The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-09-04
p 81 a. From the Galaxy.
Aunt Madeline's Cross. ,

Uncle Fred, promising member of
the society Of Friends, had d Keen eye
for beauty. While admitting that
drab was a sign of renunciat ton of the
worlds vanities, delicate shades and
warm. rich colors had "a peculiar
charm for him. =. .ls ~ 4
This was why his heart gave such a
leap when he first saw Madeline. West,
the school teacher The delegate pink
of her cheeks, thrown into relief by
her luxuriant tresses of jet,pln which
glowed the brilliant scarlet OF the ear 2
dinal flower, the .,gracefulnack,7 with
the how.of cherry ribbon at .hertl1roat,,
formed q pietnte salch asIte captiyatel
the fancy, of UneteI FRED . and hnfQwl
Deborah RhoadeS and her prime poke
of bdbieA4gE IldkT uEL tHT
Cousin PATIENCE, "a consIt' bff moth,
rimoniaI Affairs Of her e own & engage
her attention, and being, past the age
when such things could :reas nably,bef
expected, naturally took liyelyinterest
In the9 pfphersS ah dpfeu aaelaredl
that,she had looked the meeting over
and she didp't knqM Of z 2 more suitable e,
borah Rhpdes. q "a g 3 : ss 1s.fi bu qo1
ia TRUTH Deborah was looked uponi
as meiaber, pf great prominence.
She dtaken, to, wear caps almost as
plain as grandma theirs. and had sew
eraf times been appointed on commit
tees and as representative 70 the
higher meeting .fnsnijnl>i ,t.suI
Uncle Fred was carpenter, and my
widowed mother nd myself, her only
child, lived with hi4a and gfa ndmot tn
er on The OLA holhestead. Z went to-
school to Madeline West, apd q gem of
a tea9 her she was. too. How we all
loved her, and were forever praising
as-hene.--f-sm NOT sure that my
enthusiastic Te1fcp miuIds. did not first
draw Uncle Fred 8 attention, to Der. q,
! One thing lisbon ileafned,h that she
became wonderfully patient about lit
tie acoidentssto thes house and aurni-E
ture, after Uncle Fred made it point
of duty to attend toothe repairs, al
.From the bottom of nay. hearth be-
ieve9 that this conscientious, sdrab-i
suited man . broke the windows and
latches of that schoolhouse himself, on
purpeseste haSeith pleasure of repair
King them ~ ith pre- tty Ma define W est
to, look .atnthe 'whileg !iaai 40 a.Fia
was my uncle own niece In one
thing. I fixed beauty and Deborah
Rhoades squfnted.i Often and of1en,ia
ssscho5pshave z lifted my aeyes from my
book, aid gazedo with delight on, the
beautiful tace Of, Madeline. West. the
small, deer-like head crowned with
wreath of, par tridge- berries orosome
brilliant wild flower, and wondered
howoUnele Fred could think for mo-
ment of squirting Deborah Rhea6s., ~
One day | was studying my lessons
in the dining-room when / heard
voices under the window. Mother
said something which, I did not under
stand, aud Uncle Fred replied with
earnestness!ire E-y for
Il tell thee, Catherine, Madeline
West is the best girl in the whole
world"
Then I'd marry her for all any
thing, returned mother, with heart
mess to which | wanted to shout
What figures glow upon the open
page before me Words might have
been there, but [ saw them not. 1
saw grave, earnest face, the large
blue eyes lit with a tender light;
saw a sweet, girlish face radiant with
happiness, brown locks mingled with
jetty curls, and | actually cried for
low III al rsf-'i.in : - - - .
They thought mother and grand
mother-that they kept things won
derfully secret from me. and talked in
half eDlgnas, glancing at me- 81 tting
quietly at my book, or knitting Twas,
|. aslittle indignant at being excluded
from their confidence but c0nsoling
myself with the thoughtthat l already
knew more about thematter than they
| suspected, i was all. the more. on the
alert to find out what / could without
betraying myself to them. ~. 81 Il
Deborah Rhoades will make a
promising Friend" said grandmother
one day. after returning from Thurs.
day meeting "She spoke to business
to-day In. a master way. "u Lea 2f-1 sou
I'm glad to hear it, !" replied Uncle.
Fred, indlferentiy ri.',t III :, ,s.S
She iInpl ives very much,' resumed
grandmother >" / shouldn't wonder if
| she should appear In public. She has
seemed quite exercised in our religious
meeting lately" -osI els a2sfaii-.sf. 2 -
''She has extraOrdinafy2 gifts, I said
tartly. vo,xx.zsssg.4 Nv a-z.hq9
''Indead. Sihass thee perceived it?"'
askedsinaecent grant mothef!. ra 1W What
gifts has thee pefeeived?,..A 81 sta
THAT afsqainting and making Her
self otherwise 'disagreeab le,,.'s Ireplied
boldly. 30. q
Uncle Fred laughed quietly I was
victor in what | had begun to fear a
doubtful conflict.
"Reallu child plsaia ndmnther