Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1857-10-14
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gahies' 9tpartmtnt.
The Orphans Departure.
BY MARGARET FLOYD.

~ UuIEn III u DGshAAiAhA h1N -
village in the south Of England. In addition 2
70 his sincere piety and heightened moral =
character, Mr.. Frazier possessed a we'll Gull I
tiyated mind. His wife was also n superior .
woman. and as Edith was their only child,
her early training was the object of their most !
careful attention. In a lovely and seques-
tered home, surrounded not only by the COM
forts and Injuries, bat the elegancies OF lie,
and in close association with persons OF high
refinement and elevated goodness, the young
girl grew slowly up to womanhood. lhere
was no undue excitement OF vanity or the
passions to force her, like some dollhouse plant,
into an early maturity and no unreasonable
call upon her for selfreliance or e%xertion,
which entirely biots out Of some lives the
sweet carelessness of %girlhood. At sixteen,
she was still almost q child, when the death
other mother, her fret great sorrow, made her
sensible for the first time that this world is
net the place for that uninterrupted happi-
ness which had, until then, been her portion.
Edith was almost heart-broken at the loss
of her mother. They had been constant
companions, and she missed her every mo-
ment more and more. Mr.. Frazier tried to
supply4o his daughter the place both OF
ffQtheP-knd mthcF, but no was n studlous, re-
ISeFvedssnan, md himself suffering deeply
from bis bereavement. so that they did little
else but remind each other constantly OF
their great sorrow.
About a wear after Mrs. Frazier's death,
finding that his daughter did not rally from
the depression SO foreign to her nature, Mr..
Frazier proposed a tour though the northern
mart Of England and Scotland. 1t was just
at the beginning of the pleasant summer
weather, and, arranging matters in his parish
so that his absence for two or three months
would not be felt, he decided to leave imme-
diately.
On the Sunday before his departure, a
stranger was seen in the little parish church.
lie was aaman who would have been noticed
in any place, and who, in a quiet country vii
lage, was an object o fgeneral attention. Tall,
handsome, and with q strikingly high-bred
and gentlemanlike appearance, he would
have been singled out anywhere as one OF
natures nobility. Edith was struck and
grati6ed by the strangers evident interest
in the sermon her father preached that day.
II was one with which he had taken especial
pains, and the daughter, proud as we'll as
fond Of her father, was glad to see that ne
hGdatleast one appreciative listener.
Afew dayp after, Mr.. Frazier and Edith
set out on their journey. London was their
first stopping-place, and several very busy
days were spent there, while Edith, with the
vivid,interest Of one to whom almost every
thing in that vast and crowded city was
strange and lew, visited the many places Of
interest and note within it. While they
were standing in st. Paul's, the stranger
whohad attracted their attention in HilIcomb
their village, a few days before, passed
them with q look Of evident recognition. The,
met again while going over Westministe
Abbey and it so happened that they wer
ut the same time paying to the genius c
Shakespeare the homage Of avisit to his gray
at Stratford, and that they passed each othe
again while strolling over the grounds aroun
Newstead Abbey.
By this time they had advanced 50 far o
the way to mountaineering, that, whe
they again encountered each other near ii
lakesrin Westmoreland, the home Of so man
~~Tthe poets Of England, a bow was the 9
most involuntary mark of recognition. Eli
glish reserve and shyness might have pr
vented anymore intimate intercourse, but
an accident that happened to Edith in Sec
land.
Mr.. Frazier, finding that the cool and bra
ing air Of that country had as favorable an
feet on his daughters health as the wild al
romantic scenery had on her mind, and bel
pleased with q quiet country inn, which
had found, proposed that they should ma
1t their home for two or three weeks. Th
could not have found a pleasanter restiI
place, for Lock Lomond was spread out
its calm serenity ut their feet, and Ben
mond lowered in savage grandeur abb
their heads.
The first person whom they recognized
taking their seat at the table of the inn '
the stranger whom they had met so freque
ly. Edith could not repress a smile as
shyly returned the strangers salutation
tho chance that seemed to take such q VIII
steal pleasure in thus bringing them tog'
E: A few days after, while ). gal .ky sid Il
the mountain. she strayed q little way Fl
MIN when he stopped to admire the SO
from some particularly favorable point
view and when she attempted to return,
found herself, to her dismay, so perple
by the intricate windings Of the paths
shs was at n loss which to take, She ca
to her father and heard his voice in re
but it grew fainter and fainter, until, at
at could no longer be discerned Becom
aware that every step she took only led
farther from home, she stopped to see if
could not in some way distinguish the ri
path. But she was so utterly bewild
that she found it to be impossible.
Thought that the only thing left for her
TO remain stationary in that way she VIC
ct least, avoid the danger of falling into
mountain streams around, or down any O
precipices.
Night closed around Edith as she sat q
nnder the shelter Of a gray rock that il
outtfrom the side ofthe mountain. She
around her only the light shawl she
thrown on for an afternoons's walk, al
a~was but g slight protection from the chi
night-air. In her hurried and toilsome Sc
after her father, she had bruised her feet
wsaried herself so that she could no 10
stand. She called at intervals, in the
hope that some wanderer might hear her
come to her assistance but her voice
away from exhaustion, and she was st
lone.
ii was not so much feeling of fear
weighed upon her, for the perfect trust il
allseeing Father, which her mother
taught her from her childhood, was a
of strength to her in this her hour of \
and the physical discomfort she could
but the thought Of her fathers anxiety
distress on her account almost oyercamt
The stars were going out one by one,
Edith heard in the distance a faint {
She could not answer it, but, almost as
by som unseen spirit, it came nearer
nearer. At last she gathered voice to
and she had evidently been heard.
could distinguish the sound of footsteps
at last dimly discern a mans figure
stopped before her.
rs this Miss Frazier = said tho man
voice that revealed its owner to be a y
OF refinement and tenderness.
Yea said Edith, rising with dificul
am Mr.. Hildreth, the gentleman
you have met frequently lately. | he,
VOur disnnnearonce from ,or. c..I.