Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 4, Number 36, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 7 March 1874 — Page 6

6

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(prom UM Mkrtfa Atlantic.] PATIENCE DOW. BY MARIAN DOUGLAS.

Seme ftom UM milt

MOW

SIM did

4hllls,

Patience Do»i

JHH unite,The

Would not« Ik

And mw Wtirwiia Hi tcm,*Bd mm, A* fierce am to & captive hawk. UnmlDilful of J*«r bded «OWSL| SinMtwlthwldtdtond»ittiif. Her loot hair failing tangled down, tteraad eyea easing far away, ,, W here, pmt the field*, *llvtr line, Hhe aaw the dUt*otrl*«r irfi tie. Bat wb*n«f« One ntght they* b^n tt«r n&utterfng »«, In »eeb chill, despairing tone, ItM«ned ibeeaat wind'aauUen »no*u:

Ah me! the dDtra, they novvfi) «*©w Jcarenotif Mi- y're fair or »oul ftaey creep a -.-.g-i Unknot to I euly know tie tared 4MP He does not love me now

One moinixg, vacant waa her room And, in tiie clover wet with dew, A or in of ok S mowed aome one ha been pacing wrongs And, jfeltowing the track, l«l Acroaa a field of aummer grain, Oat where the thorny blackberries abed Their b!o«omft in the narrow lane, Down which the cattle went to drink ImomiMr.Crom ttoeriver'a brink.

The river I" Hope within them sank The fatal tbought that drew h« there They knew, before, among be rank, Wbite-biowrami weeds npon the bank, Tbey feimd the ahawl she uaed to wear, Ana *n it pioned a little note

Oh, blame me not!" it read, "for when I ottceam free, my eoul will float To him! HB «M»oot leave me then!, I know «#t if right or wrong— I go front life—I care not bow I only know be loved me onoe *.* Be doea not love me now

In the farm graveyard, 'neafh the Wack, Funeral pine-trees on the hill, The poor, worn form the stream gave back, Tbey laid in alaiuber. eokl and Mill. Her secret alept wi«h her a one kuew Wbo*e fickle smile had left the pain That coned her life to one thought me, Her vWow-haunted, wandering brain, Secure from all, bid safe from blame, In life and death toad kept his name. Yet, often, with a thrill of fear, Her mother, aa »be lies awake At night, will fancy she can hear A voice, wbose tones la like the dreai\ Low a®und the graveyard pin -trees make

I know not if His rightor wrong— I go from life—I care wot how I only know he loved me once— Redoes not love me now

[Harper's Magazine.]

Jo and I.

I wasn't born in the mountains. Did you think so? Bless you! no, indeed. I was born down on tbe coast, and christened in the spray. And when I oame up here I didn't know any thing about nature—to speak of. you know, as the old man said about his religion and as for all this talk about farms and p,ofile9 and dins that the summer boarders go through, putting tbiugs into the mountains' beads they'd never think of, why, I'd heard nothing of the sort and I hated the mountains! Not that I didn't recognize beauty when I saw it, though I didn't kuow i» by name for pictures of my sea-coast were always slipping before my eyes when I shut them morning twilights with a blush creeping across the gray waters, and the morning-star looking back at you out of every breaking wave afternoons when the wind and the tide were fair, and the great bhips went out on their voyages to the farther Indies with ali sail set snnsets when the sea swung in among the rocks and op the sandy coves, as if the blue and scarlet and purple of the hangings qf the tabernacle bad cast their shadow there. And then I used to grow so thirsty, so fairly 'thirsty, for one sight of the open shining level, used to long so for a breath, a full, satisfying breath, of its salt breezes, used to tease Jo so to move «that way, that I made his life a burden 'to him And as for the beauty of the

the mists, and the lights, and the rainbows—why, I shut my eyes to it all And wouldn't see it.

But Jo was a mountaineer. He had oome down toour academy for his education, and then we—we—well, we fell in love, you know, and that was all .about it. When it came his time to go out fn the world, he asked me if I would make it easier by going with »hlm, and so we were married. Bat as for making it easier—

Wall, we went, and staid a while at his father's, and then we took onr way, with half a doxen others, to the place which his father had given as out of a township of wild land that he owned .farther up the mountains, following the road that ran into Canada: as for a railroad there tbeo, we should sooner have thought of going by balloon And we reached there at dark, and tether Sorrel and the cow, and camped oat on hemleck boughs. And we had a bed, and a Utile Dutch oven, and a basket of tins, and a dog—Bose—worth more than ever I was!

