The Brother Clerks

The Brother Clerks, by Xariffa

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Title: The Brother Clerks A Tale of New-Orleans
Author: Xariffa
Release Date: July 31, 2006 [EBook #18958]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE
BROTHER CLERKS;

A TALE OF NEW-ORLEANS.
BY XARIFFA.
NEW-YORK: DERBY & JACKSON, 119 NASSAU-STREET. 1857.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, BY DERBY &
JACKSON,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for
Southern District of New-York.

THE BROTHER CLERKS.
CHAPTER I.
There, stranger lips shall give the greeting, There, stranger eyes shall
mark the meeting; While the bosom, sad and lone, Turns its heavy
heart-beats home.
A September sun was casting its parting rays far over the dull waters of
the Mississippi, as a steamer, with steady course, ploughed her way
through the thick waves and "rounded to" at the thronged and busy
wharf of New Orleans.
Upon her deck, apart from all other passengers, stood two youths
gazing with anxious eyes on the vast city spread out before them. The
taller and elder of the two, bore upon his brow the flush of his twentieth
summer. His figure seemed already to have gained its full proportions,
and in his carriage and tone of voice there was all the pliant grace of
youth, combined with manhood's strength and ease. His hair was of that
purplish black so rarely seen save in the raven's wing, or the exquisite
portraits of the old masters. The full broad forehead, shadowed by its
dark locks, the clear black eye, the hue of health upon the check, and
the smile upon the red lips as they parted over the snowy teeth, formed
a picture of fresh and manly beauty over which the wing of this wicked
world had as yet never hung darkly.

The younger was a mere boy; and stood beside his brother in that
autumn hour, like a pure memory of other days; so marked was his
whole bearing with that pureness of grace and refinement which circles
some young brows like a halo. His figure was slender and delicate as a
girl's; while his hair, almost golden in its hue, hung in curls about the
blue-veined temples, and a brow of solid and exquisite formation, such
as the lover of the intellectual delights to behold. His eyes were like the
blue which lies revealed when the storm ceases and the clouds part in
the sunshine; and the long lashes curled upon a cheek of almost
invariable whiteness. His nose was of a pure Grecian cast, his mouth
one of great expression and most beautifully cut. No one ever looked
upon that young face without turning to look again, and felt holier for
the gaze, in their hearts. Dear reader, do not imagine this an over-drawn
sketch from a romantic fancy. I have only too weakly delineated the
reality, as the portrait which hangs before me, looking down with its
golden-fringed blue eyes upon my task, can fully testify.
During the whole passage the brothers had attracted universal attention,
and won the good will of all; and now, as they stood arm in arm, amid
all the hurry and bustle of the "first hour in port," not a sailor passed
them but raised his dusty tarpaulin with a hearty "good e'en to the lads,"
and the passengers, as they reached the shore, would look up through
the crowd once more at their young faces, to gain one more smile or
one more parting wave of the hand, thinking, perhaps, it might be the
last time forever.
"Guly," said the elder of the two, suddenly throwing his right arm
around the slight figure of his brother, and drawing him closer to him,
"tell me what makes you silent and thoughtful at this moment, when the
scene of our future action lies before us, and our destination is gained.
Of what are you thinking?
"I was thinking," replied the boy, as he laid his cheek caressingly upon
his brother's shoulder, while his thoughtful eyes became suffused with
emotion, "I was thinking of home. The sun is setting, and you know, at
this hour our mother prays for her absent boys--were you thinking of
the same thing, brother?"

There came no reply for a moment;