unaware of the impending danger, mr. garie sat watching by the bedside of his wife. she had been quite ill; but on the evening of which we write, although nervous and wakeful, was much better. the bleak winds of the fast approaching winter dealt unkindly with her delicate frame, accustomed as she was to the soft breezes of her southern home.
mr. garie had been sitting up looking at the fires in the lower part of the city. not having been out all that day or the one previous, he knew nothing of the fearful state into which matters had fallen.
"those lights are dying away, my dear," said he to his wife; "there must have been quite an extensive conflagration." taking out his watch, he continued, "almost two o'clock; why, how late i've been sitting up. i really don't know whether it's worth while to go to bed or not, i should be obliged to get up again at five o'clock; i go to new york to-morrow, or rather to-day; there are some matters connected with uncle john's will that require my personal attention. dear old man, how suddenly he died."
"i wish, dear, you could put off your journey until i am better," said mrs.
garie, faintly; "i do hate you to go just now."
"i would if i could, emily; but it is impossible. i shall be back to-morrow, or the next day, at farthest. whilst i'm there, i'll——"
"hush!" interrupted mrs. garie, "stop a moment. don't you hear a noise like the shouting of a great many people." "oh, it's only the firemen," replied he; "as i was about to observe—"
"hush!" cried she again. "listen now, that don't sound like the firemen in the least." mr. garie paused as the sound of a number of voices became more distinct.
wrapping his dressing-gown more closely about him, he walked into the front room, which overlooked the street. opening the window, he saw a number of men—some bearing torches—coming rapidly in the direction of his dwelling. "i wonder what all this is for; what can it mean," he exclaimed.
they had now approached sufficiently near for him to understand their cries. "down with the abolitionist—down with the amalgamationist! give them tar and feathers!"
"it's a mob—and that word amalgamationist—can it be pointed at me? it hardly seems possible; and yet i have a fear that there is something wrong."
"what is it, garie? what is the matter?" asked his wife, who, with a shawl hastily thrown across her shoulders, was standing pale and trembling by the window.
"go in, emily, my dear, for heaven's sake; you'll get your death of cold in this bleak night air—go in; as soon as i discover the occasion of the disturbance, i'll come and tell you. pray go in." mrs. garie retired a few feet from the window, and stood listening to the shouts in the street.
the rioters, led on evidently by some one who knew what he was about, pressed forward to mr. garie's house; and soon the garden in front was filled with the shouting crowd.
"what do you all want—why are you on my premises, creating this disturbance?" cried mr. garie.
"come down and you'll soon find out. you white livered abolitionist, come out, damn you! we are going to give you a coat of tar and feathers, and your black wench nine-and-thirty. yes, come down—come down!" shouted several, "or we will come up after you."
"i warn you," replied mr. garie, "against any attempt at violence upon my person, family, or property. i forbid you to advance another foot upon the premises. if any man of you enters my house, i'll shoot him down as quick as i would a mad dog."
"shut up your gap; none of your cussed speeches," said a voice in the crowd; "if you don't come down and give yourself up, we'll come in and take you—that's the talk, ain't it, boys?" a general shout of approval answered this speech, and several stones were thrown at mr. garie, one of which struck him on the breast.
seeing the utter futility of attempting to parley with the infuriated wretches below, he ran into the room, exclaiming, "put on some clothes, emily! shoes first—quick—quick, wife!—your life depends upon it. i'll bring down the children and wake the servants. we must escape from the house—we are attacked by a mob of demons. hurry, emily! do, for god sake!"
mr. garie aroused the sleeping children, and threw some clothes upon them, over which he wrapped shawls or blankets, or whatever came to hand. rushing into the next room, he snatched a pair of loaded pistols from the drawer of his dressing-stand, and then hurried his terrified wife and children down the stairs.
"this way, dear—this way!" he cried, leading on toward the back door; "out that way through the gate with the children, and into some of the neighbour's houses. i'll stand here to keep the way."
"no, no, garie," she replied, frantically; "i won't go without you."
"you must!" he cried, stamping his foot impatiently; "this is no time to parley—go, or we shall all be murdered. listen, they've broken in the door. quick—quick! go on;" and as he spoke, he pressed her and the children out of the door, and closed it behind them.
mrs. garie ran down the garden, followed by the children; to her horror, she found the gate locked, and the key nowhere to be found.
"what shall we do?" she cried. "oh, we shall all be killed!" and her limbs trembled beneath her with cold and terror. "let us hide in here, mother," suggested clarence, running toward the wood-house; "we'll be safe in there." seeing that nothing better could be done, mrs. garie availed herself of the suggestion; and when she was fairly inside the place, fell fainting upon the ground.
as she escaped through the back door, the mob broke in at the front, and were confronting mr. garie, as he stood with his pistol pointed at them, prepared to fire.
