Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1846-09-26
ALLY FISHER.
BY N FORESTER.

" bhA "bbt = NsAb "ITh y EllNg IA was III
the same. oh, how Ally's feet and hea
S. and hands 0ched And some time
her heart ached too-poor child
Ally was not an interesting little girl
she had no time to be interesting. He
voice, true, was very sweet, but plain
tive ! Besides you seldom heard it 70
little Ally Fishers thoughts were so con
stantly occupied that it was seldom the,
fouad time to conn up to her lips. No, Al
ly was not interesting. She had nevet
given out the silvery, care-frec -hear ri. laugh
which we love so to hear from children
she could not laugh; for though sent Tn
, earth a disguised ministering angel, vice
had arisen between her and all life's
brightness, and cloudcd in her sun. And
how can anything be interesting on which
the shadow Of vice rests 7 Instead Of
mirth, Ally had given her young spirit to
sorrow; instead ofthe bright flowers spring.
ing up in the pathway Of blissful childhood.
the swelling, bursting buds of hope that
makes eur Spring days so gay. Ally
looked out upon a desert with but one oa5-
sis. Oh, how dear was that bright spot,
with it's flowers all fadeless its wat,r
sparkling, never.dlling and living; its
harps, its crowns, its saluted ones, its
w~hite-wing throng, its King, the King Of
Heaven-that kind Saviour who loved her,
who watched over her in her helplessness,
who counted all her tears, lightened all
the burdens, and was waiting to take her
in his arms and shelter her forever in his
bosom. Little Ally Fisher had indeed
one pure precious source Of happiness and
that was why the grave did not open be-
meath her childish feet, and she go down
into 1t for rest, worn out by her burden of
sorrow, want and misery. Yet Ally was
not interesting. When other children
were out playing among the quivering,
joyful Summer shadows, she sat away
behind her desk in the school.room, sew,
sew, sewing, till her eyes ached a way
back into her head, and her little arm
felt as though it must drop from her thin
shoulder Odd ways these for n child ?
How d~isagreeable mature / 1t is a very
unpleasant thing to see children make old
women of themselves /! All ! then wo to
the sin-wo to the sinner who cheats a
young heart Of tits Spring |
Neither was Ally beautiful; her face
was so thin and want.plnched, and her
great eyes looked so wobegone | How
COULD Ally be beautiful with such n load Of
care upon her, crushing beneath its iron
weight the rich jewels which God had
Iavished upon her spirit ? 1t is the inner
beauty that shines upon the face, or all the
flowers Of her young heart had been bias.
ted. Her curls were glossy enough, but
you could not help believing, when You
looked upon them that misery nestled in
their deep shadows her eyes were Of the
~softest, meekest brown, fringed with rich
sable, but so full ofmisery Her complex.
ion was transparency fair, with atinge of
instead of the warm generous heart.
tide which belongeth to childhood and
youth. All her features were pinched
and a%ttenuated, her hands were small, ard
thin, and blue; and her little figure, in its
scanty homely clothing, looked very much
like u weed which has stood too long in
the autumn time. So frail | so delicate |
so desolate |
And did nobody love poor Ally Fisher.
the busy beetle humdrum worker-the
child, who was neither interesting
nor beautiful ? Was there no body to love
her ? No one but her mother-a Door, sad
looking woman, who wore a faded green
bonnet, and a patched chintz frock, and
who never stopped to smile or shake hands
with anybody when she walked out of the
church. This desolate, sad-heart.
ed woman, with her bony fingers and shar.
Dened face-this dame Fisher, whom the
boys called scare crow and the girls used
to initiate in t~ableaux--this strange"woman,
in her visible wretchedness
scarcely to belong to this bright beautiful
world, bore a measureless, exhaustless.
of love behind the faded garments
the ugly person: and she lavished all
its holy wealth on poor little Ally. Ally :
lad a father too, but he did not love poor
title Ally. He loved nothing but the vile
grog-shop at the corner of the street and
he brown earthen jug which he yet had q
humanity or shame enough to hide in the {
oft. All, now you see why Ally Fisher t
vas unhappy. Now you see the vice in !
whose shadow the stricken child matured
% rapidly. Now you are ready to exeIaim !
With me, "Poor, poor Ally Fisher! God g
lelp her" {
Ay, God help her! r
Ally tried very hard to help herself, but b
Ter mother was always very feeble and n
here were several little ones Younger than
lerself What could poor Ally do7 She u
vent to school-that she would do-be-
:ause she never could accomplish any. a
hing at home in that small crowded room, b
With all those thin faced miserable little c
Features about her, but she took her sew. A
ne with her, and every moment that she o
ould steal from her books was devoted to
bread. q
Dame Fisher had looked earnestly for. I
yard to the time when Ally would be old n
nough and had learned enough to vary
ne monotonous character other employ. Ii
lent, and preside in the capacity of teach.
r of the little school just over the Hill &C
low could she think of it, and Ally the s.
hid of a drunkard To be sure this was q
he only vice of which Billy Fisher had ev. y
r been guilty. He had never defrauded II
is neighbor, he had never in better days,
,hen some who now despised him were in m
is power, been oppressive to the poor b
g harmed no n or wished harm to any;; h
e had only degraded his W nature al. !"
lost to a beastial level, and poured out a D.
essel of Shame upon his own family. r. "
to be sure; but then Ally she J.
ad always been a genteel, patient, toiling, W
child, and why must she suffer
IF the fathers sin ? What? The daupb- G
r ofthe drunken vagabond, Billy Fisher, !,
teacher for their children ! What a tn
r,;rx sbo u,AL.I III