The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1872-06-08

of d .firi uhlch she was stitching
neatly. lle knots that q was f1f
hlm that she Was ai uofk
"rmi.s your wife" The words
we're before The eyes ot his m.ad,
aud be could not look away from
them. Bot be- was not ready for
yet lie st'll fli moody and unior
giving. The expression of h,s viic'f
face hc Interpreted - mean III "a.
turc. and with ill-na,ure be bad uo
patience. lIis eye. tell on the news.
paper that lay spread out before
him, and read The sentence
" A kind, cheerful word spoken IN
q gloomy homo, is like the rift in
cloud thatletsthe sunshine through.
Lee struggled with himself a
while longer. Ills own ill-nature
had to be conquered first--his
moody, accusing spirit had to be
subdued. But he was coming right,
and at last got right, as to will.
Next came the question ss to how
he should begin. lie thought OF
Of many things to say, yet he feared
TO say them lest his wife should meet
his advances with q cold rebuff. AT
last, leaning toward her and taking
hold Of the linen bosom upon which
she was at work, he said, with a
voice carefully modulated with kind
ness:
"You are doing that work very
beautifully, Mary"
Mrs. Lee made no reply, but hel
husband did not fail to observe that
she lost, almost instantly, that rigid
erectness with which she had been
sitting, nor that the motion of her
needle had ceased.
"My shirts are better made and
whittier than those of any other man
in the shop" said ice, encouraged
to 60 on.
"Are they p Mrs. Lees voice
was low, and had in it a slight hus
kiness. She did not turn her face,
but her husband saw that She leaned
little towards him. lie ehad broken
through tho Ice OF reserve and all
was easy now. His head was among
the clouds, and a few feeble rays
were already struggling through the
rift it had made.
eyes, Mary he answered, softly,
"and have beard il said more than
once what good wife Andrew Lee
must have"
Mrs. Lee turned her face toward
her husband. There was a light in
it and light in her eye. Bat there
was something in the expression Of
the countenance that a little puzzled
him.
"Do you think 500" she asked,
quite soberly.
"What a question !" calculated
Andrew Lee, starting up and going
round to the side of the table where
his wife was sitting. "What d ques-
iion, Mary Y herepeated, as he stood
before her.
DO youp' 1t was all she said.
ayes, darling was his warmly
spoken answer, and he stopped down
a I'd kissed her. "How strange that
you asked me such question I" Y
z "Ii you would only tell me so now
and then, Andrew, It would do me
good.' And Mrs. Lee arose, and
leaning her face against the manly
breast Of her husband, stood and
wept.
What a strong light broke in upon
the mind Of Andrew Ice. lIe had
never given to his faithful wife even
the small reward OF praise for all the
loving interest she had manifested
daily, until doubt Of his love had
entered her soul, aud made the light
around her thick darkness. No
wonder that her face grew clouded,
nor that what he considered moods
ness and ill-uature took possession
ofher spirit.
"You are good and true, Mary
My own dear wife. lam proud Of
you---l love you---and my first desire
is Tor your happiness. Oh, if | could
always see your face IN sunshine, my
home would be the dearest place on
EARTH"
"How precious TO me are your
words Of love and praise, Andrew
said Mrs. Lee, smiling up through
her tears into his face. "With them
In my ears, my heart can never lie
in shadow"
How easy had been the work for
Andrew Lee. lie had swept his
hand across the cloudy horizon Of
bis home, and now the bright sun>
shine Was streaming down, and
flooding that home with JOY and
beauty.
a ------s. s..-.- -
w H \