Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1879-09-11

so cent bereavement. and your brothers {
arrangement because of your marriage, yo
iat were, oh, so happy. for year. One bri
OF year, So bright that its light was eitht
ilt- sn!tched from heayen, Or borrowed frol
IN the remainder of your rayless life, maxim
ed both seem more intense by contrast AL
it is almost the sole light that ilumint
Oh your memory chamber: Il bright, sum
&, window; with rose-hued curtains. and
ut. fairy cage, wherein Hopes gohler bird
tie sang its c'earest carol-you seem to he;l
the echo OF its sweet song still, piercin
or through all the shadows of the wear,
d, years.
~ Again Albert took a glass. in an I'm
III guarded hour. and. once tasted. it dcbaset
ST his mind to sucl a degree that he coul(
IL not resist the temptation longer, 70.
p urged him 10 stop, but he made light O
le your fears. saying:
rs Il shall leave it off ultimately. but al
y present it is to the interest of my busines:
y to take glass socially, occasionally; it is
Il very important to do so. in fact
1t was il vain you urged that whatever
d business he was likely to gain by such
!. means would not be in the slightest degree
!. beneficial. bit would be more than co.n-
terbalanced by the additional eapcase in
: cured by this .'occasionaI social glass
Here was the root Of the whole matter.
: the source of all trouble.-he could not see
) his danger! He had left it off once; it was
not his master; he could readily do so
again. SO he gradually drifted farther
down into the depths, until he was obliged
to drink night and day, to drown his men,
tai and bodily sutferings.
AT last dclirium seized him. and tor days
and nights lie ravcd in fearful agony. But
a vigorous constitution threw OFT the yoke
and rallied: he recovered, to VOW never to
touch the acursed thing again.
After few months, however, the tempt
cr again assailed him with the belief that
he was surely now its master. and after his
; bitter experience, he Would certainly never
indulge to excess.
But yon cannot, even in memory. pass
through these dreadful scenes again. For
years he lived, sometimes struggling ~i,h
temptation, sometimes bCv:iny weakly to
it, enduring all the agonies that mortal
man can suffer; tor his frame was strong.
and life could not be crushed from it by !
the excesses Of few years. Sometimes |
defying Fate. and praising the wine cup as
the fount Of blessings; sometimes filled
with remorsc. and begging you to keep it /
from your children, cursing his own par
ents for placing it to Ills lips in boyhood:
but. through it all, he WAS affectionate, ten
der and true to you.
Sometimes. when body and mind fliietI
you for a time. and you were prostrated by
! sickness. he would nurse you so tenderly
and, calling You by the most endearing
names. would beg you to forgive him for
embittering your lite, and, ,ainly struy-
Cling in the demons grasp. would leave of
drinking until his mind wandered, and he
was obliged to resume it to quiet his mad
dened brain.
Four times you went down to the gates
G. hell with him. and upon each recovery :
stirred the smoulderirg ashes and rekin-
died the fires of hope in your bosom: wait !
cd-oh. that weary waiting.-eINlured. {
watched. prayed; year by year pursuing {
the phantom. happnhss; searching. like {
Evangeline. for your lost lover; soothing I
him and quieting his remorse as best 70" ,
might; longing for the power to wrest him l
from the hands of Fate. and battle in his t
stead, for still, to you, it seemed his only '
sin. l.
lie died at last, 'sas the fool dieth." after t
days and nights of wild delirium. After 4
his incohercnt raving had sunk into mar
ticnlate mutterings; after the fierce trem-
bling had passed into what his attendants
deemed the quive,ing throes of death; af- :,
ter his stalwart frame had grown weak as :.
an infants t's,-without the slightest recogni- :.
tion Of any one around him. he. with slight :,
returning strength. rose from his bed, and. :,
mutely resisting all attempts to place him
again upon it. tottercd to secretary where >.
he kept his private papers. and after help
lessly tumbling with the keys, showed. by
pitiful signs, that he wished it opened.
You unlocked it. and he took from the
drawer small package, and strove to >,
open it. Taking it from his trembling +
hand, You unfastened the ribbon that -.
bound it. and discloseda withercd lily bud. +
lie grasped it with a smile. as though he i,
lad found IA long g-lOst treasure. and. with VI
,ut word or look OF recognition of your
'elf. fell PROSTATE and died. -,
Died! in his early manhUod.-when he v
hould have..heen in the frli strength OF his
'oung Ii e's pri ne! when you loved him =,
IS your own soul! But that was not the 90
'itterest drop in the cup. If he had ''dicd
S honor dies" you might have borne it,
ould have said, THY will. 81, God!''
ould have buried him with a holy sorrow, ol
I'D. returning, have taken your boys in III
our arms and said: u
''You are tatherless, my own. but your IN
oreheads are i>'llowed by dying fathers ci
must henceforth be the seat OF tn
oble Thoughts; you bear dying fathers r.
ender blessing.-let your lives be pure s,s,t Il
prlght, like hls"'
But to die thus You took his dear head he
till heavily crowned with clustering hair,
pom your bosom, rresscd his Sill cheek
, your own, and kissed the hand that even
! death grasped the withered hN-bud.
our gift to him in the loi,g ago; YOr re-
illed the day you gave it when he said ro
was hkt your young lfe-alas how
Ike it now. Wi,hercd and blighted.- fol
'ushed, even while he worshipped you, mt
y the same hand And when the attend fol
lts took him from you, you resisted, SUI
linking. in your minds dark wanderings, ga
lat you were defying death. PEI
rhey buried him; how. yott hardly eve
new. Life, TO him. was indeed ''titful the
ver:" but he ''sleeps welr' now, with
e withered bld in his hafl,l., co,
You found yourself almost penn less. the
ith two children to care for; ashamed to sici
x, and toe weak to work. You disposed VIII
the greater part OF your furniture. and ala
ith the slight portion remaining, furnish sin
two or three small rooms. Day after see
y You sought work. and, falling to find pat
you sank into the lethargy Of despair. as