The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1870-01-26

|. with the beautiful tintiDg of the sun
& last beams filling out the backgroun
d -perhaps will paint it some time.
e Her eyes followed the direction of hi
J. sweeping arm, and she noticed, wit
# a start, that the sun was ne arly down
J, at is getting late, though ha
!, nearly forgotten it in looking at you
8 pictures, and / must hurry home"
, 81 will carry your bush for you
, that is. If you are willing said he
:, taking it up and balancing it on hi
: hand while she tied her bonnet. No
/, one thought Of what Mrs. Hill woult
7 say at seeing her come home thus al
: tended scressed her, mind, though ,sh
answered hesitatingly, r; yn;- o-a-
''Certainly, if you wish it. +" r.si.
1t was only about fifteen minutes
walk, but the moon had entirely dis
appeared, and ything was fas
/ merging into the sober gray of beau
tifulI twilight when they reached the
4 gate. .'ls .9L1r..-l otf -,r.titIi ,r..-,-,
~ 'tWill You. give me one Of these
buds before we part, perhaps foreyer?
said he, as he placed the little plan,
carefully on Mrs, Hills white-washed
fence. ,....r 80. .-.,,....-l o.. -,l,..-i .,tr
Her bonnet shaded her face, so that
he could not see her flushing cheeks /;
but he thought there was slight
tremor in her voice as she answered,
ftA dozen, ifiyou like; You deserve
them for your assistance. And he
replied half-sadly, s,ast .r.1f.;-...,:,.r.,,'
1--WE will not talk of that now; but
should your ,rosebush live and We
meet again, will you give n e another
then f' ;,,,j .cys :. :. i...s I'LL.
| II VIII. ..t,lJ -..- - i..~ ..o,f
| %, 81 shall be sure to remember your
promise and one will content nae now
if You win select it for me-" -...-..a
she gathered; one inst ready to
burst open and handed him. -. q.
Thank you; may all your life be
as beautiful, as sweet rs this" said he,
earnestly He opened the gate, held
it while she passed through, then clos
ed it and walked on; while she hurri-
ed up the two flights of.stairs that led
to her little room, tenderly carrying
her pretty shrub, and congratulating
herself on being noticed by no one.
Her first act was to provide for her
rosebush, which she did by procuring
a small jar OF Mrs. Hill, who wonder
ed greatly at her taste in wanting
"such scrubby little bush to litter
her ROOM" filling it with rich, moist
earth, and carefully placing the tend
er roots within it. Then, instead of
tracing the delicate pattern of Miss
,Arnold's as she intended, she drew
l1er CHAIR to The window, and, gazing
out on the pleasant landscape, now
bathed in the soft moonlight glow,
thought. "Why was it," she asked |
herself, "that handsome stranger, with
his careless, yet courteous manner,
seemed SO near to herr" She had |
seen others as stylish, as high-bred in |
who left 70 such impress
sion and what she, perhaps, would
have considered highly impertinent
in them, in h m seemed perfectly ma
tural. His attentions had been Offer
ed, she thought, as a matter of course,
and in a way that left her no cause
for seIi-reproach for accepting them,
though, perhaps. she concluded, it was
because she, was SO little used to re-
ceiving suck notice from any one, that
she exaggerated the trif1ing incident
into one Of Importance. As she reach
ed this point IN her meditation, shei
sighed, closed her window, and went
to bed. -";''.'i 'i'.-o1
The summerdays, with their light
and shade, storm, and sunshine, drift
ed slowly down Times arches, and
Alice Lindlay went about her tasks
sewing, dreaming, day 'af-
ter day, occasionally dropping her
work TO caress the lustrous leaves,
the blossoms had faded, or straighten
|, tiny stem of her beloved rosebush,
Or sometimes talking to it in a low,
sweet strain, as q mother would to .
oyed child AT such times her lips
would wreathei themselves into a
beautiful smiley the pale; cheeks, mantle .
sith a bright crimson, and the tender ,
light in the violet eyes told palmer |
han words of the sweet thoughts with
n. And so passed the autumn. Then !
anne the winter. 1t had always been {
ard enough to struggle through this I
but now it was worse, there {
vas less work to do, and more to do s
t., and daily her heart grew heavier, e
er courage sank lower, as she found q
he few dollars she had with SO much /
oil and sacrifice saved rapiiy disap-, t
caring, and she powerless to replace N
hem. ''- i''l '''3''.@ ln
It was bitter night, Without, the {
now lay folded. cold and white on t
Within, small fire burn u
d rfeebly in the narrow fireplace of n
ne little attic room Alice called home, u
here was no candle, she could not aE t
,rd one, but, the futtering blaze cast S
faint light oyer her bowed figure, b
ut only served to deepen the shadows 81
nat were gathered on her, face, In g
er lap lay an open letter that day re- tt
eived. 1t contained an invitation, h
: offer atEer,I from a widowed ault, n
[rs. Selden, to. come and make her n
ouse her home for time, and assist I
! their sewing. The terms. she named
ere liberal enough, but all her pride n
,se up against accepting them, Year |
tier year her aunt had lived in the II
reat city of New York, never visit 81
g, hardly ever even writing to the RI
sntle sister, who, until marriage sep. a.
.ated them, had been her dearest al
lend, her most cherished companion. to
he was in Europe when her sister g
ed, journeyipg with a gay party of eI
lends, though she we'll know Of the IL
ow, inexorable disease that would g
on finish the work it had begun tn