The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1885-10-30
H,v ., Ola Han D,e..

Reader. did you ever see lamp ex-
tinguishcd after it had burned almost
II century? Did you over see the arc
tic sun set after it had 'shonc half q
ycarp Have you watched q sturdy
oak that has stood for centuries cast
o:fits w;thered foliage and uplft its
shriveled arms to the sky in death?
Have you, reader. ever seen an old
man yield up life that has become q
burden to him because of his many we'll
spent yearsr
1t is q sad sight, to behold a young
man, just entering upon q career Of
honor and usefulne y perhaps fame,
stricken on the very threshold of sue.
cess; it strikes the tenderest chords of
sympathy in our breasts to see Il girl
Just budding into the broader and more
noble sphere of womanhood us the
rosebud spreads its petals in summer.
wither and fade and lose the warm
and Identifying hue of health, and fold
her hand upon her bosom and close
her eyes to open them no more upon
those that love her. until the mists of
time shall have been swept from the
realm Of q glorious eternity. Every
sense of justice and equity seems
shocked by the death of y babe. on
whose check the sun mayhap has
never shone; whose eyes have never
seen and whose tiny feet have never
tvod the thorny paths that lie between
the garden in which its cradle lies. and
that in which its grave is made, ard
when the bcreft mothers sobs llupoa
our listening cars, the fountains of
sympathy are unscaled and we freely
drop our tears with hers upon the tile
mound that covers SO much of good
promise-so much of sweet innocence
80 much of that mothers own
heart and soul that it seems
when she is turning away that she is
leaving the better part of herself
buried from earth and herself forever
more. So it seems that heaven is un-
just-hard and cruel, when man or
woman is taken from our midst in the
fullness of his or her powcr-stricken
in the meridian of his or her usefulness
--mown down as it we're in the very
zenith of mental brill;ancy and phys.
ical excellence. Death in all these
cases seems undeserved and terrible.
When the old man, scarcely able to
bear his weight of ycars-no longer
strong enough to WELD the pillow or
peu-deaf to the music of the world
and blind to all its tcnderer, more del
icate tints-sensible alone OF pain
senselcss al he to pleasure and disap-
pointment. reaches the end of Times
highway aud passe; through the
wicket-gate, We feel that heaven has
but garnered we'll rirened harvest
and gathered in golden sheaf 'twere
wastcful to longer expose to the storms
Of seasons z ven to grow another
gathering. We gricve. but the tears
that flow are but balm to wounded
hearts. We bow down our heads and
heap tributes of our love upon the
coffin, but when We turn away, we
hear q consol'ng whisper in every
breeze that stirs the soug ng pines, as
| If it said: peace. peace, peacei Heaven
has but taken that that has no further
claim. or hope, or expectation on the
earth"
saw an old man die within the
present year. White was his hair
white as the tleecy snow that drifted
in his grave, and many months had
found him lean ng on his staff, totter.
ing from one foot to that and then to
the other, shaking with palsy at every
step. gaping ut space and gazing dim
ly, Lut in blank surprise, on things
with which he'd been familiar all his
life. Child-lke in thought, stubborn
in acton as an old man Is, mumbling
between his toothlcss Jaws a strange
COMMENCEMENT of words and income
rent sounds in which one could but
family catch a memory of other days
to lose the thread of his discourse in
idle yaporings before a phrase was
done. he wandering to and fro search
ing for rest-eternal rest-and saying
he was ready to die, for all his gem
Grafton had been dead for 10! these
many years.
One day he walked down the lawn,
encru,ted with snowy floor, numb
Ing and shak ng his white head and
singing snatches from dozen songs,
all made into medley soon forgot,
because he sang it many times, but
never twice alike. He came into the
house at last and cried and laughed by
turns. His lips protudine and .reced-
ing quick by turns. seemed wont to
| sPCdhs OuV hVCAiHE oNiSAs NAN ~ w
laughed and cred again, then living
down, was calm awhile and slept.
Within an hour, he coughed with diff
Guilty and awoke. He looked around
him on us all and smiled in recogni-
ton. then he moved h g lips and tears
came sparkling down bis furrowed
:heeks-good tears of joy.
Il rcst-so swectly rest at last, he
slowly said. Farewell, my friends =
farewell to one and all. My days are
numbered. blessed be the Lord, and l
am going homc-fareweli?" His
wr.nkled hands tw.tched ncrvously-
his lips moved as in benediction to the
world, then spread into u smile-his
heavy Ids dropped. DER the sunkcn
cyes-h;s bosom heavcd no more. and
so he died. Twas scarcely death, but
rather, thus. did end his life. 1t was
the peaceful stoppage of life alone,
and not the agony Of active death. In
peace he lived above his four score
years and eight. in peace he ceased TO
live, in peace was gathered home in
nature course, SO it can scarce be
said he died at all, .