Page:Original stories from real life 1796.pdf/40

Rh two of her children caught from her, and died with her. The two who were left, Jack and Nancy, went to their father, and took with them a cur dog, that had long ſhared their frugal meals.

The children begged in the day, and at night ſlept with their wretched father. Poverty and dirt ſoon robbed their cheeks of the roſes which the country air made bloom with a precular freſhneſs; ſo that they ſoon caught a jail fever,—and died. The poor father, who was now bereft of all his children, hung over their bed in ſpeechleſs anguiſh; not a groan or a tear eſcaped from him, whilſt he ſtood, two or three hours, in the ſame attitude, looking at the dead bodies of his little darlings. The dog licked his hands, and ſtrove to attract his attention; but for awhile he ſeemed not to obſerve his careſſes; when he did, he ſaid, mournfully, thou wilt not leave me—and began to laugh. The bodies were removed; and he remained in an unſettled ſtate, often frantic; at length the phrenzy ſubſided, and he grew melancholy and Rh