The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1857-12-30
seIett Mlissiff,uIang,
A n N I Il CIR Az.

SHEy was a winsome girl: never was one
more So Her home was IN the opening
OF the gorge of the mountain. where the
ravine spreads into a valley. not very
wide, watered by a stream that dashed
wildly over the rocks little farther up.
The broad, low cottage of the Widow
Gray, (as L will call her. by your leave,
although [ need not sag that / use ic-
7titious name,0 was concealed from view
in the daytime by a dense mass of trees
aud shrubbcry, except on one side, where
the lawn sloped down to the bank of the
creek. Here were usually moored two-or
three little light skiffs, which might &c
EASILY forced up Into the mountain gorge,
and Which were often seen bearing Ahttie
aud ber brother down the current. return
ing from some expedition on the hills.
i Had you passed along the road hich
crossed the mouth of the ravine below the
cottage, you would not have suspected that
!, house was in the thicket above you ,unless
4 had been in the evening, and you saw
. he CLEAN of the light, and paused, as ]
pften paused, to let your horse drunk at
he margin of the broad creek I; AID then.
perhaps, you might have heard "a song
doatiRg out of the dark wood !; and if you
rede an till .nidnigbt, it would linger in
fehr ears, aud yon would fancy you heard
he sweet straies Of Spirit land hs
That mar must have had hard heart
yho knew, and did not love Apuie Gray.
She was the representation of loyeiiness
never could describe. a face or form
do not remcmber friends by their features,
and I have not the remotest idea of the
color Of their eyes or hair, in niue eases
out of ten But | do remember her With
distinct memory. She was tall; that is,
above the medium heieht, aud slender,
hut gracefully and beautifully shaped =
Every morton was natural and unaffected,
and her footstep was as light as her heart:
aud that not heaviness Sweet Annie
Gray The music of her laughter rings
from cut he lonesome years like the me
lodious carol of b I'd in the arches of
ruined temple Her eye was dark ard
changeful, ard bcamirg with u spoken
poetry You might rrad all maunrr of
beautiful faucits aud holy thoughts there
I linger too loug Oh this description Of
her, Her brother was fnc fellow, q car
or two older than he, aud one of the mer
riest boys in all the country. He loved
his sister, too. Love has rejecting force
which marks the lovely. 51t %
am completely lost in a Hbirlwind of
memories, now that return to those days
and scenes There we're thousand incl
dents of my early life which are brought
vividly before me the moment | recall the
old cottage in the glen and its beloved in
mates. How startling does the trite re-
mark, that we live in changing world,
recur to our thoughts every day.
300 Pho varv that w -U0rshIn aa
changeless, sometimes fall j: and the eyes
that we worship with more of devotion
than we do the stars, grow dim, and the
heartsIhat we fancy are immutable, often
change mournfully There is nothing i'm
mutable but Con. It is the attribute of
Deity which include all others, and to
which mortals do homage because they
cannot com prebend it. 20 fsst
A score of years has removed the cot
tage from the earth, aud its inhabitants
have separated here-bave met again up
yonderl One by one, their lips murmur-
ing hymns and prayers, and their white
hands folded together, the friends of my
youthful days have passed away, and but
few remain of all that numerous company.
Annie Gray died thus One glorious
summer when the moon was in its full, she
and Ned had been strolling up the noun
tain side, and coming down together, had
nearly reached their boat as twilight gath
cred aronnd them 10th to return from
the forest, she bade Ned push the little
skif almost under the fall and standing
on a rock in the very middle of the water,
she shook her tiny fist at the cataract, and
| held mock conversation with it. ua
Returning from the days shooting on
the mountains, saw her on the pedestal
before was seen, and throwing myself
down upon the ground, watched her with
admiriBg eyes. Undine herself was not
more beautiful She talked to the water
as tosan-old familiar friend and in truth,
if there be sprites, they must have loved
| her = Her voice was clearer than that of
the stream, and when she laughed, as she
| at length did, at some odd reply she fam
eied the fall to make, the old arches of the
forest and theravine gave back musical
echo, so that started to my feet and lis
tened to it as to the voices of fairies.gssa
But cry of half terror and half laugh
ter startled me, and springiDg down the
bank, saw her a single instant az she
disappeared in the water. Her footing
had proved insecure, and she slipped from
the rock into the embrace of the stream
she loved f57 y5t - a. ~ :
It was but ithe work of an instant for
her to spring out, and swim by a few
strokes to the bank; and she was not q
particle frightened by the occurrence
On the contrary. the woods rang with hen
uncomfortable laughter as soon as she was
on the shore