Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-10-03

You have awakened me from dream, W
said my friend as he grasped the rudder
again, and headed the boat h0meward--
-''Drifting away Drifting awayF' he add
ed few moments aflerward. "fes, it is
even 80. But | win catch at her receding
garments and hold her back .N
At dinner time we met Bertha, looking
worse than had seen her since my arrival
noticed that my friends eyes wandered ev-
cry little while 20 her face, and that he did
not eat with his usual appetite. After the
dessert and before we left the table, he leaned
toward her and said, with a tenderness in his
voice that no wifes heart could resist:
al am sorry to see you looking so worn
out Bertha Last night was severe tax on
you. Have you been lying down this morn
ingP
"Part Of tho time, she answered, looking
at her husband gratefully. It was plain to
be seen that she was not used TO such tender
inquiries.
"This way of life won't do, Bertha he
went on. 4" Il is destroying you. l see you
drifting away from me-" His voice failed a
little. +" And | must put forth a hand to
draw you back Nature will not bear the
burdens you are putting upon her
l saw light coming into her pale face, and
love beaming out from her eyes upon her
husband. His interest and concern were
genuine, and she felt it.
awe are going to take an easy ride this
afternoon" he added, "and want you to 60
with US. Now don't say mol
| saw objection in her face; and her lips
moved as if she were about putting her Ob
lection in words But her husbands " Now
don't say noW coming as it did on his warm
ly expressed interest and concern, changed
her purpose and she said:
4" II it will give you pleasure"
"Nothing in the world would give me
more pleasure" replied my friend, with al
most lover-like warmth
There was visible, already new life in
the countenance of Bertha. A soft glow was
family dyeng her cheeks, and mellow light
tempering the unnatural brilliancy of her
eyes.
when do you wish me to be ready?" she
asked.
"At four clock. We will ride until six.
That will be long enough for you"
1t was the Bertha OF other days who talk
ed so pleasantly and looked so bright and
cheerful during that ride. At tea time she
was another being from what she appeared
on the evening before, or, indeed, on any
evening since my arrival at Fern Dale. The
ride had quickened in her mind a new and
healthier impulse. She was a lover of all
things beautiful in nature, and this had given
her pure enjoyment, which could not soon
die out. During the evening, my friend, by
a little management, drew her away from
her nursery into the library, where we en-
jOyed her company for over an hour. How
soicitous my friend was to keep her mind
interested, to give her thoughts n new direc-
ii n, to call back old themes in art and liter
ature that once gratifed her taste or charm
ed her Imagination She felt the change in
him, and was could see, half-surprised, yet
touched thereby.
On the next day she accompanied US in
our morning drive, and in the afternoon was
induced, after a little persuasion to take a
sail on the river. There was an unmistakable
glow in her cheeks as she came back from
this excursion in fine spirits; and l noticed
that she took a relish of tongue and ate two
biscuits at supper-time-an appropriation Of
food quite beyond anything had seen, in
her case, since my visit to Fern Dale
"You have caught her garments ere she /
drifted away" said to my friend as we sat
together that evening in the library, where |
we enjoyed her company for over an hour.
"Yes," he answered, with feeling; and |
will cling to them as man clings to his life |
She shall not get free upon the waters again
through any fault of mine. Was ever a man
so thoughtless and stupid as have been Z"
"Many, very many, are just as thoughtless,
just as blind as you were, said I and hun
dreds of over-taSked wives-selftas il may |
be, as in Bertha's case-are drifting steadily |
away from mortal shores upon the sea of
eternity; and in a few weeks or moths, or
years they will be out of the reach of hands 1
that will clutch after them in agony when |
it is too late %