The Oxford intelligencer., 1860-06-20


there.
al never can tell you," continued the pom
pous Ruby, "the delight she showed on be
holding me- She kissed me over and oYc
again, holding me now in the sun, now in tn
shade. and trying me by turns on every fn
ger. She read the note that had lain by ml
side over and over again. Ladies came Il
dress her, and | all the while lay on her table
They robed her in silk, and put orange-blos
SONS in her hair; and when every thing wa'
finished, she put me on her dainty finger
There was long train Of ladies, but none
were half so beautiful as she. We all went
in carriages to beautiful church, where my
lord was waiting fer us, Md they began TO be
married. When she took off her glove,
sparkled. go that nobody could help looking
at me and when the lord saw me, he blush
cd, and raised his eyes to hers, quite full OF
JOY: then he said some words, and put the
gold band on the next finger to me, and all
the people looked at me the while"
"Were You much grander," said the Seed,
than all the beautiful lalics =
"0h! yes" says Ruby: " | was brighter
and fairer than all Wewent over the sea to
lands where every thing is more beautiful
than here; and wherever her grace went, |
went too. We never parted even while she
slept, till | was taken off her finger TO be set
and polished again, when the young lord
stole me for a paything and let me drop
here. But ] know she cannot live without
me, and tomorrow they will fetch me- back
again."
The Ruby and the Seed were lying close
together, in one Of those verdant green lanes
that make the country so beautiful All
through spring and summer it was full of
sweet howrs. The May was there, in "mits
of rosy-tintcd snow" Primrosos grew in
clusters on the banks among tho moss; and
foxgloves and bluc-bclls, and all the sweet
wild-Gowcrs, were there. How many of us,
dear reader remember such a scene, associa-
tod with the dearest rccollections of our lives !
1t was autumn: the little grain Of seed had
fallen from the bundle Of yillagc-gleaner as
she passed home, laughing with her compan-
ions, through the lane, with the shock upon
her head. The ruby had been dropped BY
the children from the Abbey, while they
played there In the morning.
So they came TO lie side by side in the still
green lane, when the Ruby told its grand his
tory to the Seed. But with all its fine airs,
that little Seed didn't envy tho; though
it looked at its bright color cut in SO many
squares, and the gold chased round with flow F..
crs. II looked at its own plain brown coat,
with the white seam IA. ing down it, and |
thought of its quiet life and the mission it /
had to ill on earth.
"Pray tell me" said tbe Ruby, how you
live here: it must be wcarisome to dronc ,
away ones life in these dull fields. | never
was in the country her, before"
"Oh. have not sc,n much and it will .
not interest yoa, who came from SO fine a
country" said the Seed. my parent was
seed just like myself and early last spring
was put in field not far from here, with
hundreds of other seeds, and the rain fell,
md the sun brought i; into lif6: so its roots
spread out in the earth then it Unfolted a
iny leaf as green as cmcralds; then there
,ame stem from among the blades, and fol
led in this was tiny ear, that held a hun
lrcd homes, and each home had It's baby
grain, and tie ear, greU TIL, one summer day,
t burst out of the leaves, and stood straight
IN the stem, and each little grain was folded
II a leaf; so nothing could hurt il. The
ield looked beautiful Al the long ears
waved at once, and rose again when the
,reeze had passed away There was lark's
lest on the ground where ] grew, and they
lsed to ly UP into heaven and FL all the
iclds with music. The fftt,c grains grew
argcr every day, and silver bctl-likc flowers
'dnc out oi tNClI S'"tfi, HhA tit4ii'i-' '''
lay long in the sunlight. When they fell
,f, all the ears caught the color of the sun,
md changed from green to gold. and ripcncd:
70 that the farmer came and cut us all down,
md frightened away the larks setting us in
arge shocks about the field. All ibpt q few
,ars were carried away in large wagon far
,ut Of the field. ] fell out Of the bundle,
md the cleaners picked me up; bW / was
haken from the rest as they carried them
we came to lie together"
"What were those birds like :" said the
Ruby, very patronizingly, for it had compar-
ID the Seeds history with its own expert
,ncc, and was disposed to assert its superior
ty.
" Covered all over with white spots re-
olied the Seed; "lrown and white, with
lack bars on their wings, and long, slender
egs, that took them all over the field TO find
,ood for their young ones"
"Ha" said Ruby, "you should see the
birds in my country: they are all purple and
yold-some nearly as bright as nsysclfr'
"And do they sing+swcetiy :" asked the
Seed.