I pitied him, I could but pity him; and I said:
'Do not be so cast down, my friend. I once heard you say: 'The Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting!''
'But he cannot have mercy on some!' he cried. 'My sins have been too great; they cannot be blotted out. I embittered the life of my wife; I have driven my daughter from her home; sold my own child; made my generous, noble-hearted boy do a horrible crime—a crime that will haunt him forever. Oh! the curse of God is on me. My misery is greater than I can bear.'
'No, my friend; God curses none of his creatures. You have reaped what you have sown, that is all; but you have suffered enough. Better things, believe me, are in store for you.'
'No, no; everything is gone—wife, children, all! I am alone—the past, nothing but remorse; the future, ruin and dishonor!'
'But Selly is left you. She will always love you.'
'No, no! Even Selly would curse me, if she knew all!'
No one spoke for a full half hour, and he continued pacing up and down the room. When, at last, he seated himself, more composed, I asked:
'What became of Rosey and the child?'
'I do not know. I was shut in my room for several days. When I got out, I was told Joe had freed her, and she had disappeared, no one knew whither. I tried every means to trace her, but could not. At the end of a week, I went home, what you see me—a broken-hearted man.'