The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1883-07-12
aaasiseslIa,tsons. &
JAMES GOODNIGHT.

poor old man, weak with hunger
and stiff with cold, entered the
Central Station to ask for lodgings.
While he sat by the stove to get
warm they heard him groan like
one in distress, and the captain
asked:
Are you sick, or have you been
hurt?"
at is here" answered the old
man as he touched his breast. ':1t
all came back to me an hour ago as
I passed window and saw a bit Of
a boy in his night-gown. 1 would
to God that 1 was dead!!''
"What is it," asked the captain
as he sat down beside the man.
''It is the heart-ache-it is re-
MORSE" the old man answered. Il
have had them gnawing away at my
life for years. 1 have wanted to
die-I have prayed for death-but
life still clings to this poor old
frame. I am old and friendless
and worn out, and were some wheels
to crush me it would be an act of
mercy
He wiped his eyes on his ragged
sleeve, made a great effort to con-
troll his feelings, and went on:
"Forty years ago 1 had plenty.
A wife sang in my home, and a
young boy rode on my knee and
filled the house with his shouts and
laughter. 1 sought to be a good
man and kind father, and people
called me such. One night I came
home vexed, I found my boy ell
ing and that vexed me still more.
I don't know what made me act so
that night, but it seemed as if every
thing went wrong. The child had
a bed beside us, and every night
since he had been able to speak, he
had called to me before closing his
eyes ins sleep, "good night, pa p
Oh, sir, and I hear those words
sounding in my ears every day and
every hour, and they wiring my old
heart until I am faint
For a moment he sobbed like a
child, then he found voice to con-
tinue:
'God forgive me, but l was cross
to the boy that night. When he
called to me good night, 1 would
not reply, "Good night, my pap he
kept calling, and fiend that I was,
1 would make no answer. He must
have thought me asleep, for he fin
ally cuddled down with sob in
his throat. I wanted to get up and
kiss him but 1 kept waiting, and
waiting, and finally I fell asleep
"Well?" queried the captain, as
the silence grew long.
sWhen / woke it was day. It
was shrek in my ears which broke
my slumbers, and as I started up
my poor wife called: ooh! Rich
ard I! Richard our Jamie is dead in
his bed!" 1t was so. He was dead
and cold. There were tears on his
pale face-the tears he had shed
when he had called: "Good night,
my pap and I had refused to an
swer / was dumb. Then remorse
came and I was frantic. / did not
know when they buried him, for 1
was under restraint as a lunatic.
For FIVE long years life was dark
midnight to me. When reason re-
turned and I went forth into the
world my wife slept beside Jamie,
my home was gone, my friends had
forgotten me and 1 had no mission
in life but to suffer remorse. l
cannot forget. 1t was almost a life
time ago, but through the mist Of
years, across the valley of the past,
from the little grave thousands of
miles away, 1 hear the plaintive
call as l heard it that night: 'Good
night, my pal" Send me to some
prison, to the poor house, anywhere
that I may halt long enough to die !
I am an old wreck, and I care not
how soon death drags me down.
He was rendered food, but he
could not eat. He rocked his body
to and fro and wept and sobbed,
and by and by, when sleep came to
him, they heard him whisper:
"Good night, my boy, good night,
my Jamie !"-Detroit Free Press.
On q railway train coming east