The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-05-31
The Angels.
BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.

Whenever a good child dies, an angel from
heaven comes down to earth and takes the dead
child in his arms, spreads out his great white
wings, and flies away over all the places the child
has loved, and picks quite handful Of flowers
| which he carries up 10 the Almighty that they
may bloom more brightly than on earth, and the
Father presses all the flowers to his heart; but
| he kisses the flower that pleases him best, and
| the flower is then endowed with voice, and can
| join in the great chorus of praise
| See This is what an angel said. as he car
| ried dead child up to heaven, and the child
heard. as if in dream and they went on over the
| regions of home where the child had played, and
came through gardens with beautiful towers
(which of all these shall we take with us to plant
| in heayen?" asked the angel.
Now, there stood near them slender, beauti-
| full rose bush; but wicked hand had broken off
the stem, SO that all the branches, covered with
half-opened buds, were hanging around, quite
| withered.
"The poor rose bush ~ said the child. "Take
| il, that il may bloom up yonder."
And the angel took il, and kissed the child, and
the little one half opened his eyes. They pucked
some of the rich flowers, but also took with them
the wild pansy and the despised butter cup.
"Now we have flowers" said the child.
And the angel nodded, bat did not fly upward
TO heaven. 1t was night and quite silent. They
remained in the great city; they loated about
there in small street, where lay whole heaps of
straw. ashes and sweepngs, for II had been reno
val day. There lay fragments of plates, bits of
plaster rags and old hats and all this did not look
well. And the angel pointed amid all this confu-
sion, to few fragments of fower-pot and to a
lump Of earth which had fallen out and which
was kept together by the roots of great dried
feld.aower, which was Of no use, and had there
fore been thrown into the streets.
1--WE will take that with u.s." said the angel.
81 will tell you why as we fly onward"
"Down yonder, In the narrow lane, lived a
poor sick boy; from his childhood he had been
bedridden. When he was az his best he could 20
up and down the room few times, leaning on
clutches; that was the utmost he could do. For
few days in summer the sunbesms would pene-
trate few hours to the floor Of his room, and
when the boy sat there, and the sun shone upon
him, and he looked at the red blood in his little
fingers, he would say, yes, to-day he has been
OUT! He knew the forest, with its beautiful
vernal green, only from the fact that the neigh.
boris son brought him the first green branch of a
beech tree, and he held that over his head and
dreamed he was in the beech wood where the
sun shone and the birds sang. Ona spring day the
neighbours boy brought him also field 10 wers and
among them was, by chance, one to which the
root was still hanging; and so it was
planted in flower pot, and placed by the
bed, close TO the window. And the flower had
been planted by fortunate hand and il grew
threw out new shoots, and bore flowers every
year. II became a splendid fower-gardeu to the
sckly boy-his httis treasure here on earth. He
watered it, and tended it, and took care that it
had the benefit Of every ray of sunlight, down to
window and the flower itself was woven into
dreams, for it grew for him and gladdened his
eyes, and spread its fragrance about him and
toward it he turned in death, when the Father
called him. He has now been with the Almighty
for year; for year the flower has stood for
gotten in the window. and is withered and thus
at the removal has been thrown out into the dust
of the street. And this is the poor flower which
we have taken into our nosegsy; for this flower
has given more joy than the richest in queens
gsrden.n
"But how do you know all this'" asked the
child.
al know it," said the angel. " for myself was
that boy who walked on crutches know my
flower WE'LL"
And the child opened his eyes and looked into
the glorious, happy face OF the angel, and at the
same moment they entered the regions where
there is peace and joy. And the father pressed
the dead child to his bosom, and then it received
wings like the angel, and few hand in hand with
him. And the Almighty kissed the dry, wthered
field flower, and it received a voice and sang with
all the angels lowering around-some near and
some in wider circles, and some in infinite dis
lance, but all equally happy. And they all sang
little and great, the good and happy child, and
the poor field flower that had lain there withered,
thrown among the dust, in the rubbish of the re-
movsl. in the dark narrow lane.