Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1859-04-22

sure ina. did not hate him. l don't know
how it was, but at hast began to learn tha
he was very dear to me. He would oltel
0 come into the library to converse with m,
father. The latter was Christian, and al
, elder in MIR. Aibol's church. He was
D warm friend, and Indifferent enemy, low
ing husband and an indulgent father.
was the only child, and upon me he lasish
ed all his affection. Every whim was graf
$ flied, every folly passively yielded to. III,
regretted my thoughifulness and my mac
tivity; he was good man; but he was MOI
one of those stern, positive, unwaverin4
men, who throw themselves into the breacl
and save us. Ethan Athol was to do thai
for me.
As have said, he often would come to
the study to talk with my father. Some
times | would he present; not a participant
in the conversation, hut an attentive listen.
er. The latest novel would drop lstlessly
into my lap. would clasp my hands to-
gether, and silently gaze into that animated
| face; il seemed to me to deepen in its spir-
itual radiance. His eloquence was the elo-
quence cf simplicity; there was no egoiism
about ANYTHING he said he never seemed
TO be thinking about himself He was not
one to slumber upon the walls of Zion ne-
th-r did the voice of his watchfulne;s. nor
his warning seem to say, as il so often
seems to say in others of his profession, II
1 have come to prepare the way of the Lord.
The enemy are upon us; they are at the
outer gate. Become ye holy-even as |
am holy! ]" Sometimes he would cease
/ toll OH aI, anI
look at me. As his glance met mine, his
/ grey eyes would grow warmer and warmer.
I and beautiful in their love for me- | would
turn my face away, and gaze out of the
window-and those soft, mesmerical eyes
would be still looking at me from among the
shrubtery.
| At last it turned out as it was to be. /
/ loved him perhaps not warmly, passion
ately, for women Of the world, and at my
! age, do not love in that way. | loved him
with sort of calm, holy, abiding love-in
the same quiet way in which he loved me.
! sought his society more; | entered more
often into the grandeur of his soul. ! tried
TO do right; bot O how often did fail
| went less into company pndeavored to
store my mind so that ] could better appre-
ciaie him whom the Lord, in his goodness,
had given me; so that | might influence
others for good, just as he was influencing
mp.
We became engaged. ! cannot remem-
ber the time when he asked me to become
his wife indeed, am not sure that he ev-
er a,ked me. But | krow there was a
time when we wholly understood each other;
when / would sit beside him, and pass my
fingers through his hair, and look up, oil
how trustingly, into that face, fairer to me
than all other faces.
In the great fashionable church / seemed
TO see no one but him. My eyes were ev-
er turned to the pulpit and my ears drink
ing in The rich tones Of that voice. speaking
of life. and hope. and love--of the life be-
yond the grave, of the hope that waiteth,
OF the love that endureth all things.
But a serpent came into the Paradise of
our love. il was my passion and my pride.
A servant. one morning, broke magniti-
cent porcelain vase. the gift of a dear de-
parted friend 1t was lying in fragments
upon the parlor floor, and young girl, a
very child, was looking with apprehension
into my face. was in dreadful passion.
The serenity that had come into my ftce
during many weeks, went out of it in a
moment NV eyes were in blaze, my
temple veins were full and my lips twitch-
+ ed nervouSly.
"My God what have you done. Hor-
4 tense?" / cried, cruelty and discordantly.
" could Kill you-you little wretch
I I caught the poor child Ivy the shoulders,
II hot
when ! let go my hold, she fell upon the
I floor.
In looking up caught the eyes of Ethan
Athol. He was standing in the doorway.
"Thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy Col in win . he said solemnly.
4" Coriune il it possible
! His face was very sad, and his eyes were
as reproachful as his tone.
/ My veins were on fire, and | was indif-
/ ferent then. to what / said or did. His
words and his presence made me still more
angry.
Anything is possible with me, Ethan
Athol," I sad ssvagely.
Anything ,oicked, do you mean?"
You have intruded, sir"
"And / am sorry for it--sorry for your
sake and for mine."
"I am not responsible to you, sir, for my
words" / retorted.
:" But you are to God, your Maker"
| His voice trembled-not with passion,
but with sorrow. lie was quite pale in
the face. and he pointed upward with his
thin, white hand.
nThen | shall crave His forgiveness, and
M, 1-ours said "Wili Won plcase to
leave the room
miss May, shall never annoy you
anv more"
"Then | shall be all the more than kful
for It,"
He was gone. There was something SO
,old, so stern. 50 different from him, in that
, last glance, that sliuddered.
: | could not restore that broken vase i
: was nothing. | could not restore thai
broken friendship; it was all the world tC
: me. Oh, how | regretted those words
) how / wept. and mourned, and prayed
al. 1..-t a