FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104  
105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   >>   >|  
n the little household were at rest; a slight rustling of the curtain attracted me, and I felt his hand steal from the clothes and grasp my own. "I have been thinking of you, my dear boy," said he, "and what is to become of you when I'm gone. There, do not sob! The time is short now, and I begin to feel it so; for somehow, as we approach the confines of eternity, our mental vision grows clearer and more distinct,--doubts that have long puzzled us seem doubts no longer. Many of our highest hopes and aspirations--the daydreams that made life glorious--pass before our eyes, and become the poor and empty pageants of the hour. Like the traveller, who as he journeys along sees little of the way, but at the last sits down upon some grassy bank, and gazes over the long line of road; so, as the close of life draws near, we throw a backward glance upon the past. But how differently does all seem to our eyes! How many of those we envied once do we pity now! how many of those who appeared low and humble, whose thoughts seemed bowed to earth, do we now recognize as soaring aloft, high above their fellow-men, like creatures of some other sphere!" He paused; then in a tone of greater earnestness added: "You must not join these people, Tom. The day is gone by when anything great or good could have been accomplished. The horrors of civil war will ever prevent good men from uniting themselves to a cause which has no other road save through bloodshed; and many wise ones, who weigh well the dangers, see it hopeless. France is your country: there liberty has been won; there lives one great man, whose notice, were it but passingly bestowed, is fame. If life were spared me, I could have served you there; as it is, I can do something." He paused for a while, and then drawing the curtain gently to one side, said,--"Can it be moonlight? it is so very bright." "Yes," said I; "the moon is at the full." He sat up as I spoke, and looked eagerly out through the little window. "I have got a fancy,--how strange, too; it is one I have often smiled at in others, but I feel it strongly now: it is to choose some spot where I shall be laid when I am dead. There is a little ruin at the bottom of this glen; you must remember it well. If I mistake not, there is a well close beside it. I remember resting there one hot and sultry day in July. It was an eventful day, too. We beat the King's troops, and took seventy prisoners; and I rode from Arklow down
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104  
105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

doubts

 

paused

 

curtain

 
remember
 
uniting
 

prevent

 
notice
 

bestowed

 

passingly

 

spared


served
 

liberty

 

dangers

 

bloodshed

 

accomplished

 
horrors
 

country

 

hopeless

 

France

 
window

mistake

 
resting
 

sultry

 

bottom

 

seventy

 

prisoners

 

Arklow

 
troops
 

eventful

 

bright


moonlight

 

drawing

 

gently

 

smiled

 

strongly

 

choose

 

strange

 

eagerly

 

looked

 

puzzled


longer

 

highest

 

distinct

 

mental

 

vision

 

clearer

 
aspirations
 

pageants

 

traveller

 

daydreams