Sharp County record., 1890-11-27

q reparation for what their father ana
grandfather, Saul had done. Burial
was denied these youths from May until
November. Rizpah, the mother of two
OF these dead boys, appoints herself as
sentinel to guard the seven corpses
from beak OF raven. and tooth OF wolf
ana paw OF lion. She pitched black
tent on the rock close by the gibbets
Rizpah, by day, sits on the ground IN
front Of her tent and when vulture be-
gins to lower out Of the MONDAY sky
seeking its prey among tho gibbets,
Rizpah rises, her long hair flying in the
wind, and, swinging hcr arms wildly
about, Shoes away the bird of prey un-
til it retreats to its eyrie. At night she
rests under the shadow of her tent, and
sometimes falls into drowsiness or hall
sleep. But the step of jackal among
the dry leaves, or the painting OF q
hyena, arouses her, and with TIE fury
of maniac she rushes on. upon the
rock crying: Away! Away" and then,
examining the gibbcts to see that they
still keep their burden, returns again
to her tent till some swooping wing
from tho midnight sky, or some growl.
ing monster on the rock again wakes
her.
A mother watching her dead children
through May, juno, July, August, Sep
tember and October! What vigil!
Painters have tried to put upon canvas
the scene and they succeeded insketch-
ing the hawks in the sky and the
panthers crawling out from the jungle,
but they fail to give the wannes3, the
earnestness, the supernatural courage,
the infinite self-sacrifce of Rlzpah, the
mother. A mother in the quiet home
watching by the casket of dead child
for one night exerts the artist to his
utmost, but who is sufficient to put upon
canvas mother for six months of mid
nights guarding her whole family, dead
and gibbeted upon the mountains? Go
home, Rizpah You must be awfully
tired You are sacrificing your reason
and your life for those whom you can
never bring back again to your BOSOM.
AS say that, from the darkest midnight
of the century, Rizpah turns upon me
and cries: "Ilow dare you to tell me to
go home? l am a mother. | am not
tired. You might as we'll expect God
TO get tired as for u mother to get tired
l cared for those boys when they lay
upon my breast in infancy, and l will
not forsake them now. that they are
dead. Interrupt me not There stoops
an eagle that l must drive back with
my agonized cry. There is panther |
must beat back with my club" d.
Do you know what that scene by our
roadside in Palestine makes me think
Of? 1t is no unusual scene. Right here
in these three cities by the American
sea coast there are a thousand cases at
this moment worse than that. Mothers
watching boys that the rum saloons,
that annex of hell has gibbeted in
living death. Boys hung in chains of
evil habit they can not break. The
father may go to sleep after waiting
until 10 o'clock at night for the ruined
boy to come home, and givingit up he
may say: "Mother come to bed; there's
no use setting up any longer" But
mother will not 60 to bed. 1t is
o'clock in the morning. 1t is 1880. 1t
is o'clock. II is $50 when he comes
staggering through the hall. Do you say
that young man is yet alive? No; he is
dead. Dead to his fathers entreaties.
Dead to his mothers prayers. Dead to
the family altar where he was reared.
Dead to the noble ambition, that once
inspired him. Twice dead Only a
corpse of what he once was. Gibbeted
before God and man and angels and
devils. Chained in q death that will
not loosen its cold grasp. His father is
asleep, his brothers are asleep, his
sisters are asleep, but his mother is
watching him, watching him in the
night After he has gone to bed and
fallen into drunken sleep, his mother
will go up to his room and see that he
is properly covered, and before she
turns out the light will put kiss upon
his bloated lips. Mother, why don't
YOU 20 to bedP" "Ah!" she sayJ, II
can not go to bed. / am Rizpah watch
ing the slain"
But | must spur on our Arab steed,
and here we come in sight Of Beeroth,
said to be the place where Joseph and
Mary missed the boy Jesus on the way
from Jerusalem to Nazareth, going
homo now from great national fes-
tival "Whoro is my child Jesus?' says
Mary, "Whero is my child Jesus?" says
Joseph, Among tho shousands that are
returning from Jerusalem they thought
that certainly He was walking on in the
crowd, They described Him, saying:
"lIe is twelve years old, and OF light
complexion and blue eyes. A lost
childW Great excitement in all the
crowd. Nothing so stirs folks as the
news that u child is lost, | shall not
forget tho sceLo when in o great out
door meeting | was preaching and some
ono stepped on tho platform and said
that child was lost. We went on with
the religious service, but all our minds
were on the lost child. After awhile a
man brought on the platform beaut-
full little tot that looked like q piece
OF Heaven dropped down, and said.