Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1880-05-14

90 no tsck!eo " snafp ZOE an hour or moro,
And his hands hexan through his hairs ss
A he jumped right mp and fsar{1lly sWors. q
And his eyes had { maniacs glare,
That he'd $ be dashed II the dssh dsshed fool Is j
Inst invented this game Was here, g
He'd smash his dash, dash, dashed skull
ana chaw on an end OF his ear.n y 8 ssf
But after another hot hour had flown ( :. d
Inc bead drops down gan 10 roll, } "a 81 e.
ana ne raved in away that, the people Ill ray,
struck terror 70 each watching soul. s,-, III
-thirteen-hfteen -icurteen-xlhs 80 sse
We're all That he got for his pains, gssgiSgS
so ne Hanttcally swallowed Of poison aglass,
And with ; bullet 10 borsd OUT lis brains. so
DAVID SWAN. 800 ].
Gould we indeed know ali the yiicis-
tudes OF our fortunes, life would Ia
too full OF hore and fear, exultation or
disappointment, to afford us q single
hour OF true serenity This idea NAV
be illustrated BY single page from the
secret history Of David Swan. =5
We have nothing to, do with David
until we find him, at the age Of 40, on
the road from his native place to The
city Of Boston, where his uncle. 4
small dealer in the grocery line, was to,
lake him behind the counter. Be It
enough to say he was q native of New
Hampshire, born Of respectable parents,
and had received an ordinary school
education with 4 classic finish Of q year
at Gilmanton Academy. After journey
ing on foot from sunrise till nearly noon
OF o summers day, his WEAKNESS and.
the increasing hest determined him rs
sit down and await the coming 81 the.
stage-coach. As if planted on purpose
for him, there soon appeared & little
clump of naples, with delightful IA
cess in their midst, and such fresh,
bubhing spring that it seemed never
to have sparkled for any wayfarer ex-
cept David Swan. Virgin or not he
kissed it with his thirsty lips and then
flung himself along the brink, pillow,
ing his head upon some shirts and ..
pair of pantaloons tied up in o. striped
cotton handkerchief. The sunbeams
could not reach him: the dust did not
rise from the road, after the heavy rain
Of yesterday; and his grassy lair suited
the young man better than q bed Of
down. The spring murmured drow-
SLY beside him, and the blue sky over
head; and deep sleep, perchance hid.
ing dreams with its depths, fell upon
David Swan. :
While he lay sound asleep in Che
shade other people were wide awake
and passed to and fro on horseback,
and in all sorts of vehicles, along the
sunny road by his bed-chamber. Some
looked neither to the right nor the left,
and knew not that he was there; some
merely glanced that way, without adj
hitting the slumberer among their busy
thoughts; some laughed to see how
soundly he slept; several whose hearts
were trimming full Of scorn elected
their venomous superAuity on David
Swan. A middle-aged widow, when
nobody else was near, thrust her head q
little way into the recess, and vowed
that the young fellow looked charming
in his sleep. A temperance lecturer
saw him. and wrought poor David into
the texture of his evenings discourse,
as an awful instance Of dead drunken
ness by the roadside. But censure,
merriment, praise, scorn and indiffer-
ence were all one, or2rather all nothing,
to David Swan. e. ~ 81. s:#. "
He had slept only. a few moments
when brown carriage, drawn by a
handsome pair Of horses, bowled easily
along, and was brought to 8 standstilI
nearly in front of David resting place.
A inch-pin had fallen out, and per-
mitted one of the wheels to slide of.
The damage was slight, and occasioned
merely q momentary alarm to an elder
ly gentleman and wife who were re-
turning to Boston in the carriage.
While the coachman and q servant were
replacing the wheel, the lady and gem
tleman sheltered themselves beneath
the maple trees, and there espied the
bubbling fountain. and David Swan
asleep beside it: Impressed with the
awe which the humblest sleeper sheds
around him, the merchant trod as light
ly as the govt would allow; and his
spouse took good heed not to rustic hel
silk gown, lest David should start up
all of sudden. y s... r
GLOW soundly he sleepsl"' whispered
the old gentleman. "From what q
depth he draws that easy breath
Such sleep as that, brought on with
out an opiate, would be worth more to
me than half my income, for it would
argue health and VI untroubled mind
"And youth beside" said the lady
Healthy and quiet age does not sleel
thus. Our slumber is no more like hi
than our wakefulness." III *.
Thus did this elderly couple feel in
terested in the unknown youth, to whom
the wayside and the naples were as.
secret chamber, with the rich gloom o
damask curtains brooding over him
Perceiving that stray sunbeam glim
mered down upon his face, the lad,
contrived to twist branch SO as to in
tercept it; and, having done this act o
kindness, she began to feel like a moth
or to him. .,..s-,., Il, z r.s.-xss
providence seems to have laid hin
here" whispered she to her husband
"and to have brought us hither to ant
him, after our disappointment in, on.
cousins son. Metkinks I can see /
likeness to departed Henry. Shall w
waken him?" .SE1&SEi III Es'fS
"To what puirpposeP" said the mer
chant, hesitating. We know nothing
of the youths character t.s VII u
"That open countenancep replied hi
wife, in the same hushed voice, earnest
~. "This innocent Sleep" tsa .s5aa.
While these whispers were passing
the sleepers heart did not throb, no
his breath become aeitated, nor BIZ
features betray the least token Of inter
est. Yes, fortune was bending owe
him, just ready to let TALL 4 burden 0
gold. The old merchant had lost hi
only son, and had no heir. to his wealth
<vca,,k a 1;r&ank roloksva y xus@I, - hoo,