The Portland daily press., 1871-02-11
SELECTED SIOR1 Y.
FREDERIKA.
The story OF a Swedish Immigrant.
BY MRS. L. A. B. CURTIS.

iduldSllC uduCcS vi lue SloW Cieiu Aii'St
the hr Tree droops heavily all the long wi''ei
under lis burden OF snow. .,,
Near the edge of the fir forest. IN ininIi
hut, this little Swedish maiden oPeheu nS.
starry blue eyes Tor the first tlne upon Ine
lude SMOKE stained walls OF her nome;
The old cfones who dandieu hei' ueciareu
they reyer saw such beautiful child in all
theIr tono Iiyes-they said the same of all ba-
hest vas rare fortune to be born on
Christmas eve, and rarer still when it fell on
a Lords Day. The Christmas babe would
surely grow great lady, and sail over for
egn seas, aud perhaps marry real prince
AT least, she was sure TO be great and rich
and happy.
The young mother smiled softly,presSed the
warm little hand to her lips, and only hoped
her little maid would grow pure and good, like
the first Christmas babe, and be worthy of be-
ing born upon his sacred birthday.
The mother wished to name the child
Chrlstiana, but the sturdy father said no
name was good enough for this little girl out
her mother's oWn,so she was chriStened Fred
erika.
5 Ie did not grow TO be a wonderful chlld put
she WAS a sweet, dimpled, cherry little thlng,
with laughing bright eyes and dewy red lips,
fresh aud winsome as the glow ing pansy, or
the heaven-bue forset-me-not that unfoldS its
Ioveliness in the clear cold spring sunshine.
The old pastor who lived near loved her
dearly. All his own little children had grown
up and gone to homes OF their own, and the
cheerful, bright ways of little Frederika quite
won his heart. He called her little sunbeam.
He taught her to read before she was large
enough to so to the village school, it was so
far away; it was a beautiful sight to see the
sunny little head bent beside the bald and sill
vered one, over the minister's huge clasp BIZ
BILE i'll earnest study of the holy lessons of Our
Lord.
When the GOOD pastor went ON his daily
visits, little Frederika would stay for hours,
nestled In his great armchair reading good
books from his library. She was fond OF poetry.
and best loved the poems of good Bishop leg
ner, and could recite much of the Frilhiofs
Saga. Bat best of all she loved the sweet "Natt-
wards born, which our own poet Longfellow,
has SO beautifully rendered into English verse
called "The children of the Lords Supper
She looked forward with trembling awe to the
time when she might, like them, renew the
VOWS OF her baptism. Earnestly she prayed
Our Father in Heaven that she might grow to
be worthy OF the sacred joys of that holy festi
val. She prayed, too, that her good friend, the
old pastor, might live to break the sacred bread
and pour the hallOwed wine fof her TO taste
Then she prayed tie Lord to forgive her if she
loved her friends too well.
She was the light Of her home, and as she
grew older and stronger her helpful hands nev-
er wearied oftaklns burdens from her mother.
She never thought her white, dimpled fingers
were loo good to wash dishes and scour the
floor, and bake the oat- meal cakes, or even to
pull weeds in their lit lie garden.
And when at length The great day came,
and Frederika, in her simple white dress,
knelt at the church altar, with a group OF fair
haired maidens, ali thrilled aud weeping in
fear OF her own unworthlness, and shrinking
ly took the bread from the trembling hand OF
her "a. fpr iS If yVppdnr OF ca6
Saviour then came into her pure loving
heart and made his abode there, and that she
smiled with radiant joy into the eyes of her
PASTOR and wept again at her strange new
happiness.
