Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1860-06-01
OLD SERIES.

awoke TO actual life |, was dark, and the
room felt dark aud chilling. There was an
unusual ela,,er Of voices and sound Of fee,
below. and hurryins from ono room to
another. Ipassed down the dark staircase
and opened the parlor door, and then start
ei back at the aood OF light and tbs sight =.
that burs, upon mo. The parlor were
mos, brilliantly lighted, and full OF compa-
ny-my particular iriends-nany Of whom
I had though; FAR distant; tho friepd' Of
the family were all there. What chanss
from the dark, chilly room. and the society
OF my own somewha, sombre thoughts TO
these cosy comfortable parlor', and this
pleasant company, every ono Of whom had
something agreeable or complimentary 10
say, as. John beside me TO keep mo in eoun-
tenancc, I received the friends who crowded
abou, me. wha, a change. too. had come
over the family. All the restraint which
had 80 vexed mo during tho day was gone.
Ny uncle and aan. were ten times kinder TO
me than usual, II such thing could bepos-
.iblc. Ny cousins. too wers completely
transformed into polite and agreeable peo.
re. And n. Harry presented me with
magnificent, boquO,, he whispered
=" let ,hl, atone in IN part Tor my saucy
speeches to-day"
thought at that momen, could hav,
forgiven him much greater oGsn.e..
Now" aid John "ws are 10 have
series Of fnSicaur, all in your honor. Emily.
You are no. expected to take part in them,
otherwise than by staring a, them most
in:en,ly, for assure you they will bc
something remarkable"
laughed, promised to stare at them
mos. in,sn,ly, and seated myself with the
company In our rather old.hshioned
mansion. the library connected with tho
parlor, by means Of folding doors, and ihess
being now pushed aside, disclosed the per-
fJrmanccs. The changes which the library
bad undergone accounted also for the ha m
mcring sound, | had heard in the morning.
The frs, ia5lsau wa. rather failure. IL
represented John, in very pieturrsqus
dress, and with drawn weapon, standing
over Frank, who erouehed upon the ground
in terror. The brish, weapon, 50 near his
curly head. mus, have frightened my little
iavori,e. for he made 4 very pcrcepiibIe
movement. which greatly amused the spec
tAtor,, but destroyed the effect Of tho pic.
turc. Then followed representation Of
Evangclnc, with her sweet, sad face, sitting
by tho namele.s grave" Ruth among
her shearc, Of wheat, besides varicu, groups
which looked remarkably well. Little
Red Ridins.hood, which character was
represented by bloomin: Amy Anthem, in
a charming red cloak, was another at,rac-
tive feature.
But tho fa5ieau which most engaged my
attention was the last OF all, where David
was represented as mourning over the dead
Absalom. Harry, as Absalom, lay in the
.,mblancc Of death, every feature in perfect
reposc. There wa, hush among the spec.
,a,ors, for pcrfec, stiffness was such nov
city in connection with our Wild rcsui'h
Harry. that thi. seemed real, too real.
Over the bier bowed David in all the ma cs-
ty ofvos. The face Of tho actor was hill.
den from my sight hut the bowed form.
the attitude alone. proclaimed the depth Of
human suffering. Never before, to my
knowledge, had | seen the person who rep.
resented David. nor did he seem known to
the company. Jr when the curtain foil ev'
cry one asked of his neighbor the question.
a" who acted Dayid3" None knew.
A little later in the evening | managed
to find Harry. who looked now as little like
the dead Abs,lom as IL was possible to look,
and cndcavored to oI,rae, from him some
IN regard to the ',rangcr; for,
strange to say, ,ha, was the sabjec. upon
which my thoughts Oficne., dwSl,. But
Harry pretended perfect ignorance.
GLOW should know who !, was, when
nv eve, were closed the whole tilne' ] tell
you what. II ism. an easy thing to &c. Alb
salom.'
But you certainly know who was lean
ing over you Harry"
~ know, had as much as could do
to keep perfectly still"
I saw there was nothing to BE- extracted
from Harry. so attacked John upon the
subject. but my question remained unan-
.wsred. for John was again seized with one
Of those fearful cts Of coughing that had
engaged nv sympathy in the morning
Now that have recovered, Emily"
.aid John. when it pleased him to stop
just come with me into tho
dining room, from this crowd. I've some.
thing there to show you"
And something ind.sd there was; for
there stood my good old uncle, with beau.
iiful gold watch in his hand. which he pro.
'en,ed to me with lew simple but affecting
words. Then followed my aun. with git,
1t once elegant and appropriate. And then,
10 their turn. each Of tho boys Before the
presentation Of his gin, which was an ele-
amt rosewood writing desk. John attempt
II to make little speech, but broke down
IN the midst Of IL. to the great amusement
II all, for John was very seldom ombarssed.
All how little justice | had done them all
.ha, morning. had accused them Of not
airing for mo OF wishing ne out Of the
rouse and here had whole family united