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Show 300 HI CIIAHD IIUIWI S. CHAPTER XLIII. AI\IONG TilE ENJ•:l\IY. --"He secnwd Fo1· dignify composed, twd high exploit; But nil wus false !lnd hollow."- .MILTO:>;, 'VERE it proper for me to pause in my nnrrativc for the pur· · p ose of moral reflection, how naturally would tl1c destitute coudition of the criminal, as in stnnccd in the cnsc of J -ohn lilll·dis, present itself fOr comment! l)erhnps the greatest penalty which vice ever suflCrs is its isolation -its iso lation from friends and fellowship-from warm trust, from yielding confidence. Its ouly resources arc in the mutual interests of other nud perhaps greater criminals, and wlmt is there in life so unstable as the interests of tl1e vicious 1 llow they fluctuate with the approach of danger, or the divi sion of the spo il, Ol' the drnnkcnucss of heart and habit which tl~eir very destitut ion in all social respects must necessarily originate! 'Vhen John Hmdis separated from his late colleague, wl1o had taught ]Jim thnt they were no longer bound to each other by mutual 11ecessitics, l1e felt as if the last stay, in the moment of extremity, was suddenly taken from him. A sickness of soul came over him , llll(l that despair of the spirit wl1ich the falling wretch endmes in the brief in~ stant wl1en, entching at the impeuding limb, l1e f1nds it yielding the moment that his ]wld is sure upon it, nnd, in its decay, bctt ·aying utterly the la st fond hope which had promised him security nnd life. But, enough of this : my journey is begun. I entered n steamboat one fair morning, and, with promising auspices, so far as our voyage is considered, we went forward swimmingly enough. But our boat was an old one-a wretched hulk, which, having worked out its term of responsible service in the Missis- 301 ~ippi, hnd been Rent round to )folJile, ret the iJJSt:mcc of cup idity, to beguile un\\'itting pn ~SC'11gcrs like myself to tl1eir ruin. S he W ''~ fl piece of jl:ltdl\I'Ork throug!Jout, OW11ed by a profcssionnl gambler, a li ttle Iswelite, wllO took the command without know~ i11g anyth ing nbout it, and, by dint of good fortune, carried us safCly to our j ourney's end. Not that we had not some little stoppages :md troubles by tl1e way. Some portion of the machinery got out of order, and ·we landed at Demopolis, built a fire, erected a sort of forge, and in tl1e spnce of half a day and night repnired the accident. This incident would not be worth relating, but thnt it ex hibits the readin ess witl1 which our wildest and least scientific people can find remedies for disasters which would seem to call for great ski ll and most extensive preparations. On the eleventh day we reached Columbus; but, in the meantime, practising my new resolves, I made an acquaintance on hoard the Loat. This was an old gentleman, a puritan of the bluest complexion, whom nobody would have suspected of being a rogue. Setting out to seek for and meet with none but rogues, he yet nearly deceived me by his sancti ty; and had I not maintained my watcl1fulness a li ttle longer tlwn I dcC"med necessary myself, I should Iw.ve taken it for grrmted that he was a saint of the most nccepted order, and, if I hnd not committed my se~ CrC't to l1is keeping, I should at least have so far involved its importnnce as to make my labor unavailing. Fortunately, as I said, l1aving put on the dress common to tllC gamblers of the great Mississi])pi valley, as much of the ir easy impudence of de~ meanor as I could 1·ead ily assume, I succeeded us effectually in convincing my puritan that I was a rogue, as he did in persuading me at the beginning that he was an honest man. It was ~~y good fortune to f1nd out his secret f1rst, nnd to keep my own. It so happened that there were several passf'11gers, like myself, bound for Columbus, on the 'l'ombeckbe, to which place our boat was destined. As customary at tlwt time, we hnd no sooner got fairly under way, before cards were produced, and one fellow, whose lungs and audacity were greater than the rest, was heard throughout the cabin, calling upon nH persons, who were disposed to" take a hand," to come forward. With my new policy in view, I was one of the first to answer this |