St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-07-21

IHrung III me LOCKS ~ line OOOr6 as II TO
warn lha; one WINS coming to whom closed
doors were nothing. And that one came
in the dead Of a da, k nisA, and summoned
the pale lady from Sleep And opening
her J eyes. she recognized the eall and,
rivetihg one last prayerful gaze upon the
dear face beside htr, she turncdrhcr own
from the world and followed the messen:
ger. ~
i Oh, pulsei!ess; earth, OH. fearless: sky!
yop had no pity, for the longing life that
would fain have fingered yet a little space.
how then could YOU melt for the un. .raying
dead that lay there, meekly defying you
in its shroud,: With its patient hands folded,
waiting SO silly till you vonchsafed 1t a
grave; or for the stricken figure that sat
at its feet with . brain dulled from study
ing hour by hour the changed features in
theirnnsympathizing repose, where all the
food gates If warmth had been suddenly
locked and set with the seal Of that chill,
uaheeding smile -
So Elsie sat at her dead mothers feet,
and old Eab came and went heart-broken,
and could not coax her to weep nor to rest.
And sill the wedding gown lay in the
next room, and the lamp burned down
stairs, and the wind rattledr.at the locks,
and still the earth and sky were blank.
At last the thav commenced slowly to
work. Lite began to appear, and passages
We're cleared here and there. And one or
two, Of those. kind Christians, the poor,
found Elsie's mother grave. And after
that was done, Elsie. shuaning. the gar
nishcd parlor and the lorn bedroom, ctept
into the kitchen and laid her head on Bah
knees, .. ..ss..tt {a%. ., g."
Late in the evening she ,roused herself
and asked if it was not Christmas Eve
Yes. it was the eve Of her wedding day.
'.Then, Bab." she sniQ 1--WE must have
every thing ready Mr.. No'.b will be here
to- night IL, !t::z T;:z ':4A. ~: .4g.: ...."
-. Bah shook her read. ':No, no, Miss
Elsie. The than # has doMc something,
but not so much As that: It's dark al.
ready, and n. human beio' could know
his way from the. moor bcrcnd where tho
roads cross. He'd most likely take :ht
one that goes QUITO the Black Crags, and
if he did he'd 60 down hcadlong as sure
as heaven and .ear,h.''
|'.> El*ie sn: ',h straight and stared atthe
old woman and then put up her hand tt
her head as il; TO collect her poor shattered
wits
Some one, must co. she said, "aut
watch on the moor hll night, to show him
! the way when he cores. He will be there
as sure As God is above us. feel it, Bah
know it.! Can not some one go:',,
ooh, no, no, Miss Elsie y, cried Bah
w.inging her hands at her young m: stress:
white distrang1t face;: ....no one conl,
stay there The night through, hid be foun
dered dead before mornin'.' .,,..
"You are sure of 1t? Ask some one
must know. "''"''
| Bah went to inquire, and came back. l
was as she had said; no one dared ven
turc to pass night on the moor TIL
snow might come on again at any mo
mcnt -.
Then God; help mc!'' ,noancd Elsie
as she crept from the kitchen and felt he
way up stairs in the dark She went int,
her own room, where the wedding gov,
still lay. and she could see from the win
dow that line of moor where the road
met. There, with hands locked in he
LAP, and strained eyes fixed on the dis
tance, and white cheek close to the pans
she sat. The sky had cleared little, an
the moon had ventured out, looking pal
and meek, as if she. 100, had had he
troubles and wept away all her bright
ness. -. ..,..... :. ::
Twelve o'clock struck and Dab, VIII
had vainly tried to move her mistress, hae
perforce laid her own weary old head 0,
a bed in the room off Elsie's and falle
asleep One o'clock, and the night ha
frightened, and the moon shone clear an
brilliant on the white ridges and levels q
mountains and valleys; Two; and. still E]
sic sat fixed, and nothing had changed
rhteea end the moon began to sink ava
among cloud.atift. low op the hills: . 49,"
Four struck in the hall, and the SCUM
reused Elsie from n state of numbnes
like sturor into which she had fallen
Was it the shock that made her start t
her feet. and, with bent brows and strain
ed eycs,> gaze toward the moor, whilst a]
her frame shook with the agony of sus
pense? Was it fate thai pointed to her
black something moving in the dim dis
tanee like one riding on with difficulty
Another instant and the window is fun
open and head and shoulders are thrus
out. A low groan, "My God !' burst
from her as the shadow seems TO paus
and then move away into that dim dis
tancs. Fleet as thought she has left tn
window, dashed from the room, md i
gone. IL ..s4&5:5s. f ti*as.sle&- = S,t@ 1.:"'
Till her death poor old Bah remember
ed with renlorse how heavily she slep
that night, till she seemed to dream tha
Miss Etsis2s tienre. flashed pas, her through