Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-04-02
ynmbsr 81.

4Nahs ~ olN NV w. ~ D
he know her at the first glance, though the
cold, white features were all so unlike that
beautiful being whom he had last seen In
the flush Of her riponed g%irlhood.
Father" she cried. stretching out her
arms, :" | have come tack to die. O, will you
not take me to your heart once more before
/ 20 home To mother in heaven y
lie looked ca his daughter apd her child.
aud the pride Of many years ave way, and
the stern heart &C last yielded.
lie opened his arms, and with q low, glad
ory, she sank into them.
Eyes, Nelly, darling, You shall come back
here-right here to my heart, as in the old
time" he said, while hs tears and kisses
dropped p blessed baptismal of affection on
her forehead. "You have boen gone q long
time, daughtcg-so long that your cheek has
lost It's bloom and your eyes tie old laughter
but we will hring it back again, my pet, my
treasure. d. zoo know how this old heart
has ached fUr goa? Look up, Nelly, and
Say you forgive me !" But, alas alas she
did not look vp, for she had gone, as she said,
TO her mother 30 heaven.
White winters and rosy summers-a score
Of them-had cast anchor upon the shores
Of the past, when, one afternoon, II young
and noble looking nan stepped into q fash
ionable clothing saloon on Broadway, and in
auired why some work had not been sent
home the evening previous, as had been pro-
missed.
Il an very sorry, sir" said the obsequi-
Gus foreman, but the young woman who
~ro=sScd 20 finisktho wristbands has been
quite Ill. Tom, Turning to one of the clerks,
" when did Mary Strong soy she would send
that work in 2"
"Mary Strong" repeated the young man
with sudden start, his fine, dark eyes kind
ling with eagerness. Who is shes Where
does she reside?"
The address was furnished, and without
another word he loft the store.
GLOW | wish / WAS sleeping there, close
by mamma, among the cool clover blossoms,
and the wind stirring the long grass all o.
bout me! o, / should sleep there so sweet
ly, and | am ~ very weary !" and the work
dropped from the young girls fingers,
aud the tears fell fast over her pale, fair
cheeks, MS -he sat there in that old chamber.
where the May sunshine only came in faint
and broken. IL would have made your hear
ache to see her, so young, so fair, so wretch
ed.
How hot my head is! and it aches 50,
cannot sec the stitches. o, if those sharI
pains would not turnover all my limbs.
There was u kuocl7at the door, and the younI
AeamstreSs started up, and e~xerting her re
manning strength, walked toward it.
GOOD afternoon, man," The youn
stranger lifted hrs hat to the seamstress j
that miserable chamber with courtlv grac
md his eyes were fastened with eagernoss o
the face whose loycliness shone out in strang
contrast with the poverty about it. "Ma
/ inquire if I address Miss Mary Strong p
"Tlat is my name, sir" The girls BIZ
eyes were flied with wonder and alarm.
And did your parents ever reside
Il"
Yes, sir, andmy mother is buriedt there
she said it with quivcring lips.
"Ah! it must be thesame, then. Surel
Gods own hands must have directed n
steps this afternoon. Will you allow me
walk ini l have something to tell you viii
intimately concerns US both"
And sitting there in that miserable char
Der, he told her II story Of the past how h
mother had saved his own and himself fro
starvation and how, in that last journe
when she went home TO die, she had ma
him premise that atsOmeluture day he wou
repay ten'iOld the great debt he owed
family.
II remember ALL" lie said " child a
Was, 1 remember, too, the blue eyes of t
baby girl that opened upon me like an
gels, 90 j kept watch ty her cradle ii
morning.
And / remember mammals often spec
ing Of the beautiful lady and her boy, a
wondering what became Of them" answer
the yodng girl. But the surprise proved
great u one her head dropped, and wit
low moan she would have fallen to the flo
had not William Gregory caught her in
arms.
"Goolness alive! Mister Williams, W
on earth have you got there 2"
No wonder the old wUman's eyes seen
staring from their sockets as she met
y0un, master Of the mansion in his h
with that lair, unconscious girl, which
and a domestic were bearing toward the
lor.
No matter now, nurse. In q little W
you shall know all, only send Tom for a
tor, quick" :.
Two years moro had joined the past.
one Of The parlors Of the elegant home,
William Gregory and Mary Strong. 1t
evening, aud the light from the two larg
trails tell in soft pillows ON her golden
- e.. H. .ns