The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1870-04-08
SMistellaug,
4 CRICKET'S STORY.
By TAMAR ANNE KERMoRE.
From GOdey's Lady Book.
CHAPTER /,

bright, and of its dark side, too.
will tell my story in n stTaitfOrwaTd
natural manner, for Pm a cOnscien
~ tousl cricket, and can boast with som
degree Of truth that 1 have a natura
antipathy to the by-ways, shams, ant
= little creature like me) quite remarka
BILE.
am one of a large family of crick
cts, and, although I am at present OIL
the American side of the water, I wa
born and raised on the English side, il
a very comfortable mansion, and many
and many time I have trilled my
cheerful notes as I sat in a cOsey corner
warming my little body by rich Eng
lish merchants parlOr fire. His letters
were addressed: ''Wm. Harrison, Esq. .
VIM. Harrison was his name, and q
fine, pOrtly-loOking gentleman he was
just the kind of man to go smoothly
along, with full sails, a fair wind, and
plenty of sea room.
I[Eas attached to this wealthy mer-
chant, for you knOW, there is an old
adage to the effect that, if you love
a person, EyOu must necessarily love
everything that belongs to that person,
and L loved the old gentlenan's daugh-
ter most truly, most sincerely. Some
body else loved her, too; u French gen
tleman, who called himself, a count
something or other Il never could mas
. ter those French names WE'LL, and l
was very jealous of him. Now know
/ it was exceedingly foolish for a cricket
! to be Jealous of a French nObIeman,
/ but, still, l couldn't help it, and when
: his patent-leather boots glided over the
/ caTp1(fI and his soft, silky voice said ::
! CHOW is-my dear Miss Lucy?" posi-
/ lively hated him, and always made it
rule not tO sing single note while he
was i'll the house.
Sometimes I had her all to myself
! All! those were pleasant evenings.
| She would sit with some little trifie of
1 fancy work in her hands, working qui-
| etly hour afteyes,Wit such a look
of content in her s%~eSe blue eyes, and
her beautiful brown hair falling in
Curls about her face and neck, bright
ening here and there into strands of
gold as the freight played upon it,
thatI ite dotted upon her. My hap
5piness these occasions was wonder
ful, az. l eXerted myself to sing for
her to that extent that l was hOarse for
days after. Sometimes the merchant
would come in and disturb her happy
thoughts Il know they were happy,
and She would turn her face towards
him, and kiss him, and give him such
a smile of welcome that 1 almost en-
wed him. IWasmagnanimOus enough
/ however, onIytO sing the louder and
: then she wOuldsay =
1sA1dy dear fatheT,Siust listen to the
H'cricket. Surely, ysE're going to make
a very speculati0.n This is an
old English ssuperstitionaand not to be
eIfTG Her father Wodlq; S..Yes nv
dear, but 1 don t.,Qaeel tI5ythingzabont
crickets. l dom tsbelieEs'iii them: in
deed, I'd rather not heaGfSen ~
q o father, Ishe WOuldE Esay, love
4em dearly, and this littleFsinge 6ar-
4 Tticularly, for he seems to be ever
! ing of happy future. You know
happy we are at present; should
to think that our happiness will
remember well the evening"
she said these words. The old
sighed, and a dark shadow came SOYPT
I his face, a darker shadow than L had
ever seen there before. Then thes SER
want brought in the tea, and the room
was brilliantly lighted, an d Lucy sat
at the table, and chatted gayly,, and
attended to her fathers wants; butfhe-
was strangely silent, and soon afterst6a
/ he went to his room. -
Then that OdiOus Frenchmans came,
and brought with him his OdiOus gui--
/ tar. and Lucy listened to his sOftstrains
and whispered speeches with such a
/ light in her eyes, and such glow upon
! her cheeks, that l IOnged : to bite him. )
/ She was an only child,s as her mos
/ ther had died many veal efore, when
! Lucy was a little child, and her father
! had remained Il whoever from that
/ time, she had long Teigned the sole
mistress Of the fine old English man-i
! siOn~its loving, merry, cheerful, light
/ hearted mistress.
But q change was coming. | noticed
( it coming little by little, bit by bit, ev-
er since the night that the shadOWcame
upon the masters face and seemed to
stay there. Poor innocent Lucy! she
never dreamed-What that shadow
meant. She!did' Mt see it grow longer
and darker'as I from my quiet corner
did, and one night shequite startled me
/ by saving to her father: " What can
/ be the matter with my cricket ? I
haven't heard his voice for week.
/ And her father. said. ~ cannot tell,
/ my dear, and then he looked sadly at
/ the fire, and muttered something about
/ the wheel of fortune, some going up
and some coming down.
/ Lucy looked surprised and anxious,
and said: my dear father, is there
anything the matter? You look pale;
are yO Il?'' ----
" No MY daughter, am not i'll
/ Well, well, fortune is a tickle goddess;
we may not trust her. SOme9O up and
some 90 down." and STOPPING over her
! he softly smOOthed her shining hair,
and then went to his room, and we
saw him no more that night.
\ day or two passed away with their
usual freight of joy and sorrow, and
then the JOY went from our home, and
/ the sorrow remained with us. VIM.
TT 1,.,,, l.
rupt. And l heard him say, in a
strange, broken kind of way, to his
daughter: d" You see, my dear, in my
old age / have come to beggary, and
there is nothing left to me, nothing.
Houses, lands, even the very furniture,
all gone-a perfect wreck-and what
am |? y perfect wreck, too, drifting
anon the broken timberS.N
-. My dear father, ! am left to you,
and lam young and strong, and we
nave many friends"
" Yes, Lucy, / have yOU, - he answer
ed, rather bitterly. Do you think
that there is any satisfaction to me in
knowing thatyOu must suffer through
nly mistake? And as to many friends,
they will pass from our pathway as
quickly rs the clouds sail over the sum
mer sky. Friendship seldom keeps
company with poverty"
Lucy couldn't believe in that doc
trine, however, and she eXerted herself
tn raise her fathers dropping spirits,
and looked so bright and blooming
and there was 50 much music in her
voice, that l became quite cheerful my
self, and managed to sing for full five
minutes for her benefit, although my
voice shook a good deal, ard ! was al
together out of sorts.
We'll, time passed on. The rich
merchants affairs We're almost wound
up, and Lucy had plenty of time to
think Of her troubles, for Very few of