Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-01-20
The ReYerie Of an Old Maid.

S am getting advanced IN llfe; som
{. weeks since, l passed my fofty1sixt
birthday. 1t was different from th
J birthdays Of my youth-there wer
{ no gifts, no kind congratulate ns. T.
None near me knew indeed I'd Hat a
eight O'clock on the morning Of th,
Itwenty-frst of June, another year Q
: the allotted three score and ten wa,
added to my age.
l live almost alone in a NAL
house, in small village. 1t is
pretty little cottage enough, with i'll
fresh paint and green blinds, ahc
there is a small door-yard in front
where my roses and hollyhocks ma y
bloom and haunt unmolested.
have tiny garden patch, with a few
cucu mber and squash vines, a few
curra mt bushes, two or three rows Of
corn, and various other homely veg
etables, hourishing greenly in its mar
row precincts. | am hot poor I
have four thousand dollars at interest,
and for my limited wants the income
is more than ainple-I am never ha-
rassed d by doubt or anxiety about the
means ofliying. I am very comfort
ably situated, certainly; / ought to
be very thankful for my lot. Pray
God that am sol
am lonely however. The little
girl who lives with me, and aids
about the work Of the house, is a
pleasant child, and | like her compa-
ny, young as she is. There is some
Sttfhing 50 fresh in her ideas, SO frank
aud artless in her speech, that it does
mex good to be with her. | like to
see her, too, as she goes about her
various duties, humming the while
a snatch of some gay tune, or singing
in an pndertone the words of a child
ish hymn. But little Maggie has pa
rents living near, and she has, in ad-
dition, host Of brothers and sisters,
who are all so nearly the same size
that you marvel when told there is
fully fourteen months difference"
in the ages Of most Of them: When
her work is done, she finds It more |
pleasant to run in and talk awhile |
with her mother, or romp with the
children, than to stay with the old
maid. I cannot blame her. |
My neighbors come to see me
quite often, and ! occasionally have |,
to tea. Sometimes child
in to ask for a flower, or a
man stops at the door to inquire if |
can make half dozen shirts for him.
Once in long time ! put on my best
gown and newest collar, and so out
to spend the afternoon. Thus much
see of life-such share have l in
the busy action Of the world around
me,
] was not always SO solitary, So
A large group and merry
one gathered around the hearth Of
my old home Loud shouts and ring7
ing laughter echoed through its halls
gay voices sounded in the orchard ,
and the garden childish forms play
ed upon the hillside, or wandered by :
The brook. And our rnother was ,
there, too, with her pleasant smile, :
and our father, strongin the prime of
manhood. I,
Years passed, and wrought many
changes in our household. In the $
I'D parlor, three brides had stood in i
maiden beauty-two corpses had lain I
n cold and white repose. Each had !
eft vacant place, never to be filled G
again, \
And yet other years passed on; S
ny younger brother grew up, and a
vent forth into the world; our mother IS
lied and was buried; only my father |
md we're left. We were happy to-fc {
gether; spite Of all the changes, all !
he sorrow We had seen, we we're yet /
for each had something to i
ling to, something to love. I asked i
10 more than to devote myself to t
litn-to make his comfort, his enjoy b
nent, the study ofmy life. But he t
lied too-and when | followed him a
o the grave, and returned to the g
till, deserted home, | felt that / was h
n truth alone. &
Ny sisters offered me home With n
hem, and would gladly have ac-
epted it, but l feared to do So ] y
lad kept my own house for years, g
nd knew not whether I could be hap I
" in that of another person. Be- I
ides, ] had my peeuliarities. my pld- d