The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1870-11-25
gEisfeIIauy.
ONE EVENING.

h
one of the tumblers, and then arTang
ing them upon the closet shelf to he
lentire satisfaction, closed the door upOI
them with an air Of relief. Then sh,
Strengthened the crumb-Cloth spread thI
crimson table.cover, placed the lamI
upon it ready for lighting, and laid he
fathers daily paper beside it. Thi:
Idone, she went to the door and looked
out.
1t had been a sultry summer day
The heated air in the meadow hao
seemed to vibrate visibly; and the COWS
had stood all day knee-deep in the wa
/ ter, lazily brushing away the flies, and
browsing the thick herbage upon the
/ bank, and the tender shoots OF the
] cverbanging willows. Faith was tired.
The children had been troublesome
and her young mother-herseli
only ten years older than this girl OF
| eighteen of whom 1 am writing-had
had headache. To tell the truth, she
always had one-or some other ache
whenever it was hot, or the children
were cross, or any unpleasant domestic
| eXigencies arose. Miss Ophelia might
have pronounced her " "shiftless." She
declared herself a martyr to feeble
ness and to her nerves.
But now the sun was lying low in the
| the river, and the tree-tOps nodded and
beckOned invitingly. Tom and Janet
would not to want to go bed for an
| hour, and Faith caught her little white
sun-bOnnet from the peg behind the
door. She wanted to be alone for
! awhile, to be free, to think her own
thoughts, and to open her heart to the
sweet ministries of nature. She needed
rest and medicine such as she could
find nowhere else. No am not speak
ing at random. l mean just what say
such as she could find nowhere else.
God reaches a young girls heart more
nearly through His woods, His flowers,
His dews, His stars, His sacred sOli-
tudes, His holy calnls, than through
the lore of books, or even the revela-
tiOns of His Word. These things
touch it as with a human tenderness,
and the closed doors fly open at their
approach. r-.
She had just got to the gate. y
"Faith Faith! Tom says he wants
to go to bed," called Mrs. Harris.
" Come and get him. He is driving
Faith went back to the house, and
hung up her bonnet again, casting one
lingering glance at the cool, leafy re-
cess beyond the river.
"YOu will not go to sleep ct, Tom,"
she said. at is a whole hour before
your bedtime. Where's Janet ?n
But Miss Janet was not ready to %
to bed. She was slowly shaking the
sawdust out of her dolly, sitting with
her face to the wall in a dark corner.
"Oh! leave Janet for the present" ,"
said Mrs. Harris. "She's quiet enough
and I'lI send her up by-and-by. If
Tom doesn't want to go to sleep just
yet, you can tell him stOTies."
Tell him stories Faith knew just
what that meant. She repeated mo
ther Goose" (" and the 'tHOuse thatJ ack
{" Who Killed Cock Robin ?'' until her
head swan. Then she began with
" NOah's Ark" and went straight
through to " MaIachi' But all to no
purpose. The great brown eyes still
looked at her unWearingly from over
the low foot board, and the persistent
little voice still pounced upon every
omission, and demanded the correction
Ofevery blunder."
"Ah, Tom ~ she cried at last; "I
knew you were not sleepy-and I am
so tired Do be a good boy now, and
let me go down stairs. You can go to
sleep without me if you have a mind"
No, L ain a-gOing to sleep for ever
his feet against the wall. a Not for
six or fourteen hours; and there's lots
and lots of stories you've got to tell
me! If you don't, shall hOIler and
hOller and that ,makes mammals head
ache" Faith resigned herself to her
fate, and began to improvise a fairy
tale. That was at least better than
ringing the changes any longer upon
" AS was Going to Sell my Eggs,n or
"Little Jack HOrner." But just then
a lady and gentleman upon horseback
swept by, the latter raising his eyes to
theswindow as he passed, and then,
lifting his hat with a smile, bowling
untn his dark hair nearly touched his
horses chestnut name.
The color flashed to Faiths face, for
an instant she drew back and hid her
self in the shadow of the curtain. Then
as the riders swept round the corner,
and commenced = more leiSurely as
cent of the hill, she leaned forward and
watched thens-with look of pain and
longing.
"What you stopping for, Faith ~
came voice from the bed. Why
don't you tell me what became of the
princess ?'' Did she ever find"
mo" cried Faith, suddenly, "she
never found what she was looking for,
never never! Oh, Tom, Tom do let
me be! 1 can't tell you any more stO-
ries tonight"
"But you must, you see because if
you don't shall cry and scream and
get sick and then"
Faith rose in her desperation and
went up to the bed.
atom Harris, you will do no such
thing; and l shall not tell you another
iorE1 10
and 60 to sleep, or l shall go straight
down stairs.n
Astonished out of his wits, for Faith
had never so dealt with him before,
Tom turned quietly to the wall and
said never word. Faith went back to
the window.
They were still going slowly up the
hill-slowly, like those to whom the
present moment is golden, and who
would prolOng its sheen. The lady
was young, only year or two older
than Faith, probably, and very beauti-
ful; so beautiful that the child who sat
covering there behind the window-cur-
tain gaZed at her with a strange sink
ing of heart; for the gentleman who
rode by her side was-Kenneth Mars
ton.
As they reached the brow of the hill
they refined in their steeds, and Faith
knew by the wave of Henneth's hand
that he was pointing out to his COM
panion all that was worth seeing in
the valley belOw-the wide sweep of
the hills, the uplifting Of the mountain
peaks, the glOries of earth and air and
Sky. She knew just how his eye di-
lated, how his form seemed to expand,
how his voice grew deeper and tender
er. There was the sting of it.
But how could he help it2 How
could Faith help it that this beautiful,
cultured, graceful woman had dropped
down, out Of the clouds, as it were, and
| for three or four weeks had sat beside
him at the board, walked with him in
the dim old woods, read with him out
of the self-same book, rode with him