Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1859-03-24

brought me straight into your presence without
a murmur or blush And God love her for it
And so he will 1t wasa right noble act, tho
| hadn't ought to have asked it,"
Jessie hid her face on her fathers arm, and
be stopped
Every one was silent The simple earnest
ness of the man, and his erect yet modest bear
ing, had touched all present
Mr.. Mallett" said an old gentleman COM
ing forward, II admire and sympathize with
your conduct May God bless your daughter" !"
The OLD clergyman, high dignitary of the
church, laid his hand on Jessie's arm, and led
her to a seat
Let me shake hands with you, Mr.. MaIIet.
| honor both your head and your heart"
1t was his loriShip that spoke. Yes Mrs
Hale might stare and refuse to credit the evi.
dences of her senses but there was her noble
| guest actually shaking hands with man with
out gloves When g right reverend dean and
a peers son had thus openly acknowledged the
stone-mason, no one was afraid of losing caste
| by addressing him.
! Jessie and her father would probably have
become lions, had they not stolen off, through
| Dick Hale'S agency, to a quiet parlor, where
they were left alone to themselves
| Of course, the archery feto at Hale Fields
was long remembered in the neighborhood, and
gained considerable eclat from what certain
/ ladies pleased to term the romantic incident"
/ that terminated the day
One summer evening few years later. a
family group was assembled about the shade
/ of sycamore, in front of a pretty farmhouse
! in Devonshire
! The garden overlooked the sea, and. from
I hn ha Al u.
like sails of the fishing boats coming up with
the tide, and the great hull of a Plymouth
steamer IN the distance, with its smoke plume
trailing along the horizon were visible.
! 1t was Richard Mallet and his family who
were assembled in the garden at the Cliff
Farm.
The father with q roll Of paper on his knee,
and pencil and compasses in hand, was plan
ming some improvements for the farm-yard.-
His wife, busy with her knitting sat at little
! distance. One of the boys lay on the grass at
his mothers feet, reading t. hea the other
was watching the Plymouth steamer through
a telescope. Jessie alone with her father, on
the bench under the tree, sat with her hands
claSped idly before her, and her face fixed on
the sea. She looked very pretty in that thought
full attitude.
Father" she said suddenly, II was Just
thinking how strangely good has come out of
evil in our two lives Uncle Zebs wicked in
tentiOns seemed to have carried with them
their own Illustration. He has knit US closer
| together than ever. | think ! should never
have known how much loved you, had not
been separated from my home all those years
and | certainly could never have knowE how
much you loved me-"
IeSie took hold of her fathers hand as she
spoke, and looked at him with unutterabIe af-
fection
les, Jessie, good has come ont of evil in
our lives, as You say And | think people
would often have less power to injure us than
they have, were we but true to ourselves As
long as You and me remained so, Uncle Zebs
curse could never have done us any harm We
want more faith in one another, Jessie, and in
the goodness of our own hearts, and then we'd
see less GOODNESS and diSnnion than there is in
the world. But mustn't preach it's only your
mother who says l'm as good as the parson, or
who think me as clever bless her heart" He
looked towards his wife with fond smile
" HolIoa, what are they up to there See
there's Phil shouting like mad !"
There was evidently great excitement amongst
the mother and her boys
" There he goes, father There's the gen
tleman who took us ont fishing the other day.
and jumped overheard when Ned fell into the
water !"
\ stranger was standing near the edge of
the cliff beyond the gardcn-wall
"Oh, do run and ask him to come in" said
the mother. 81 have seen him there nearly
every night this week, and wondered who he
n, I
90 too, Jessie you'll know how to thank him
Here's your hat
Jessie took her fathers arm and they set off
for the cliff. AS they drew near the stranger,
Jessie suddenly grasped tight hold of her faith
er's arm. ooh, stop, father-stop! Look,
he's coming this way
Jessie had recognized the figure before her
it was that of Mr.. Dick Hale
He had been prowling around the neighbor-
hood for some days past, in secret sort Of
way, quite unlike his usual open behavior
Wild-duckS had been the CstenSible object of
his wanderings, as the gun upon his shoulder
gave evidence of but the sea-fowl appeared
only to frequent one part of the coast, and
that was the immediate neighbordood of the
Cliff Farm
1t required no great amount of persuasion
upon Mrs. Mallet's part to induce Mr.. Dick
Hale to enter the house, and to stay and take
supper afterwards. And as, upon returning to
his inn at midnight, he decided to remain an
other week in the neghborhood, it is to be
presumed he spent pleasant evening.
A few years further on, and we again take
peep at a family group at the Cliff Farm
But this time they are assembled by a win
ters fire, with the wind rumbling in the chin
ney, and the waves beating on the beach below
a gray haired old man is going to tell
Christmas story to his grandchildren. Grand
father has seen strange changes since his youth
and can tell strange stories too.
Let it be something true, grandfather