The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1857-08-28
friday


| was thought the beauty of the village,
,nd all the young men seemed to look upon
| me a. such, and to acknowledge my power.
5ut among them all Thomas Bradford, or
- W. called him then, Wild Tom. was my
| NorItc. II was my seventeenth birthday
Nhat Wild thing | was. Up 10 that time
lad never had q s,riou- thought all the
world seemed gay and happy, and the birds
themselves that sung in the barbcry bush
want merry n l. ! sel,lom did any
| work, except "A II took IA, fancy, Tor father
| vas rich aud there seemed no need
had slnamlcrcd M, time. Let my
ours run t. waste. and was Just such an
',hcr a, MoIl, here I often think &c myself
| when see her just "a proud and thought
| wa better than anybody else, because
iatbrr lived IN big house and had money ;
- u that made me any better" Miss Min
ne STIRLING was a red rs n peonny Hut
mnt Sylvia III not see she was turning her
scam. We'll, We had grand party Tom
bradford i".ls.l time during the evening to
lip ring on iay finger, and We were cnga-
scd before We laIted. That night laid
ny head on M, pillow, restless and uneasy.
! t"'k l.ok back o,erm my lAst l,lr. ] ask
ID my self what had been good for. What
lind II wife would make E,r an ind.asiri-
IA young man like Tom. ! heard he had
no means ami that he worked hard "a get a
living. ! knew father would not do much
.or me, fot was the oldest Of our flock, and
there wa. already nine. Al the past SEEM
I'd Ia cnmc up before me, and to mock me
With wastedtl time and squai,siering privileges.
The future too, seemed Ia come before, me,
ike fearful vision, and thought heard
oicr near N, bed, saying sylvia, SYLVIA,
ct up, anu IN thy bonded knees make n
row Ia hc mnrc faithful Ia duty ! rose
iom INV bed, though ] knew that il wa,
m own conscienc. that ,lseke, aud made
.alcmn vow and then ! went Ia sleep.
~ soon a. the cocks crowcd in the
nornng was up and dressed, and crept Ia
my moth.r'- room AMI told her 10 liz still,
would get tho breakfast. heard her say
ca father, what on earth has come over
he girl r. But went un and worked carc-
ully and steadily all day. At evening
mother e,mc Ia me a. stood by the lire,
aud putin: her arm around my waist, and
aging her head upon my shoulder she burst
nto tears. sylvia, DEAR" she said you
rycr did me much good or made me so
Apply ,las IN ,ourlifc. What has changed
,ou 80 ~
Il told her all my thoughts and II my
.csol,c, AMI she blessed me and told me Ia
ee-eyere. That night made us more like
companions, and friends than we had ever
cen before, and the pleasure that | felt
ant be toll Mother was yet ynung--fur
he married when she was fifteen, aud lrpk-
~ a. bright and rosy o. girl. Every day
iow made more and more friends. IN
,he spring .ather went la sea not till he
iad given hi- consent that | should marry
fom on my next birthday. The next birth
lay CANE. and all the preparations were
nadr, hnt my mother locked sad How
eaa,id leave her ! She had grown - dear
10 me. AMI Wa. "a useful 81 her. Father
eNpected Ia bc gone two years. ~ I begged
Tom Ia put oir the wedding me year. and
let ne stay with my dear mother one year
| uorc.
That year passed aud M father came !;
troubles began 10 come, ansi dark suspicious
were indplgrd in, that he had been ship
wrecked Long snsrcnse, watching AMI
l'oping almost FRUSTRATED my mother, and
AGAIN begged Tom Ia wait. Ny duty to my
mother r,-e above all otherr. lie rcmon.
,tratcd lint was firm. At lat he said pc
tnlcntly, III your mother Is more Ia You
.l,an am, You can stay with her"
80 Not more a. me- ! replied but
must MT leave her nov, she M.uli die
+" lie Went away offended, and gathered
| mp his pack aud went West ! loved him
,l,,ye all ether beings, but knew my duty.
! knew that &c he wa, true, he would wait
Anlnow there was deep sadness in the
house. Tom had gone away offended, and
| lAthcr lid MT return Mother would care
4 4 M. ~. l.,
lo"ked 1" the West. Hope deferred Wnae
"a i.th sal and silent. TN, on We worked.
Dnr means grew smaller and smaller. The
cider bays went ont To trades. and the girl.
To- service. The Younger still had t. be-
AIRED Tor No word from tie sea, no word
lsom the West and thus passed five long
years. Sickness, sorrow, Elisiort unc, death /;
all came IL add Ia our Voc. Tom forgot
nae. AZ last came a traveller back TO say,
that he Wa married ia Ohio. aud doing well
NJ, heart slapped beating far while. Hut
not long. hal lived in the hope &c hs re-
tnp. The children were mast grown, aud
,.ow would have followed him tp the end
q the earth But il was too late.
Dear. dear. c@sd mother. She Pat her
arms around me, and drew my head down
80 her breast and said, Poor, lsDor SYLVIA,
/ u IA
ought Ia ha,. made YOU go, and now he j.
gone a. Won, and your heart Is broke"
Then, when saw how IL was going %
distress her, struggled hard 70 look up,
AMI said, mo. no, IT, not your fault We
could not help the past, and IT. all Tor the
best" And 80 We eomiortsd each other
was twenty live, and vella, the youngest,
Mas not even seven, for she was horn aiter
father left. We supposed hun shipwrecked
when one cold winter night, IN old man
came to the door and asked to stay all night
lie was muliied to hi chin, and slouchcl
zap came t. his cy~s, and his beard wss
cong Mother babe him come in and take
seat by the FIRE ] asked him if be would
have some supper, and talked KINDLY 10 him,
when lac told me be Wa. sailor Ills voice
was husky and low, and seemed 20 trembIc
lie asked about our household, ~ any stran-
ser would; how many boys--how many
Girl,--whcrc they wcrc--and last, IL shc
was married, or ever hal been, The had
heard she had been married to another j
and when she answered no, and that her
ieart was clinging Ia the hope that he would
return, aud >he loved his memory aud would
bc true Ia the last, then the stranger threw
III his disguise and claspci her in hi, arms
II was our long lost father. lie had been
wrecked on the Baltic sea coast upon dos
olste island, and rescued almost Ly u mira
Gle.
Joy spread through the household; joy
through the ncighborhood, The lost was
found the dead was alive again.
" Now that mother was happy. turned
more strongly thru ever To Tom. Nv heart
grew more anil more sad. Nv health fail
cd, and when tried 10 think its al for
the best, y the words would die AWAY unspo-
ken.
Four years went BY. dur little Henry,
~ we used 10 call him, was horn al the end
IL the first year, AMI then came our dear,
darling Moll,--thc nainesakc NJ her mother
the brightest and sweetest II the flock.
! still struggled with my heart trials We
were poor aud fathers health WAS broksn,
aud seemed more needed than escr. When
Molly was a year old, Tom eame back. lie
had lost his wife, and hs.l two little children,
aud be came pleading that should resscw
my contract aid be- hi wife, aud the moth
e. u his little girls. yielded inr loved
han. But just ~ VIC were to h. married,
mother took suck and died. Father followed
| .sou ff tie samo dtSo-.. All ~, mar u- .sl