The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-09-05
From the Galaxy.
, Aunt Madeline'S Cross.


+ head now, the bright Autump leaves
! on the wall of the stiff, bare looking
parlor had been commented on. as an
evidence of the perishing nature OF
worldly tflfngs, aud Aunt Madeline
removed them, while the poor, inno-
cent man, ignorant of the pain he had
gixen his wife, saeverGneticed the
change. In thousand trivial acts he
made her sensible of the want of uni
son between them; yet no lover Of
twenty could be- meserattsntive. He
saw her cheek fade, and he proposed
q Eisit TO the next yearly meetins, hnd
hired more help IN the house lie
ped a shawl around her when, the
| weat her was damp be, spent sleepless
| nights In devlsiDg means to make her
look as sheYused pin past years, and
groaned in spirit as he thought of the
bpieture1of the evening owhen9ehe sur
prised Uncle Fred at Play With his
children. And yet it aneyer eccurreH-
toShim q that he had dchilledIthe spirit
PwhiehTlit up her face aof Old She
knew he loved her and. was grateful
for bis care ;obut the cold gray of his,
life settled slowly over hers, and all
Pits swarm, rich coloring faded gradual
/ tyiaWay.f 5g1asss99aun 81 mSsb 81 bnA
But daughter was born, and the
mothers heart grew young, again.
UncIse J dseph loo ked with puzzled de-
light, upon the. babe, and hisyheart
went out with deeper affection to the
fatherless boys, towards whom he had
certainly performed parents duty,
if heshad a0t-giyens them eparent's
love.
Nv Aunt madeline desired to call the
Observation-Disclosures epf, who
had been much exsrcEed in regagd to
her avn name, and wished it had been
Martha, made serious objections, and
proposed to substitute Eunice, the
name of his mother, "a weighty
Friend !" as he expressed ut, and an
occasional speaker ID meeting. Aunt
Madeline sighed and yielded the point,
and the child was named for it's worthy
grandmother. h., s.,..a, ~, (
La few months a heavy sorrow fell
upon Aunt Madeline. Fred, her
eldest born, the first fair child that
woke the mother-love her heart.
the, ina &c of his father vand her idol,
-sicRehed .aSlnd died. It was terrible
blow to the poor mother, and she
almost sunk under it. There was one
peculiar trial which,bere lheayilyiupon
With their deep-seated dislike to
the pomps and vanities of the world.
and as a sign that they. bore their tes-
timony against such things, Friends
had gone to the other extreme in re-
gard to the burial of their dead, and
the6grayes of the best beloved were
intnarke ed and weedgrown. A little
more leniency had been exercised of
late by the more liberal members, and
small, plain stones had been permit
ted. fSucha stoAe marked The grave
of Uncle Fred. No weeds we're there,
but myrtle marked the spot, and a
white rose grew at the head. Aunt
Madeline wish ed a similar sstone at
the grave of her son; but Uncle
Joseph could see no reason why we
should cling to the cast-off tabernacle.
when the spirit had gone to that bet
ter land, where feshly wants and
feshly feelings we're unknown. That
was IN end of the, matter Aunt Mad
cline watered the grave of her first
born with her tears, pressed her cheek
against the cold stone, that bore the
name of her buried love, and wept
with an agony the more intense from
its very powerlessness. She went
about her daily duties, her eye little
more dim. her cheek little thinner,
her step less elastic, while Uncle
Joseph Looked on with a pang at his
heart, and redoubled his kindness to
the wife who was his idol
eInythe glorious October days, with
their golden sunshine and gorgeous
forests, .the4peacefuf haze, toning wood
and sky, and settling like balm over
the mother !. spirit another daughter
was born. Uncle Joseph looked at
the pale mot Their D nd pf6pesedEto call
the babe Alice A flush suffused the
face of Aunt Madeline she pressed |
his hand and lay perfectly quiet the
greats tears rolled down her cheeks. |
UheleaJ Joseph cleared his throat with |
SO loud az Hemtss that Cousin Patti
,ence ordered him out of the room.
But Aunt Madeline clasped his hand !
more shrmly, and he remained He
wiped his eyes with the corner OF, hiisslIl
red still hand kerchief, "a nd eommun eaIt
with him elf oiu perfect silence Tihpaett
great. loving, laundering heart heeanil
to preceIye 1T had made a mistake |
;29mew here, and was blindlz-gEopias
I Eunlce Wa tsF1f stlhF & ron 81 n tern
the quaintest, prlnIIl.s.t oiJor. 49,
thing that ever lived. cise oi5J9. ilt'ie
among her. first words; wore drsi1f a. |
a mouse does its fur; went to meeting
with her father, and sat the silent
hour and half with her grave, blue
eyes never winking, but rowing sedate-
" from one to another Of theasilent