It was all forest. Black and bristling tbe woods marched on and np to the very top of the bills, and hid- the stony summit* behind. And when w® built our camp-fire, and tbe great shadows nod the fierce lights began to go and come, skimming like enormous wings, the place to me was full of horrors,and it was only with trembling and foreboding that I lay down on tbe hemlock boughs, with the a tars wheeling on ab«ve me. As I saw tbe light bare upon the openings of tbe wood, I filled them with grisly fancies what might burrow in their depths I could say— cataanonnts and wolves and bears, Jo •aid, and we were ready for them but as tor ate, I was always on tbe look out tor f»oc»e new and unknown beaat to steal op and roll its bnge eyeballs across toe fire—-these dark and cruel mountain-sides, so silent save when now and then they halloed among themselves ©vor a falling rook, seemed tbe places to prod ewe it. And I don think I ever slept so to loste myself entirely til! ourWcabin was ironneled through and through, and Its door boiled with pin the si»of my arm. But then I slept one long, sound aleep, as deep as tbe sleep of Katychns, and not ail the yelping that went on between Bom and the mountain echoes could wake me for, yon see, I never was any thing but a bundle of nerves, up to-aay with the at rain because moat be, and down to-morrow became I could be.

Still there wag work tb do.ihoogh my •bare was light enough and when tbe first gloom wore off there was a sort «f picnicking about it ail wbiSe tbe aumaner 1 anted, and Boee And 1 need to sit* on Che big r&«k Is the middle of tbe water fall, under (be green flicker, and wawh theotooppera, and try to like it, I should bave liked It-tbe woods on one aide were so pleasant, with tbe tight shining through their leaves, and carrying their nanny d»st*noes f*r up against tbe sky, with all manner of mosses and vines and flowers growing if tbe whole wood wae made for them*and that I'd never seen before,and Mt a« if I bad discovered, snd with tbe brooks, tbe wild bright brooks,torrents •f sunshine and shadow and foam and on tbe other side, tbe dark nines spread up and ft way their frowning shadow n£d all tbe time the murmur of leaves gtnd boughs and waters swelling and •igblitg, bat never dying, and as tbe Clearing opened more and more, tbe

(ng

treat mountains coming out and ringas like tbe Wilis of a fortress. Then

the mountains themselves seemed to be the eo«tny: no friends of mine, aa tbey were of Jo'a. Tney stood up bos1 tile before me, so dark, you see.ao •esrred in battling with the weather ages before I was born,.so old, s« oldunknown and terrifflc. It wakes me shiver now to remember how felt, I thought with horror of the clefts and chasms lifted among the clouds, in which these saney little streams were born—* horror tbst used to follow them up Into the savage gtoom. I thought with horror of the fate of any one

Inst

upon tbesi: I thought with

horror of tbe great glare of

the

light when tbe winter should come.

1

But

long before the winter cauie our little log-cabin was ready, and we were in It small enough our furnishing, too two chairs made out oi barrels, and a bedstead and a set of shelves of the rongb plank. What would any of you giria think of taking up life in tbat way? But a beginning, Jo called it, as be rubbed his bands snd looked about him and tben he strode across tbe

Eegged

lace and took me in bis arms, and me to be more hopeful, and ssid it hurt him to see me so. And I—I flung away from hin and cried. Well that was the way I made it easy for Jo. By September the whole party of us were settled on our own places we oould just see one bouse from our door —there were some half dosen in all, each within bail of the other, and there wasn't another settlement for nearly twenty miles.

And of course It was dull for a eeeiable little body like me, that loved friends and frolics, and pretty dresses aud admiring looks. And when, after tbe morning bad made a rosy aud golden splendor of the mists tbat had smoked up under every crest snd across evcrv ledge, the wind rose and tore them into ragged edges, and blew them across tbe face of the sun till they sbut us in like one wide gray curtain, it seemed to me one might as well be dead. 'It's like living in the bowels of tbe earth!' I cried.

We're working our way out, Sue,' Jo answered, cheerily—oh, be was such a ch»»ery sonl!—'and we'll soon see davligbt.'

And so the axes kept ringing, felling tree after tree. I could hear tbe chopping in the woods and the echo of it all day long—what echoes there were there, to be sure! You should have heard the thunder roll away into a puff, and every roll of it mere music, while some sentinel tree suddenly blazed back column of writhing, twist ing fire against the purple cioud that was throwing out its lightnings. But I didn't enjoy any of it then, and no more did B»se. Jo used to come running borne,with his axe over his shoulder, for he knew how I felt, and he always found me on ray knees with tbe great Bible on tbe chair before me, and my head wrapped in my apron—it did seem as if we were in the very secret place of tbe thunders. And when the raiu fell—well, they may have seen such rain fron* Ararat I—then the little brooks that had been shrinking in their beds, and were sometimes only a wet trickle along tbe rocks, would suddenly spurt out in a foaming jet, and other foauiing jets come leaping down upon them, till, when the sun came out and shone on them with all their bubbles and rainbows, tbey were like a ladder of light into the sky and they were ou ail sides of us, and shut out even from onr neighbors for days together —and tbat was what I thought of— tbey were so rapid and strong. 'So muoh the better for our mill and its dam, when built.' said Jo. 'Neighbors be blessed! Every summer shower '11 give us a big backwater.' •If it doesn't sweep it all away,' said I.

