suggestion took the old man some
~ha- by surprise at first. There seemed to
b. touch of sacrilege in it to the buried
tRosc" However, his mind underwent a
eorJ of Miles Standist diversion, and he
rehect-l that Miss Libby was ''alone in the
world" He could give her a home, and
Aithough he wa more than twice her age
BE- she had passed the era of frivolity, and
lmight BE- happy with him. 1t was not AT
all scldshuess i'm the old man to look for-
Ward to a thing like this. The more he
Thought about it the more the reasons null
sfiplied in favor of the proposition. The
house servants could easily discern that the
programme was not distasteful to him, anC
.they readily supplied the missing links in
the argument i'm behalf OF the enterprise.
Meantime these kind hearted and well
meauiug servants opened a seige upon the
heart t"MjSs Libby" BY their kindly in
Proposition the matter was favorably con
sidered on both sides, and when the ole
man finally popped the question, MIS-
Libby was prepared for it, and speed.
wedding resulted from the explosion.
For time things moved on comfortably
But the war seems to have smothered thu
old habits of thrift among those who hav
PASSED to the shady side of three scores
#Thc old man found it hard to rally, AM
#check his descent on the downward plain
ear by year he grew poorer. After
while he mortgaged his place for supplies
and failed TO meet his notes. He sold hi
oid homestead and moved on an humble
farm. But his hard fortune followed hin
here. He could not make the ends meet
Around him all looked dark and gloomy
and uninviting. He had despaired of recu
y peration upon the worn out soil of Geor
gia. and turned his gaze to the fresh Ell DO
RADIO of the West.
j Fifty years ago he had come with hi
a young wife from North Carolina, an
erected log cabin in an uncultivated vii
derneSs of Georgia, and by dint OF his ow
labor built upa respectable fortune, VIII
could he not now go West where the lane
were cheap and smiling in fertility, an
do this thing over again? Oh, who ca
measure the self-delusions of insideous oil
age? The old man forgetting that th
bouyaney of youth and the glory OF mar
hood had departed from him forever, an
hlled with the idea of a second rejuvenatio
& of himself and second rehabilitation of n
fortune in the life-gIving and bounty
y yielding plains of the West, sold out
household goods and set out for the Ell dc
u RADIO.
And here he is, with his wife, now
helpless invalid and his two little sons, OF
OF them deaf and dumb, broke down 0efo
ne got halfway to his intended destlnatlo
When he reached this point, month or
ago, his money was exhausted, ana q
health of his wife utterly wrecked. A ge
tleman got of the train at the same TIN
and noticing the sad distress Of the famn
whispered words OF sweet Christian cor
fort 70 the suffering and despairing moths