Weekly hawk-eye and telegraph. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1855-1857, 1857-05-27

/ was grieTad To see the change which Illness
i had made in Mary Merton; bnt, feeble and
/ suffering as she found her couain, Marys
kindness and gsntleness were still nnchang-
| ed
i sYou are very welcome, dear Adeieve,
said she, though | am afraid you viii find
me wearysome companion after the gay
! friends Won have left behind you.
4 have no friends, replied Achieve do
| not believe in friendship
/ '.You must not be skeptieal any longer,
/ Achieve" said Mary, for here are two who
/ daily prove to me that there are true friends
| to be found by those who have sought them.
| You must know these, my friends, Rose and
| Edward
/ ''Adeleve looked at the two persons refer
red to, and then, turning to Mary, said, are
these your only friends 2"
Il think not, dear Achieve, replied Mary;
/ 4 hope, l know, have many more. But for
| a long time Edward and Rose have been my
| constant attendants. Unwearied by my rest
| lessness when in pain watchiul ofevery want
/ and those who are sick have Inany-deny
| Ing themselves every enjoyment but that
which they derive from their affectionate
i care of me. Are not those friends
"indeed they are r said Achieve But
You were always fortunate; l had never any
one to care for me- Once, indeed, | had
many TO tatter me and profess an admiration
which they never could have felt, or shod
not he abandoned by all, as | now am
Not by all, dear Achieve said Mary, and
she held out her thin white hand.
well, not by you, replied Achieve, or
should not have sought you. But even you
find Ill and in more need of consolation than
in a condition to bestow it upon me.
I1l. \ -.
I am sorely afflicted but am resigned to
bear my affection l remember how much
happiness have enjoyed and how little |
which | have sown has produced most
abundant harvest in the affection which now
seeks to soothe my suffering, ...
"Did not say you were fortunate?' ex
claimed Adeeye. Where are those whom
| have Toasted and entertained? The de-
| penden,s whom have fed and rewarded?
All, all have deserted me-
''Are they alone to blame? But Mary
could not tell her unhappy cousin that she
had consulted only her own selfish enjoy
ment in all which she did, and that those of
whom she complained had understood her
motive.
| II know what you would say" replied Ad
elcve, coloring deeply, that | have lived for
| myself alone. | remember well the sermon
| you once preached to me-that we are all
| dependent upen others But have no right
to be dependent. have wealth. had bsau
| ty, but now what am |? But for that dread
| full accident | should have been admired and
followed still :. 49,
"Ah, dear cousin said Mary, ourchasten-
| ings are for good if we could only under
stand them So Your beauty was a fatal gift
to you, and you have lost it that you may
gain Il better nature.
| II have lost it to be made miserable, cx-
claimed Adcevc; and | would that | were
dead
81 that wish was sincere it would be i'm
! pious, said Mary. lido not desire to die, al
though my life is Of hourly suffering, for
have still duties which can perform. But
you have health to enjoy the world of beauty
which is around you, wealth to assist the
needy-not by the careless giving of aims,
| but by encouraging the deserving by lend
ng succour to the sick and aged, whose Ia
Dor is DONE and who now ask for little rest
before they die; to seek out the ignorant
and teach them good and truth, and thus win
friends whose testimony will outliye the
grave . d.. 49,
Rose, who was sitting by the side of the
cheek upon it. The invalid looked up at Ad
eleve and smiled, as though to call her at
tcntion to this simple evidence of the aliec
ton ofthe child. Achieve observed it with
ont any emotion. but the time came when
| she remembered 1t.
"As Mrs. Merton became daily more in
firm, her cousin found her visit very irksome
to herself, and soon made an excuse to leave
| Chcrryyaic. She never spoke to Mary again
for a few weeks after her departure Mrs, Mer-
| ton dled.-1here were many mourners in
| Cherry vale, for Marys goodness had won
for her the love of all
"Oh, yes, love her" said Laura, when
the Shell ceased to speak. Poor Edward
ana Rose, what became of them ?
"They remembered the example Of the one
they loved and lived to initiate her virtues
answered the Shell ''But we must follow
| Achieve
II don't care what became OF her. said
Laura, "a vain selfish creature
Vet her history, hope, may be of use to
you, replied the Shell. Listen a little lon
ger
"Adeicve had taken more than ordinary
pains to dress herself, and was lost in con-
temptation of her beloved idol, when the let
ter announcing Mary death was put in her
hands by her servant. She paused q mo
ment before breaking the black seal, for she
anticipated the news contained in the letter
When she learned how peacefully Mary had
died-how she had remembered Adclcve In
almost her latest prayer-and how the grief
of those to whom she had been so dear was
tempered by the belief that she was now be-
vond the chance Of sorrow-Adeleve was
deeply touched, and for the first time for
many years she wept tears OF earnest, unset
| fish grief.
f"And 10. her idol was weeping also ] AS
she looked steadlastly upon it--thinking how
she should die-how she should be mourned
and rcmembered-a mist overspread the
shrine, and she saw (or fanried that she saw
the face of her idol changed to that Of Mary.
Pale and transparent as the purest alahaster
the face appeared, and wore an expression
of such heavenly peacefulness that Adeieve
thought she looked upon sleeping angel.
Gradually it passed away, and the scared
and painted features Of the idol were again
before her 0, how hideous it now appeared!
How CHASTITY the living image compared with
the shadow of the dead
,.Adelcve rose up and hastily removed her
dress and ornaments, casting them needless
" on the floor, as though they hurt her body.
The Pearl rested upon ertorehead, but even
that was taken OFF and thrown careessly
away, and as it fell, the Ere received it.
The cruel fire (and-tlle Shell trembled in
the hand of Laura the enemy ofail things
that dwell beneath the sea, closed round tn,
poor Avicula and calcined her TO dust
The voice in the Shell was silenccd and
Laura thought she heard deep sigh, like
the sound the sea makes upon the beach
when the waves are quiet, and mourning for
the wrong they have done to brave ships and
their drowned crews.
And AdeleveY' asked Laura after short
pause.
''s'he sought and found better nature ;
and lived to believe the sermon Mary once
preached 10 her" answered the Shell
And the shrine and the idol? What be-
came Of them?" said Laura
The shrine was her LooKING.GLAss, and
her Idol was HERsELF-only herself" replied
the Shell. like you she was very beautiful;
ike you--
o. do not say that am like Achieve, dear