The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1850-10-31

it is now too late; [ have made him an
exile from home, and entailed upon myself
life of loneliness and misery !''-and
again she buried her face in her hands,
and wept long and bitterly.
And well she might weep, for she had
merited her sufferings, but was now an
altered woman; she had passed through
the biiterest ordeal it is woman's lot to
bear--she was deserted wife; and thai.
very desertion had proved bless ing to
her.
Failing, upon the departure of her hus-
band, to find any clue TO his residence,
farther than that he had left in steamship
for Europe; and believing, like every one
else, that he had left her forever, she i'm
mediately set herself to work, and by the
necessity of toll, soon learned the value of
that money she had before so foolishly
squandered. Nor was this all, the effect
upon her mind and temper, for grief had
touched chord OF love which pros perity
had never done. Her child, too, her beau
tiful, but lost-how, in her loneliness, did
her heart yearn for that sweet one, on
whom she could have lavished a deeper
fountain of love than had ever weled in
her heart when IL lay on her bosom and
was Graded in her arms! But the dear
one was lost 10 her-lost, perhaps forever
and she was alone in the grief and
agony of her heart.
Why did the ringing Of the door-bell at
that late hour of the night, so slartle the
lone one? 1t was often rung at that hour
and she needed ii not, but now she started
from her dreamy posture and pressed her
hands upon her heart which throbbed al
most to bursting. Again it was rung more
violently than before, and again the color
forsook the cheek of the wife, and the
breath seemed stayed on her parted lips,
as with every nerve awake she stood in
mute posture of suspense. There was
something in the peculiar manner III which
the chord was pulled that was associated
with memory of days gone by, as the last
sound died on the air, she drew her breath
with a quick sigh, and murmured.
"How like his ring -
Again, there was quick step on the
stair-a manly tread-and soft feet fol-
lowed mingling their echoes with the
heavier ones. That step-O. how could
a wife mistake the step of one who had
been the lord of her heart although FIVE
y }
and his 1t nears-nearer, and nearer
and now il is on the threshold, and as the
door swirgs back on its hinges, with that
same impulsive turn it always took from
his hand, the wife sank back in her chair
without the power of motion or utterance.
But the kind familiar voice of the lost one,
breathing accents of love, and mingled
with the clear, sweet voice of her child,
aroused her. and with a heart full of peni-
tence and gratitude, she threw herself into
his arms and wept tears of contrition and
thankfulness.
Need | add the sequal TO my story, or,
will any one doubt if the restored husband
and wife were happy2 Will any one
question if she longer hesitated TO conform
TO what necessity and duty demanded p
or repined # every wish was not gratifi ed
No! lesson of forbearance and self-denial
were craven on her heart, too deep TO be
erased by time, and with cheerful and
earnest will she performed the various
duties of life, and became from that hour
a blessing 10 her husband and child.