The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1858-04-15

sage, DO you not. IT so, repeat it.
In low voice complied with his re-.
quest, and the noble thought of Bryant, in
bis "Thanatopsis," fell upon his ear:
$50 live, that when thy summons comes to Join
The innumerable caravan, that moves ..
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber In the silent Aails Of death,
Thou 60 not like the quarry slave at night,
ScouEged TO bis dungeon-but sustained and soothod
BY an unfalterihg trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps this drnpery Of bis couch
About him, and lies down 10 pleasant dTeams.'
"When that summons comes" he con.
tinued, as the sound Of my voice died away,
81 hope to be sufficiently sensible to be able
to hold the picture of Nellie Grey in my
hand, and look one last look at her sweet
face. have always loved her, though she
veiled dagger in roses, and then sheathed
it in my heart. The oder remains, though
the blood has been washed away by the years
whose swift tide has rolled over it, carrying
drop by drop to mihgle in the ocean of the
past. But if I am to tell you the story, it Is
time to begin. Lower the curtain, aud put
out the light. 1t is q story fit only for the
fire. light to shine upon, and the ashes be-
neuththe glowing Goals are fit type Of q
heart above, which only the Goals of mem.
Ory glow"
l complied with his wishes, and then, in
substance, he related What follows:
"Nellie Grey and were near nsighbors.
The farms Of our respective parents Joined
each other, or, rather, were separated by
fo# of &illows. In those days, peace and
amity reigned to sach an extent, that there
was no need of fences to mark the bounda.
ries of property. The laws of Meum and
Tuum were as unknown as that principle in
mechaniEs ESQ long sought for, and which
will never be found) by which perpetual
motion is to be established. Nellie was n
year or so younger than myself, and though
not absolutely beauty, yet had sufficient
loveliness to turn the heads and win the
hearts OF hearty all the farmer youths within
a circuit Of ten miles. But none of them
we're received with the favor with which she
looked upan me, and gradually it grew to be
a settled fact that her preference was i'm
movably fixed, and, one by one, suitors drop
ped away, discouraged at the grapes that
hung so temptously beyond their reach, leav-
ing me sole master of the field. Somehow
or other, did not glory in this. felt con-
scious that l loved Nellie Grey, with love
as deep as the oceans depths, and as change.
less as the immutable hills thai have stood
the wear and tear OF centuries, and on which
the regal moon looking now, sees not alter
alton since its beuhs first fell Upon them, 6h
the night after the ark rested on Ararat.-
And KeIlie was conscious of this, and re-.
turned the affection Had for her, with all
the afdor and the impulse of youth. credit
her with sincerity du ing this happy period
Of ouf lives. In the quiet afternoons we
would walk under the willows, and watch
the sun sink behind the western hills, and;
as thy arm twined around her yielding form,
and my eyes met herr as made this sweet
CO ohfession=sNe love you,' never
failed to get the answer | expected. Her
pretty brown eyes wouId look up to
mine. and her lips would say, 'And love
yo,l,' aud then-bew could we help ita-our
lips would meet, and we woHld seal the
mutual confession with kiss. Ali! those
by gone houre beneath the willows! They
mark bright era in the history of my
life, and-alas that it should be so-serve
also to reveal the greater, deeper darkness
of the days that followed after. Willie, !
have watched the sun rise and kiss the
lips Of stony Memnon on his ancient throne;
have fuated southwark down the tide of
the Guadalquivir, through the sunny valleys
of smiling Spain; have stood in the shad-
ow of st. Peter, in the city upon the Seven
Hills; have stood where the three hundred
fell at ThermopylB; l have bathed my face
with the water drawn from the wells at
Elm, and cooled my brow beneath the shod-
ows cast by it seventy palm trees; have
battled with desert sands, and with ocean
storms; have watched the sun sink behind
western prairies, and, from the shores Of the
Pacific, saw It dip it's crimson disc In the
cooling wave; / have been tempest.tossed,
and prisoner; ! have fingered in the voles
Of Already, and suffered under the frozen
Pole; but there never came day, or an hour
when the memory of those sweet seasons
OF solitary communion was effaced from my
mind. ... LIT. .a. .es.
"But weary YOU, and will hasten Or
All through the summer in which she reach.
ed her eighteenth birthday, our companion
ship was ene sweet=-tender and uncohtrol.
ed. Our parents were we'll pleased with the
drift of our aifections, and. | doubt not, often
talked over the apparently approaching nup
tials. And wet One day asked hef to fs
the time when husbands right to guard ant
cherish her would be given me. She sal.
that on the day appointed BY the Governor
OF the State as day Of general thanks
giving, there would be special cause for 4
IN our homes. So it was agreed between
US, and the months that in,ervened SCENE,
to dwindle down TO days as looked hope
fully forward.
"About two months previous to the time w
suPpssed out nuptials wodld take place, !