The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1869-06-10
,oWHOLEsNO.. SO SO

lLWas uone IN q mOment.
a,iword could pass her
lipsn size. .wasnl lifted likela great
featheE into the air, and float
ing side by side with the ghost.
Out of the open window into
the night they swenb and cast
ing a backward glance, she. still
saw little Meg sleeping. in quiet
peaeergiio 5lsaaG-usGi doii,
The lamps were burning in
the streets, and people were
passing to and fro, women
chatting gaily and children
shouting at their sports. She
and her companion passed un7
needed and unseen above them
LrI.. OH. IT.. frH HN.iN INHfIa y
all, for it seems that they were
both invested with an invisi,
bility as to all other eyes than
hers, On they flew, through
streets brilliant with light and
Z = r. E
life; through alleys dark and
desolate. BY gay saloons ech-
Ding with song and laughter;
past homes darkened by death.
Over the canal lying placid
and still; over, the brook, murs
muring and complaining-and
here they were in tho open
country. ... ,. .t..
Behind was the city, one
great light, and around were
the fields SO silent and dark.
She was not amazed when
the white, monuments of the
cemetery appealed to view, fol
whittier could the dead be ten.
ding, if not to the abode of the
dead? .r
The tall slabs, the. evergreen
trees, the waving willows, the
ponderous vaults, all bore a
familiar appearance as she ap-
preached, for she had spent the
day just ended among them
There was the solemn, awful
stiffness of the grave, and the
dreadful loneliness of deaths
presence, but she had lost al
fear, and felt instead an earn
est longing for the lesson she
should receive. She bent ar
inquiring look upon the ghost
and his answer came in tn,
same sepulchral voice: e.
@To the decoration Of sol
diers' graves" =" u
O Almost as he spoke d the.
stood in the midst of the same
graves that had been strewI
with wreathes and flowers, all
lying in darkness. IN a mo
ment the rising moon shot hi
rays among them, and her eye
hastily sought the oneCwhicl
the Presence at her side ha,
deserted so untimely. Their
it lay, but behold her wreat.
was gone, and in its place sat
young woman's figure, ,bibowe
down with grief and weeping
Two feeble children clung t
her side and hid their faces j
her dress.
The Ghost did not whisperi
but something told her fror
her heart that there was poo
Bob's widow, and, these. he
children. She cast her eye
about and saw, many a gray
decorated in a like manner
On some were women wit
many children, on Others wer
lone women with none.
On one were three ragge
little girls, on another an oil
woman with thin, white hal
and all wore tattered garment
Not a wreath, not an archn nc
a. flower to be seen; only thes
poor mortals in their rag
they did not speak or utter
sound, but their haggard face
and their patches, "poor dunn
mouths" spoke more thal
words could tell.
Mrs. Gordon guessed the sa'
history of every one,. and wit
a glance at the Ghost told hin
so. He gazed in sorrow a lonI
time at the decoration upol
his own grave, ard turning hi
eyes offire once more upon he,
in tones more softened, bu
hollow, still, he said: yrslgY
monuments, and praise, ant
wreaths, and flowers are a
dead to us as we are dead t,
your living world. What la
Dor and skill, what artand sci
ence, what wealth and POM
~ IL lo-o, ~ Al,