Morris tribune., 1882-07-13

gray. His nose and chin sharpened, his
hands grew tremulous, deep wrinkles !
appeared about his eyes and cheeks, and
underneath the formerthe skin assumed
"a dull, lead-colored look. In word the
cadence Of life. falling upon his soul, af-
Iifected his body, and, though only two
and-thirty, he bore more marks of age
than healthy man should Mt two-and
fifty. .
The brandy that he took, nevertheless,
did its work upon his .physicel system.
The point of his nose became ivid and
minute purple veins meandefed just be-
meath the surface of the skim His eyes
lost the humidity that gives those organs
I their brightness and glitter. Always
clean shaven and scrupulously elegant
in his attire, he still hadthe air of de,
scending man; going swiftly and surely
to a ruin worse than death.
| After play he dined-aimost always
salone-fn the restaurant Of he Csnversar
| ton Haus, and in the evening loitered
about the lobbies Of the theatres. Al
though, as have said, every one knew
him, it was rather to Avoid than to seek
| his companionship. This, however, pro-
I duced no more effect upon his spirits
than any other outward circumstance.
Having no belief in, or love for, humani-
| ty human sympathy was as much mat
| ter of indifference as human hate.
This extraordinary and fearfully alb
normal condition is, happily rare. Few
spirits are SO organized as TO suf-
fer blight which may be termed, per-
haps, spiritual death, except through
longer and more persistent agony than
most men ever have to undergo. Boston,
| however, was of the sensitive kind.
He had placed his whole life in one
passion, and saw everything through
the medium Of that passion. Hence,
/ when cruelty dissillusionne, he decided
| at once that all women were like Maggie
| Lowell. To fiippant nature, such q
thorough disenchaptment seems equal
ly so.
With less eyenly>balanGed intellect,
Baston would undoubtedly have hkep
his own life; but where the souls-vitality
isalready gone, there is little temptation
to self-mrrder. So he lived on, mechaR-
| ically, and his weary hours were only
incisdnts Of the gambling tabs
| A heavy, dun log lay upon the bosom
of the Hudson, yelling Its shores from
sight and making the vessels that lay
motienhss il the stream lools ghostly
and distorted The sounds Of the city,
and the Qoise of sailors at work, seemed
ColuoSSuIy anu ulolStlllSboScI tio WatcA :.
The swift, smooth tide flowed down past
the piers and slips were deep, dark cur
rents eddied round and round among
the spiles, bearing fragments of drift
straw, wood, bottles and other bfqyant
rubbish that went bobbfng about in
circles for Awhile, until, gaining the
stream, they hurried, fast and SILENT
down the river to the bay and out to-
ward the broad ocean.
A light breeze occasionally waited the
, heavy mist hither and thither,S diselos-
ing for moment the gray sail of a
schooner or the high. black hulk of fri
slant, like the phantom ships of old ira
ditions.
From tho western shore ofthe harb0I
the muffied and distant sound Of oars
rattling in the row-locks and splashine
in the water, indicated the course of a
row-boat. An old and delapidated seine
skitf, rusty and greasy, speckled with
fish-seales and worn by rough usage,
Crept slowly out from, Communipaw and
threaded its way among the countless
stakes of the shad-nets that bristle above
the surface of that portion of the bay. II
was rowed by a father and son, lanky
tow-headed, brown-faced men, with
hairy arms and hands mishapen from
| Gt'1SISiAt dI Odl r3lSt-looSo
Rough of manner, uncouth of gesture
| low of ambition and slow of comprehen
: sion, these fishermen, nevertheless,
had full share Of the natural kindness
of heart and human sympathy tina
r characterize the humble everywhere
They worked together in storm ant
]. shine, and shared their gains and theil
bread, without the chickering's that 81
frequently mar the relations between
more cultivated men.
l Rowing from stake to stake, they
t -hitched up the net, ring by ring, and a
: soon as fish appeared above water
hanging by Its gil1s in the wide meshes
removed it and placed it in bed of eel
/ grass ON the bottom of the boat.
l "Tauten up that line little more
: JENNY" said the father in rough bu
/ good-humored voice; ''the net sag
) here"
: "Hold on by that stake, then, till
!. get for'ard. Seems to me it's darne,
y heavy this morn" 2 f
!. aCan't you hist it? Here, gi' me
: holt onto it."
Jenny had, in fact, been pulling Will
: all his strength of thew and sinew t
; raise the net where it sagged. down b.
: the stake, but in vain. His father
4 strong arm was brought to bear, also, an
: after tug or two and ''Now the1fl" th
IS net began to arise, but slowly and heay
. others big ketch, I guess. Its tim
: we had some luck, anyhow ~ b
a The old man did not reply; HI
' fucency of the water, detected dar
q mass some feet below, which came III
with the net. AS it approached sth
;, | surface Jimmy saw it too. q
: Its corp, fatherl'
= "Don't let's take that in the boat"
tI "We,n git somethin' from the Corone
fur it, boy. Bear handn 1-~T r
In truth the finders of floating bodie
is are entitled to fee from the Coroner
lg Office, and the old fisherman was M
averse to receiving few dollars, eve
n. though the duty to be performed was
j. disagreeable one.
u The corpse, then, was lifted from til
water and placed IN the stern Of the SKI
a with that simple reverence that deaf
~ body of a man apparently advanced
years Removing the shiny seaweed an
sand that had shrowded the features, tt
y fisherman saw sharp-cut, intelligel
:. =, face, strongly marked with lines of ca
40 or suffering, and bearing traces of dis;
patton. The garments which RENAME
entire upon the body, were fine ar
- fashionable, and diamond ornamente
ie the delicate cambria shirt-front.
:. "He was gentleman" said the Q
er man; "mebhe his friends will give
somethin' handsome"
!, Jenny, unused to such incident
"a q, cared little to talk about it, and the ro
:, to shore was silent and expeditions.
II The coroners examination resulted
y verdict of "death by drowning" P
a. pers found on the body showed that
u, was that of Lee BastQn.
'r, An investigation made by the author
ry tie,, explained his death. Coming hon
from Europe, weary of life and shattert
TO in health, he had devoted himself e
en- tirely to the brandy bottle. The deli
40 um tremens-that awful ayenger of OF
N. RACED nature had attacked him on Il
OF passage, while the steamer lay at h