The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1863-11-11
CALEB GRAYaIAis>H.

CALEB GRAYNAKSH
OIL Caleb Graymarsh da,lt 10 ths New Eng
land village oi u hard b, n.s own stone
walled, black chimueyed factory. which bvlched
forth fire aud smoke Nil GA' aDl shoue ike some
ogre'- pa'ace half the night with the fires AMI
hgnts Which glimmered through the windows
and shed crimson Cleam over the waste and
barren land about the building. For it was s-;.-
ring place, Ihi- factory. aud the work people we're
there among the whining machinery night ard
day--etrong, stilWart fellows, with becrim. q
hands and sod men who could jusf tortcr
uo the -tar--womeu, tidy and tiim. aua some
of them very pretty, aud the little children who.
had they been born Of wealthy parents, wonli
only have been permitted 10 leave the nursery
utder the guardianship OF n maid
There was occupation for all NJ at the
great factory, and In the eyes &C employees Ca
leb Giaymarsh was a man OF mighty wealth and
power. Fabulous tales were fold Of his posses
sicus 10 real estate, and the women folks had
legend among them that the tea service, which
some OF them had seen gliitering on the factory
table was made Of solid dollars, melted down
:or the express purpose, and the house through
out vas covered with silk velvet II was a pi;y
tLey said. that poor Mrs Graymarsh could not
have lived to see all this, but had died when
Caleb was young man, struggling for The for
! tune which was now his few wears before
/ there had been a simple white slab 10 the grave
| yard bearing the words Kitty Graymarsh, aged
/ 20" But OF late a splendid marble monument
had arisen there, with fowery inscription on
its face and the figure Of an ang bending over
it. snowy thing, with nothing artistic about
II; yet as though the dead girl, who would have
been elderly woman by this time had she v-
ed, slept on more peacefully under the costly
. l. L.. 4 l.
there was something in the sight when one tho't
that by ia erection the old man had sought TO
make his lost wife participate in the only posi-
Die way in the WeaIth which be so valued
It is hard TO think of most old business men
as young overs-st' ange to believe that smiles
| OF tfOwLs from the women were once Of greater
/ moment 10 them than the rise and ia of stocks
mas now become. Aud the grim old factor,
whose brow was pGckered into a continual irown
and whose brow had become a straight. stern
line, with grooves Ike wrinkles on either side Of
It, scarce looked the hero OF a love tale ;" Yet
Caleb Gray had been young once ard had
Owed his little Kitty With aslrong, manly earliest
ness She was the sole love of his life, the onlv
woman who had ever made his heart beat
When be won her, simple country girl though
-he was, no monarch was fOuder of his queen,
although all but his wife believed him cold hear
ted, aud wondered what charm young blue.eyed
Kitty had found in his stern face Only Caeo
GrayEarsh himself knew how well he loved his
wife, aud when the scd was piled above her
| breast, be kneit above it fearless and speeches.
asd prayed silently that God would let him die
also
We talk Of wishing for death yer, often, but
only those who have drained the cup of suffer
ing to its very dregs ever pray for il so earnest
lay that they would not shrink and lremble if
their sinful prayers were answered and the bolt
from heaven were seen descending One OF
those rare and terrible moments came to Caleb
Graymarsh as he kuelt above his young wife's
grave, but none who knew him ever guessed it.
They saw, few moments afterwards, a plain.
homely, working man, with A Grape about his
hat, rise to his feet, and plOd slowly hOmeward,
and, seeing no tears in his eyes and hearing no
complaint from his lips, thought he did not feel
much and 50 left him. But Caleb Graymarsh.
having no living kindred, aud not being at that
time rich enough TO have made friends, took the
wailiug baby from the woman who had cared for
it, while be had followed lis mother TO the grave
ard nursed it all night, feeling strange comfort
in the soft cheek he held against bis own anu
IN the unconscious trhing of those tiny fingers
about his face.
he had thought very little Of the baby while
his wife lived, save as pet and a play thing il
I
experienced a new feeling towards it. Il would
grow perhaps TO have her form aud features
de wished it we're a girl instead of bOy; and
Vet even nOS he felt ne was not quite desOlate
since God had left him thus. And so when the
morning dawned, and the golden sunbeams crepI
through the bedroom window, they fell on Caleb
Graymarsh, fast asleep, with his baby on his
bosom.
He put the child to nurse the next day and
weat about MS work as usual Whatever we're
his feelings he uevei spoke OF them 10 any one
and young as he VAS. be had a grim, uusociai
~sy with him which encouraged none TO seek
lis confidence. On Sundays. instead OF going
with most OF the other men 10 drink aud frolc
or joining the few more sober minded az church
Caleb Gfaymarsh went to the country place
Snere bis baby at nurse, and kept il with
hia under the green trees all the day long And
the child, Unconscious as it really must have been.
{ vas 50 strangely happy and contehted that one
might easily have imagined that rs little eyes
could see and read the tender secret Of thar
rough working mans soul
Year ana year passed By, and plodding care
and industry helped Caleb Gray marsh 10 climb
the ladder OF fortune. Al first, some def han
diwork brought him better wages then he be
came foreman aud at last Partner in the very
establishment where be had first entered lend
les BOY, o. idered and cuffed about by any ole
who chose 10 taAe the trouble. The steps
we're short and easy after this, and twenty wears
from the day on which be had knelt beside hi.
i young wife's grave, the black chimneys of BIZ
? own factory arose above the roofs Of the trim
New Eug land town, ami people spoke Of Caleb
Gray marsh as person OF wealth aud influence
In his life this man had married two strong
% passi0us-the love Tor his dead wife and the
I greed OF wealth; not mser's love OF hoas ns
out the pride OF possession. Caleb Gravmarsi
liked 10 see euviOns eyes turned upon him, snc
o AS fond OF boasilug AID display Very lit.
sympathy bad he, either, for poor uan. Wha
De bad done he behaved that Others nigh, d,
also. Those who ~CIkei for him knew this anc