Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-06-19
THE SHADOWS WE CAST
BY 7. 5. ARTHUR.

A child was playing with some building
blocks, and as the mimic castle rose before his
eyes in graceful proportions, a new pleasure
swelled in his heart He felt himself to be
the creator Of 'thing of beauty" and was
conscious of a new born power. Arch, wall
buttress, gateway, draWbridge, lofty tower
and battlement, were all the work Of his
hands. He was in wonder at his skill in thus
Great ing, from an unseemly pile, structure
of such rare design.
Silently he stood and gazed upon his castle
with something of the pride of an architect
who sees, after months and years of skill
fully applied labor, some grand conception in
his art embodied in the imperishable stone.
Then he moved around, viewing it on every
side. 1t did not seem TO him toy, reaching
only few inches in height, and covering but
a square foot of ground, but a real castle,
towering hundreds of feet upward to the blue
sky, and spreading wide upon the earth its
ample foundations As the idea grew more
'sIl's-IiI'sO P0'fSOss 49, s5aS''g'''1-A-
creased. Now he stood with folded arms,
wrapped in the overmastering ilusion-now
walked slowly around, viewing the structure
on all sides, and noting every minute particu-
lar, and now sat down, and bent over it with
the fondness of a mother bending over her
child. Again he arose, purposing to obtain
another and more distinctive view OF his
work But his foot struck against one OF
the buttresses; and instantly with crash,
wall, tower and battlement fell in hopeless
ruin.
In the room, with the boy, sat his father,
reading The crash. disturbed him. and he
uttered q sharp, angry rebukei glaneing for a
moment towards the startled child, and then
returning his eyes to the attractive pages be-
fore him, unconscious of the shadow he had
cast upon the heart of bis child. Tears came
into those fair blue orbs, dancing in light a
| moment before. From the froWning face OF
his father, to which his glance was suddenly
turned, the child looked back to the shapeless
ruins Of his castle. Is it any wonder that he
bowed his face in silence upon them and wet
/ them with his tears
For more than FIVE minutes he sat still, as
/ if sleeping; then in mOurnful kind of a
way, yet almost noiselessly, he commenced
restoring to the box, from which he had taken
them, the many shaped pieces that, fifty
joined together had grown intoa noble build
| ing. After the box was filed he replaced the
cover, and laid it carefully upon shelf in
the closet.
Poor childi That shadow was a deep one
and long in passing away. His mother found
! him half an hour afterwards, asleep on the
floor with cheeks flushed to an unusual
brightness. She knew nothing Of tha
troubled passage in his young life; and thu
father had forgotten, IN the attraction Of fh'
book be had read, the momentary annOyancl
expressed in the words and tone, with pow
er in them to shadow the heart of his child
A young wife had busted herself for many
days in preparing pleasant surprise for he
husband. The work was finished at last, snt
now she awaited his return, with a heart ful
Of warm emotions. A dressing-gown, pai
of elegantly embroidered slippers wrought b!
her own skillfal fingers, were the gifts witt
which she meant to delight him.
! What troop of pleasant fancies was il
her hearth How almost impRtiently did sh,
wait for the coming twilight which was t,
be dawn, not approaching darkness to her.
At Iastshe heard the step Of her husband il
the passage and her pulses leaped with hutteF
ing delight Like a bird upon the wing, sh
almost few down to meet him, impatient 70
the kiss that awaited her.
To meet in the world of business, a feJ
days with their disappointments and per
plexities-it is mems business to bear this i
a manly spirit They form but portion {
lifes discipline, and should make them strong
or, braver, and more enduring. Unwisely
and we may say, unjustly too, many men fai
to leave their business cares and troubles il
their stores, workshops, or counting-rooml
at the days decline. They wrap them il
! bundles and carry them and shadow thei
household.
II was So with my young husband on thi
particular occasion. The stream of bushes
had taken an eddying whiri and thrown hi
vessel backwards, instead Of onwards, for
brief space, and though it was still in th
> current, and gliding safely onward against i
the lar and disappointment had fretted n
mind severely. There was no heart in th
kiss he gave his wife, and because he had Il
care overshadoW love- He drew his arl
around her; but she was conscious Of din
inished pressure in that embracing arm.
4Are you not Well7n
With what tender concern was this que
: ton asked? q r--r
every well"
r He might be in body, but not in mind; thi
: was plain for bis voice was far from bein
4 cheerful. Li---ai tt..-fLL
!, She played and sang her hyorits piece
: hoping to restore by the charm Of musi
2 brightness to his spirit. But she was col
i sciouB Of only partial success. There WI
= still a gravity in bis manner never perceive
before. At tea-time, she smiled upon him
EWsetly across the table, and talked to hi