And if it does, nobody can say we haven't timber enough to build another,' laughed Jo.

How can you be so light-hearted, Jo?' Why, I look on the bright side.'

There isn't any bright side to leok on, that I can see,' I answered. Well, then, make believe there is, my darling. Do you think we'd ever get along if I sat down and moped and cried beside you And then he gave me a kiss, and was off at his work again leaving Bose on guard.

By the time we were established in our homes the moose berries were lighting up the shady places in great red clusters, and wherever the trees had been felled tbe ferns and brakes spread a carpet of brown and gold tbat made yon tblnk the sunshine was there in tbe grayest day. At night the men built bonfires of the fallen trees, tbat sent huge shadows about us like a dance of gobbllns and suddenly one evening it seemed as if the whole world were nothing but a blaze offire,fortbe burning logs had cast their cinders over the dry woods, and tbe forest was in flames. •Now,' I said, 'indeed, we are ruined, for there goes all your timber!' •Ob, maybe not,' said Jo, clearing away the worry of als look, and shading bis eyes—what blue eyes tbey were, under tbe white forehead and over the tanned cheek! and how bright his curling hair was I Oh, be was beauty, m^r Jo, though maybe you'd never think )t now—he» a beauty still to me. Me? Ob, no, never. I was a little brown thing, with clean white teetb,that's all. 'Oh, maybe not,' said Jo. 'And all is. we must make tbe best of It burned land is good for wheat, and we oan bave a tremendous wheat field next year. Won't father be surprised!' •And ob, Jo! just see—the ashes! The air's full of it! It's over everything For I never lost a point, and made tbe most of every trouble.

It'll fall be said. 'A nd ashes is as good a fertilizer aa there Is,and It won't hurt any of tbe land hereabouts, I guess. I tell yon, Sue, we can't go astray—It's ail grist that comes to our mill. And, by-tbe-way, after the saw mill Is up next year, we'll turn our attention to another mill with a couple of stones and a hopper, and soon be grinding our own grist in reality.'

Bat 1 didn't believe blm I didn't want to believe blm I didn't want to aacceed hers I hoped tbe whole undertaking would be disastrous, and be'd get something to do down at saltwater. And so tie talked about bis clans and probabilitiea,while be watched tbat great spirit of evil sweeping up tbe mountains, and leaving unguessed gaps and rifts behind It, disclosing tbe Souths of bidden dens, aud baring tbe black precipices. 'Plenty of bearsteak, done to a turn!' aald Jo, aa b« still marked tbe way tbe fire trended, while, as nigbt deepened, it showed u» a scene, below us and above, Strang® and awful as tbe Judgement day itself -tbe rtver winding like a lava stream through all the dusky oountry, the low bills starting into light, tbe red and angry brows of tbe gr*at mountains opposite ua, and tbe sky flushing and darkening and springing up higher from tbe pHlatnortbeILgnted smoke. •Ob, now I see wby tbey forbade the old worship on the bill-top* and blgb piaoea!' I exclaimed. 'Just see, Jo! tbey look like altars burning toaome great abominable beatben *od!'

Ho, indeed,' aald Jo. 'Thev look like friendly beacons to me— By George, I believe t&e fire's blowing over into tbe wild State laod! It isl

I,

white

j.-tM ,? MftotA .-*«: ..'•«! a- .:

rKHH^HAUTE SATI'KI.* BVPNING MAH MAT^H 7.18*4.

Well, it that's so^tMtre'smora'nenongb timber left, and the Auto's cleared better than a gang of men could do it isi six montbar la it said

diamally.

•But Pve got some grimy work ahead, with all the smnt and charcoal, said Jo. You'l think yoar bneband's a blackamoor, 8ue, when yon bring blm out bis dinner. Ob, Pve beard father tell a dozen timea bow be went through all this. But I'll bave a piece plowed and down In winter rye before Tof many days older, and we'll have snob a wheat field and such clover next aummer as it will do your heatt good to see a shadow sweep across I Won't we, Bose?'

