with gue, 1 of the ould and and gain y to He tions nus als of reles led ng to ty is from would ke of h time past. stened to with increased interest, by aged time I was 'Aide' of the General, and accompanied him when he visited the unfortunate prisoner. Letters were written him from the American officers expressing their deep sympathy in his behalf. Every means was taken which the usages of war would admit of, to induce the British to exchange the heartless traitor that they had in their possession for Major Andrè." Several times the old gentleman, as he related the above, wiped the unbidden tear from his furrowed cheek. Theodore asked his aged informant if Arnold was a temperate man? "In the early part of his military career he was, but afterwards he became reckless and dissipated; this was the cause of his final ruin. If he had been temperate, as his commanderin-chief was, his name might have been inscribed with honor upon his nation's history. I tell you, Theodore, men of usefulness have been slain by thousands, men of strong, gigantic intellect, have recklessly torn from their own brows laurels that they have won, plunging themselves and their families into irretrievable infamy; and before the fires of yonder distillery are extinguished, hundreds of this little village, that numbers only two thousand, will fill a drunkard's grave. Twenty years ago there was not an inebriate that walked our streets, but how different now; this engine of destruction is daily increasing the number of widows and orphans." The interview between Mr. Graham and his young friend was interrupted by the entrance of Colonel Bertram. He inquired after the health of Lieutenant Morse. Being informed that he was not as well as usual, he expressed his regrets that the accident of yesterday was communicated to him. "He was sitting by the window as the mutilated body was carried by on a shutter, which so affected him, that he fainted, and has not been able to sit up since," said Mr. Graham. "This is not the first accident which has happened in consequence of Radford's rum." "It was not rum, it was cider brandy, some of his own manufacture. If I was Radford, I should rather live in a shanty than to live in his splendid mansion he talks so much about, and have that the price of blood. I thought when Stumbleton and his two children were burned to death, that Radford would be a little more careful to whom he sold his liquor; but if he can get the money, it is evident he is regardless of the consequences." The two gentlemen walked to the house of their friend, where they found Dr. Williams seated by the bedside of his pale and emaciated patient. Several weeks elapsed before he recovered from the shock he received. Mrs. Morse watched her husband unceasingly, anticipating all his wants-she listened in tearful silence, as he talked with composure of his approaching dissolution. As she kissed the almost transparent lips of her husband, he said, "I would be glad, Carry, if you could converse with me upon the subject of death more calmly." Her tears were her only reply. At this moment Odora entered the room; she approached the bed cautiously, and kissed the pale hand of her father as he extended it to her; turning to her weeping mother, she said, "Do not cry, mamma, papa is better; when he laid his hand on my head to bless me, he said all IS |