270 



KIDD'S OWN JOUKNAL. 



Piter. Well, Colonel, read this letter. 



And he handed to the colonel a letter, 

 every word of which is engraven on my 

 memory. 



" My dear friend Piter, — I seize the op- 

 portunity of sending you this letter by 

 Arnold, a recruit who has enlisted in your 

 regiment. I also send you a silk purse 

 which I have made for you. I did not let 

 my father see that I was making it, for he 

 always scolds me for loving you so much, 

 and says you will never return. But you 

 surely will come back, won't you? But 

 whether you come back or not, I shall 

 always love you. I first consented to be- 

 come yours on the day you picked up my 

 blue handkerchief at the Areneberg dance, 

 and brought it to me. When shall I see 

 you again ? What pleases me is — the in- 

 formation I have received, that the officers 

 esteem you, and your comrades love you. 

 But you have still two years to serve. 

 Get through them as fast as you can, and 

 then we will be married. Adieu, my good 

 friend Piter ! Your dear Marie. 



" P.S. — Try to send me something from 

 France — not for fear I should forget you, but 

 that I may always carry it about me. Kiss 

 what you send, and I am sure I shall soon 

 find out the place of your kiss."* 



When the colonel had finished reading 

 the letter, Piter resumed : " Arnold," he 

 said, " delivered me this letter last night 

 when I received my billet. I could not 

 sleep all night for thinking of Marie. In her 

 letter, she asks me for something from 

 France. I had no money, — I have mort- 

 gaged my pay for three months in order to 

 help my brother and cousin, who set out on 

 their return home, a few days since. This 

 morning, on rising, I opened my window. A 

 blue handkerchief was drying upon a line, 

 and it resembled the one belonging to 

 Marie. The color and the blue stripes 

 were actually the same. I was base enough 

 to take it and put it into my knapsack. I 

 went out into the street ; my conscience 

 smote me, and I was returning to the house 

 to restore it to its owner, when this woman 

 came up to me, with the guard, and the 

 handkerchief was found in my possession. 

 This is the whole truth. The capitulations 

 require that I should be shot; — let me be 

 shot instantly ; — but do not despise me." 



The judges were unable to conceal their 

 emotion ; nevertheless they unanimously 



* What exquisite sentiment have we here! 

 The sympathetic affection which exists between 

 two fond hearts, however distant, travels far more 

 rapidly than the electric fluid. We see with 

 the brain; we feel with the heart. True love 

 can make no mistakes. " One" spirit animates 

 two bodies. — Ed. K. J. 



condemned Piter to death. Pie heard the 

 sentence without emotion ; then, advancing 

 towards his captain, requested the loan of 

 four francs. The captain gave him the 

 money. He then approached the old woman 

 from whom he had taken the handkerchief, 

 and I heard him utter these words : 



" Madame, here are four francs ; I know 

 not whether your handkerchief be worth 

 more ; but if it be, it costs me dear enough, 

 and you may excuse me from paying the 

 difference." 



Then, taking the handkerchief, he kissed 

 it and gave it to the captain. " Captain," 

 said he, "in two years you will return to 

 our mountains ; if you go near Areneberg, 

 do me the favor to ask for Marie, and 

 give her this blue handkerchief ; but do not 

 tell her the price I paid for it." He then 

 knelt, and after praying fervently for a few 

 minutes, rose, and walked with a firm step 

 to the place of execution. 



I retired into the wood, that I might not 

 witness the last scene of this tragedy. A 

 few shots soon made known — that it was 

 over. 



Having returned to the little plain an 

 hour after, I found the regiment gone, and 

 all quiet ; but as I followed the border of 

 the wood, in order to reach the high road, 

 I perceived traces of blood, and a mound of 

 freshly-moved earth. 



Cutting a branch of fir, I made a rude 

 cross, which I placed upon the grave of one 

 already forgotten — hy all save myself and 



Marie! 



Omega. 



THE WOBLB'S INHABITANTS,— 

 " A WHEEL WITHIN A WHEEL." 



There is nothing in the universe that stands 

 alone — nothing solitary. No atom of matter, 

 no drop of water, no vesicle of air, or ray of light, 

 exists in a state of isolation. Everything belongs 

 to some system of society, of which it is a component 

 and necessary part. Just so it is in the moral 

 world. No man stands alone — nor high angel, 

 nor child. All the beings " lessening down from 

 infinite perfection to the brink of dreary nothing," 

 belong to a system of mutual dependencies. All 

 and each constitute and enjoy a part of the 

 world's sum of happiness. No one liveth to him- 

 self. The destiny of the moral universe is affected 

 by his existence and influence. The most ob- 

 scure individual exerts an influence, which must 

 be felt in the great brotherhood of mankind. 

 Should the hand say to the foot, " I have no need 

 of thee," the world would stand still. 



No human being can come into this world 

 without increasing or diminishing the sum total 

 of human happiness ; not only of the present but 

 of every subsequent age of humanity. No one 

 can detach himself from this connection. There 

 is no sequestered spot in the universe, no dark 

 niche along the disc of non-existence, to which 



