The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-08-04

But TO have her garment brush $50 |
sGainst the girl whose iugers thin
Move the weary broideryit,
Bending backward from her toll,
And i'm midnights chill and murk,
Stitched her life into the work,
Shaping from her bitter thoaght
Heart's-eass and forget.me-not.
Safirising her despair
With the emblem woven there"
~. r. LOWELL.
The clock had struck midnight, yet still
the seamstress toiled on, though her fingers
were long since weary, and her heart al
most unto death. Her candle 6ickered low
in its socket, and at last aared up as about
to 90 out; she rose and liz another, and
toiled on. The sleet drove against the
window. pane, rafting like shot upon the
frosty glass, and the steps OF the sleepy
watchman without was the sole sound thai
echoed in the street; the whole city lay
dumb; vet still she toiled on. She had o
niece Of work which it was necessary to
finish by the next day, and 50, though hun
CRY, and sick and sPiritless, she was forced
TO toll on.
The tread of the wa;chman grew fainter;
the tempest dsepened; and a: last the hour
of one struck. The scanty fire which had
warmed that miserable apartment, had ex-
PRED two hours before; and cold chills be
gan 10 steal over the thinly clad inhabitant.
She cast wishful glance at the dead EN-
bers on the hearth, turned over her work to
see how much remained, and signing heavi-
w., resumed her needle. And thus hour
|. after hour that lonely and lriendless orphan
loiled on.
Left fatherless and motherless, she tried
10 keep up a brave hAart, and loUg ds
her health lasted had succe eded. But her
incessant labors gradually undermined her
strength. Her constitution, overtasked,
gave way. She became thin and pale,
and sometimes was troubled with a hectic
cough. The severe winter, finally, had
brought on temporary illness, during
4 which her last penny had been exhausted;
and il was not without great exertions, for
A work was scarce, that she had, on her re.
!. covery, obtained something to do. That
4 which she had in hand was to be finished
q in an incredible short tine; but anything
n was better than starvation, and she had
!, thankfully undertaken the task.
A The night wore on. The storm ragged
> fercer and more icy; and the poor girl
. shivered now continually. Still the piece
4 of work was far from finished. AT lasl
! teers began to fall on her lap, at first slow
ly and heavily like the first drops Of a
4 thunder shower, then faster and faster. Fl
!, nally she sobbed convulsively. She coulc
no longer sew; her emotion was too great
so she laid down her work, and gave fret
2 vent to weeping.
oh! Father in Heayenl' she cried, lill
ing her clasped hands above, and Iookins
upward with streaming eyes, rs there nj
relief from thisi Must still suffer anC
y struggle, in body and soul? Better wer,
d dead. But no that is sinful wish
e Teach Inc to say, Thy will be done
e Renewed sols choked her ulterance, anC
}. buIying her face in her hands, she weo
IS with violence that shook the flail chsi
IS in which she was sitting. Al last the ten
IT pest of her grief gradually died away; he
i sobs grew less and less frequent and final
+ ly were heard only at intervals, like those
II OF child which had cried itself to sleep
:, Exhausted nature had given way. Sht
n slumbered.
!, And as she slept she dreamed. Oh
y bless God for dreams. They come to the
Il bed Of care, and poverty. and anguish
/ soothing the WORKOUT struggler, and Suing
e ing the soul anew for the strife Of the NOR
7 row. The rich and prosperous know no
what the luxury Of dreaming is. But, in
dreams, the famished beggar sits at the full
board; the bankrupt forgets his shame, and
surrounds his wife and children once more
with wealth; and the mourner behold,
again the smile of the loved one, and clasps
The vile or daughter to his throbbing
heart.
} She dreamed. At first, however, her
dream was not pleasant one. The &C.
tual wove itself too much in lhe ideal; and
her thoughts were still of cold, and hunger,
, and WEAKNESS. She fancied herself wan.
dering over wide common, which was
covered with snow so deep that, at every
step, she drew her breath with more aad
more difficulty. Yet she struggled on. Al
last she could stem the driving sleet and
wade through the gathering drifts no lorge
t. and completely exhausted she sank down
against bank.
As she thus dreamed, her head, which
had rested between Der hands on the back
oil her chair. fell over against the wall, and
in this easier position she slept more peace
fully. A smile gradually stole over her
mild features. She started slightly occa.
slonally. and murmured low words, like
child calling its mother in its slumbers.-
The storm, meantime, had ceased without.
and the wind, lately so violent, now moan.
ed low and Plain,ively; while the musical
chaunt of the Waterman, crying "three
O'Clock and starlight morning" sounded
sweet and cheerful after the roar of the
spent tempest. ...... ....
She wa, dreaming as she smiled. The
waste OF snow had disappeared, and the
icy bank on which she leaned; and in
their place field Of fragrant spring flow
ers opened before her sight, and she sat on
a soft NOISY seat. The gurgling waters,
huryIng over pebbles, the morning song Of
birds we're in her ears. The dew gIi,tered
among the grass. trembled on the leaf of
the rose, or battered to the earth with low.
musical sound as the breeze stirred the trees
| arOund her A ,.la.eaa. L...ll