But you're always so sure, Jo!' None too sure. This time neit year—tbe spring after, at any rate— we'll be In a name bouse, and we'll have another cow and a yoke of steers we'll bave butter to Bend down to market, and eggs: and there'll be turkeys enough gobbling round here to feed a regiment I You don't believe It ?'aaid Jo, 'Just wait and see.'

I've got to, I suppose,' I said, snllenlv, and went in and went to bed. I don't know what I'd bave done about tbat time if I hadn't had the refuge of the bed in every fit of sulks. Jo didn't come for a lorg while be stood out there In tbe red light, his arms folded and his head upon his breaat, Bose looking at bim curiously: and.I don't know whether I beard him sayiug a prayer or whether I dreamed I did but it I 'id, all that he was praying for was that his little wife mignt be happy in the only home he had to give ber. But I turned my face to tbe wall, and never let on I knew a thing about it when be did come. Aud the next morning the equinootia! was blowing up tbe clouds about us, and It wrapped ail tbe burning woods in a fleece of white mist,and tbe great rain-gusts followed and put out the fire.

With October the maples far, far up tbe crags looked only like a handful of red leaves, but beneath us purple ash and yellow beeoh and rosy oak made tbe earth seem like a garden of flower* and presently in the mild Indian summer weather the leaves had fallen so much tbat there was a wide brightness in the air, and tbe landscape opened as if there were another dawn below us.

If it could always be just like this, Jo,' I said, 'perhaps, in time, I might be more contented with it.' Think of that! I deserved a sight worse than I ever got.

But the next morning after that speech Jo came in with Mrs. Dean's side-saddle, and put it on old Sorrel, and put me on the side-saddle, first wrapping my cloak around me and tben he took the bridle and led the way up tbe burned region, up and up, ana into the woods, ana out upon the rocks, and still up and on, with Bose always a little way above us, and all the world below us,

Where are you going, Jo?' I asked as a wild keen wind began to blow about us.

I am going to take you up int© a high mountain, Sue,' he answered, 'and show you the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them.'

4

And I guess you'll be about as successful, Jo,' I said, 'as the other personage who took people into nigh mountains.'

Don't Sue,' said Jo 'It's like jesting in holy places.' Well, jesting or not,' said I, before long, and when I had begun to shake till I could bear it no longer, 'I feel just like Isaac and Abraham. And y6u must let me get oQ lu.s iiui ae, for I'm frightened to death 'Frightened?' 'Yes, indeed I am. Pleaafe let nie down, Jo. Stop, Sorrel!—whoa, Sir! Oh, Jo, my heart's in my mouth

Swallow It, then! Don't be a goose, Sue. What are you afraid of?'

1

Why, I'm sliding off behind!'' Well, what If you do?V And I may fall over and roll down some of these dreadful places.') .,

You couldn't. I'm here.' 'Oh, you ain't omnipotent, Jo. Do let me off! And what if the horse should fall! Oh, Jo, it's getting worse and worse! Look 3 the tops of the trees are out of sight beneath us. It's all bare rock. And I'm so high up on this horse! Are we going along that precipice? The wind '11 take me off—it's an awful wind! And see! the rock's wet, Oh, he'll slip!—he'll certainly slip! can't— I never—'

Keep still, Sue—that's all you have to do,' he exclaimed. 'I've been np here and blazed the way, and it's safe, I never thought you'd be afraid of it so, though, or I wouldn't bave brought you. But it's too late now. And of course it wouldn't do for you to walk. 'Ob yes, it would indeed it would Jo!' 'But you must learn to ride up and down mountain-sides, and you'll never bave abetter chance. Do you think I should take the darling of my soul into danger?'

So we went up. But I can tell you It was enough to cure you of all email frights. And the wind—It was the blowing of tbe wind Euroolydon At last I shut my eyes, and only heard the clatter of Sorrel's shoes on tbe ledge, and heard the roar of the mighty wind and 1 gripped the pommel, and 1 held on like grim death. And when I opened my eye® again we were winding round a smooth slope of stone, where the lichens were hundreds of

Seyond.

ears old, snd the summit was still far And wbat there was over this edge It made me dlszy to think. I felt as if I should "lip down and slip over as if I must. My heart seemed to stop beating. I screamed, and kicked my foot out of tbe stirrup, and sprang from tbat saddle before JO could binderlucky It was for me tbat Sorrel stood ston*-still. And I sat there clutching at tbe slippery rock with both hands, and screaming at the top of my voice and not all that Jo oould do could get mo up again. •Oh, It'll be a thousand times worse going down!' I cried. 'I shall pitch over his bead, I shall be dasbed to pieces, and I've got to do It or stay up here and die, ana have tbe eagles pick my bones!'

