A mournful,
desolate spot, shunned and avoided by all for the past twenty years, and
yet had I not seen----" Tippett paused abruptly, with bowed head and
eyes tear-dimmed.
"Here, old chap, take this," said Colonel Manysnifters, hastily pouring
out and handing him a stiff drink. Tippett, obeying, was somewhat
revived, and continued.
"I returned to Brooklyn with the body of my wife. My mother followed her
to the grave a few months later. All in the world that was dear to me
was now lost. I took to drink; I sunk lower and lower, dissipated my
little fortune, friends forsook me; and by quick stages in the
descending scale I found myself, as I said before--an outcast! Yet,
through all my troubles I have never entertained the thought of
self-destruction. I have no desire whatever to seek--
"'The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn
No traveler returns,--puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than to fly to others we know not of.'"
It was long after midnight when Tippett concluded his story and the
gathering broke up; not, however, before sleeping-quarters had been
found for the unfortunate man, and a promise given by Senator Bull to
put him on his feet again in the far West--an offer gladly accepted in
all sincerity, and a venture which proved highly successful, as most of
the long-headed Senator's usually did.
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