The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1886-09-24
Written for the Dem0crat-Star.
YELLOW FEVER.
BY ALPHA BETA.

Click click click click And
tue tired hands clasps the weary
brow, and the dropping lashcs rest
for moment on the sallOw cheeks.
IN. H." ''N. H." This time, the
call brings the tired one to her post,
and her slender fingers press the
key-in reply. Can that "All
Right" that flashes across the con-
tinent from this plague-stricken
town, mean that "AU is qceU ?"
The burning glare of tue sun
upon the roots and walls; the glow
ing streets ; the dizzy radiance from
the sand along the shore; the
binding glare of the waters the
Sitting odOrs of melting paint and
pitch upon the boats, as they lay,
with almost IL pulseless motion, on
the shallow waters.
No lreshning breeze awakens rip
pies there; but like tide of lava
spread abroad upon the earth, rests
the waters, FURNISHED beneath the
August sun. No glad voices OF
hOme-going children fill the streets;
10 laughter in the parks, and the
very leaves are crisp and dust
covered; the flowers that late were
Haunting their banners of scarlet,
are dropping, and the closed shut.
ters are draped. The rumble OF
the death cart is heard upon the
streets, and the silent passing to
and fro OF those doomed to hours
Of weary watching, but too plainly
tells its tale of sorrow. The pave,
all reeking with carbOlic fumes,
glows aud shimmers in the pitiless
glare, until the tired eyes close, and
a sOul-sickening shudder seizes the
frame. But there, there in thai
low ceiled room, with sable walls,
dusty floors and crowded desks
there before the Office table stands
Il fragile figure, weak and hollow.
eyed embodiment of the chaIac-
telistics that make the faithful unto
death. She rests her weary head
upon her left arm that is stretched
outward upon the table, and With
pencil III hand writes, writes the
words of comfort and cheer, the
messages that come, full of sympa
thy, flashing over the wires; iron
wires, that radiate the tropical |
heat; grim and blackened wires,
that stretch away into space. "Like |
a carrier bird,' she thinks, SIT
brings its welcome tidings of aid to
the dying peOple.7 "MOre nurses
more food for the starving Ones,"
she begs as the shadow of a pass
ing hearse falls upon the pave and
for moment the shining metal of
the instrument seemed covered by
its gloom. She clasps her hands
before her eyes and tries to pray
but the words die upon her lips and
she only means, rocking herself to
and fro in her misery-bowed be-
meath a burden greater than the
weight of years. The rumble of
the death-cart without, aud the
the warning of the needles click
within, are as one for heightened
space; but the fainteSt moan from
an inner room arouses her; she
bastens to the door. On a low cot,
beneath an only window, lies a
fever patient, pale aud ghastly,
with sunken eyes aud scorching
livid lips; the restless hands grasp
ing the coverings of the bed, and
the unconscious gaze turned up
ward.
Kneeling beside the bed, in an
agony Of grief, her outline showing |
sharp and clear against the gloom,
is an aged woman; wrinkled, bent
and crushed, she seems through
the shrouded light. amy child !
my boy is dying,D she gasps, "save
nv childP AS this cry Of anguish
bursts from the mothers heart the
girl sank down ) a shud-