Jo sat down beside me, and put an arm round me. 'Yon may walk down if you'd rather,' he said, 'And we couldn't get much farther any way. so we'll stay where we area little while before we start down. And now look here,' he said, when I was quieter, •and tell nae wbat you see and ne was holding to my eyes tbe great brass spyglass that be bad brought up strapped on bis back. And I looked an Instant, and looked away again npon tbe scene about me. and could not believe tbe magic ana tben 1 rubbed my eyes, and oaugbt bold of tbe glass and steadied it, and gaged into it once more.

4

Ob, Jo the «e*! the seal' I cried. 'It isn't possible! You pasted tbe picture in tberel' l/K»k and see if I have,' said Jo,

^And'tbere's a sail—a whole fleet of sails! They're moving—the mackerel fleet! Ob. Jo, I'm at home again! There is thellgbt-honse! I oan almost see tbe town—' |H

Not quite.'

M.

But I can at« tbe groat blue water and tb* Mile. Ob, Jo, bow good yon are! Now yon look. Ob, I did, I did so want to see a ship, a white tower of canvas, go moving down below the rim again! And yon knew it. Dear Jo, wbat do you tblnk of me ?—I suppose yon tblnk—yon tblnk I am tbe most exasperating little coward that ever Uvea?' •Well—yes, dear,' said I, And he kissed me. And, do yon know, for all I f«lt so grateful to him just now, bts ssying tbat kindled a spark, and I thought I would ride down if it broke my neck!

Now,' aald Jo, *yon*ve seen tbe sight you like the bent, but I want you to see my sight. You've seen your sea —here's mine. Stand up. and look about yon you won't need the glass.'

And I did. And perhaps wbat I bad just seen gave me a friendlier feeling, or perhaps It was because I bad put a little wholesome spirit iuto me but It waa just as though my eyes bad been holden—just aa though a veil was stripped away from them. For there were the great bills atill beyond and above, lifting their sldee out of the soft and misty violet shadows into tbe clear yellow light and there were tbe bills beneath—those tbe bare slates, I suppose, and those maybe wooded with tbe dark green pines. Wtf could only see the body of color as ttiey rolled in their great waves, and now and then tbe vapor of a shower sifted between and crested them, and now and then a bit of rainbow, and now and then a long and slantlag sunbeam falling through haze and with tbe streaming mist aud tbo breaking rainbows and tbe slanting sunbeams tbey seemed to roll snd rol! forever in all their green and purple gloom, to break at tbe feet of the great mountains they nevdr reached for the vnpor in wbiib tbey were lost ai. last.

I shall never think of them as heathen altars again,' I said, by-and-by. No,' said Jo, 'only remember that when tbe prophets wanted to talk with tbe living God,they went up into Horeb and Sinai,'

See,' said Jo, after a little while,'it is raining down there. Perhaps it will come up here, and you can wash your hands in tbe cloud.'

But it didn't. Instead, the white shag of the cloud turned np tumbled edge, and in an instant tbo seven colors bad sprung across, so broad that they spanned hill beyond hill, so long that they arohed far over the low country into infinity, and so bright that there seemed to be a living light behind them. 'Come,' I said, 'it seems to me as if we bad seen the path of the redeemed into heaven! There can't be any thing more fpr us to see and I'm getting afraid again, Jo—it's so beautiful and so awful, it's unearthly

Yes, we'll go down,' said Jo, with a long breath of satisfaction. 1 must tell Mrs. Dean,' said I, 'that her side-saddle is like the old witch's broomstick—it took me into the blue, into the land of the rainbow. Here, Sorrel! bere, Bose!'

I thought you were going to try and walk down beside me,'said Jo. 'I can ride about as Well as I can walk,'said I, with a little laugh.

You might walk as far as the wood, and after that the growth hides so much, you wouldn't be afraid to ride,' be urged.

Qive me your hand for a block, Jo,' I answered. 'I'm going to ride, and show you I'm not such an exasperating little coward after all.'

Oh, that's it, is it aaid Jo. 'Well, it'll do you no harm.' And when be had put me into the saddle, te my own wriggling satisfaction, I leaned over and he turned up his face for a good encouraging smile, and be whistled for Bose, and we started down. And except that I thought I was pitching headlong every minute, and was stonecold with terror and the wind, we got along pretty well,though what Sorrel thought about it nobody knows. But in the wood,though it was still so steep, I was braver, and began to sing aa Jo led tbe horse along,

Sorrol picking his steps

so surely—and by. the time we came out of it, and I saw a hawk wheeling his long slow flight beneath me, I felt as if I had wings too And so did Bose, I do believe, for he jumped at it, and only saved himself on the brink.

