Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-01-08

his soft hand would become the clammy
hand Of a wasted skeleton; while sud
denly from his heart would burst in crack
ling and all-devouring fury the unquench-
able flame, and in the affected lisp of his
tongue would come the hiss of the worm
that never dies. But, until d~isenchanted,
nothing but lnyrrh and balm n ringlet
and diamond and flute-like voice and con-
versation aromatic, facile and Frenchy.
O., it is beautiful to see a young man living
alife Of purity, STANDING upright wherethou.
sands of other young men fall! You will
move in honorable circles all your days
and some old friend Of your father will
meet you and say: "My on, how glad I
am to see you looks so we'll. Justl like your
father, for all the world. I thought you
would turn out we'll when I used to hold
you on my knee" 5
But here is q young man who takes the
other route. The voices of sin charm him
away. He reads bad books, lives in vi
cious circles, loses the glow from his cheek,
the sparkle from his eye, and the purity
from his soul. The good shun him.
Down he goes, little by little.
They who knew him when he came
to town, while yet lingering on his
head wa a pure mothers blessing, and on
his lip the dew of a pure sisters kiss, now
pass him and say: "What an awful
wreck" His eyes rleared with frequent
carousals, his cheek bruised in the grog-
shop fight, his lip swollen with evil indul-
gences.
Look out what you say to him; for a
trifie he will take your life. Lower down
n lower down until, outcast of God and
man, he lies in the alms-house a blotch of
loathsomeness and pain. Sometimes he
calls out for God, and then for more drink.
iends laugh. Then bites his nails
to the quick. Then runs both
hands through the shock of hair that hangs
about his head like the name of a wild
beast. Then shivers until the cot shakes
with unutterable terror. Then, with up
lifted fists, fights back the devils or clutches
the serpcnts that seem winding him in
their coils. Then asks for water which is
instantly consumed by his cracked lips.
Going his round some morning the sur
geon finds him dead. Straighten the
limbs. You need not try to comb out
out or shove back the matted locks
Wrap him in a sheet. Put him in a box.
Two men will carry it down to the wagon
at the door. With chalk write on the top
of the box the name of the destroyed.
Do you know who it is?
That is you. Oh, man, if, yielding to
the temptations to a dissipated life, you go
out and perish.
There is a way that seemeth bright and
fair and beautiful, but the end thereof is
death.
Devote these December, January and
February evenings to high pursuits, in
nocent a~musements, intelligent, sociali-
ties and Christian a~ttainments. Do not
waste this winter. We shall soon have
seen the last snow-shower, and passed
up into the companionship Of him whose
raiment is white as no fuller on
earth can whiten it. To the right-hearted
the winter nights of earth will soon end in
the June morning of heaven.
The river of God from under the throne
never freezes over. The foliage of life's
fair tree is never frost-bitten. The festi-
walls and hilarities and family gatherings
Of Christmas times on earth will give way
to the larger reunions, and the brighter
lights, and the gladder scenes, and the
sweeter garlands and the richer feastings
of the great holiday of heaven.