The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1848-12-26
"And we shall be home by then"

"Let US CO. exclaimed Lily, aif il is only
10 tease Paul. l do not believe il will snow
"a, least not before We reach home; we'll
walk fast as we did this morning."
Gertrude was also DESTROYS OF returning,
for she well knew her mother would be fan
cying all SORTS OF improbable things, and
have no rest, if they did not come, although
they tarried at her own request. According
ly, the sisters took a hasty leave OF their
kind relative, and commenced their Journey
home ard. The cold was intense, and a
sharp easIerIy wind came full in their faces.
sometimes in such viOlen, gusts as almost 10
beat them back again, while the wiIhered
branches creaked and groaned IS they bent
beneath the blast.
This is anything but pleasant" said Lily.
as she paused moment 10 recover breath
and wrap The folds OF her cloak closer a.
round her. But at any rate there is no
snow, and we shall yet laugh al Paul for Il
false prophet"
AS she spoke, a large while snow flake
drilled by her. Down and down came the
flakes, until al length she declared that she
felt too tired 10 go any further. 1t was in
vain that Gertrude endeayored to cheer her.
and fatal leihargy was stealing over her
senses.
"Oh, Lilyp' exclaimed her sister, ado try
and get up Il does not snow quite so hard
now, and perhaps we may be able to find the
path We cannot be far from home at any
rate we will be warmer walking about
'What were you saving about home, sister ::
for your voice sounds a great way off, and
feel so sleepy. do not think that 1 shall cv-
or see home again"
g.ITueh Or1, Fr,- orI
self Lily, speak to me Lily Lily!"
There was no answer.
aft she sleeps now" murmured Gertrude,
'she will wake no more. . God be merci-
full Save hcr-save us both Ny poor
mother My dear Paul! !" And the poor girl
lifted up her clasPed hands and wept. She
took of her warm cloak and spread it over
Lily-there was nothing else she could do.
God alone could help them. "IIis will be done,"
said Gertrude. And as she knet and prayed,
a strange calm came over her, and her heart
was filed with trust. ale knoweth BEST"
thought she. ale will comfort them. And
yet if it were His will to spare us little long
er-we are so young to die; but thy will, D
God, not mine, be done ~
"The girls will not be home Iow," said wild
ow Hoffman to her son, as she glanced at the
clock, and then at the snow-covered easement,
as well as she could in the darkness. Il am
glad that thought of their staying at s..
You can go TO bed, Eric, dear"
He obeyed her, and was asleep in a moment.
But his mother could not rest so she opened
her large clasped bible, and real, pausing at
intervals to listen to the whisperings of the
snow, as it drifted against the window panes.
Paul Vanderpant, assured of the safety of
his beloved, went TO bed. thinking what mer-
rey walk they should have on the following
day, back from s., and how he would
tease Lily for having ventured to doubt his
word. About ten minutes afterwards he was
suddenly aroused by some one knocking at the
door, and distinctly heard the sweet voice of
Gertrude bidding him get up as quickly as
possible, and toll the chapel bell.
Paul was soon dressed, and went forth Won
dering what should make Gertrude summon
on such a night Thank God, she is safe p
funeral at s., and she came herself to tell
me, that might know that she had returned
in safety Dear, thoughtful Gertrude 1t was
wild night for a funeral, any how" added
Paul, as he entered the way-side chapel. and
began TO toll the bell.
1t was ABOVE year since the bell mad been
heard before. Many started out of their
sleep at the sound Of its melancholy voice,
and murmured hasty prayer; others slept
on, and dreamed Off. The widow, as she sat
alone in her little chamber, shuddered with
strange fear. Gertrude sprang up from the
cold ground, where she had been nesting
close beside her sister, and where she would
probably, have soon slept, with cry of JOY.
God had heard her prayers, and sent the voice
of the ways:de bell to guide her home ward
through the snow and She knew by the sound
that it could not DC very far of. The young
girl felt endowed with supernatural strength !;
and, lifting the slight form of her sister in her
arms-for she would rather have died with
her than have left her behind-she tottercd
forward in the direction from which the sound
seemed to come. Now she diverged from the
right path, and the voice of the bell grew faint
err and fainter; and then, again, it tolled more
loudly and distinctly, and, as she caught
glimpse of the light in her mothers cottage, it
ceased altogether, as though it knew its mis-
sion was ended.
Having rung the accustomed time, Paul
Vanderpant quilted the chapel, and proceed
ed homeward. The snow had ceased to fall,
ana he saw, 10 MS SURPRISE, ulTeCuN DtlOEe
him, female figure, slightly clad, and bear
ing, as it seemed, some burden. Slowly it
toiled on, staggering beneath the weight it
bore, and, at length, sank within few PAGES
of widow Hofmans cottage. For moment,
Paul thought OF the wild legend which Lily
had told him concerning the spirit of the way
side chapel; but it was only for moment
in the next he had sprang forward, and was
kneeling beside the forms of Gertrude and her
sister.
We will not attempt TO describe the scene
that followed, or endeavor to explain, or to
add single remark of our own 10 the above
simple and truthful narrative but content
ourselves with adopting and believing Ger
trude's sweet creed, that nothing is impossible
10 God.
The wedding of Paul Vanderpant and Ger
trude Hoffman took place in the early spring,
and Lily was sufficiently recovered 10 be her
sisters brides maid.
EXTREMELY PoLrTE.-A young widow
of very polite address, whose husband had
lately died, was visited soon after by the