Well, that was all very well for once in away but one couldn't always be on the mountain top, and though I suppose it did me good in the end, it wasn't long before I was in the depths again. For the winter snows had begun to fall, and it sedmed to me that that was the end of all things, and that it was utterly impossible those drifts could ever melt. And if the little cabin bad been dim and gloomy in tbe summer under all the green dusk, now it was full or a blinding white light from the reflection of the icy slopes about us—a light that seemed to strike from nothing but the outposts of death. Aud I remembered the gay time* they were having at home, the sleigh-rides and the sowing-circles and the evening meetings, and I let Jo oook his ewn Thanksgiving *nd his Christmas din ner, for I just staid in bed and cried all day. I

WHS

full ofnervous humors and

spleen. If I didn't think tbat I was really far from well, I never should know how to iorgjLve myself. Jo came and sat down on the bedside that last afternoon, and looked at me with a look In his eyes like the look of a suffering dumb creature. 'Sue,' said he. 'if you really want to go home and stay, I'll send you down when the sleighs go through.'

Oh, no, no, no!' said I. 'I oast in my lot with you, and it fell here.' But it's killing your. and killing me—

Oh, 1 love yon, Jo!' I don't know wbat to make of you, Sue,' be said, getting up and going away.

I don't know what to make of myself!' I cried, 'But it's so horrid to be walled away from tbe world Ob, It's so decidedly lonesome!' And I bid my face In the pillow again, 'I'm afraid I'm going to die!' I sobbed. 'And all this coldness and this whiteness and these awful winds make death seem lonelier and Icier a»d worse than any thing I ever thtfnght Of!' And then Jo waa back again, and be had me up, wrappod in blankets, and sitting on his knee bv tbe fire, and he began making fun of* everything under tbe s«n, never left off till I waa smiling too: and then he made me dress myself and put on my cowhide boots and my cloak and hood, and come out for a race in tbe unow and Ue snowballed me with tbe feathery stuff, and puahed n-e over In a soft drift, and washed my face In it, Bose capering around us, while I struggled aud choked with laughing and Mrs. Dean came puffing up the little path across the lot, and iala she declared she thought we were two children! And Jo looked so mlscblevon* tbat was arraid be'd aay something I didn't want him to, and I coxed bis ears, and ran iMtotbe bouse to tidy np the place one atom before Mrs. Dean oould get In.

Tbe truth Is, there wasn't enough for mil in do—for w® bad ®o little do with. Aft* rward, when we bad sheep and fowl and cattle, my bands were full enough but tbat first year tbe time

ibougb, it never ween** to n»*» tbat we were pcior tben. We had youth, yon understand, and hope—whenever I was reasonable—and that, with tbe farm and the water-power, wae a great capital, only It badn't begun to pay dividends. But there—we own mill stock now! Sometimes, when Jo was off at his work—for neither wind nor weatb* er hindered blm—I'd put on my things, and call

BOM,

and go across lot* to see

one of my neighbors—Sarah Bishop I liked tbe best not she was a couple of milee and more away, and so I usually brwngbt up at Mrs. Dean's or tbe Harrises. It did&t make any odds,tbough, which it waa, for tbey were all of them more contented than I, aud tbat, i! you'll trust me, was too irritating to see—it was, indeed because it waa a rebuke, and made me feel so uncomfortable And tben I wouldn't go again for along While. Besides, I was a little bit afraid in tbe summer I bad seen rattlesnakes sunning themselves on a sledge, and now I was always on tbe look-out for a panther to spring from a bougb, and spring back with me: and wbat help would tbe dog be tben? Talk of the Pilgrim Fathers! I used to wonder how tbe Pilgrim Moth era ever lived through their early settling, with all my trltis, and tlifl Indians thrown In! And so I stayed at home and knit, 'I'd have to be a centipede to wear out all tbat pile of socks,' Jo said once. 'And I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll send tbem down to market when tbe sleighs go through, and get yon a new bonnet, Sue.'

Wbat in tbe world would I do with anew bonnet up here?' Istiid. Why, tie the pink ribbons under your chin, and show me your pretty Drown face in it,' said be. Of coarse Jo thought it was pretty, yon know.

No,' said I. 'I'll have a braes kettle to boil the maple sap in next March, and then we'll trend sugar to market too.'

That's au idea!' said Jo. 'I declare, Sue, you're going,' said he, with his bright laugb, 'to be a farmer's wife, after all.'

I thought I was,' aald I. 'If I ain't •Why, tben you're in a pretty scrape,' said he.

So I sent for tbe brass kettle when tbe sleigbs went through. But I did send for just a little bit of edging and fine linen too.

