Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1882-01-24
"Only a Newsboy."
"Here,s uonr Me,ns ~


Over the head of the little one whose
sweet, sad, tremulous tones uttered that
sentence, scarce ten years had passed !;
yet, brief as they were, fearful were the
traces left of their presence.
Upon the low, expansive, swelling
forehead, darkened by burning sun
rays, heavy wind and rain, and shaded
by tresses of the deepest imaginable
hue, which fell in reckless gracefulness
over the frail shoulders, were evidences
of want, anxiety, and suffering suffi
cient for three-score years. Thepurely,
delicately carved lips wore lines-deep
ines-cut by the unmistakabls hand OF
sorrow, and the eyes, like southern pur
pie seas, when wrapped in the Won
drous grandeur of the moonlight, held
a look of hopeless longing that would
have been pitiable even in age.
Many months had this fragile boy
trodden the crowded thoroughfare, the
poor little unclad feet blistered, bleed
ing from the scorching sun of summer
or biting cold of winter; trodden it
from the early morning, with weary,
throbbing head and aching limbs, till
not one purchaser could be found.
Bravely, without mumur had he
borne the jeers, taunts, blows of the
low and vulgar and the scorn. reproach~
es, and bitter unkindness of the lofty.
Often his only sustenance had been a
"cup of cold water" and mOrsel OF
bread; yet 1t was not delivered in the
name of the Nazarene.
Uncomplaingly the heroic spirit bat
tied with the clouds of despair which
threatened to enfold him-battled,
while, oh, how feebly, burned in his
life's horizon hopes star. Sometimes
adown his cheek, grown thin and wan
from disappointment, trial, anguish,
would course tears, 80 wild and bitter,
he wondered that their crystal hue was
not crimsoned by his heart blood but,
with mighty will, worthy of man
hood. they were suddenly dashed. She
should not behold them-she, his beau
tiful, angel like, invalid mother. whose
idol, next to her God, he was.
Through her veins ran the fatal poi
son of the destroyer, and with fiendish
ioy he watched the ruin he knew would
be inevitable. The large, soft eyes, nat
uraliy radiant, at times glanced with
splendor almost unearthly; the lovely
roses plossomed upon the oval patrician
face, till the child believed health re-
turning to his beloved one; but deceiv.
ing and valueless were they, as the
beautiful fruit of the still, still sea, and
that form which had glided through
halls of wealth and fame, cynosure OF
all eyes, had lost its exquisite round
ness, until it resembled nearly as
much an inhabitant of the ''city of the
dead" as living.
Sorrows crown of sorrow is remem-
bering happier things!"
Dwelling upon the halcyon past,
when Joy. deep as mortals know, was
hers; when father, mother, husband,
children clustered about her fondly,
her soul, in its almost uncomfortable
grief, had often exclaimed:
my God! my God! why hast Thou
forsaken me ?"
That husband, on far and CORY field
of Tennessee, after the desperately
fought, victorious battle, in all honor
exchanged the beloved gray for the
white uniform of the home of him who
said 1--WE will cross over the river and
rest in the shade of the tree"
Both parents and a lovely daughter
soon after left for the "land of the here
after" and only one stay was left her.
A stay in its fullest meaning was that
noble, self-forgetting boy.
By war and horrible injustice this
delicate woman had seen ner elegant
home and large possessions torn from
her, all powerless to resist. Sometimes
the monster granted her a respite from
severe suffering, and atsuch periods the
dim light Of her miserable tenement
room was extinguished only as morn
ing's brightness crept through the
dreary window.
The slender, wiry fingers, which were
wont to execute with brilliancy the raw
ishing music of Mozart and Beethoven,
and nestle among the fabrics of Persia,
now washed and ironed filthy linen for
common laborers.
How could she have prevented 1t !?
Could she have sewed for livelihood
Had she done so, the remainder of her
existence would not have heightened
into months.
Where were the warm. influential
hearts, ready, anxious to assist her in
turning that rare genius for music to
advantage? Alas! many who at her
board had "fared sumptuously every
day." and received from her rich, Law
ish benefits, passed her with a distant
bow or no recognition.
During the terrible revolution, num-
bers had passed into the silent land,
WIZ, LOU CACy AS0ui Woulu nave oO0n
Interchangeable; some true ones were yet
on earth, but SO scattered that she knew
not where to find them.
Pride would not listen to her asking
charity, and she suffered on in sickness.
Her health growing more feeble daily,
starvation seemed almost at her thresh-
old.
Her child had often besought her to
permit him to go as newsboy, but the
thought of his doing so was cruelty
Oh, the humiliation Her beautiful,
gifted, sensitive darling compelled to
traverse the street to earn a sustenance.
Reason triumphed over feeling; the
stMelf' was almost entering.
INTO the worlds battle, with true,
ss. i