The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-12-03

Who Iarcs the back for the DEVILS rod
And s~cattcrs thorns for tho feet.
Evil is only the slave Of good,
Sorrow the servant of JOY,
And the soul is mad that refuses food
From the mcancst i'll Gods employ.
Bitter Sweet.
IIo was perfectly hopeless, rs he stood on
tho smooth, white. gliStcning beach, and
gazcd over the blue waste of waters to
where the low lark limo of the islo of
Shoals stretched away in the haZy dis
tancc, drinking in for the last timo tho
beauties of earth and sea and sky.
Life for him had proved II hopeless fail
urc. That which other men loved and
lived for grew and blossomcd like tho
rose. That for which he had loved and
lived had faded md withcrcd and died.
His life, like tho hot winds from tho dos
crt, had burned and killed all that it had
over touched. Lifo was 10 longer cndura-
bic to him, and now ho meant to end it
all. He watched tho waves sporting with
n picco of driftwood, now lifting it us gen
tly us Il mother lifts her babe, now dashing'
it in anger upon tho firm white sands,
now bearing it swiftly out until it was but
Il tiny black spcck upon their tossing
crcsts, and so they would sport with him
and whirl and dash him against tho sharp
DltsCk TOChS ulitll, tlFtu Ol Unclr Sport, tllpy
would cnst him from them, cut and bruised
and bleeding, with the wet sand in his
hair and tho Shiny scawocd clinging to
him.
Ton years ago rs u boy of 90 he had
stood on the Same sands. Ten years! What
sorrow, failure and rcmors were crowded
into those years! The memory OF them set
his brain whirling with madness, sharp
piercing pains shot through his head, his
temples throbbcd, deep darkness hid sea
and sky, and with u low moan hc sank up-
on tho sands. Ten years ago! How much
life had meant to him then! How good
God was! How wicked and foolish in man
to d~istrtist him! How tcndcrly he guarded
his children! How minutoly he directed
the smallest details of their lives! How
sweet it had been to hold communion with
him-to DO conscious of this continual
%prcscnccl How much he had loved God,
and because of his sense of Gods love to
him he had dedicated his life to the service
of his fellow men.
His was to havo been IL lifo of noble
effort and complete victory. To be surc,
there were to DO temptations and strug-
giles, but he WAS TO overcome tcmp.ation,
To wrcstle with it, to hurl it beneath his
feet II tramplo upon it, to rise perhaps
worn and exhausted from the conflict, but
always victorious. His lifo was to have
been II living example Of tho oman of Gal
lice The helpless, the %wrctchcd, the do
spniring, We're to find in him a friend and
helper. The sinful should feel his plying
love and because of it he led to repentance.
Then life was real. 1t was grand. 1t was
worth living if only lived for others and
not for self. 1t was sin and sclnshncss
That lmadc life not worth the living.
How mistaken no had been. What Il
miserable failure he had made of his lifcl
How little he had understood tho weaken
ing power of temptation! How strong and
unscliish he had thought himself to DO
and low weak and selfish he had proved!
My God!' he cried, 'it was not my
fault. 1t was her hcartlcss indifference to
all that l held dcar7-hcr hatred of every
thing pure and noble that murdered my
loNo for her. She trillod with my holicst
aspirations and crushed my fondost hopes.
She defeated my every ambition until I
ceased to DO ambitious and disgraccd mo
until l lost my self respect. / hate her! |
hatc her! She wrought my ruin, body and
soul. Curse her, oh, my God, curse her!
And may she suffer all tho agony sho
caused me to suffer-"
Before him stretched tho great blue
waste of waters; above, tho sky, white with
swiftly dying clouds; to tho right tho
green and white cottages of the town and
to his left and behind him the hot, glcam-
ing sands. The tirclcss waves with rest
less beat broke ccasclcssly ut his feet.
DO still!' he cried, stretching forth his
hands as If to stay them. your ccasclcss
breaking Is MS relentless us tho Judgment
of Cod
But they did not stay. They tossed and
monncd and rose and fell rs rclcntlessly as
if (fnI \vnr. n,onc,r;n, liz. l.... I....
with the troubled waves of his own sad
sea. He buried his face in his hands and
groaDcd aloud. For u long timc no lay
thus, living over again in memory those
Ruthless years.
When at last he uncovered his face, IL
':siion IN railor, but calm aid peace
iul. Tho storm Of angry passion had
passed. lie Lad been sitting in Judgment
on the past. All his ungcr was gone and in
It's place was II great ~forgiving pity. An
CRY Injustice L. her would not relieve him
OF his responsibility. He was equally to
blame. II was not altogether bad, only
weak ADD ambitious. He had as hupclcssly
failed TO satisfy her us she had failed to
understand him. Her ambition for person
al admiration INT social success, for tho
praise and ilattcry of mon. had meant MS
much To her rs his ambitions had meant
to him. and his life of sincere and unself-
ish devotion TO his fellow mon was rs Joy
less and unsatisfying to her as hers was
vain n empty to him.
How kcenly 1t all came back to him
now. That night, when with uplirtod
arms, her heavy, dark hair falling In great
waves over her white neck and shoulders,
sho had stood before hor mirror, lost In
contemplation of her own intoxicating
beauty.