Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1859-01-15

before God and man such as ! am; that ]
have concealed nothing, evaded nothing,
either responsibility or penalty. Yes she
continued, rising aud directing a fixed gaze
on her sleeping child, J will be a mother, |
will live and work. so that no want and no
neglect may be the lot of my child but
] feel myself weaker of late, and--lf
should die 7
Then is yonr child mihe = said Hertha,
scizing Amalias hand; and SO long as !
live and can work, it shall want for moth
ing. OF that be certain, Amalia; and il
the world casts stones Ot you, / will defend
you, and say that you were good mother;
that yon were worthy Of esteem, because
you had the courage TO bear the scorn and
contempt of society by keeping your child
with You and living for it, like true moth
er; and ! have not words to tell you how
despise those who deprecate and condemn
you. honor you for it, Amala; and if j
were free and could
i know, / know and don't say any
more. cannot tell you how it consoles,
how it strengthens me, that you approve OF
my conduct in this respect. 1t will give
me new courage to live and suffer and TO
resist temptations; for oh, this solitude and
want Of occupation are terrible Hertha,
do not forsake me =
Never = replied Hertha, and pressed
Amala'S hand as she added, Il will come
again very soon; but must go now. /
hear aunt coughing, and my father expects
me. But, Amaia, expect me soon again ?
Hertha found Aunt NeIla, who was wait
ing in the passage, in a very excited state.
You will compromise both yourself and
me- said she, angrly, what will people
think, what will people believe, from such
visits at this time Of night ? 1t will bring
me into a thousand difficulties. Besides, it
bas kept US SO long, and the Directors will
be so very cross And Heaven knows
what new accusations my enemies may ad-
vance against me when the cause come to
be heard Oh ! oh =
Thus talked aud sighed the poor lady the
whole way lIcrtha answered not a word,
and by her expression no one would have
suspected that she heard a single syllable;
and the truth is, that the talk about the
eugmatical lawsuit brought about by one
or more mysterious enemies-al gentlemen
and the inceSsant danger in which Aunt
NelIa stood, by reason of its protracted
hearing, had so often sounded in Herthas
ears, that she was accustomed to listen To
it, as one listens to the dissouance of bar
rel-organ for ever playing the same piece,
, with certain submissive suffering, in eX.
pectatlon OF its some time ceasing.
1t was an evening toward the end o.
March, and the heavens Shone bright witt
stars above the gray ice-clad earth Her
tha's glance was raised with a gloomy eX
preston to this brilliant heaven, and theI
il fell upon he frozen ground on which sh,
was walking with u weary, heavy step. She
seemed TO be drawing comparison betweei
the two, and to he thinking with the poe,
Henrik Wergeland
Stars if you could only see
All carlh's silent misery
Oh then in the heavens nightly,
Ye could hot shine forth 50 brightly
Her steps and Aunt Nellu's tongue stop
ped at the same moment They had nov
reached
THE OLD HOUSE.
Reader, has it not sometimes happened
to thee, as thOn vert wandering in OuI
towns, to cast thine eyes upon house from
which they were iuvoIuntarily repelled will
an unpleasant impression, unless they be
came rveted upon it with that kind of in
| tereSt which is produced bv dark mysteries
The house may be well built, with its tw,
or three stories, aud yet have a certain dark
and ruinous appearance. 1t is fiecked and
llo.ched with gray, and a sickly yellow
green, wherever tie plaster has fallen off
or is damp-stricken. No Towering plants
are to be seen in the windows, from all Of
which seem to look forth something dark
aud broodng. The tiles of the roof are
also dark, some broken and decayed, other:
moss grown. The steps look as if nobody
gave themselves the trouble to sweep then
or keep them clean. Whichever way you
turn your eyes, they are met by some i'll
conditioned feature. There is a something
dead, a something divested of beauty anC
of life, about the place.
You may he certain that many silent sigh:
are breathed forth daily in such Il house
many bitter unseen tears are shed, and tor
tured hearts beat, beat as though they
would burst the, imprisoned walls, in vain
The old house stands there, like dark
mystery closing its walls around the burn
ing strife and agony Of the soul from one
ten years end to another, hiding them frou
the eye of the world. The profound dra
ma Of human life goes on within it ) thu
child is born, brought up, developed, loves
yeurns, longs, suffers. and withers away
The old house speaks not word about it
1t silently conceals the mysteries Of family
life from the cradle to the coffin, with al
its unspeakable bitterness, its cOrrodinj
rust WHICH eats into the heart as the oil
song says, and the world around has no ide
OF 1t. 1t merely has an idea that worm
wood grows in that house,
AT times, however. these internal corrod
ing disorganizations, these secret agonies
the measure Of which has been heapcd u
to overAowipg, burst forth, and then some
thing terrible occurs. Husband is murder
ed hy wife, or wife by husband, or child b,
the parent, or an incendary fire takes plac
which destroys the old house, aud spread
desolation far around and these reveal
now and then, the dark mysteries of tn
old house to the world. Tattling tongue
are thrust forth from every window tn
walls falE. for tha Grst aud Dapho,e for Al