The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1866-01-31


"Have your own way, Eunice; she is
good girl"
Oh, but it is sweet to have the first Low
crowned by a parents blessing.
i Well, with joy comes sorrow. A montl
after that day Willie's mother died. Sh
dropped from her chair at the dinner ia
Bile, and when the servant had sped owe
the country and back with the doctor ,sh
was dead. l wept as I stood near tn
grave and saw Will so sad, dressed for tn
first time in his mourning, and l had NOR
reason to weep than | knew; for Sabrin
Haslet was mistress at the Hall, and al
along. in secret she had sset her heart il
deposition to her brothers match with
me.
/ As soon as propriety would admit sh,
began to fill the house with company
young ladies nearly all; handsome, fash
Iionable, dressed in fnery aud jewels, ant
Will must play the part of host and maxi
them welcome, He told me so. "Thougl
I'd rather be with my Quaker beauty OF
the river side, I" he said; "but Sabrin;
wants company to keepher spirits up"
| had guessed that she meant to wir
him from me, but he never told me So
True love needs no chain, I thought and
for while he was my own Willie all the
same. But at last there came to'the Hall
the handsomest lady of all, Miss Dorcas
Oakley. She staid long, long while, and
there was dancing in the evening and ri,
ding all day, she rode beautifully, and
always with Willie, | Thought to myself
over aud oyer,again, "Does she know il
is my love she is riding with as though il
was hers?'.
Then the jealousy began to grow in my
heart. Yet ..all the time he told me il
was fashion and courtesy, and kept me
quiet while he was by He would have
had me at the Hall often also, but Sabri-
ma sent no message, She was the mistress
of the house, and would not go there
without her invitation. So pined and
grew thin, and mother thought me i'll. So
was of heart, but not of body. And
when she talked about my wedding day
my blood would boil, and I'd say between
my clenched teeth:
"No, I'llneyer marry any one who weds
me because he's bound to me, and not
from love.
One night stood by the garden palings
and looked at the stars, and as l stood
there woman in a hood came over the
fields and stood beside me, It was Miss
Sabrina Haslet | started as if l had
been shot; and she took off her hood, for
it was warm, and looked hard at me.
"What kind of a girl are you?" she
said.
"What kind of one are your" said I
"Not civil one to speak in that way"
Said she: 'What l want to know is
this--are you the person to hold my
brother to foolish bond, or let him free
when he begins to struggle. You caught
him cleverly; and though his heart has
slipped through your fingers, you may be
mistress of the Hall yet, Isuppose. viii
your =
"With his heart gone from me?' I cried
"Has he told you it is gomez" p
"He'd die first" said Miss Sabrina.
"His honor would not let him break troth
with you. But see how he loves Miss
Dorcas Oakley, and she is a match for
him in rank, and wealth, and beauty
People are talking Of it, and pitying
him. o8 =
t'They shall pity him no more" I said
',What is the Hall to me? twas for my
Willie's love that ], cared. Tell him he
is free. -
"You must tell him yourself, said she.
"If you care to see him happy, open bis
cage" and she tied on her hood and sped
away.
That night there went note to Will
lie.
"MR. WM. HAzLEr: I've thoughta long,
long while that the bond between US was
best broken, ! feel sure of it now. 1t
will be better that we do not meet again;
and in this send back your ring. May
good fortune and happiness attend you.
And with this wish L sign myself i
,a HANNAH FANTHoRN.
This I wrote with a heart torn and rent
as never flesh could be; and it was sent;
and though he came to the farm I would
not see him, and all was over between
us. i4 el ~
| waited only to hear that he was be-
trothed to Miss Oakley Instead of that
I heard week after that he had left the
country. Where he had gone, and why,
no one knew. When9I felt sure that Miss
Oakley could be nothing to- him, or at
least they were not married, my heart
smote me little, and / wondered whether
| should not have put down my pride a
bit, and have heard him speak for him
self
Miss Sabrina Haslet did not marry
The wedding was put off, first by her
mothers death, and then by her fathers
six months after, and then folks said there
was a quarrel. But be it as it nay, he
who was to have been her husband, mar
ried instead that same Dorcas Oakley.
Other suitors came, no doubt, for Miss
Sabriha was both handsome and rich, but
she liked none Of them, and lived on in
the Hall quite alone but for the servants.
By and by she saw no company, and shut
up half of the house, and seemed more
lone and wretched than many a poor wo-
man. All her beauty had left her, too,
and she grew to be sharp, sour spinster,
always dressed in black-she who had
been both belle and beauty.
lived on at home. Ellis married and
so did Barzallia. The years did not seem
to give gray hair to my mother, nor a
wrinkle to my father. They were too