Danger in the Dark - ZseZse

DANCER IN nm DARK. 143
soforlorn,was in easy and comfortable circumstancesenjoying
the sunshine of prosperity; a happier family
circlethan his, I have seldom known: a change came
over that happy family; the wife and mother, once
cheerful, content and loving, is now heart-broken,
emaciated, and driven to desperation! The children,
once prized as jewels, are now neglected, and suffering
hunger and nakedness; and their once 'sweet
home,' is now a picture of desolation! And why all
this ~ Ah! rum has been there I rum has made the
sad havoc - brought about the melancholy change I
Yet you say, rum will let alone, those who let it alone:
did it let alone the unhappy wife and children of that
poorinebriate 1 Yet they let it alone; never tasted, but
foreverdetested the accursed thing! In defiance of
them, the monster visited their peaceful abode, robbing
it of every charm, withering every joy-turning
Eden to a hell! and causing thorns to spring up,
where only sweet flowers were wont to bloom I"
" You'll certainly turn preacher pretty soon; better
take another dram-you're getting entirely too sentimental.
For my part, Alonzo, I intend making the
best of this life, for fear it may be the last chance,
and wherever I discover an opportunity for pleasure,
I 'Ill bound to 'pitch in!' As for others, I '11not concern
myself; let every man paddle his own canoeI"
"Too much selfishness in that; I envy not him who
is content to pass through this sinful, suffering world,
and leave it none the better for his having lived in it.