Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1861-05-21
The Good.Bye,

George-George !"
- Well, what's wanting now? ?"
the young husband turned back tn,
{or knob, and there was impotence in hi,
re and annoyance ON his brow, as b,
<xered his wife's call
Nothing, papa, only baby and iust
Z znt to kiss you good bye" and she cam,
S17 Hrd HIM, the little graceful, sweetvoiceC
man, with her baby in her arms, auC
d np the small, soft face to his cheeks
4 the little one crowed, and thurst W
rimTlcd hands and clutched the short
ck locks triumphantly.
On, baby, you rogue, you'd like t.
out handful of napa's hair wouldn'
now y laughed the merchant, in q
t 50 unlike his former one that ycu
41d not have recognized it, and he leane ed
4 2 AID kissed the small fragrant lip.
t<@r and over.
eoW its my turn, papa," and Mrs
[iafis smoothed away the rumpled hair
>s.Y ;s<od her husbands forehead and as
be went out Of the house that morning, a
new so tness and peace bad eraced the
troubled look from the mans face.
And that day 1t was appointed to George
Williams TO pass through sharp and
fearful temptation.
lie was in the midst Of commercial
crisis. and several of his heaviest debtors
had failed that week, and now pavmen;
of tea thousand dollars was due, and II: ere
was no way to raise this sum unless
lie held the pen irresolutely in his sink
ing hand. The veins were swol!on into
| great blue rds on his forehead, and the
breath came thick ard fast betwixt his
lips; few scrawls of that pen, a solitary
name at the bottom, and the young merch-
ant could secure the ten Thousand dollars,
and his business credit would be safe
There was no sort of doubt, too, but he
! could raise the money in a few weeks, and
thus secure himself irom all discovery, and
the pressing circumstances of the case Ger
| tainly allowed some limits in fnanceriny.
! So whispered the tempter, as he walked
up and down the soul OF George Williams.
I always sOftening down the word forgery
into some false name, which totally chang
ed to his perceptions the moral com plexion
OF the deed he was about to commit.
! The young merchants eyes glared all a
round the office, but there was none u see
him then; he dipped his pen with kind
OF desperate eagerness into the tall pOr-
! celian ink stand, and he drew it along the
| paper, when suddenly his hand paused
stuck 10y thought-.he memory Of his
wife's kiss that morning.
lie saw her as he saw her last, standing
in the door. the baby in Ter arms, her
sweet face full of motherly tenderness and
wi!ely trust as she lifted it TO him in part
! ing the voice of the tempter PASSED away
before that rush of huler emotions which
blurred the mans ewes; he dashed down
the pen. Mary! Mary! you have saved
your husband sink or swim, [ will not do
this deed | should blush for shame to
meet your eyes and our baby's to>night, il
1 carried the burning Consciousness in nv
own soul, though no other man ever did or
would. Mary, my little wife, yeu won't
know it, but that good bye kiss of yours
this morning has saved your husband from
this great sin"
George Williams did not sink. 1t was
bard struggle, but the storm passed by
| without lall;pg on him as il did on many
Others, aud Mary, his wife, never knew
that he had saved her husband from a sin,
| which, in her eyes, would have been worse
than death.
The good which we have done we
shall know, not here. but hereafter" and
the best and truest lives are those which
strew ali the years with the sweet aroma
Of loving and self sacrificing deeds
As the water lilies take root, and grow
| silently amid the slime and mud in the
low waters, until in the midsummer they
open their creamy vases to the soft per-
suasiOns Of the sunshine, and lie in snowy
hptillas on the bosoms of the streams. the
glory and dedication Of oil flowers, so amid
the lowlands ut life, among its shadows
and mists, have we also to sow, day by day,
our small seeds of gentle deeds, not know
ing when they take root. or expecting their
unfolding into blossoms on the river Of
time.
Oh, We who desire to set your lives with
the arabeSques of great and noble deeds,
who pant for broader horizons and higher
opportunities, God has appointed you a
work where you are.
Every day lifts the little white chalice
out Of the night. aid is held down to YOU
through all KS solemn, silent-footed hours,
for those small labors of love, whose true
signifcauce'and relations we shall only
understand in eternity. And in this small
daily labor lies much Of woman's work
her sweet home influences fall like the SUI
shine and the evening dew upon the char
acters around her. She may little COM
! prehend what silent force of healinp
restraining, strengthening influence she i,
exertirg, and periods of unrest and des
pondency may fiji many hours with shadows
which would be Illuminated with 10y and
Thanksgiving, if she could only know as
she is known" But the pictures Of all
lives are locked mp in the eternal gallery,
and the angels hold the keys, and when
Gods voice speaks the word, the doors
shall be opened, and when we go in we
shall behold and understand.