Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1859-04-09
Sfliistellareous,

I J MEistellanaoas,
sq THE WlFE'S MISTAKE.
The carriage stopped at the door, and, in
a few minutes Margaret Hale entered the
apartment, where her husband sat wholly
absorbed in porting over day books and led
gers. tt..These tiresome accounts still 2
She exclaimed. s..Will you ever find time
for anything but business. Ralph Have
you no taste for anything beyond figures p
'Margaret!' but the sadness in the tone
was UNDECIDED as she continued
''We had such charming evening at
Mrs. G. s. Capt. Hill related many inter-
esting incidents Of his residence in Egypt,
and Mr.. Warren, the famous young poet,
read Maud, and some Of the most beauti-
fll passages in Aurora Leigh Unjust
read to you some Of Romney's Great
Thoughts on Duty"
She went hastily to her chamber for the
volume When she returned, her quiet en-
trance was .unheard by her husband, whose
pen was rapidly moving over the almost in
terminable columns Of figures. With an
expression Of Impotence, almost Of scorn,
resting on her face, she hastily turned away
.'And this is the end Of all my dreams
Of marriage" said she, as she reached her
room. HE has taste for drudgery.
His pursuits and tastes are all common
place, and [ must 60 from home to find the
sympathy need, to find those who will APP
preciate, with me, the books love, and the
beautiful in art for which he has neither
eye nor care. Why did he not marry wo-
man who had neither heart nor mind to be
continually unsatis6ed p
In the room she had left, Ralph Hale sat
hour after hour till his brain was weary,
and his eye-lids dropped Then laying aside
his books, he remained long time in deep
thought.
'God bless my Margaret" he prayed,
"and give me strength to bear all things
Give me power to make her happy"
Putting away all thought Of her hus-
bands real nobleness of character, jealousy
preserving the memory Of every slight diff
ference in their tastes and pursuits, Mar
garet cherished the spirit of discomfort, till
it embittered every hour of her life, and
sent suffering she never dreamed Otto the
heart Of her husband, who would gladly
have sacrificed every earthly good for her
happiness. ~
A sudden and severe sickness came to her,
while Ralph was in a distant city. One
day during her slow recovery the aged Min
lister, was sitting by her side. sas
Margaret" he said after steadfastly
watching her troubled face, s:you are very
unhappy. | have seen tia long time. I
should not recognize in you my once cheer
full happy child. May I know what great
sorrow has come to you - .,if
Then with sobs and tears, she told him
all her unhappiness. a
After short silence the old man spoke
again, and there was sadness, almost stern :
ness in his voice. gi3 a s
'.Years ago wealthy New York mer-
chant became involved in a speculation,
whose failure took from him the accumula-
ted wealth of his years of commercial en-
terprise, There were few years of weary
vain struggling to regain what he had lost,
then deep dependency, a lingering disease,
and death.
His wife and four children were left PEN
niless. The child, boy Of sixteen. had
finished his preparatory studies, ard was
about to enter college. BY this stroke, he
found his prospects for the future clouded !;
but with noble Undergraduates. he turn
ed cheerfully into the way marked out for
him, and walked resolutely in it. s
He obtained situation with merchant
who had known his father, where his faith
fulness and untiring devotion to his duties.
won the confidence of all who knew him.
During the first years of her widowhood,
his mother taught private school for young
ladies and it was the boys highest ambi-
ton to relieve her Of this necessity and give
her the rest her feeble health required.
h I cannot tell you all his privations, his
willing sacrifice of every recreation, his con-
tinued self-denial, that he might Tighten the
burdens of those SO dear to him.
Year after year, success crowned his eff
forts. In the village where his mother had
passed the years of her childhood and the
first years Of her married life, he purchased
a pleasant residence for her, and then a
lucrative business beginning to rise in the
West he came here.
AT the time of his removal here, accident
revealed to him tho fact, that the widow
and invalid daughter Of one whose fortune
was by his fathers advice, risked in that
unfortunate speculation which had SO chang
ed his own life, were living in extreme power
ty. To him they are indebted for the pleas
ant home that now shelters them, and for
the delicate. thoughtful ministrations to their
daily comfort, M
Now, when the commercial world is
elouded and disasters crowd thick and fast
upon him, and upon others, his anxious
thoughts turn to the mother and suffering
sister in the little village home, whose COM
fort depends upon him, and to the other