New Orleans daily crescent., 1860-11-07
aY A aN Ks.
g BY BY 4 MOTHER.

/ ing little else a
hasn't the stove up yet; will be SO still if you
/ will let Tne sit here by yeu!
q Pnt \ shawl about you, answered ; there
Is no stove heres either ana am sure us hot eoiu
I anywhere this morning.
he little girl LEFT her seas and went to the win
/ dow Her face was very wistful in its expression,
and her unsasished look wondered up at the sky,
the lawn sRayed by the chilly north wind, then
away to the right, where she could catch glmpses
of the lake. with its white-erested waves rushing
wildly IN shore. 1t was cold, acknowledged it to
myself as Watched her standing there, but did
not admit it to her.
Could you let me have one Of the baby's slips,
mamma, to put on my doll? ! won't tear il.
8 How absurd you are, Agnesi Don't make such
foolish requests; your doll, I'm sure, has enough
clothes OF her ewn.n
Il love to have her look like your baby, mamma"
/. Don't tease me any longer, child can't fur-
nish your doll and the baby from the same ward
robe--that is quite settled
(. Well may Pass tell story to mel
4 Puss has the baby to attend to, and can't tell
you stories, Agnes. Go get your sewing and sit
down in the nursery, or do what you like to amuse
yourself, but do not trouble me any more.n
She fingered moment longer, twisting the ends
OF her blue sash in her little fingers; then went out
Of the room, closing the door SO gently behind her
] scarcely know of her exit.
A little after this, rose and went to the window
can see the trees sway now, just as they did that
morning. and the gray sky and the gray lake; j
see them too and feel the biting October air which
made my little daughter declare it was so cold
AS looked from the tall window saw, crossing
the lower part Of the garden, old BartIemy Boyd.
His gray hair blew about over his haggard face,
half concealng his bloodshot eyes, and mumbling
| lips. i thought he seemed more wild in manner
than was usual, and wondered what had occurred
to excite him. Generally regarded as perfectly
harmless, he was permitted to go ait large about
the town, chepping wood, running errands and
picking up an honest penny in whatever useful way
he could. Little children loved him. His enter
tanning stories, his merry songs vivid pictures of
sea life, drawn from his own saier experience of
many years, drew to him all the little ones; and
though, when saw them clustering around him,
more than half doubted the propriety of permitting
them thus to trust half-crazed old man. disliked
to be the first to draw my own child from the inno-
cent little circle which gave the poor old man SO
much delight.
To my little Agnes he often brought the blue
lilies from the distant pond, wild roses from the
rocky hills, and the rch-hearted daisies from the
low meadows The love OF howers with her
amounted to passion and her little fye-year old
heart could not be made to leap with greater Joy
than when permitted to go by herself gathering
these precious crumbs from the table of our Lord.
His favorite walk, when suitably attended, had
always been TO the summit of Black Rock, a lofty
crag which rose precipitately from the lake and
joined the level ground by steep and rough de-
scent on the shore side. On the summit of this
erag grew many a sweet herb and wild flower
which Agnes knew and loved; and being child
possessed of no fear of nature, she was wont to
venture to the very edge of the fearful precipiee
in search of any faEoTite blossom, maintaining her
fearless demeanor and that calm forgetfulness Of
danger which seems the sole prerogative of the
somnambulist.
AsI said before, j was cross that morning |
felt that had been more childish than my child
herself. As the wind grew wilder and the sky
more dark, began to long for the little ones
prattle, and to regret having hanshed her from my
own cheerful morning room with its SOFT Southern
aspect and luxurious appurtenances, te the chilly
af nf nf
only her doll for company. went to my door and
called her name softly. had some oak burrs and
scarlet berries in my table drawer wished TO offer
her. Agnes ~ | called again, softly. There
came no answer.
thought then It was my own consciousness of
having left undone those things which ought to
have done for my little girls amusement and
pleasure, which sent that sharp pang through nv
heart, as, leaving my own door unclosed, | ran
rapidly up stairs; never dreamed of regarding it
as foretaste of those iercer pangs which were to
henceforth fill beth heart and brain and bring me
here-tere!
Agnesl' p called again.
I can hear my own voice to-day, as it came un-
answered back to me through the silent rooms
The nurse opened a door and looked out.
:. Have you seen Agnes, PussW
She had not
Iran to the closet where her shawl and hood
were kept. They were gone.
hot flush shot up like a fame into my cheeks.
My heart throbbed so wildly / thought for mo-
ment must suffocate. Yet WONDERED at my own
agitation. 1t was not such an unusual thing for
the child to go out of the house. Why should |
feel SO uneasy now2 ] could only feel it was SO,
without explaining lohy it was. | made hasty |
survey OF the whole house. None of the servants |
had seen my little girl; she was nowhere to be |
found upon the premises. The wind was blowing /
o gale now, and the clouds were as black as if I
choked with deluge they were about to pour /
npon us. lcould see the waves dashing wildly |
upon the lake, shaking their oamy crests over the
rocks which bound the shore. Looming high above
Them all like some gigantic priest of Nature stand
ng on the shore preaching TO those rebellious
waters, rose the gloomly grand proportions of
Black Rock. As my eye fell upon it, q fearful
Tread entered my soul. Summoning the servants
ess of the rough path and the wild winds, rushed
Up the craggy steep, struggling to gain the sum
nit, while the wind, blowing furionsly in shore,
hwarted my every effort. was about to relin-
vithered shrub above me caught my gaze 1t was
tangled bunch of blue fringe. | knew where I
hat came from. / knew whose little scarf had /
aught there and left those tangled threads
With wild energy which outstripped the most I
'arnest efforts Of those who followed me, clam
,ered up, up and stood at last upon the very pin
acle alone. Yes, dlonet Do not mind it that |
tter that dreary shrek with the word; it tcN rise
then remember with what wild hope struggled |
0 that fearful height and found no little Agnes
here. She had been there, though, fer on the
ranch of q low thorn bush, under which some
'lue.eyed flowers still bloomed, was thin tress Of
ikhtlG EUluGl CuElt 10 WHICH
horn had clung and held to meet mothers gaze
What must believe? How much had l to fear
ow much to hope Had she gone safely down as
he came upa Had she wandered Off over the
owlands, or, horror of horrors had she fallen
yer the cliff into those wild waves below? The
title shreda of blue silk, the little tress of hair
ainIy proved she had been to the uttermost height
i the fearful crag. Was she alone ?-had she dis
,beyed my injunction5 never to come here by her.
elf? As ! stood breasting the wind in this agony
# doubt, my eyes were sweeping the climbing
Yaters below me, and just as the servants Joined
ne, deserted upon the comb Of a distant wave
floating object, something which might be
lFifting log Or little boat. pointed it out to
he rest.
6 II is boat cried John the gardener, as it
ose again I" that little nutshell of thing which
he Mayor kept moored here for his boys. / know
Ter BY the queer gunwale and the scarlet flag she
,arries.n
What did the little boat hold for us that kept us
Watching there, when we knew not yet of our lost
,ne2
We we're all transfxed by one wild fear. Egi-
lently the frail boat was managed by some one
gho understood bis work. Who would have gone
ORTIZ IL such gale but old Bartemy Boyd2 Was
,ur lost darling with him? | remember that as
he little plank rose and disappeared, and rose
gain on the foamy waves, how all earth seemed
melt away, and all the world TO revolye into one
title fragile speck upon an angry sea? One more
cave, and now we could plainly see the boat con-
aiming two persons--one an old man with gray
ocks, the other fragile, pad little child, sitting 1
the stern her apron full Of forgotten wild fowers