Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-02-13

helds beyond, stretching away so far tina
their confines seemed limitless And IN
glorious day arrived at last. and how
gladly he. with some thirty OF his mates
shouldered their burdens. hurried through
me gates, and set foot upon the thresh
lold just beyond.
| LOOKING BACK TO THE PAST.
| All, well. the end is nearer now than
/ he starting point, and every day but
shortens the distance and leaves him
| fewer miles to travel, but his thoughte
will go back to the days before he set
out upon the road, and he realizes. as
has every one, that those were the han
| piest OF his life
lie would exchange everything II he
| could turn back now and start out afresh.
| How often has such a wish been madel
| The hardened criminal. in his graver
moods, when memory carries him back
10 his boyhood days, when free from the
taint OF crime he mingled with his
schoolmates. as guileless as any of them
mas made this wish from his very soul
The defaulter, before found out in his
crime, and while still enjoying the trust
OF men, has lain In the still hours of the
night, prey 70 his guilty conscience
and wished that time might be turned
back In its fight, and that he might again
De the innocent boy who romped around
80 NNNrO NOetAeAS cNnOOl-HOuSc IN those
happy days, which he can never know
again. The rich man, surrounded by the
goods Of this world, with every LUXURY
at his command, but with a body weak
and wasted with disease, has made this
Wish; the man Of business with heavy
crushing liabilities driving him to the
wall, has uttered the same words. and
hhe"ise mas the laboring-man, strug-
gling for livelihood, in times when fur
mace fires los
wheels or machinery ceased to move.
SCENES OF BOYHOOD DAYS.
Were it not for the happy faculty. D., |
which We may live over again. In orr |
reveries, the days that have passed we |
would be deprived OF the enjoyment OF |
many pleasant hour. when, for a time |
We search our memory and from Soma |
dark corner again bring TO the ligbt
scenes upon which the curtain has lone
since been drawn, and which hava re
NAMED hidden in those recesses during
the lapse or years. But once the lieht ,s
thrown upon them, they pass before thu
eye with vividness that Is truly wonder
full, and unfold themselves so ranidIv
crowding one upon the other, that ere
many minutes have passed the present ts
forgotten, and the dreamer finds himseIT
back among the haunts OF his bovbood
and he hears the loud laughter OF his
as they romp across the fields
and the shouts with which the air rings
as their sport wakes warm and grows In
It's interest. Familiar faces are called ~
mind, and forms long since forgotten
again appear, looking as natural "a
hough, in reality. twoscore years had
been blotted out. and the merry crowd
'nce more sported on the old schooI-
,round, just as of yore, with never q
Tear having passed TO change the tangled
mass OF brown hair to locks Of gray or
urrow that smooth and boyish brow
rom under which two saucy eyes danced
With the very mischief that his brain
vas making.
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY JACK.
There is Jack, just the same dare
evil he always was. with roguish eve
nd a laugh at danger that would cause
ven the most timld lad TO follow his
aad risking life and limb I'm some daring
xplolt that appealed all the more to a }
oy's spirit for the very peril In which O
placed his body.
How many an expedition he has led, I
ow many a stormy battle has been q
ought under his leadership. with the 1
oys OF some neishboring town. from Z
'hich more than one lad often limped '
n the homeward march; but what mat {
cred bruised shin. or even. mayhap, a
racked head. when victory was ours. | T
lmost as glorious to Us e. Though the | '