Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1870-05-18
THE OLD MIRACLE.

IHE children went ldugllluB ana SlIlB-
ing down toward the village, the clouds
began to pile up in the west for the COM
ing sunset and the first flush Of Spring
beauty tinged the hills and woods with
peculiar radiance.
As they stood i'll the grOve--Annie
Linn and Charles MansOn-the rush Of
the river below, and the voices of the
children from the road, mingled tQgeth-
er like the bass and soprano Of some eX-
quisite melody, but if they heard it at
all it was with the impatience which
comes over one when happy sounds
break in upon restlessness and trouble.
She had come down there to bid him
farewell-not from any girlslI desire for
a quarrel which ends in a pleasant rec
onciliation, but from a settled conviction
of the necessity Of the step, which when
once taken, must be irrevOCable.
They were both young. \ year be-
fore, they had been, for a short time,
engaged; but all that had long since
heen broken off, and this last interview
Was a great deal worse than useless,
though, perhaps, without it neither
could have brought their minds to re-
gard that book in their lives as COM
pletely closed.
Charles Manson was the eldest son of
a widow. He had been spoiled hand
some BOY fear he was a wayward,
reckless man; just one OF those young
fellows whom everybody likes, and
whose agreeable qualities and facility of
making friends prove their own great
est snare and temptation.
| should have made one exception
when said that everybody liked Char
ley, for old Mr.. Linn had detested him
from bOyhOOd. He was q clOse-fsted,
grim old chap, who always prayed as if
he meant to frighten the angels into do
ing their duty, who had t0iled incessant-
ly ali his life, and could not understand
why anybody should expect an eXis-
tence at all different.
Now, as a boy, Charles would not
work, except to attain some special OBJ
iect. He hated a farmers life, and was
determined to go to college. He had
accomplished that by dint Of sacrifice
on his mothers part-these few words
tell the story of her ife-and consider
able labor on his own. He played tutor
during vacations, distant relative
helped him, and so he went on.
But, alas, during the last year of his
course everything changed. Charley
made the acquaintance of an entirely
different set-YQVng men Of fortune and
expensive habits, whom he ought to
have avOided-and his natural DISPOSE
ton did the rest. He left college very
suddenly -goOd-patuFed people said lie
was expelled and the next the village
heard of him he was In London, but
whether in business nobody knew.
Before he came home, old Mr.. Linn
discovered the engagement existing be-
tween him and Annie, and with his
usual peremptortness, broke it of at
once.
Charley wrote her scores of repTOach-
full letters which her father cOOfly burn
Bd before her eyHsr Then a long silence
then terrible stories of his bad habits
and dissipation.
Nobody ventured to question the
widow, for she was one Of those women
whom even villaEo ogOssips did not care
to approach with their affected sympa-
thy and ill-cOacealed curiosity. As She
sat ip her place i4 church, people no.
deed how, week after week, the smooth
hair gained an added tinge of gray, and
the patient lines around her outh deep
ened with hidden anxiety and trouble.
Annie met her but seldom, and then
there was but little conversation be-
tween them-pBper q word concerning
tie subject that filed both their hearts,
Mr.. Linn had forbidden any intercourse
between the families; but the widow
had known him too long not to under
stand the truth, and exonerate Annie
from all blame in the lnattaE.
Old Linn loved money, If Charley
had been as steady as young Scion he
would not have given him his daughter.
1t was convenient that the young man
offered him 4 reasonable excuse for the
course he pursued.
Amnie held her father in great awe.
She had Inherited the feeling from her
mother, who, ten years before, had fa=
ded into her grave perhaps glad that,
for once, she could do something in
peace and quiet. The neightiOrs talked
still of her resignation; and the minis
ter often alluded TO her death-bed as the
most edifying scene he hadcYer Witness
ed. 'E ar
| suppose MIR. Linn was sorry. Her
health had been falling for long time
and she had been obliged to neglect her
dairy, and that fact helped 90 support
him in his bereavement
He never married again, and Annie
grew up under the shadow of her faith
er's presence, and the tyranny Of two
elder brothers who We're really prOtO-
types Of their parent. One of them was
marriH9 now, and his pusilmg active
wife gave Annie a word Of good advice,
and set her face against Charles Manson
and all belonging to MIN, with praise
worthy pertinacity,
There they stood in the maple grove,
with the sunset gqtheriug about them,
and the black sorrow swooping down
oyer their souls like the heavy clouds
that hovercd above the radiance Of the
of the west
He had been pleading 50 earnestly. !
But though her heart tremblcd beneath !
his words and swayed toward him with
old affection his passionate language
armed her.
you never loved me- he exclaimed, .
with all mans selfishness and cruelty.