It was a great day wben the sleigbs went through—a hundred of them, I should think, sleigbs and pungs and sledges, and some of them all the way from Canada, with their butter-tirkius and their eggs and poultry, and cheese, and wool, bound lor the big sea-coast towns these for Portsmouth, and those for Newburyport, and some for Salem for all tbe produce tbat came down from Vermont and Canada at tbat time went through that dark and awful Notch, tbe first team breaking the road its allotted time, and the last one, that had been having mighty smooth sledding, coming to tbe front and breaking in its turn. And tbey all put up at Willey's—ah me! that dark and fatal halfway house! Well, they made a frolic of it and they stopped at the Deans' to get something hot, and greet our little settlement. And when they came up again they brought us papers and letters and bundles, and thay brought niy brass kettle. And thai kettle went through tbo settlement. Every body, to be sure, as it turned out, bad the using of it before I did but you'd really bave supposed that I invented it a'nd tbey borrowed it, so. they used to say, tilftbey'd borrowed the brass all off it—-for their faces, I suppose but dear me, I've always been delighted ewry time they asked for it. And besides that, the sleighs brought to me one little box.and I felt as if that whole procession went all the way from the way from tbe northern boundary just for that! And I can't tell you any thing about tbe happiness of it as I opened it and saw wbat mother and girls had made and Jo oame and sat down beside me, and made me hold tbe little frocks and caps over my thumb and finger, and ask Bose if he knew wbat that meant and oh, were two happy young fools together! Just for the time being, you know I can't say that I was happy for any length of time—fool enough, I dare say, but all tbe happiness I had was by fits and starts, and all I let Jo bave either and then when I repented of it, my repentance, Jo used to say, was Worse than my original sin. Poor Jo! I do hope I've made up for jt since. He was so kind, so cool, and patient. 'Oh, Jo,' I said once, after a tantrum, 'you only want wings!' I 'i&i*'

That's what you want,'he said, *so as to be up and awa.v. But don't you, Sue they would be catching in every thing!'

Well, we worried through I with my fet against the wall and my back to the Window, my teeth set, and nay knittlug-needles clicking like mad, and Jo leeling sorry for me. And by-and-by Mrs. Dean ran up. and staid with me a while, and in Febrcary my first baby oame. Aud tbat baby changed the face of creation.

You never saw any thing so pleased as Jo's face when he would look at me sitting by the fire with that baby on my arm—me, rosy and happy again, kissing and kissing the velvety mite, as if I couldn't love it enough, and crooning my old hymns between whiles: "As on some lonely building top*

The sparrow tells ber moau, Far from the tenta of joy and hope 1 ait and grieve alone though why In goodness I chose such dismal tunes as tbat I oan't say perhaps It was for fear tbat I should be found too happy. Dear! dear! It does not seem possible that tbat baby bas babies ofhts own now! Aud Jo would

Eis

ut bis arms round both of ns, and lav face beside the baby's face, and afck me if I would be back agptln at mother's, free and Independent, going sleigh riding with the other boys and girls, and without the baby ana blm and I would tell him to go along for a noisy fellow, and— Ob, well, mime times are happy enough to pay for years of trouble!

But I didn'tlike tbe mountains «ny better—not till I oame te respect tbem as my baby's birth-place. By-and-by, indeed, they got to seeming like great, silent spouserfc of tbo boys. And waa just as dreary outside whenever I glanced through tbe window—if it was gray weather, it was dreary, and if it was blue sky and sunshine, It seemed to be tnocking my imprisonment. But I never was lonesome any more for If had been shut between the four mouldy walls of a tomb, that baby wo*Id bave made sunshine for me there. But I could not look out at nigbt. and see tbe stars sparkling above

from'heads

reat

I bung heavy on Somehow,' my ingratitude and ill temper in

that sparkled back at them

everv jag of Ice and flint oould hear tbe thunder of an avalanche from tbe old drags go plowing down tbe valley without a shudder could even find some music In tbo creaking of tbe logs across tbe crisp snow of frosty morning. And I began to see wbat a trifling matter the world outside your

window

Is, provided no gray ashes fall on your hearth-Ore and I began to look at all

EPI|PR^19m

Mrop»r

Kint

INI

light, and began to fear tbat I

should be punished in some way. perhaps in my two treasnies and over? day wben Jo set out I was afraid I ahould see him brought home with a broken bade, and stopped bin to bother a moment about nothing, and kiss blm: and if tbe baby sneeasd, I was aure tbe croup bad come at last. And tben I was afraid that my wioked moods might have hurt tbe baby,might at any rate, be the cause of bl» disliking the hills his father loved so much, and I set myself to work to learn the lesion of their beauty, that I might

it out to tbo boy, and I began to desperately goed. 'I don't know/ said Jo, in hia mischief, one night, 'which I like the beet there was some excitement in tbe other way, now wan n't there? But when I know I shall «I ways find my wife just tbe same on coming in, why, it's like reading the end of the story first!* But I only hugged him, and said I was going to be so good tbat Providence could never find it in its heart to punish me for the past and so he'd better overlook it too.

