The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1868-05-22
BDDEFoRD ME-. FRIDAY MORNING, MAY %, 1868.

cousin Sally. and Mr.. Cartwright though'
Of his debt to his friend, and Of that iricnd
anger nn,l alienation. Both felt more un'
comfortable than they had been for 'ons
time. r.'
On the next day cousin Sally arrived
She had not come to spy out the nakedness
Of the lanh-not for the purpose Of making
contracts between her own condition In lite
and that Of SIR. Cartwright-but from pure
love. She had always been warmly at'
taclicd to her cousin; and tho years during
which new lfe.associations had separated
them had increased rather than diminished
this attachment Bur the gladness Of their
meeting was soon overshadowed nt lens'
for cousin Sally. She saw by the end OF
the first days visit, thnt her cousin was
more concerned 10 make a good appear
ance in her eyes s-io have her understnnd
that she and her husband were getting
ulong bravely IN the world-,han TO open
her heart TO her as Of old. and exchange
with her few pages in the history Of their
inner lives. What interest had she In the
new carpet, or tho curtainless window,
that seemed to be the most prominent Of
oil things in the mind Of her relative
None whatever! lf tho visit had been
from Mary Cartwright to herself. she would
never have thought, for an instant, Of max.
ing preparations for her coming In the pur.
chase Of new furniture, or by any change
in the externals Of her home. All arrange
mcn,s for The reception would have been in
her heart.
Cousin Sally was disappointed. She did
not find the relative, with whom SO many
years of her life had been spent in sweet
intercourse, as she hoped TO find her. The
girlish warmth Of feeling had given place
to cold worldlincss, that repelled instead
Of attracting her. She had loved and suf.
fercd much (; Ind passed through many
trials, and entered through many opening
doors into new experiences, during the
years since their ways parted and she had
como to this old, dear friend, ycarning for
that heart intercourse-ihat reading togeth-
er Of some of tho pages Of their hooks Of
life; which she felt almost as o necessity.
What interest had she for the nero exter
mails Of Aiary's life |? None None And
the constant reference thereto, by her
cousin, seemed like a desecration. Careful
aud troubled about the little things Of life,
she found the dear oil friend Of her girlish
days, 10 whom she had come hopefully, rs
to one who could comprehend, as In earli
er years, the feelings. thoughts and aspira.
tions, which had grown stronger, deeper,
and Of wider range. % ''i n'.r ..'.''.
Alas ! alas How has the fine gold dim.
med IN her eyes! ...----s
"Dcar Mary" she said to her cousin, on
the morning Of the day that was to end her
visit-,hey were sitting together In the little
parlor, and Mrs Cartwright had referred for
the for1ieth time, to tho unshaded windows,
and declared herself mortified to death Mt
the appearance of things-"Dear Mary!
It was to see you, not your furniture, that |
came. TO look into your heart, and feel il
beating against mine as Of old; not to pry
curiously into your ways Of living, nor to
compare your house.luriiisling with my
own. But for your constant reference 10
these things, ! should not have noticed par.
iicularly how your house was atiired; and
il asked about them, could only have an.
swered- She's living very nicely For.
give me for this plain speech, deur cousin T!
! did not mean to give utterance to such
language; but the words are spoken, now,
and canno, be recalled"
Mrs. Cartwright, if not really offended,
was mortified and rebuked; and these stat
ues of feeling, united with pride, served TO
give coldncss to her exterior. She tried to
bc cor,lal in manner towards her cousin
to seem as if she had not felt her words (;
bu, this was impossible, for she had felt
them too deeply. She saw that the cher.
ished friend aud companion Of her girlhood
was disappointed in her; that she had
come to look into her heart, aud not into
the aitlring of her home; and was going
away with diminished affection. Alter
years Of divergence, their paths had touch.
ed and, separating once more, she felt
that they would never run parallel again.
A few hous later, cousin Sally gave her
n parting kiss. How different in warmth
to the kiss Of meeting! Very sad, very
dissatisfied with herself very unhappy dill
Mrs. Cartwright feel, az she sat mlsing
alone afler her relative hod departed. Sho
was conscious Of having lost friend for
ever, because she had'not risen to tho iiyII
er level to which That friend had attained
not IN external. but in true internal lie.
but sharper modification was in store
for her. The letter other husband s friend,
in which ho had returned the duo bill for
ono hundred dollars, fell accidentally into
her hands, aud overwhelmed her with con-
For That new carpet, which
had failed to win moro tl'an few eItored
sentences Of praise from cousin Sally Gray,
her husband had lost the esteem of one Of
his Oldest aud best friends. and was now
suffering, IN silence, the most painful trial
OF his life.
Poor, weak woman! Instead Of the
pleasure she had hoped to galn IN tic pos
session Of this carpet, i.had made her COM
pletely wretched. While sitting almost
stupcfied with the pressure that was on her
feelings neighbor called in and she went
down to the psrlor to meet her. s-t
uyVbst m lovely cnyncsiv ,.,d ,,,o ,.;Vh.