The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1893-03-16
{ THREE GRAVES.
Iwcman's Work.
by smLoH rAyxr ,.sxaronp.

~uys year AFTER year. Occasionally there
was tempest in teapot, which created
ass niue days wonder, and was then laid
ON the shelf, save when a few Of the VIII
lego gossips would carefully rake the
ashes over, to see il they could not fud |
one live coal at the bottom. And their
mysterious mods. and hvard so and
80. "Du tel" "Who saw 'em?" "Whcn |
did YOU saw" try TO blow this one into |
big fire OF scandal
Bua one day the people awokc to the
fact thata grea. tragedy had been enacted :
in their midst. A tragedy so terrible,
that beside il the village gossip dwindled
out. People went about with Mortified
faces, and for tho time could think and
speaksof nothing else. 1t was so much
more terrible, because of fhe unnatural
ness of it. Two lives had suddenly ended
Mrs. Lawrence and her son, Charlie,
lived ,n little white house, about one
mile from the business part of the town.
on one o. the two main roads. They had
moved there from, a distant town when
Charlie WIS about elevcn,. He grew up
wild, "harum- scanum sort of a fellow, but
one whom everybody loved His mother
worshipped him. She was very sad wo-
man: never wen: anywhere except TO
church and on business She had ii hard
time to make both ends meet, financially.
but managed to give Charlie y good edu-
cation He had just started on his career
as physician.
Seemingly, everything was fair, but
dark cloud hung over the home. One
through which, with her past experience,
she could see no ray Of light This wo-
man MS many conjectured, was surely
mad. Her brain had been turning in the
long, lonely years; and when her adorcd
son, too, fell n victim to intemperancc,
tho work was done Her only thought
was how to save him, and she could see no
way but this one She was hcmmed in on
all sides, and death offered the only sure
escape. The morphine with which she
accomplished the deed she easily procured
from his medicine chest. She tclegraphcd
her only brother "to come at once, with
out fall" knowing that he lived so far
away, they would both lie dead ere he
reached them.
She must have left the house to send
the message, after she had Charlie sound
asleep. The operator said that when she
gave him the message, her face was white
as death, and her eyes had haunted,
glazed look Her brother came at once,
and finding no one at the station to meet
him. hurried as fast as he could to the
cottage. On reaching it he found no sign
of any one. The cat was mewinS at the
door, and he could hear the bird singing
gaily on the inside. The dog was chained
I'm his kennel, and his bowling made
dismal sound. He knocked, and receiving
no answer turned the knob and walked in.
He passed through sitting room, dining
room and kitchen. Finding no one, ana
an uir Of dcsertion all through, he re-
traced his steps. Going through the par
Tor. and into one OF the bedrooms, he met
sight which he will never forget as long
as he lives. Stretched on the bed were
two lifelcss forms, his sister and her SON.
The womun's body was still warm. Both
were dressed for the grave, and the mans
head was pillowed on the woman's breast
One of her arms was around his neck;
and tho other hand lay on his face, rs
though she had been pattins him, and
grooming some lullaby song. The hand
tightly claspcd around his neck held a
letter in it, directed to her brother. AS
be read this letter, great drops rolled OIL
Of his face, and the strong man cried out
In his anguish.
"Dear Brother:-l have taken our lives
Into nv own hands; and have written:
This is the end, on the pages of both.
You know my early married l,tc-the
happy little home RAIL- PHI and had; the
sweet, laughing baby which came to US,
md how proud Ralph was of him. How
we planned what gveatthings 'Papa's boy
would do Aud to me, the mother, the
whole world centercd and turned on those
two piyots, 'Papa's Boy and Boys Papa.
Then us Ralph rose in his profession, cad
we seemed on the high road to success, in
temperance began to gradually creep IN
1t wound itself in, till it uprooted our
whole home life. And as everything turns
20 gold in some mems hands, so every
blessing turned to curse with us. Little
by little everything won't; finally the home
was swallowed up, and we lived where and
how we could In my despair / wrote
note TO the snloon-keepcr, begging him, as
he hoped from mercy from God, not to
give my husband another drop of whiskey.
The first time Ralph entered that saloon
he not only gave him the note. but bot
tie of whisky with it. The scene that fol-
lowed turns me heart-sick to this day.
Little Charlie and lived in constant and
deadly fear of our lives. When | rose in
the morning, fairly staggard under the
thought of the agony that would be heaped
on me before night. AT night, when /
Law down, knew not what minute the
demon would whisper him to slay us both.