Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-10-06
n the light when she drew her hand iro.

A shiver crept over me which was not
raused by the cold or the dampness of the
SOON. Emily leaned heavily upon me. and
l could feel the nervous tremor with which
she was telling her story. tried to dis
suade her from talking ftirther, but she
would 90 on. She told me how her father
property had wasted away, how she kept
house for him in fear and loneliness until
where was no house to keep, and then how
she went out sewing, giving music lessons
ANYTHING for living. She told me how
she had suffered, both for herself and for
him, and how grief and shame and poverty
wore upon her health.
1t was after Fourth of July, when she
had seen her father recling through the
village streets. followed by u score of raga-
muffin boys throwing frecrackers in his
face and pockets, and had found all her
efforts to protect him unavailing, that hope
and courage died within her, and she left
him.
81 could not do anything more for him,
Persis. I tried to cover up the shame and
take care of him as long as he would lei
me, and then came off down here where
fewer people know it; but ON such stormy
nights as this see again those dreadful!
things that used to happen before mother
died, and hear terrible sounds. 1 think
of what my father was long ago. and of
what he is now, and, as / said to you, Per-
sis, it seems to me that L can't bear my
trouble and live"
Emily's self-command gave way entire y
when she said that, and she laid her head
back in my lap sobbing, She is smaller and
lighter than I, aud / reached down and
drew her mp in my lap. pulled the shawl
aside to give her head place upon my
shoulder, and then Drew the fine soft
plaid tightly around us both. She sobbed
there SO hard, SO much like tired. home
sick child, that touched her fine hair with
my fingers, to make sure that it was the
brave little woman who sat SO patiently,
day after day, teaching stupid classes
mathematics. / tried to soothe her as
would have comforted one of the school
children Then said over to her that bean
tiful hymn CT Whittier's commencing:
Immortal love. forever full.
Forever Sowing free;
Forever shared; forever whole;
nevsr-ebbing sea,
not because thought 1t particularly ap
propriate, but because it often runs in my
mimi Sabbath evenings, and because there
is that in tlis hymn which seems to me
soothing for sny trouble. Emily listened
and grew to ts like herself. We sat there
rocking, not saying much for some minu-
tes.
a spark of fire that b:d lain hidden some
where in our stove. started into uewness OF
lite, and our fire, which neither entreaties
nor threats had moved. burned of it's own
free viii, energetieally. Perhaps that made
me feel more cheerful.
After we lighted the lamp, before retir-
ing, Emily brought me Two pictures Of her
father. The first was al ambrotype in an
old fashioned blue velvet case, clear pic
ture of a fine-looking man. The face beam
ed with kindling; the mouth bore ihe evil
dence of refinement aud culture. The deep
eyes were full of the poetry of feeling; aud
look;ag at tue forehead ! understood at
once from whence Emily hsd taken her in
telIectusl vigor. The other picture was
one of the kind photographers call tintypes
Then the face was bloeted, sensual, hide
GUS. Scarcely any traces OF refinement or
intellect could be discerned in it. Ii was
such a face rs that of any man who allows
his appetite to usurp his reason may be-
come / should have been surprised had
not before learned that men like Emily's
father are tho men whose capacities allow
them to sink the lowest
turned away from the last picture as
quickly as I could, and not betrsy my re.
pugnance to Emily; but the two faces ris
ing up before me in contrast, haunted all
my sleep that night,
Every one remembers the next day, Mon.
day, how the rain fell in continuous sheets
which the wind Tapped about and struck
against an umbrella, or dashed into thou
sands of drops against the Window; how
rain dripped from the branches ofthe trees,
| from the fences, from the clap-boerds, and
| poured out of the water-spouts; how il
dashed on the walks, and beat on the sand,
roads, until they were harder than the
walks. Rivers. lakes, CULTS, bays and
straits appeared where before there had
been only dry land. Our school-houss
yard was like pond, when 1T nine O'Clock
Emily and picked our way across it.
The anti-room, where tho scholars left
| their wraps, vas hung with water-proofs,
cloaks, coats and limp hats. Umbrellas
we're stacked in the four corners of the
room, and four streams of dark-colored
liquid, which drained from them, were
running on the floor to meet each other.
India. rubber overshoes were ranged around
the room. The recitation rooms had beer
all tracked over by wet feet.
Dear me, what dismal looking place,
said Emily, as we entered. The doors
the desks, the books, everything stuck Il
our fingers that day. The rooms wer,
damp and uncomfortable, but tho heat o
the fire,we built to dry them was insuffer
able. The wind and rain beat in arount
tie windows so that We had to chang,
many of the seats
Once / remember the east door OF tn,
anti-room blew open, and the hats ant
light garments, flying of their hooks, cam,
into the school-room. went out to shu
tho door; but before / could secure it m,
hair and face were covered with the spray
and my dress was thoroughly wet from col
lar to hem, while a puddle in the middle
of the floor united the four dark colored
rills that came down from the umbrellas.
Emily and preferred losing our dinner
to going home in the rain, and We sat to
gether during the intermission, wondering
at the storm. as people always wonder ovel
anything unusual, and comparing it will
all the storms that had ever come withir
our experience, as weather-wise grandames
might have done.
1t had cleared of before we closed schoo
in the afternoon, and when we come out
deep blue sky and bits of white heec,
clouds that might have belonged to a day
In June were overh ad The sun shon,
around a corner of the building and glist
ened on the little pools of water that stoot
here and there in the brown gravely yard
The green grass beyond where the boys hat
loved to lounge in summer recesses, wa
freshly tinted and hecked with gold by the
sun; and the incardine leaves OF the lin,
of naples just within the fence glowed nf
ter their baptism like things of life. w,
could hear beyond us the roar of the it'll,
stream which ha s~ oiIen to a river, an.
catch the glancing of It's water through th'
trees. Emily was in raptures over tn,
beauty of the scene.
.How good dear old earth, and sLn, ans
sky look after the deluger' said she, takin,
Of he: DAT. and swinging itaround like
schoolgirl. 81 feel as If it had rxines
forty days and forty nj ,h.s, and had beer
shut up In the ark MI tb.st time with al
manners Of bc.sts aud bird, and creeping
things. :
More thsn that, it seemed to me that W,
felt in part; as the young yromen, NOAH
daughters might have done afte
tho waters snbsided, and they walked on
f<, 1So II, N H1cr,,t ~a~ck