Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1861-09-06
ISCEILANY Y.
A Picture of Home.

/ recall home long since left left behind
in the journey of life; and its memory
floats back over me with a shower of emo
ions and thoughts towards whose precious
fall my heart opens itself greedily ike a
thirsty flower. 1t is home among the
mountains, humble and homely, but price
less in its wealth Of associations. The wa
ierfall sings again in my ears, as it used 10
sing through the dreamy, mysterious nights.
The rose at the gate, the patch Of tansey
under the window. the neighboring orchard,
the old elm, the grand machinery Of storms
and showers, the little smithy under the
hill that famed with strange light through
the dull winter evenings, the wood pile at
the door, the ghostly white birches on the
hill, and the dim haze on the retiring noun
tains, all these come back to me with an
appeal which touches my heart and moist
ems my eyes. | sit again at the doorway
at summer nightfall, eating my bread and
milk. looking off upon the darkening land
scape, and listening to the shouts of boys
on the hillside, calling or driving home the
reluctant herds. | watch again the devious
fight of the dusty night-hawk along the
twilight sky, and listen to his measured note,
and the breezy boom that accompanies his
headloug plunge toward the earth.
Even the old barn, crazy in every tim
Der and gaping at every joint, has charms
for me. try again the breathless leap
from the great beams into the hay. I sit
again on the threshold of the widely opened
doors-opened to the soft south wind of
spring and watch the cattle, whose faces
look half human TO me, as they sun them
selves, and peacefully ruminate, while drop
by drop the dissolying snow upon the roof
drills holes through the wasting drifts be-
meath the caves.
The first little lambs of the season toddle
by the side of their dams, aud utter their
feeble bleatings, while the flock nibble at
the hay rick, or pair of rival wethers try
the strength of their skulls in an encounter,
half in earnest and half in play. The proud
old rooster crows upon his dunghill throne,
and some delighted member of his silly
family leaves her nest, and tells TO her
mates and to me that there is another egg
in the world. The old horse whinnies in
his STALL and calls TO me for food. | look
up 10 the roof, and think of last years
swallows--soon to return again-and catch
a glimpse of angular sky, through the dia-
mond-shaped opening that gave them in
gress ard egress. How, know ] cot, but
that old barn is part of myself--it has en-
tered into my life, and given me growth and
wealth.
But look into the house again, where
the life abidts which appropriated these
things, and find among them its home
The hour of evening has come, the lamps
are lighted, and good man in middle life
though very old lie seems to me-takes
down the well-worn Bible and reads chap
ter from lis hallowed pages. A sweet wom-
an sits by his side, with my sleepy head
upon her knee. and brothers and sisters are
grouped reverently around. do not un-
derstand the words, but am told that they
are the words of God, and believe it
The long chapter ends, and then we all
kneel down and the good man prays. fall
asleep with my head in the chair, and the
next morning remember nothing of the
way in which went TO bed. After break
fast the Bible is taken down, and the good
man prays again and again and again is
the worship repeated all the days of many
golden years. The pleasant converse of the
fireside, the simple songs of home, the words
of encouragement as bent over my school
tasks, the kiss as Ily down TO rest, the
patient bearing with the freaks of my rest
less nature, the gentle reproofs and approx
ais, the sympathy that meets and assuages
every sorrow and sweetens every little sue
cess-all these return to me amid the re-
sponsibilites which press upon me now, and
/ feel as if had once lived in heaven, and
starving, had lost my way.
Well, the good man grew old and weary,
and fell asleep at last, with blessings on his
lips for me. Some who called him father
lie side by side with him in the same calm
sleep. The others are scattered, and dwell
in new homes, and the old house and barn
and orchard have passed into the possession
lof strangers, who have learned, or are