The Democratic press. (Eaton, Preble County, Ohio) 1860-1865, 1862-02-06

lors, slttlng-rooms, bedrooms, D0u-
doirs, baths and closets. The
library was large and we'll selected,
land contained many rare and val
liable works upon almost all subjects
known to science and literature
Works of art adorned almost every
room in the mansion. Paintings
by the best masters, statues by the
best sculptors, and ornaments of
agate, of jasper, of alabaster and
of Paran marble were in abun-
dance.
Laura had been educated at the
best schools, and could speak Eng
lish, her mother tongue, French,
Spanish, Italian, German, and had
a good knowledge Of Latin aud
Greek, and respectable smatter-
ing of Hebrew. She was prof.
cient in music, and could play the
piano, the harp and the guitar with
a master hand. Is it any wonder
that Col. Meredith was proud of
his daughter, or that she was
proud of herself? Is it to be won
dered at that Laura had high
notions as to the society in which
she should move? A Venus her.
self, twas no matter ofsurprise that
she should look for Apollos in the
opposite sex. But Laura had for
gotten, amid the splendor by which
she was surrounded, that all the
glory of this world cannot with
stand the inscrutable judgments of
God, when He, in His wisdom, sees
fit to rebuke its vanity and punish
its wickedness. In an unlocked
for hour that dreadful scourge, the
smallpox, made its entry into the
village, upon the outskirts of which
Col. Meredith's mansion stood, and
commenced its work of havoc. 1t
first assailcd the poorer class of the
community, who fell before it like
cattle in the slaughter-house. Lau-
ra trembled with terror when she
first heard the news, and begged
her father to remove from the
vicinity until the disease should
disappear but the COL, who was
anything but a coward, allayed
her fears by assuring her that the
disease was confined to the poorer
classes, who, he remarked, were
generally filthy in their habits
and would not be likely to attack
the higher classes at all. But the
disease continued to advance, and
at every step it elevated itself tow
ards the higher ranks. The Col. be-
ginning to feel uneasy, isolated his
family from the rest Of community.
He locked the gates leading to his
mansion, and placarded them mo
ADMISSION DURING THE PREVALENCE
OF THE SMALLPOX He took every
precaution to keep from his grounds
all persons whom he thought might
have been where the disease pre-
vailed. He aired his house, strewed
the walks with lime, removed all
the rubbish which had accumula-
ted anywhere near the house, and
kent a constant witch upon his
gates, lest some intruder, regardless
of the warning placards, should
enter upon the premises. He felt
secure. How could the disease
find its way into his abode, thus
isolated, thus secured? But he
reckoned without his host. In
spite of all his precautions, in def
arce of his warning placards, it
stalked into his mansion. 1t stop
ped not at the warning, it hesitated
not at the precautions, it faltered
not at the forbidding frown of the
sturdy Col. Through bolts and
bars and well planned impediments,
it entered the mansion, and laid it's
iron grasp upon the noble, stall
worth frame of Col. Meredith. A
shrek of terror broke from Laura
when the physician announced the
fact to the family that the Col. had
the smallpox. She fled from the
presence of her father as if he had
been smitten with the plague, and
locked herself up in her ROOM
Her father commended her dlscre-
tion, and. gave orders for her uot
to come near, in any case, even
though he should die.
Mrs. Meredith, of whom l have
not hitherto spoken, because she
was of minor consequence in the
sphere in which the Col. and his
daughter moved, now difused a
new kind of light around her hus-
band, who had always looked upon
her as q poor, weak, deluded crea-
ture, because of her quiet humility,
her amiable disposition, and her
sincere piety. True, hers was not
the courage of vain pride that
vaunteth itself before the admiring
gaze of the world, but was Of
that higher, nobler, heller courage
which while il shrinka from the