Litchfield enquirer., 1881-05-05

|
 known her hu,nbugged that is to say, more than is right and reasonable in sympathetic I intelligent wGilrati" sa3xi3sa ad5 f0 gff;49ul The hospital warders declined to commit
 himself, No. 77 had only been in his hands
 for two or three days But he, too, muttered
 something about Miss Molynenx being most
 times in ,he right of it .a1a--ts.t :, agt .
 Mir Lurcher's appearance was touching, and
 not altogether unprepnssessng You could
 read hut little of his character in his eyes for
 the lids were weighed down with the largnor
 of exhaust m. The pallid features were fair Lly good, except for d slight '.snub" in the
 nose and if tle forehead appeared to recede.
 the ei fleet of diat might be exag gIera ted by the
 croppirg of hair that inclined to the carroty., l As the party s.m'd grouped around the bed.
 the invalid turned on his pillow, an,i half opened his eyes To the warder. with tlse in. grained suspicion of his calling, it see,nel as | if he nricke'i his ears to the suh,lued murmur l of their whispers
 | .'How da you find yolrseif to-day, my ] good fellow '" inquired Mir. Moyneux. bend 1 ing over Rim sA a1'''- '4 l The prisoner looked up at him gratefully
 'Not any better. sir. I seen to be sinking
 every day He was decidedly ''elnwn upon
 his luck;" SD the chaplain sought to rouse
 nim. ''Cnme my lad you must cheer upa
 bit! Yon'l have your liher'v and a change
 of scene ina few days; anh in the meantime
 I've brought goh gentleman to see you" Whereipnn MT. Cox stepped forward and l laid kindly hand on his shoulder. II came
 to have lilte talk with you. if you are equal
 to it. Miss Molynenx--"
 Tine name acted like a spell Oh, sir, if
 you come from Miss Moynenx, for heaveas
 sake don't leave me Till find strength to speak
 to you She's an angel that lady is, if ever
 there was one.' Whereupon MT. Cox. find- 1 ing himself and the captive SD entirely at one.
 "n that most important point. had his friendly
 feelings towards him heated sevenfoId Aud
 MT M"lyneux, turning to the doctor. suggest
 ed sIlmulant; and pmr Lurcher's face grew
 brighter slll, = ahd he was evidently all the
 better for the brandy and water. As he slow 1 y gathered strength-to speak ur, we shall
 leave him, as Miss Molyneux had done, to | give the diagnosis of his maladies physical
 and moral, merely condensing for the sake 0
 brevity .,# H
 | He was not always wha; the gentleman saw
 him far from It. He had been brought ul
 by worthy mother, who had given him the
 Fest education she could aff ri. He WAS do
 ing well at school, and might have done bet
 fer; but the widow was driven to make the
 two ends meet, and it was high time her so,
 should help her. And kind gentleman wln'- l knew he had been brought up respectfully
 took him into his office "Ah. those were
 happy days though know now that didn l rightly valne them, and deserve to suffer fn cit. His good master died, but Providence
 helped him to another place This time il
 was wilma grocer-a member of the chapel l where his mother used to worship He was
 quick enough though he said it that perhaps
 sh"ildnt-quck and industrious, and tn,
 grocer Set llln to help to keep his books, and
 sent him Out sometimes to collebt the bills l By that time he was seventeen, and he staye
 on there couple of years, and might have.
 been with his master now. and done high,
 respectable. ''Only that bad comrany wa>
 1he ruin of me. For was always innocent
 an! trusting of my nature. I wouldn't wish
 tu be hard upon snybMy, for well I know how
 bad one. and n" mistake." Jack was play
 actor al the "Duke of Edinburgh" in tli.
 Waterloo Road; he was pleasant company
 and used to carry orders fo. the pit in his
 packet, and slowly but surely he led ptn,
 Lurcller off his legs It was Jack who per
 slIatfed him to borrow trihes from the till
 which sometimes were repaid and more often
 not. It was Jack who urged him, when his good master was i'll, Go take advantage of his opportunities and help t:m to ten pound
 note. It was Jack who Overcame his. con. sclentions resistence by threats of exposur.
 and promises of repay ment. For that series of petty pilferings had cost him many bitter
 tear, and he had resolved to save up and mak.
 restitution. "Ah sir, if l had only let hin
 do his worst :" But then, as James owned himself weak, he had yielded, to his sorrow.
 ketributlnn followed q lckly upon sin Hi> | master rallied of sudden, and lis thefis wer. found ont. The Case was sent for trial in hls penitence he told his unvarnishcd tale But the viianous O'Driscnll vowed he had never touched shilling of the money and l the evidence failed to bring hls guilt ht 6 to hm. Not that the proofs of his instigatiO, could have possibly done more than mitigate the consequences of Lurcher's emi,ezzlemeni but ODriscols hardened mendacity msled the Recorder, and more tlsan weighed tn wish of LircMr's employer, that the cas- should be dealt with as leniently as possible
 They gave he a year" said James, and n, doubt deserved it; but what went to m> heart was the words of the judge For he II, and gave time, hot and heavy, for trying a plant upon an innncent man. =. ..s '. His mother believed him. if no one else did but the l.,ss of her only son under the circus. stances was the beginning of the troubles ol
 which she died He had strven 10 keep a good heart and give satisfaction to the gentle ten in the prison: he hoped that he would D., out the better for Mir. Molyneux's kind in, structnns; and as fnr M: Melyneux's calgl, ter, if they would forgive him making so free
 none but a poor fellow like himself could tel! tre half of what Miss Mnyneux had been [. him. And as he invoked blessings on he, beautiful head, he stole glances at Mr. Cox through his watery eyes. For the most part. he was thankful to say, he had been strong and hearty. But for the last week or two his spirits had been going down. till he became less eqnal to his work. and lost relish for his victuas. And I've had strange like pains in 1 the head and in the inwartis, till somehow I've got to be sure that l shau't be very long for this world,".
 Nonsense, my good fellow ," said Abra | ham. cheerly .''you keep good heart still, l and you'll be worth d ,zrn dead men. You know you'll be out and about in ten days, and 1 then you may lead happy and respectable life" .-.. as -.s .-'. .-0-.
 Il doubt, gentlemen that you II hardly be l lieve ne but dn think it's that going out again in tue world that has been making me SD nncorhmon down upon my luck. My poor mother is gone. and my character I've lost l my place. and carry the mask of the prison ] about with me; and if fell into evil com. pany before. l fear my chances now are worse than ever"
 Philanthropst as hr was, our friend was no fml. and in other circumstances he might have regarded Mir. Lurcher with strong feel ings of suspicion. But in his present unac | cnstomed excitement, suspicion wold have seemed like sacrilege. He lobked at the inva
 lid through Miss Moyneux's' eyes. and sirlg gIed against any rising !suht of him. s. he gave the sinner cordial assurance for the f,l- tuie. He told him again to cheer mp, and trv I to eat and do his best to get upon his legs If he made up his mind tn do we'll when he came out after lis term. he need never want friend or employment. The comfort fell like balm on the wounded spirit of the penitent; he q Df aII lipf. Abraham wanted further reward. he had handsome insialment of it when MT
 Mnyneux cordially grasping his hand. thank ed him for himself and on behalf of his dausll. tier. L l We have introduced our friend as the phi l ianthrnpist ;zwe are now to make his acquaint- ance as the athlete. A mind most virtuously