The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-12-31


rowing down the river, and thencxt MORN
inc he was IN Boston, and from tiiere nc
went 10 Canada, where he waited IN si's-
rense for nm answer TO his letter 10 MS
brother. which, however, the brother never
Grace in the mcah time used the stolen
money 10 nav her gambling debts and 10
n,ay still deeper, and often now she was
comnlefely under the influence OF wine.
The unhappy husband and brother was
almost prosirated by the double blow OF
finding his money gone. and hls ohiy
brother. a boy so young, the thief, LOT ms
unaccountable absence and the hndiny OF
the glove and note on the floor made MN
feel certain Of IT, He was obliged to Keep
the fact secret for his family's good name,
but none the less il weighed upon nm.
lie was Obliged TO instruct his agent 10 oD-
tain a mortgage on some OF his properly 10
have money to actually live upon, penang
a sale of SOME land in the coal-oll regions,
and 70 account for his sudden needs ne
fold the agent that he had been robbed
~ all the money he had last re-
ceiyed. He said nothing more, ana
the agent. knowing bis aversion 10
publicity under any provocatiop, ana
his great tenderness that could even
nardon a professional burglar, de-
cided 10 try little detective business NM
self. He mad the numbers OF oil those
notes, and il did not take him very long 10
trace some Of them, and he found they were
Maid bv Grace. lie was astonished, as ire
knew that her husband so idoized her that
he could refuse hernothing; but, OF course,
he could not 90 and tell Mr.. Watts that ms
younp wife was thief. So lie raised
mortgage. and the money was not ionS III
the house. for Grace, angered and reDeilant
AGAINST what she called her husbands par
simony, bought eXtrayagantly, recklessly;
and spent everything she could obtain, ana
almost hourly bills were presented Tor the
most extrayagant and unnecessary articles,
and thus he was again in need OF money,
and so another mortgage followed The nrst,
and the same course of reckless folly con-
tinued.
Her child was born and died in few
hours, aud the disappointed, grieving
father laid his last hope in the tiny grave
under the cypress tree i'll the cemetery. AS
soon rs Grace was fairly recovered she be-
gan apaln her wild and eXtravagant life,
and would not listen TO her husbands en-
treaties TO retrench, or, at least, 10 commit
no new follies. She laughed at him. The
mcst charitable view that could be taken OF
the wantonly wicked conduct OF the young
wife was that her mind was unbalanced 10y
the effect of drink and the evil influence OF
play, and the constant intriguing and adj
vice given by the woman who so dominated
her. At all events, she was as wretched rs
her husband, and began to show traces OF
her dissipation.
At last cruel blow fell upon the misera-
BILE man. in letter from his poor young
brother. who wrote asking for money, aud
begging TO know what had been the cause
OF the attempted arrest, and pleading for
his brother to arrange that he might return
home. He was out OF money, and did not
know any trade. and in short, the letter, i'll
its simple boyish manner, opened his eyes
at once TO the truth He almost died that
night in agony OF shame and sorrow. His
wife to have done so terrible thing. A
thief. and to arrange such diaboical plot
TO DESTROY the boy, who had his future all
before him. People do not pass through
an experience unscarred. That night his
hair turned gray, and he never smiled
again.
OF course, the poor boy was saved from
his unhappy position, and started in bust
~
sure. and where he gained friends as well
as riches, until, as time went on, he mar
ried and became a happy father. But The
odOre knew 10 peace. lie could not even
direct his business. he so broOGed over his
sorrow and shame. And he lost or sacri-
feed one thing after another until he was
on the verge Of bankruptcy. Then his I'M
worthy wife gathered her jewels and fled
| Il IL hao "a ni
shame. IL was but short time before the
wretched man saw her name in the papers
ms having been drunk on the street and ar
rested. He sent his agent TO bail her ont,
and together they kept watch over her for
many months, trying to save her from
prison but 1T last The time came when
nothing could save her, and she was sent
J 10 Blackwelps Island for year as a COM
mon drunkard.
I All that money could do was done to
make the Imprisonment Of the miserable
creature lighter to bear, until at lust the
poor, deserted husband was actually pen
niless and homeless. In less than five
years had all these changes been wrought.
Now absolute poverty and hunger faced
him who had never known want, and he
began TO feel its stings. Always living
much to himself, Theodore Watts had
known little of the outside world, and he
had no profession or trade which he could
turn as a capital. He tried in vain TO get
employment. His sorrow preoecupied bis
mind and he could not fin his thoughts
on science any longer. His condition grew
worse each day, and he sold little by little
all the things he had, until he was reduced
TO a threadbare suit OF black, which had
been handsome and rich, but now was old
and shining.
When cold and hunger began to make
themselves felt they were so new to him
that they reused him somewhat from hi.
apathy Of grief, and he began to search
anxiously for employment, and at last, af-
ter fruitless endeavor and four days OF
actual starvation, he took position as
book agent, and was furnished with bun
die Of books and a long string OF instruc-
/ tions, all run oil glibly.
He went out with them from house tC
: house through heat and cold, and as he hat
/ no hope OF any kind in this world he made
/ very valuable agent, for all the rebufil
/ and insults, and petulant slamming o
doors in his face, fell harmessly upon hi
, numbed sensibilities; and he never seemed
| to know when he was tired. So, withal
he actually made money enough at tha
: business TO paw for the bare attic he wa
I occupying, and the little food he required
' His pale, sad face and threadbare clothe
E should have gained him sympathy whereye
a he went, but somehow they did not, ant
G when there was no sales OF books mad
G there was nothing to eat, for the rent mus
\ be paid and the grocer gave 70 credit.
Nearly wear passed i'm this work, whic
I inn in Will
: books he loved. when this little life-sketc
A was begun, and Christmas-eyc had come
e and the wild storm was raging outside
c Bitter were the thoughts that filed th
G heart of the lonely man. lie just had
a letter from his hrnfhnr hppWinv him [