But her hand was not slow
to assist in the labour of the hour. The grave was soon dug. It was
instantly made to receive its miserable tenant. As the lifeless form
descended, Esther, who sustained the head, looked up into the face of
her husband with an expression of anguish, and said--
"Ishmael, my man, it is very terrible! I cannot kiss the corpse of my
father's child!"
The squatter laid his broad hand on the bosom of the dead, and said--
"Abiram White, we all have need of mercy; from my soul do I forgive
you! May God in Heaven have pity on your sins!"
The woman bowed her face and imprinted her lips long and fervently on
the pallid forehead of her brother. After this came the falling clods
and all the solemn sounds of filling a grave. Esther lingered on her
knees, and Ishmael stood uncovered while the woman muttered a prayer.
All was then finished.
On the following morning the teams and herds of the squatter were seen
pursuing their course towards the settlements. As they approached the
confines of society the train was blended among a thousand others.
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