The Springdale news., 1889-09-20
REUBEN BARABBAS.

REUBEN BARABBAS. t'Sixty per cent" said Reuben to my lord "'To save your honor, 'Tis not much to pay, I'd make 1t only fifty if I could; But moneys scarce, and lfes Q lottery And your old father may outliye his son. You can't afford its Well, no more can Afford to run the risk on lower terms; And fl you can t, you can't and so goodbye" My lord looked angry, but was young and rash, And fingered on hIs seat, and bit his hp, And launched at Reuben words of hate and
 scorn
 With fearful meanings. But he signed the
 bill,
 And took the hard-won and degrading cash; Hardwon, but lightly parted with in bets and
 play
 And jewellers and milliners' accounts For the Aspasia Of the passing hour That held his fancy and hIs purse in thrall, Till his mind changed-or hers, more likely.
 stil
 In favor of some newer fool than he. That night in bed Barabbas had dream. Halfwaking and haIf-sleeping, as he tossed In feverish restlessness, after feast Too gross and heavy for his body's health, And draughts too many of the sparkling wine That fraudulent traders sell for You've
 CIlquot- Pleasant to sir, but poisonous to quar. Ills unQuieseent brain was filed with
 thoughts That haunted 1t by night well as day; or gold that he had clutehed, and bills as
 good
 That he had strengthened out, and piled In
 sheaves, TO ripen nto guineas in their time, And placed beneath his pillow ere he slept. He dreamed he labored in the mines Of hell, Naked and feeble, with a golden crown Firm fixed upon h $ bald and shiny skull, With weight insufferdbie yainly he stroye TO cast 1t from him III the agony That burned into his brain, right through the
 bone.
 Fixed 10 his ankle by golden chain He traied golden ball, as round and huge As the death-dealng bombs that ron shIps Belch from their ponderoas and gigantic jaws TO battle hostile fleets and ornaments, And now down men as mowers mew the corn. This he drew alter him at every step Goaded by frantic fiends with golden prods Down to the internal everlasting mines, To wield the p1ch axe on the stubborn rock, Scourged fl he stopped moment in his tol, By grinnins devils, eager and alert. Fair murmurIng streams of Impid water ran Triekltng beside hlm; but wheneer he
 stopped, As of he did, to gulp the cooling draught. The treacherous liquor thiekened into gold Grapes m ripe clusters, or what seemed like
 grapes.
 Hung. red and white from oyerhaugtng vines; And when he plucked them 10 refresh his
 mouth,
 And bore them to his palpfating lips, Some deviltsh trick would harden them to
 gold.
 The moeking feads fhat followed at his heels Stabbed h.m with golden daggers sharp as
 steel
 Tnta the blood drops trelsled to his feet As hard as hal in hyperboreaa storms, RattAng ike pebbles on the burning ground. He yelled for mercy. But the insatIate fends Lashed h III tha harder on ms qutReftng lo1ns. Then they cred Halt and threw hin4 fierce
 ly down,
 Bacs-bro len, on the hard and scorching marl, And harnessed hiIa, as II he were a mule, " n golden chains, and yolted him b a wafn Cumbrous and huge, high piled with granite
 locks,
 Through which the internal nuggets peeped
 anu shoae In the full radiance that illumined hell And made hin drag t. But his limbs for
 bade.
 Untu a storm Of blows came pouring down On his nude shoulders and hls sinewy loias, And goaded him to action. It endured But for one h.dgous moment, till he fell Unconscious and exhausted. When he woke, With shr,eks of pam, he found himself alive Upon the earth which he had done his best Io turn into hell Tor other men. When sense returned he raised himself in bed And took one long, long gulp of water pure That stood beside the couch, and thought the
 draught
 Was worth more gold than usury ever
 scraped
 Out of the pockets Of despairing fools Since cruel usury became trade.  Barabbas still has chambers near Pal Mall, And carries briskly as before Ills profitable business Clients come, In tempest Of thelr need and recklessness, To elamor for his pref and perilous ald For sake Of pleasure in the passing day, Bought by the woe and wal of future years. Sixty per cent IS still his minimum; As for his maximum, why, that's wide As the vast oceans and his Yaster greed! But fate is just and daily makes him feel, Acutely as he felt it in his dream, That gold is not the ch et of earthly good: That health and strength, and wholesome
 appetite. And sound refreshing sleep and human love Are worth far more n honest poverty Than all the treasures mother earth conceals In her vast bosom. Sleep deserts bis bed And food dtstresses Il m. Rheumatic bangs Torture his bones, and natural forces fail sfo do the commonest behests of life. Sixty per eentS Alas if five per cent. or all the common blessings Of mankind Who labor honestly for daily bread Could be his portion, he q be rich indeed Fate hath her methods with the evildoers; With her ght hand she pours them out the
 wine,
 But with her left puts poison in the cup, Or from her seeming favortes takes away More than she gives. This truth Barabbas
 feels, The rich Barabbas, enved of the poor; And will not cease to feel 1t until death Kindly dlsmisses him, without his gold, To the oblivion of the living tomb And the Futurity that lies beyond
 -London World. THE HOUSE OF PERINE.