Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1871-12-30
CICELY'S CHRISTMAS.
IFrom AppletoR's Journal. ]

ocean at her feet, and at her back whole nation
OF tributary towns and villages ready to do her
nonoI; anu uPhold ner supremacy over the wide
III was Chrlstmas-eye, and the queen wore her
holiday robes New-iallen snow covered the
psSemen's: evergreen trees made groves of the
arbors over the long lines of plump turkeys
each bearing its saeriicisl green sprig; graceful
MI re OF running pine eiambered over the
laurel shone on the marble statuettes holly
cleaned among the jewels, and in the windows
OF the tOy-shOps stood royal Christmas trees
glittering with lights and covered with glorifed
wonders so bewilderingly beautiful that the
crowd OF little faces outside was struck speech
less with admiration The was setting; with
his rudy face hidden by a bank of snow-clouds
he sent flood of golden light over the house
tops and liz up all the western windows to do
nonor 70 Shristmas.eve: The aerial illumina-
surprise. The day had been dark with thick.
falling snOw-fakes, and the night had come
down rapidly, as though in answer to the wishes
OF all the waiting children on the island. Lights
glttered in the crowded stores, and please
mamma, light the gas; il will make Christmas
come quicker, had been pleaded in 50 many
houses BY earnest little voices, that mammas had
yielded, and the chandeliers threw their light
out over the snow through the curtained win
COWS many minutes before the customary time,
80 that when King Sol sent up his fireworks
there was double illumination all over the city
But the gas could not rival the sky tints
III lIst came the golden beams glittering against
lighting up the gilt cross on st. Boute's slender
sPire until IL shone against the dark sky like a
staL. linen VIVID rose hue stole up to the
zenith, and hurrying people paused to look at
the warm light on the marble fdcrdes and the
red glow over the snow. Dying OF into a soft
punk. the flush sank down TO the west droppino
from cloud TO cloud, and fading away into tbe
clear, pale yellow on the horizon which, itself
changing from yellow to purple, from purple to
. anu rom olue 70 gray, gradually darkened
Among the busy throng, two persons were
walking side by side, apparently not themselves
hurried, but forced to iOn in the 0uick pace of
the moving crowd, sweeping up Broadway like
an endless gala procession; yround the corner TO
the left the ranks still unbroken, past naughty
WINDOWS wherein Law rich merchandise in care
less heaps, and on to Aladdn's Palace, where
gold, pearls, rubies, emeralds. and diamonds
were shining, shimmering, glowing, cleaning,
and sparkling, on their white velvet beds
go Seth, let Us 90 in for a moment; Nv
jewels she admired.
cisPlay with an Indifferent gaze. and answered:
. do you really care for those stones, Cicely?,
They are diamonds, Seth-real royal dia-
monds See those rings, that necklace and OH
see those fringed earrings, How they sparkle
They must be worth thousands of dollars, muir
INJURED Cieely, in tones of awe.
They entered the palace and Joined the crowd
OF gszers around the glass cases, Cicely flushed
with excited interest, and Seth looking with
amused glanees, not at the jewels, but at his
pretty companion. After a tour among the
wonders, they secured place at the diamond
counter, where the shining gems. pure and seIf-
radiant as liquid light, gladdened all hearts
she gaZed, lost in an ecstasy of admiration.
Those crosses Seth, and that diamond bird!
Look at the yellow CLEAN of this solitaire, and
zee the white light in that pin. And, . Seth,
some more fringed earrings, like those in the
window, but even more beautiful, if that Is pos
slole; and Cieely heaved a little sigh. Her com
pani0n stood beside her, but after a time these
Isptures fell upon unlisteniDg ear Honest
Seth had no eye for jewels, and his mind full of
eDgr0ssing thoughts, had wandered far from the
on the counter, lost in abstraction. So Ciceiy
discovered him, as, after pursuing her mono
logue for some time, she withdrew her eyes from
the Measures and look up for response.
Cleely Wild was eharmingly pretty. with the
dark shadows and ripe tnts Of brown beauty a
type as essentially peculiar the blonde, and
brown skin, and q round little figure, even Seth
Austin, practical maehinist a. he was, expanded
INTO poetry IN her presence, calling her his dear
well educated and energetic, the young girl be-
ionged to the great army of teachers, and,
brayeiy leaving the district school on the hill
and the lonely farmhouse in the valley, she had
come 10 the great city. where, if the work was
twice a. hard, the pay was also doubled, and life
ten times as bright TO the active young mind.
But little Cicely did not venture into the crow ded
metropolis unfTiended; the PLAYMATE of her
childhood, the friend Of her girfhood and the
lover OF her maturer years, was there before her,
Morking haTd IN the great Columbian Iron
Works, where the wonderful engines of the
ocean steamers were formed, amid the noise
OF bewIdering and ponderous machinery.
SETH Austin, born and bred in the country town
OF Plum Valley, had educated himself studied
mechanics, journeyed to New York, and OBJ
tained place in the Columbian Iron Works, no
one exactly knew how; himself least of ALL
Some men are born with their calling written
by the finger of Nature upon their brows Most
OF Us plod on in whatever vocation our parents
or chance select tor US, and We are LAWYERS
physicians, merchants, as il nav happen
without any strong or impOrtunate preferences
on our part But now and then Nature gives US
lesson in phrenology, sending a musician, q
painter, or an inventor into the world so plainly
marked that he who runs may read. III the
parents OF the child Of sounds are deaf to his
Penter, how many hours will he steal from his
uncongenial toll, trying to fashion rude pipes
from the reeds by the river! Ii the parents of
the child of hues are blind TO his powers and
persist in making him a baker, how will he slip
sway TO mix his primitive colors; how will he
MAKE the fences his canvas and paint the very
lowed with one Qf those rare brains in whose
sight the principles Ana e,oiutions of ma
ehlnery are clear as the sum- ght. Having
no one to interfere with the bent OF his
inclinations, he had migrated from the water
wheels and blacksmith-shop Of Plum Val
ley 20 the Columbian Iron Works with the GER
tSinty OF needle pointing to its pole; and there,
although occupied with hands and mind all day,
ne still found time at night 10 weave his own
Ideas and make his own experiments upon the
great laws which, even in the nineteenth centu.
yCt Aot WIoly uuucfcSOoQL ETUm MS
childhood he had loved Cicely Wild, the one
love OF his life, and never had his fancy 50 much
a. glanced IN another direction from the days
when they both attended the old red school on
the hill, and shared their apples and ginger
bread. Before he left the village he had won
from the "nut-brown maybe" the promise to be
his wife as soon fortune should smile even
faiptly upon him; and when, In one or his brief
SStters he suggested the idea Of her coming to
New York, the little school mistres swas eager
iy glad TO desert the quiet village, delighted with
the gay city, proud Of her new position i'm the
thronged school, and happy in the frequent pre-
sence of her Hover, albeit she fouad him, at
times, strangely absent-minded-
But Cicely had come 10 the city In the early
fall. and now that four months had passed in the
daily routine of teaching, o dull fatigue had
.darkened her brain, weakened her body, and
clouded her heart; her slender ankles ached
with climbing endless stairs, her little wrists
trembled under the weight OF heavy books, and
her mind grew wearied with the strict rules,
equally severe for teacher as scholar. In the
Kindness Of his heart, Seth had taken pains to
ind home for the country girl in a fashionable
boarding-house, where, perehed in a sky parlor,
Sir feet by nine, she WAS at liberty to fy down
and eat at the same table with the Misses Van
Airytop. lost in wonder over their magnificent
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