Des Arc weekly citizen., 1869-01-26

| ed-ay. more! Yourself shall admi' that have conquered. If do this my guerdon shall be an immediate union. If do not, harsh as your i'm pcrious doom of delay is, will bow submissively. Do you agree! v
 q do, do,s laughed the merry girl "and I know shall win!'
 The bell was touched-the servant summoned 10 bring her mistress TO- quelaire and furs. and Harry iarring, ton. with Agnes upon his arm, sallied forth in quest of proofs which were to decide this singular wager.
 The demon of the storm was abroad in his wrath as the pair wended thelr way along the snow-covered streets oi Cincinnati. The ice in the Ohio heaved and tumbled with hoarsc, dull sound as the passing waters sluggishly lifted the vast bodies of ice, one upon anoth- CT. The wintry heavens were starless moonless and the snow falling in flakes upon the person of Agnes made her half regret her willing acquies- cencc in the strange freak of her cousin-lover.
 Yet was the little world of this Athens of the West busy in it's way. The paves were lined with groups of young and old; the one anticipating with their season; the others, some- what affected by the merry voices and careless aspirings of those around them, were hastening to purchase the gifts which childhood is very willing to attribute 10 the generosity of Santa l Claus. The stores were in the blaze of their holiday array, and toy and trink- ct, book and bauble were temptingly l displayed to the gaze of the multitude gathered there to purchase.
 What a mercurial, easily cheated world we live in! Youth pleased with trifes, age descending from its gravity, finds enjoyment in filling up the acquisitions of childhood. All are gay, all forgetful that they are stand 1 ing upon the spot where was an im- portant landmark in the circumscribed voyage of life! Hope, that ever-atten- dant visitant, looks eagle-eyed from the grave of the dead to the cradle of the new year, and whispers to the mourner that with the past has depart en his sorrow; that brighter, happier days come with the advancing future. Experience, judgment! the monitors of reality, come but to be chased away before the laugh of the bluc-e eyed temptcr.
 Agnes pressed more closely 10 the arm of her companion as the rush of the rejoicing passengers obstructcd their progress. Harrington seemed not to notice what was passing around them buried in thought, he neither glanced at tho world on the pave, nor the vociferous mirth of the sleighers, who, in their egg-shells, flew over the bosom of the yielding snow. Agnes inquired where he was going, but without returning any answer he ! turned down one of those suspicious lanes which his companion had ire quently noticed, but never passed through, and pausing before wretch ed cabin, he knocked upon the time rent panels of the door.
 Awe-struck and wondering, the tim i'd girl offered no inquiry, but threw a nasty glance over the exterior of the building. It was one of those log houses still to be seen in the by-ways of our western cities. Decay had done its work upon it, and whatever comfort it may have once possessed was now destroyed. The windows were stuffed with rags, and Che sounds of pain came upon the ear, as the dool was slowly opened through which she and her companion entered.
 Why describe the interior of the dwelling where Want is lord, and Mis cry has taken up its abode !-Yet Ag nes, versed as she was in the detail' furnished by others, was sickcned a the display of wretchedness that me : her vision as she stepped within al apartment which she felt was indeed the habitaton of misery. Upon ; couch by the embers of a waning fir' was stretched woman apparently II the grasp of the King of Yerrors. Sev eral children, young and squalid, were weeping on their knees by the side o the dying; and the tears swelled il the eyes of Agnes as she heard theil sobs and felt their misery. A further look brought blush of shame to tn, cheek of the gazer, for by the fire making warm draught to give thu sufferer, was one whom Agnes wei remembered having made the butt O her merriment.
 This minister of mercy was Miss A who belonged to that despised body called spinsters, and whenever the ricl daughter of Calico had observed tn, faded features and humble dress of tn, retiring Miss A, she had made them the subject of ridicule among hel young and equally thonghtless com panions. Now was the spinster's tri. umph, for tho heart of Agnes bowed 10 the superiority of her whom shs had formerly condemned.
 Without noticing the pair, whe stood contemplating the scene witl sad emotions, this voluntary attendant on misery proceeded with her task O charity. A heavy groan from tn,