The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1879-03-08


Adswn the gulf Of Timel"
II. Campbell
We have more dreams awake thar
when we sleep. "A large part of every
ene's life is passed amid the stuff that
dreams are made Of AT times we hardly
know whether we have been asleep or
mot, vision of past and future appears
and then vanishes away.
It was in one of these moods between
waking and sleeping, before nj ing on the
morning of the first day of the year, that
this vision passed before me, with all
the vividness of the sun, and left its ina
press 30 that can tell you what ] saw
aud heard.
/ was walking on the bank of deep,
broad, silent river, flowing onward to-
ward the sea. The stream was covered
with vessels of various names and rig
all going with the current; making pro-
gress, some more, some less, but all get
ting on. Some of these ships were 20
near that could see the men on board,
and with little care ] could discover
what each was set 10 do, from the mas
ter to the cabin boy. There was
enough for all, and each vessel kept on
Is course, when every man did his work
faithfully and well. There was some
bad steering and sloyenly handling of
the sails, and here and there o captain
was tipsy and things were ont of sorts,
and one ship would run into another or
get aground; and ] saw that the neglect
Of any one to do his duty, made mischief
that brought trouble to all on board.
Before me in the path stood man
whose white hair and wrinkles told me
OF his great age, and, even ifhe had not
carried scythe over his shoulder, II
would easily have known him as Father
Time. He said to me in firm and manly
tones: 4
whittier goest thou?"
"With tine current" i replied; Sal
things seem tending to the sea; some go |
by water, some by land, and i suppose
weare all going the same way."s
"Turn," he said, '.and go back with
me on the path thou hast travelled"
We reversed our steps, and he spoke
TO me of the path of human life; it is
often called a journey, q pilgrimage;
but it should rAther be spoken of az
place, house, a field, a battle, a service;
ne said it il wrong to think of life as a
sort of space or distance between two
goals, race to be run and then over;
voyage to be made and then the port to
be enjoyed; and, as we walked side by
side, he difcoursed to me of tie duties of
Me, of the works that each man has to
do, and neglecting which, he makes
failure. We came, in our walk, IA BON
wrecks of vessels stranded and rotten on
the shore; by the side of the pathway,
and now and then in the very road itseli, Z
were the remnants of broken engines,
and the scattered members of beautiful
and the bones of human beings
Iying in the grass by the wayside.
Puzzled with the sighteof these things,
not one of which 4 had noticed when
pursuing my journey alone and with
The current of the stream, i looked up
with wonder to my patriarchial guide
and assed
"What are these wrecks that stiew
the roadgw
Lost opportunities" were the only
Wordsssthat fell from his lips; but they
ell as from Outof tbessky, go far off and
% solemn did they sound in my ear. j "a
vas silent, awe-struek and anxious. fore
amt suspicion came to my mind that i
his Was inpart my work, and these ruins Ii