From that day she sought more and more
earnestly TO grow like the Divine Master, and
went often with her pastor to minister to the
wants OF the poor and suffering, until she was
known throughout the parish as "lhe good
FIederka"
BY aid by. Jarl Svend, young woodcutter.
wanted The sweet Frederika for his wife. He
was no fairy prince, or disguised monarch, on
ly a plain Swedish peasant with mass OF
golden brown hair and beard, broad sturdy
shoulders and iron muscles. He could chop
more wood in day than any other man in
Jamtland, could tell the best story and sing
the best song, merry, happy-go-lucky fellow,
whom everybody liked and who was greatly
in love with Frederika:
And she, with her modest loving pature,
aw only good in all the world, and so She
owed the strong handsome Jar1
When the good pastor asked her if she was
sure that Jarl loved all things that were good
and holy, she replied with chiIdlike taith, 20,
he will learn to love them, love him him So"
They married and went to live in cottage
near her fathers and were very happy tor
awhile: But Jarl loved merry company, and
social song, and good corn brandy, and his
coarser nature conld not sympathize with the
purer thoughts Of Frederika; so he often left
her alone, and sought his jovial friends.
What she thought and hoped, prayed and
feared, no one but God knew, tor she bore her
Sriefs in silence.
when the good God gave her little son. She
called him Eric, after her pastor. For time
Jarl seemed to forget his boon companions
aud spent his evenings at home, but soon the
Old ways returned, and-let us pass over this
sad episode quickly-one day in the cold win
ter, Jarl was brought home stiff and cold, froz-
en to death in the tir forest, with a bottle that
had contained corn brandy at his side.
Frederika took up her lite of wdowhood in
silence and patience, as she had borne all her
gliefs, with one hope Frightening her gray
Hfe-that hope and comfort, Eric.
freoeIlKa tolled early and late, knitting,
spinning, planting and harvesting the few
vegetables which she sold at the market in
Jamtland, and Eric grew strong and hardy.
like his father, and in a few years went with
Inc choppers into the fir forest to earn money.
lie was kind, affectionate son, rosv and
cheerful, anxious to take the burden from his
mothers shoulders the patient mother whose
mar was fast turning white. Eric was willing
and strong and kind, but passion burned in
Dis blood, inherited from his father,
passion which the choppers life set on un.
quenchable fire. All, the bane of intemper-
ance! Eric was powerless to resist the nflu-
ence of corn brandy. When the choppers
passed round the frey drink at noon and
night, and colder natures drank sparipelv.
Eric took deep draughts, like thirsty sand
scofched traveller, and was often taken help |
less home to his heart broken mother. in |
vain her prayers and tears! In vain the bows
fearful ESTABLISHMENT and resolutions When |
the fatal drink went round, he seized the |
baneiu vessel as the ship-wrecked mariner |
the iIte-eiving water.
:, AT last in frenzy of remorse and despgir at |
MS broken promises, his mothers grief and |
tears, Eric one night went away, no one knew |
where. He only left line.
DEAR MOTHER: "You will he bannior
when am gone. ERIcn
She was still silent and uncomplaininc. re-
1uslng many kind offers of help and home.
mo, Eric will come back, and he must find |
his own home."
SO she knitted and spun as before, and kept
her fire bright and cheerful for Eric. But he |
came not. Old friends were kind and social. |
and often gaddened her lonely hearth. stone
with social visits. But Frederkas hair grew
snowy white in one short year. |
Five years passed, and the boy who had dis |
appeared SO strangely at fifteen, had never re- |
turned.
'He is dead" the neighbors said to each
other, but not to Flederika. She always said |
he would come back again.
AT length there came into the sturdy old
laen OF Jamtland the fever for emigraton.-
lhey read in their prosy old papers of a land |
beyond the sea, rich in fertile fields and broad |
forests, where milder winters prevailed, and |
houses were prepared for all who would 90
and take them.
One evening as Frederika was reading in
the old clasp Bible the good pastor had be-
queathed to her in his will, those words of |
Our Lord, ASK and it shall be given YOU
seek aud ye shall find, knock and it shall be
opened unto you''-there came knock at her
loof. Her heart sprang up, but it was not |
Eric, only her neighbor Christian and his
wife. who had come in to tell her thew were
,oing across the sea to this land of homes and
,ieu.y, and to say goG d-bye to good Fred
,rika.
Her blue eyes grew darker with wonder
md eagernesS.
'Is it, indeed, such wonderful land?" she
lsked.
wonderful, indeedp p said Christian. "The
snoW rarely holds more than three or four
ionCus, NV ana every man is as good as lord" l