April-fool's Day caino at length, a regular weather-breeder, like the day before, ao balmy and bine, and the snow dripping every where, and the brooks all thawed. All the stems came out so purple, and the tree bods were so red, It seemed as if epring was close upon us, and I held the baby up to see, winking and blinking and bobbing his head about, and

U*.Y

bcart began to

dance for joy. But jo looked op and down with a troubled face. Tbl»'11 never do!' said be to himself. 'There's going to be a rousing storm, that's plain. And there isn't a hundred weight of bay left in. the settlement—should have gone last week if Harrisbadn't broken His leg I waited for tbe thaw to freeze ovor a little, too. I thought to be sure Bishop had some. We must harness up itnd go across the bills to Marshall's and get some, or tbe storm will be upon us. and the oreatures will all have starved beforo it lifts and the road is passable again. It may be a regular three-decker.'

And you can bring Mrs. Dean home with you,' I said, forsbebad been slaying at Marshall's a spell 'sbe'l want to see the baby by tbls time.'

So Mr. Dean and John Bi&bop put their horses into our sled, and Jo and tbey crossed tbe ford—there waa only one single stringer of tbe bridge laid tben—and started up the main road for Marshall's, and Jo said they'd be back by night-fall, and left Bose to take care of tbe baby and mo. But Bo.se knew it was a special occasion, and broke loose and went frolicking after them.

Well, I worked about all the forepoon, aud put the baby to sleep—be was just six weeks old tbat day—and laid together a nice little dish raady for baking for Jo's supper (it was rather slim faie we had in those days,) and I made a lot of new tinder, and set a tiny jug of apple-toddy by tbe fire to mellow. And just as tbe clock waa on the stroke of twelve tbe baby began to nesile, and I looked out of tbe window for tbe first time since that sled went down tbe bill, and saw there wasn't any sunshine any longer there Was only agleam of pale blue In the gap of the crags in the north, and low gray clouds were tumbling all over the res't of the sky a white mist was clinging beavily round tbo bare woods, and a lighter ono was closing in among the bills. The wind, too, was rising, and the broad boughs were swaying in it in a strange, undecided way, as. if there were more winds than one: and a§

I put

my nose outside I found that the soft, treacherous dampness had gone, and it was nipping cold again. 'Well,' I said to myself, 'I didn't believe blm, but bere'B the storm coming, sure enough. I guess they're over there by this time though, and tbey can get baek before it amounts to much. And it's getting into the long days. I'll trust to Jo for taking care.' So I ate my dinner, and played with tbe baby, and knit some, and mended some, and began a letter te mother, going to the window every few moments, and sometimes to the door, and looking upand down the valley the little way that I could see, to keep account of tbe weather, for it had begun to snow just after noon, large steady flakes on a strong slant, as if it meant business. But I wouldn't let myself get auxious—that would never do I just piled on the logs tbat Jo bad brought in, and kept a roaring fire going, and I pattered round for the aake of neing busy, aud went into tbe leanto and gave Sorrel the last of tbe fodder, and when I came back the baby cried with a colic lor an hour, and by tbe time that I laid him on the bed tbe sudden-coming dark had shut down like a dish-cover, the wind was bowling through tbe hills, and it was storming furiously. I sat down at last in a dull tremble, listening, listening for the sound of bells or voices but nothing waa to be beard but tbe keening of the wind, Ike a willing cry, round the cornS er of the but, like tbe roaring of a furnace up tbe mountain. It was pitchdark no moon nor star. The sleet beat against the wiudow in blast after blast once it pushed It in. and almost smothered me as It stopped my breath, and made me feel like a dead leaf to be blown.away, while I put tbe sash back. Oooaslonalfy a sort of supernatural glimmer showed me the tempest whirling op white Into tbe blackness of tbe nigbt but after I set a lamp lathe window tbe flakes swept by tbe lane of light like hurrying sparks ot fire, and 1 could see that it was drifting beavily in drifts tbat must be already deep. It was eight o'clock—and still no Jo.

I will go to bed,' 1 said, 'Of course be isn't coming to-nigbt they would never let the team leave Marshall's wben they saw such a storm blowing up.' But I didn't go to bed, for I knew better. I knew Jo would not leave tbe baby and mc alone in this weather—so much for having such a simpleton for a wife! I knew they had left Marshall's I was fearful tbat to save time tbey had forsaken tbe main road for the sbortcr cut across country, and bad either [Concluded on Seventh Page.]

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