The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1870-10-21

could detect-nOne in the long, low
cottage where they at length stopped,
with its projecting .eayes, IN the style of
a half-eentury ago, and its odd little
porch, over which q thrifty hop-yine
shOwered its pretty tassels-- And there
on her knees before the pEim- flower
border, all agIow with the. nOdding pllr-
pie and goldOf pansies and nastqruOnsa
who but dear old Grandma Dudley ?.
with the same short, nOtheEly figure,
arrayed in neat black dress and snowy
kerchief, with the soft fair face, keep
ing a faint tinge Of an ancient bloom
the tender fading of its young
old age. At, the sound of wheels the
old lady rose and stood looking over
her spectacles, shading her eyes with
her hand. Without waiting for assis-
tance Ethel sprang from the wagon,
and ran up the path to meet her. Mrs
Dudley recognized her Instantly tail
and grown as she was: she took her
arms, and for a moment the two Evo=
men, the old and the young, Wept si-
lently for little Nell. Then a familiar
voice called from the OpendOOr.
90 What is. it, mOther?" and Mrs.
led Ethel to where her husband
sat with the slant sunshine silvering
his white hair and his eyes turned to-
wards them as they came, and the pitt
fuI, yearning look of the blind. Ethel
knelt down softly at his knee, and the
old wife guided his hand softly to the
bright head.
TTt is little Ethel Stanley, father.r 's
How the Wrinkled face lighted p
+" Little Ethel, little Ethel !'Ehe mur-
INJURED, again and again "She that
our Nellie loved so well !" Then stOOp-
ing to find her lips, he kissed her ten
derly, saying, God bless you, my
child u'
And so with welcome and benedic>
ton, Ethel found a temporary home.
There was q very sweet restfuIness to
her about the quiet weeks that follow
ed, whether she Shared the light house
hold tasks with her Inexperienced
hands, or read aloud for hours to the
blind old man, who soon came to call
her 'Nellie' almost as often as "Ethel,
or went on long rambles along the hill
sides, alone, yet not solitary, because
Nature, whom she loved, led her by
the hand, and taught her unWritten
mysteries.
But she could not rest long in idle re-
captivity. Her first bitter experience
of the world from which she had hoped
so much, had made her long for some
higher and more controlling purpose OF
life. AS the Night Blooming Cereus
uncIoses petal by petal to the darkness,
breathing out its very heart in eXqui-
site fragrance, SO her nature, not fully
developed by sunshine, opened through
the twilight of her own pain, upon the
night of the worlds want and sorrow.
She had youths health, and wealth.
What could she do to make life bright
er for those less blest than she? As
was natural, her heart turned with
quickest sympathetic children, father.
less and mOtherless, as she had been
and lacking, too, what she had no
lacked, those substitutes for home anC
kindred, which money and station cal
command. -..a .r.@Hs
And so, in one of her moments of en-
Lthusiasm, her project of an orphan
home was formed, place where sht
might gather a few little OutcaSt ones
and in giving them home and care, fiji
also the yeaTning hunger of her owl
heart. IN .a- . -...I i' '.f
Her friends would oppose and ridicult
/ her she knew, but Ethel Stanley wa
not one to go back, because of any lion
on her road to the House Beautiful
Her time, her money, her life, wer
| they not her own? She would dOwitl
/ them as God and her own heart shOult
I bid her.
| Her active imagination began rapid,
| to resolve her sudden plan into some
] thing like feasible form. She hersel
could guide and teach the children as
/ loving elder sister, and for the mother
care which she was too young and in
experienced to render, was not ther
Mrs. Harvey, the widow lady who ha'
been a nurse in heruncle's family year
befOre?-a very " "hOuse-mothern in eV
cry outline of her CHEEKY face and gen
erOus figure. One whom not alOn
children, but every weak and frighten
i ed brute creature trusted at sight, an
fled to for comfort and protection. Sh
would join heartily in such work
Ethel was sure.
And for the pIace-thercH she hesita
ted, but not long. - "'
! She would not leave the little tow
whose rest and quiet had been SO sWee
4 There was a house, on the hil1sid
above the Dudley cottage, long unoC
icupied and fallen into disrepair. EthC
had once climed in at an unfastene
window to shelter herself from sue
Eden storm and when the clouds ha
. lifted and the sun shone through th
last falling drops, she had wandere
| from room to room in ecStacy at th
, prospect on which the dusty window
J opened. ~
The. very place, she thought, whel
J the free air should be an elixir to tx
: body, and the bold outlook nouris
broad and generous character. s
: And DIR. Hope would sell it, she w;
t sure. Nay, more, he would give IN
sfheIp and counsel in all she had to d.
q There would be so much to be don
and she knew so little, and he-hO
kind and wise he was! How patiel
/ I he had been with their endless que
e tions-hers and Nell's in that time lOI
/ ago, when he had led them by Il
t hand, and pointed out to them Il
e multtudinOus marvels of field, strea
] and wood. And how often now
, came to sit in the doorway of the &C
!, tage, and talk with Mrs. Dudley of h
' flowers and birds, and make the bin
q Old man forget the long hours with /
4 stories of travel and adventure.
hi That evening he came again-a ia
d quiet-Voiced man, the gray threads
e whose brown hair made him look old
than he was; with a broad, master1
q brow and far-seeing eyes a man,
], whom frequent rights of suffering b
I, wrought that calmness which is t
o7 buest of all sympathy, because it hOl
& within itself the promise Of relief.
d He paused at the gate, to listen
n EthePs voice singing a fragment of
II. old song
June on the mountains,
E1t -aa- Blossoms the heatheTs .4-t ID
June in the valleys,
10 rr..r SunslIiny weather ee e q . ~
IN I lover the mountains $50 q 50 $40
- Bleak winds are calling
u -. Low in the valleys, -.--ts-re.. st
IL 81 Sere leaves are faliingt
Light heart and open hand
az I.- Naught can diSsever-
~ al. p Only in others eyes %
- - f-3 a Sunshine foreverV' --.,.s. q
tn As the. song ceased he came in, 8
ne Ethel met him at the door, holding
he both her hands. f a4
IS 90, DIR. Hopeg1 she said, 81 am
its glad you have come, for [ have
et much to ask you about!'
w They. sat down with the old cor
on in the cleaning, and Ethel unfolded
A 4 ~ If hno4q a mora