A CHARITABLE ACT. 21 



came unbearable. Incited bj a burning indig- 

 nation he resolved to escape, and stealing to 

 Mattie's room one night, told his intention. 

 The child lovers had little time to indulge their 

 grief — one burst of tears — one clasped embrace, 

 iud thej parted. Mattie's only consolation, the 

 .ast words of her lover, that " when he was a 

 great man, he would come back and make her 

 his little wife." 



With a few crusts and some scraps of cloth- 

 ing, Will set forth on his journey to the Ameri- 

 can capital. Curious vicissitudes awaited him. 

 His scanty store was soon exhausted, and he was 

 compelled to beg his bread, and seek some 

 wretched shed for shelter at night. 



On one of these occasions it was that he was 

 discovered by the excellent Judge Campbell, 

 who, an early riser for the charitable purpose of 

 looking to the welfare of his cattle, as well as of 

 his household, on visiting his stables, was amazed 

 to find there a pale, miserable looking boy, 

 emaciated with deprivation and hunger. The 

 good old man could not refrain his tears, as he 

 exclaimed, " Never while I have a crust must 

 this be." Eemoved to the Judge's dwelling, for 

 days the poor orphan vacillated between life and 

 death, unable to explain his unhapy situation, 

 or express his gratitude to his deliverers. From 

 the time that Will Smith was received into the 