"come another step forward and i fire!" exclaimed he, resolutely; but those in the rear urged the advance of those in front, who approached cautiously nearer and nearer their victim. fearful of opening the door behind him, lest he should show the way taken by his retreating wife, he stood uncertain how to act; a severe blow from a stone, however, made him lose all reflection, and he immediately fired. a loud shriek followed the report of his pistol, and a shower of stones was immediately hurled upon him.
he quickly fired again, and was endeavouring to open the door to effect his escape, when a pistol was discharged close to his head and he fell forward on the entry floor lifeless.
all this transpired in a few moments, and in the semi-darkness of the entry. rushing forward over his lifeless form, the villains hastened upstairs in search of mrs. garie. they ran shouting through the house, stealing everything valuable that they could lay their hands upon, and wantonly destroying the furniture; they would have fired the house, but were prevented by mccloskey, who acted as leader of the gang.
for two long hours they ransacked the house, breaking all they could not carry off, drinking the wine in mr. garie's cellar, and shouting and screaming like so many fiends.
mrs. garie and the children lay crouching with terror in the wood-house, listening to the ruffians as they went through the yard cursing her and her husband and uttering the direst threats of what they would do should she fall into their hands. once she almost fainted on hearing one of them propose opening the wood-house, to see if there was anything of value in it—but breathed again when they abandoned it as not worth their attention.
the children crouched down beside her—scarcely daring to whisper, lest they should attract the attention of their persecutors. shivering with cold they drew closer around them the blanket with which they had been providentially provided.
"brother, my feet are so cold," sobbed little em. "i can't feel my toes.
oh, i'm so cold!"
"put your feet closer to me, sissy," answered her brother, baring himself to enwrap her more thoroughly; "put my stockings on over yours;" and, as well as they were able in the dark, he drew his stockings on over her benumbed feet. "there, sis, that's better," he whispered, with an attempt at cheerfulness, "now you'll be warmer."
just then clarence heard a groan from his mother, so loud indeed that it would have been heard without but for the noise and excitement around the house—and feeling for her in the dark, he asked, "mother, are you worse? are you sick?"
a groan was her only answer.
"mother, mother," he whispered, "do speak, please do!" and he endeavoured to put his arm around her.
"don't, dear—don't," said she, faintly, "just take care of your sister—you can't do me any good—don't speak, dear, the men will hear you."
reluctantly the frightened child turned his attention again to his little sister; ever and anon suppressed groans from his mother would reach his ears—at last he heard a groan even fierce in its intensity; and then the sounds grew fainter and fainter until they entirely ceased. the night to the poor shivering creatures in their hiding place seemed interminably long, and the sound of voices in the house had not long ceased when the faint light of day pierced their cheerless shelter.
hearing the voices of some neighbours in the yard, clarence hastened out, and seizing one of the ladies by the dress, cried imploringly, "do come to my mother, she's sick."
"why, where did you come from, chil?" said the lady, with a start of astonishment. "where have you been?"
"in there," he answered, pointing to the wood-house. "mother and sister are in there."
the lady, accompanied by one or two others, hastened to the wood-house.
"where is she?" asked the foremost, for in the gloom of the place she could not perceive anything.
"here," replied clarence, "she's lying here." on opening a small window, they saw mrs. garie lying in a corner stretched upon the boards, her head supported by some blocks. "she's asleep," said clarence. "mother—mother," but there came no answer. "mother," said he, still louder, but yet there was no response.
stepping forward, one of the females opened the shawl, which was held firmly in the clenched hands of mrs. garie—and there in her lap partially covered by her scanty nightdress, was discovered a new-born babe, who with its mother had journeyed in the darkness, cold, and night, to the better land, that they might pour out their woes upon the bosom of their creator.
the women gazed in mournful silence on the touching scene before them. clarence was on his knees, regarding with fear and wonder the unnatural stillness of his mother—the child had never before looked on death, and could not recognize its presence. laying his hand on her cold cheek, he cried, with faltering voice, "mother, can't you speak?" but there was no answering light in the fixed stare of those glassy eyes, and the lips of the dead could not move. "why don't she speak?" he asked.
"she can't, my dear; you must come away and leave her. she's better off, my darling—she's dead."
then there was a cry of grief sprung up from the heart of that orphan boy, that rang in those women's ears for long years after; it was the first outbreak of a loving childish heart pierced with life's bitterest grief—a mother's loss.
the two children were kindly taken into the house of some benevolent neighbour, as the servants had all fled none knew whither. little em was in a profound stupor—the result of cold and terror, and it was found necessary to place her under the care of a physician.
after they had all gone, an inquest was held by the coroner, and a very unsatisfactory and untruthful verdict pronounced—one that did not at all coincide with the circumstances of the case, but such a one as might have been expected where there was a great desire to screen the affair from public scrutiny.
