The North-Carolina standard., 1843-05-17

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- ANCE- SKETCH zEs6ss ssR<aH ~ -
There was another whom loved in those ear
ly DAYS, and there is much that is sad in her mem
ory, for her lot was grieVous7 one though alum
MKT with guilt. did not know her, of whom
l speak, till Henry Linton made her his bride
and brought her to dwell near my own home. i
was then but child, but passionately loved the
beautiful, and with almost reVerential admiration
did gaze upon the elegant Isabel Linton, for
she was the very npersonation of all that love-
ly in woman, the enlbodying of my fairest vis-
ions. ~. -
How well l call to mind the first time saw
her. 1 had been playing game of "hide and
seek" with a few laughing girls of my own age,
and more renturesome than the rest, had, to
conceal myself, clambered over the railing of the
upper balcony of My fathers house, and sought
to find foothold upon the wall, which divided
our garden from the elegant grounds belonging
to Mr.. Lnton's residence. But the wall was be-
low my reach so giving the required call, l
swung myself around and landed on the balcony
of the next house, meanwhile giving vent to loud
shouts of merriment. Imagine my confusion
when found myself in the presence of the beau
tifuI Mrs. Linton, who was not little amused by
my singular entree.
''Wen, little stranger said the lady, 'whom
have we here-where did you drop frOm-and
where did you intend to alight on this mundane
sphere! Shall l claim you 'godsend,' or
would some one dispute my title! Come tell us
your name, and your llustrious parentage!''
Vexed and mortified at my .fdur pas, and the
mirth of the lady and her husband, did not dare
raise my eyes from my soiled and torn apron, to
the lovely countenance before me. At length,
ready to cry with modification, faltered out my
name; and timidly asked if l "might go home"
'sWould you ascend again." said the lovely
Isabel .tor do you seek a home in this wide
world %
Then seeing my tears, she kissed me and said
she would show me the way out, but l must
come 70 see her again-must come frequently,
for she delighted in children, and then she decen-
ded into the garden with me- and opened the gate
into our own grounds.
did go again, and very frequently and / went
the more when spring came, for 1 loved the beau
tiful flowers the lady tended. l loved her sing
ing birds, and her gentle pets; and more than all
l loved the beautiful lady. She sported with me
when / was merry-and soothed mc when trou-
bled by my childish sorrows; she sung to me,
too, those songs which at Lhis day are my favor
ties, (for around them seem to Iinger such a halo
of bright mcmeries,) and she sung would
gaze upon her exceeding beauty, till its charms
cOlored every idea my heart cherished as worthy
ofadmiration. go
Not many months after our acquaintance COM
menced, the low music of an infants carolling
was heard in that dwelling. Oh! how great was
my delight when saw the slady's babe! it had
its fathers features but its mothers smile, and
when it was old enough to Prattle, it had its mo-
theirs tones. Il often wondered in my heart if
there was any thing on earth more lovely than
that smile, more full of music than those sweet
tones.
But now cloud seemed to hang over that
happy home, and its sunshine was fading away
the lady's eyes were dimmed with weeping, and
her beauty was fast whitening under the blight
ing influence of some great sorrow which she
stroVe to conceal; her birds and her flowers, e.
ven the caresSes of her lovely child failed to win
her from her grief. She did conceal it when
with her husband; then she summoned smiles to
her pale lips, and the brightness ofove still lin
gered in her eye; but it was only sorrowful to
me to see those smiles, forI knew her heart was
breaking the meanwhile, and that the finger ofl
the Destroyer had been laid upon that pallid
brow. was not long ignorant of the cause of
such misery; rumor spoke loudly of Harry Lin !
tin, of his midnight reves, and his devotion to
the cup whose contents cast blight OH all that
is fair and good in life. Soon the truth of this
report was confirmed by his altered countenance
and Inien. Oh! who would not have wept over
the wreck OF 50 much beauty,s over the ruin ofI
that noble mind, overthe misery of that lovely Ia
dy Then, too, there was ruin wrought over
those broad lands, and soon the stranger claimed
them as his due, and the lady was told that ele-
CANT mansion was henceforth no home for her
that she must seek abiding place elsewhere,
if sosbe she might find one.
There Were times when the spirit of other days
seemed revived in Harry Linton; when he was
again the fond husband, the tender parent and
in the world, the man of honor. But these were
rare intervals, and even then, the consciousness
of his unworthiness haunted him, and conscience
never ceased its torments as it unrolIed before
him record of broken promises, and deeds off
sin, and pointed his finger sternIy to him, as the
destroyer of a.household's peace Then he look |
ed on his wife, and he saw her fading from earth,
he cursed himself as her murderer, and again
sought the Lethean cup TO drown remorse; and
after wild debauch he would return to his home
to pollute it with his daring oaths and mad revel-
ry. He had gone abroad seeking rest, but find
ing it not when theintelh hgence reached him that
the harPies of the law were busted in his dwell