The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-12-12

| MY May Will never KISS papa again, lear,
murmured the sorrowful woman, soothing the
child in her arms.
That night of long Intense agony. That
watching for the morningl When it came
that pale, haggard face, that looked out from
/ the window, SO tearless-so stony-yet so aw-
fully grief struck fte..... ....t,
| A violent fever succeeding, prostrated the
mother and when she arose from the brink of
the grave, they dared not tell her till months
of c0nvalescence had established her health
again. that two weeks after Henry Remington
left his home, bloated and disfgnred body,
supposed to be his, though there were but few
marks of recognition on the corpse, was found
| in the river. 1A as 1.afa wig 5ats7 -
Even then, as she learned the sad truth,
reason almost fed, and from that hour Helen
Remington was changed roman. Gather
ing her household treasures, she sold the pret-
/ ty tenement that was her own, gift from her
father, and bought very small cottage with
| few humble rooms. Thither she moved
with her little daughter, whose artIess prattle
about papa stung her poor heart sometime.
almost to madness. Relatives and friends of.
fered her home, but though most keenly
sensible OF their kindness, she refused them all.
She wished no eye but that of God to be wit
ness of her daily grief, and thus chose life of
independence, embittered though it would ev-
| er be by remorse. st'ss o'tt3ADe &
Ten years passed by, and yet Helen Reming-
| ton lived in her desolate home with her daugh-
ter, a mourning and sorrowful woman, bearing
about her the consciousness that her passion
ate words, her want of Christ-like forbear-
| ance, had sent a soul unprepared into eterni-
| ty. She still dressed in deep mourning, and
those who saw her said that such sorrow must
be genuine, for her dark eye was sunken and
/ dim, and the hair, though yet abundant, was
mixed with threads of silver. -
10 s~~xa - II
tended the village academy. 1t was long
distance from her home; but one day she re-
| turned with her face flushed more than usual,
and standing in front of her fathers portrait,
she exclaimed,
30! how like it.wasw or 81
| 'What are you speaking of, Ella ?" asked her
mother. -. -. .tIs...
GAS was coming home, mother, saw
! gentleman who looked so much like poor faith
er. And he kept his eyes onme till had pass
ed him." 80 'i7hG % lsz 10
'.Who could il be, 1 wonder9l Where did
you see him, Ella ?" ,f .... -.ti-+
AT the corner OF the avenue, opposite our
academy. He was in a carriage, and the horses
there were two-stood quite still, as they
had been standing a long while. He looked at
all the girls as they came out, but at me, fan
cied, more than the rest" "a
"It was only your imagination, my dear"
said her mother quietly, though her heart was
strangely stirred. a
"But, indeed, mother, he looked so much
like fathers portrait-you can't think how ex-
act it was like! only he was more portly, and
not as fair. But he had the same color in his
cheek" s sr.os7 .lff II ss.e.f5 = .er-is "
Helen Remington's heart beat faster-but it
was not because of hopes or fears. No-the
never-to- be-tOrgotten scene of that last night
came up so vividly before her, that low cry of
anu1ich hor lir,c nd cha 1r,r~ ~snJ
the room.
The next day Ella came home with new
story. The stranger, who was so like her IA
ther, had visited the school, and conversed
with the teacher, who, at his request, had sent
home small sealed note by her. Ella was
very pale, and trembled as her mother opened
the mystic paper. No sooner had Mrs. Rem
ington glanced at the handwriting than all
consciousness left her, and she fell back in a
fainting fit Ella, frightened, and unknowing
what course to pursue, ran for the nearest
neighbor, and in short time her mothers
room was filled with sympathizing though in
| considerate friends.
"The paper, child, the note," were the first
words the mother uttered, when she came to
consciousness. BLESSED Dote-heis not dead,
then. / did not kill him. I am not muir
derer. See-here is his own hand writing ?"
"MY DEAR WIFE-I am no longer drunk
ard-will you receive me back to your love,
now that havehconquered myself? Most
humbly do ask this boon, conscious that I
do not deserve it-but promise that, in time
to come, win be faithful, loving, temperate
husband to you, God helping me.Da ~ ar.
At that moment the door-bell rang. Ella
ran into the room where her pale mother sat.
There were tears on her cheeks as she cried,
"Mother-he has come-my father, whom
We all thought dead-he wants to see you."
Leaning on the arm of her daughter, the re-
pentant long suffering wife tottered down the
stairs; he heard the step-sprang Impatiently
forth-and wife and daughter were claSped to
his bosom. ssr n So, - ~,
"Have you forgiven me ?" was the sobbing
question. sent you from me with cruel words
10 Christian should utter. OF my husbandi
that this has resulted in mercy, is of Gods
most loving kindness alone. / have died
| thousand deaths since / thought we buried
you after the waves had given you up. Can
4 you ever forget my cruel, unchristian words ?"
"Freely, dear Helen, and only wonder how
it was possible you bore with me so long,
Most freely, since it has led to my reformation.
God be praised-I am slave no longer. You
need never fear that shall fall again into that
| accarsed sin-for have, as I trust, placed my
/ self under powerful Protector-even under
the care and guardianship of our Lord Jesus
Christ" @R
"But where have you been all this time, fa-
ther?' asked Ella, her gentle eyes shining with
happiness. b. -g5-l ~,
In a foreign land. In the first heat of re-
sentiment, walked to the city. / did not
reach it till near morning, and there finding an
old sea captain, friend OF mine, ready to sail
to China, 1 recklessly took passage with him,
as he had often importuned me to do. Once
out upon the great ocean, leaving home as 1
thought forever, reason came to me. / began
to reflect upon my past life, and / could see
nothing but crime against society, my wife and
family, and my God. There made resolve,
| that with help from on high, would become
the man you once thought me, Helen-that /
would never return till had conquered my
self. Many dangers awaited me, but passed
through them all. went to the golden coun-
try, and while there alone, wretched, sick, and
miserable, found the great gift that has
made me what am-the gift OF redemption
through our Saviour Now, will make home
happy. Here will l erect an altar of praise
and thanksgiving to Him who has so wonder
fully kept and returned me to you." 80
The whole village was in an uproar as the
news spread. Countless conjectures arose as
| to whose was the body they had found, but
tie indentity was never established. Henry
Remington was welcomed as one from the
| dead. isd & e
So flowers blossomed once again along the
path of her who had been that most unfortu-
nate of all beings-a drunkard's wife.-Watch-
man and Reflector.