Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-11-14
Written for the Spirit of the Age.
Mary Darling.

IN OIS IOh OIOdoC " AIN4 AOfbCOo OIOA2 lnO
%erulean blue,-and twilight was shrinking
loiselessly away behind the dim curtain Of
Iorpheus' favorite hours.
Ida was seated beside her maiden aunt, in T
he arbor, dressed with the incest simplicity, I
nd looking almost too fair for nature. Her |
read moved for a moment and her blue orbs {
net those of her aunt Mary's and imme- {
liately filled with tears-tears of sympathy,
for scalding heart drops, were resting upon
the sunken cheeks of that truly good wo-
man.
Aunt, murmured the fair girl, tell me the
mystery of those drops of grief which have
50 often oticed-glistening upon yourcheeks.
Ida, and she pressed a warm kiss upon
the young maiden's brow. Ida-thought IS
busy with the past-with those halcyon days,
which alas, were all too bright to last. And
as I gaze upon this beautiful twilight, mem
DRY calls up the loved and the lost-and
Those joyous days-now past and gone
Each fond familiar face ;
From memory's dusty tablet,
No grief can e'er eface.
The lawn DER which we gamboled,
Is still as green as then
But oh, the smiling faces,
Smile not on us again.
Ida-my young friend of whose history |
promised to tell you-was once as fair, as
bright and JOYOUS as yourself. Her eyes
MOI6d ia DIuC,"ilC1 1lCl1 do NeANA
form as light as Fairy creations-or poets
brightest dreams of ideal loneliness. Her
soft curls Of fiaxen shaded a brow of parian
whiteness-and the rose blushed on her
cheek with modest hue. She was the petted
of the hearth-stone, and the favored of the
social circle-such was my friend e'er sorrow
laid its heavy hand upon her heart, and
stayed as it were the very blood which
flowed in her veins robbing her cheek of its
) rose, and the joyous heart of its pleasure.
At seventeen she was the afianced bride of
!, Preston Lee,-a youth of giant intellect,
and unrivalled personal attractions. Many
viewed with an envious eye the conquest she
had made in securing the favor of one so
generally beloved as Preston Lee. But alas,
: the strongest are made weak quite often
and the fairest flower in the garden of ma
: ture is often nipped by the early frost-and
:, such was the experience Of my friend. The
: idol she worshipped was mortal. The airy
! castles built up in the future, proved but as
= the mirage, and vanished as the vapOr in the
: sunshine of reality.
With her own hands she p~rofered the
foaming goblet. With her sweetest smiles
~ social glass. This once-only this once, and
- Preston, luredby the song of the syren, bath
~ ed his lips in the sparkling wine.
- He fell! and vain were the efforts of the
e., e. afflicted maiden, to recover him to his lost
- position. Her tears-her entreaties-all-
y all availed her naught. The appetite was
= formed, and lower and lower was it's victim
y sunk in degradation and vice. Despairine
80 Of ever retaining her lover, my friend with
~ drew herself from the pleasures of the gay
u and cursing herself as the cause of his fall
~, she weeps only bitter heart tears of sorrow
- and remorse.
ne The maiden aunt ceased, and Ida lookin,
- once more in her countenance, beheld tn
49, tears streaming thick and fast.
Aunt, at last whispered the beautiful Ida
~ where now is your friend, and the iIlfate
~ Preston Lee?
M Wiping the tears from her eyes, Mar
Darling replied-Ida, that friend whose his
w tory you have listened to with so much cor
~ Germ, is your own aunt. But as for Preston
ing God only knows his fate. Perhaps even nov
he wanders an outcast, and a blot upon til
a. ~ face of creation.
oor A%silence Of a few moments occurred, whic
=. was at last broken by Ida's aunt, requestin
her to accompany her to the Temperate
meeting on the following evening. And ari
uen ing, they left their retreat and returne
ne After having been seated some time in Il
the Hall of the Washingtonians, the speaker
length arrived and mounted the rostrum, am
Inns a confusion of voices,-hut one alone in tn
It's vast assembly remained spell-bound, and u
raj able to utter a word-it was Mary Darlin
IN The speaker at length arose,-with bur
Nc ing eloquence he portrayed the evils of
I an temperance,-but suddenly he paused, al
gay looking around upon his hearers, he bro
Iate' the silence by exclaiming-
T. Alas! alas /! !! such is the experience
are Preston Lee. And then with lingering !
way thos he dwelt upon the love he bore the Fl
love creature, who had lured him from the pa
mare of rectitude by the profer of a single glas
Weet and then there was confusion-Mary Darli
sons had tainted. The speaker descended FRI
; the the stand, and approached where the mas
here were congregated. In a moment he rec
the nized in the pale and sorrow stricken maid
l lie of forty, the object of his former love, a
come the flame was kindled afresh in his generc
'sons heart.
nded Mary was borne to her home, and in a /
days she expired on the breast of Pres
sides Lee,-having every token of his forgivent
owed she went nom to her Father in Heaven, ca
d Its and quiet as an infant sleeps on its motht
rs bosom. 4