Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-02-27

my Beloved Parents-You will dou btless
feel d momentary Joy at the reception OF this
letter from the child Of your bosom, on
whom you have lavished all the favors OF
your declining years. But should feeling
Of Joy for moment spring up in your hearts
tyhen you should have received this from
me, cherish it not. have fallen deep
never TO riser Those gray hairs that l
should have honored and protected l shall
bring down with sorrow TO the grave. VIII
not curse my destroyer, but oh may Goo
avenge the wrongs and tmpositions practlsea
upon the unwary in q way that shall best
please him. 81, This my dear parents, is the
last letter you will ever receive from me- L
humbly pray your forgiveness. 1t Is my
dying prayer. Long before you have re-
ceived this letter from me the cold grave
will have closed upon me forever. Life to
me is insupportable. | cannot, nay, WIZ
not suffer the shame Of having ruined you,
Forget and forgive is the dying prayer OF
your unfortunate son.
The old father came to the posIofiice, got
the letter and fell to the floor. They thought
he was dead at first; but they brushed back
the white hair from his brow and famed
him. He had only tainted. l wish he had
been dead, for what is life worth to father
after his son is destroyeli When things go
wrong at a gaming table they shouts FOUL
Fouln Over all the gaming tables of the
world cry ont, Foul FOUL Infinitely
FOUL"
Shall sketch the history Of the gambler?
tured by bad company be finds his way
into place where honest men ought never
10 90. He sits down to his first game, but
only for pastime and the desire Of being
Thought sociable. The players deal out
the cards. They hnconsciorsly play into
Satan's hands, who takes all the tricks and
both the players souls for trumps--he being
q sharper at any game. A slight stake ls
put up Just to add Interest to the play Game
after game is played. Larger stakes and
still larger. They begin to move nervous!y
on their chairs. Their brows lower and eyes
Hash, until now they who win and they VINO
lose, fred alike with passion, sit with set
Jaws, and compressed lips. and clinched fists,
and eyes like fire balls that seem starting
from their sockets to see the final turn be,
fore II comes; IL losing, pale with envy ana
tremulous with unuttere1 oaths cast BACK
red hot upon the heart-or winning, with
hysteric laugh-"Ha, hai ] have Ill have
itr'
A few years have passed and he is only the
wreck of a man Seating himself az the game
ere he throws the first card, he stakes tho
last relic Of his wife, and the marriage ring
which sealed the solemn VOWS between them
The game is lost, and staggering back in ex-
haustion he dreams The bright hours OF
the past mock his agony, and in his dreams
fiends with eyes OF fire aud tongue OF name
circle about him with joined hands to dance
and sing their orgies with hellish chorus,
chanting Hail brother" kissing his clammy
forehead until their loathsone locks, flowing
with serpents, crawl into his bosom ana slnk
their sharp fangs and suck up his ines
blood, and coiIing around his heart pinch IL
with chills and shudders unutterable.
Take warning You are no stronger than
tens of thousands who have by this practice
been overthrow. No young man IN ohr
cities can escape being tempted. Beware OF
the first beginnings This road is down
grade, and every instant increases the mo
mentum. Launch not UPON this treacherous
sea. Split huks strew the beach. Bverl1s1'
ing storms howl UP and down, tossing IN
wary crafts into the Hellgate. l1NsA %
what have seen with my o1yn eyes. hav
looked off into the abyss, and I have seea
the foaming, and the Kissing, and the whirls
ing Of the holrid deep In winch the manglel
victims writhed one upon another, and
struggled, strangloj basphsmed and died
the death stare of eternal despair upon their
countenances ss the water gurgled over
them.
To gamblers deathbed there comes nd
hope. He will probably die alone. His for
mer associates come not nigh his dwelling,
When the hour comes his miserable soul will
go out of miserable life into a miserable
eternity. As his poor remains pass the houss
where he was ruined, old companions may
look out moment and say, There goes the
old carcass--dead at last, but they will not
get up from the table Let him down now
into his grave. Plant no tree TO cast its shoda
there, for the long deep, eternal gloom that
settles there is shallow enough. Plant no
'forget-me.not" or eglentines around the
spot, for flowers were not made to grow on
such blasted heath. Visit it not in the sun
shine, for that would he mockery, but in thu
dismal night, when no stars are out and the
spirits of darkness come down horssd on the
wind, then visit the grave of the gambler!