Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-10-10

k69t ueTaeiI.
II was terrible discovery. There was no
house for miles. II was nearly dark. Those
at home could no, guess her whereabouts.
and would, perhaps, conclude that she had
been detained for the night ut her cousins,
where she of,ened visited.
Nothing seemed mors likely than that
she was doomed to perish in the noun
tains.
Jsesis loved life, and death seemed terri
BILE to contemplate. visrOns Of her grand
parsu,'s Grief. and Of the sorrow Of GER
tain Malcolm Maxwell, who had broken six.
pence with her only q week before, arose
bsforc her mind She drew her half Of the
sispsncs from her boeom where il hung
from blue ribon, and kissed It fsadly.
''Some thor lass msna BE- ysur wife, NAL
colm," she sebbsd. "I'll never - dawn.
I'm freezing Aow," cad then she sts ugslsd
With her la4o again, and Sssght her way
through the snow, Sov thick and white, un-
til unable to 60 further, she sunk down b.
meath On overhanging OAK. Then, knowing
oil WAS over. che began TO pray-no. for
life. but for her seul.
Suddenly . hand touched her on the
shoulder. She looked up with low cry
and saw . woman near her--a tall pale.
woman, with very beautiful face, and the
PECULIARLY which black eyes and golden
hair give to . woman's face. She wore .
white dress and . plain kerchief, and on her
bosom hung . little ruby heart by golden
chain.
She said no word to Jessie, but - she
touched her. the girl fslt new strength 10.
fused into her frame.
Unresistingly she gave her hand to the
woman, who strangely enough. was Visible
amid the obscurity Of surrounding objects,
and conscious only Of strange electric
shocks running Through her fingers. ahs
was led on over the bleak roads, through
morrow passes, and down almost psrpsndic-
ular dsclivitiss, until below her shons the
red lights Of the farm -houss. and she heard
her grandmsthsr's voice calling to the msn
in the barnyard. Then the weinsn dropped
her hand, raised her own ~ In blessing,
smiled, end vas gons-Whsrs Or how, Jessie
never knew.
| 4 lev steps more and home vas reached
and she fell into her old grandmothsr'a
asms.
For some days she vas vsrv III and
unable to talk much. An that she would
tell was that she had been lost in til
snow, and had bsen very much fFightsn
ed +; but - she grew better. the remsa
brance Of her singular guide haunted her
Either the cold hand he'd some strang,
effect upon her hands, or those Of til,
woman wess not flesh and blood, but Q
so01 strange electrical substancs sut
then. how could she walk in pure white
and uncovered, through The storm. ha.
she been an actual woman Al last Oh
said 10 her srandmothss-
"Granny, do you ken . woman, no
mach older than l, VII black eyes AMI
golden hair. and the skin like some whit
lily, wi . dimpls in one cheek, and d
her neck . chain with Z red hssst :"
The old woman clasped her hands.
"Ye canns Ken your mithsr, for Oh
died whom - were born" she said 'bu
10 she lookt, and rsmsobes when you
father brought her homo, seeipg her stan
where you stand now, in . white dresi
wi tho Campbell tartan in her banker
chief, and little hssst like . drop @
fluid at her throat )" and then, with
strange, solemn terror upon her, Jessi
kneit at her grandmother's knee and toll
ell.
ways believed that Jessie Glsnburn'
mother had left heaven to guide he
through that bitter storm upon that blea
hillside, and from that time Jessie fsl
, sure that "twa punds' had saved Jca
Z M'Comb and her BARN.
And at last, when ye % had gone By
and pretty Jessie had become matror
aud dwelt with her husband in her ow
home, and long after the good old folk
Z we're at rest forever, one day . tall, darl
well-dressed woman, with youth BY hi
. side, stopped at the farm house doc
and asked for Mrs. MAXWELL. Coming I
9 it, Jessie saw Jean once more-Jsan 90
+ her son almost man. And the two W
. men wspt Ia each others arms. and Jea
told how she had been blessed, and ho'
! those two pounds had kept her until sh
: had work to do, and how she had been "a
y years housskseper for two old people VIII
q dying, had left her we'll of for life an
how, for all this, next to God, she thanke
. Jessie, and had taught her boy to than
y her oil his life. Then when the day Va
fast departing she took her departure. fri
putting in Jsssie's hand little package.
y II can ne'er pay the debt" she said
"but lot me just gle back the siller - nm
y Jessie took it, for Jean was rich now, an
10 she was not.
> And when, on opening tho package, ST
= found not two pounds, but twenty, Jess
money, AZ though it had been blessed, SOY
), cd the seed for future prosperity in Aaleo
q Maxwcl's household.