Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1872-03-13

naruer conquest, haIOlu-a proud
e victory"
r The boy breathed heavily and /
b, eyes sank, dim with a film of unsh,
tears. They worked awhile in silenC
e then the teacher took out her watch
= "It is tea time" she said. ''I a
, going your way to night. Shall v
: walk tOgether?"
Deacon Thorn, from his work in n
garden, bowed to Miss Waring as the
drew near.
Il must beg your pardon, NJ
, Thorn" she said, "for having keI
/. Harold so late. ] wanted his hei
about a bit of work / was doing.U
"I'm very glad, Miss, if you ca
make him of any use. It's more tina
nybody else can "
"Harold is doing very finely in hi
arithmetic, Mr.. Thorn. I'm quit
proud of him."
"Well. tie terms but just begun
A new broom. you know, Miss !'
She saw the old hard look darker
over the boys face.
"GOd give me patience with thi
mans Llindness!" her soul cried out
as she turned to pass on her way. Sh
would have bidden Herold good night
but he still walked at her side. hi
heavy eyebrows knit and lowering
You see how il is !" he burst ou
at last. There's no use!"
Harold" she answered, ''nldk,
your father trust you! This is par
of the battle. You are not coward
to fly at the first Onslaught?"
NJ W yia g.
"But it seems TO me cowardly to 6eal
things. I'm sick of meekness anC
patience, the right cheek, and left
cheek, and all that! There's thai
Gridley-you know him, Miss War.
ming? He came to me when / was
in" He stopped short with a hot
flush, and his listner felt instinetively
that the worn ''jair had almost passed
his lips.
"He came to me once, and told me
how awfully wicked I was, and talked
about meekDess and forgiving ones
enemies-he when 1 had seen him
fog his oxen in the furrow, Miss
Waring, till the skin lay all in bloody
welts, because his ploughshare broke
against a rock. hateshams !"
Harold, what makes the sham
Isn't it the real behind it? If there
were no silver dollars, would they
make pewter ones, do you think &? II
there were no truth, would there be
any liars?"
The boy was silent a moment, then
he said impetuOusly:
"YOu know that chapter you read
this morning? Why didn't he ask
for the twelve legions of angels p
Those Jews had no right to take his
life!"
"They did not take it, Haroldi 1t
was his-all heaven and earth were
his He WAS fnee-at the judgment
seat-On the cross-in the gravel 1t
was the victory Of Lowell Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for friend And
they were not even thatW
a great wave of emotion swept over
the boys frame, and left him still. At
last, Ibis life for his friend !" he re-
peated softly. Then lifting his head,
he said in voice strangely altered,
'I think it might be done"
She looked into his face and knew
that she had won his heart. Do you
wonder that she trembled? 1t is
fearful thing for one soul, clinging fast
beneath seething seas of doubt, to
know itself the only anchor of another
near to wreck ? Nod be thanked for
that human love which teaches the
For the power which shapes
the little acts and words OF common
life into an angels ladder, whose top
= I,ef - alltrIIauc n afnhta
Miss Waring walked on now alone.
AT the turn of the road, she paused
and looked back. 1t was a quiet
winding street bordered by
iOuble rows of elms. a century old
he white cburch-spire cleaning thro'
he clustering green. On the right,
visible from her slight emiDenee,
stretched the meadows, green and un-
iulating, embroidered by the silver
.hread of the babbling creek; on the
eft rose the pine-clad hills of the
weird lights and shadows of sunset
The ehestnuts were in full bloom,
heir long, pendant tassels bright
lgainst the vivid green of their luxu-
liant foliage. The near hill-slopes |
we're flushed with drifts of laurel |
,iossOms-some laughing children |
we're heaping them in their hands
ike rosy snow.
The boy stood still where she had 1
eft him, looking towards her, with |
he red light, as-like, touching |
lis hair to vivid gold. Through all /
he years of her life she would carry /
lis image as he was that nightI
She entered cottage whittier her .
rrand had been to offer her services j
s night watcher with one of her lit I
lie scholars, who lay sick. A neigh !
,or having been already engaged, 4
Hiss Waring begged to stay, at least
Iutil she should come. 1t was late in
he evening when she walked home,
nd Mrs. Moss, not expecting her,
lad retired an hour before. She let |
erself in with duplicate key which
be carried, and went nOiselessly up
tairs, where she lay, for long time,
leepless, but, about midnight, sank
ntO a deep, dreamless slumber.
Outside, the cold wind blew fitfully,
nd dewy pearls stung themselves
pom the grass blades. Night, with
er mysterious processes of rest and
rowth, folded her dark wings over
H.
But within the old house there was
breath, subtle stir. creeping, but
ot not of mice, in the wainscOtting
"a ticking, between the measured
eats of the ancient clock upon the
'all.
a late foot-passenger upon the
ighway started to see windows gla-
ing redly on him through the dark
ess, like demons eyes. Breathlessly
e fastened forward and great shout
)re the still air.
"Firel FireW
Mrs. Moss leaped from her bed in
error at the thunderous beating on
er door, to see one-half the wall of
er room a lurid, smouldering mass,
lhieh, even as he rushed past it to-
ard the outer door, burst into live
anne behind her.
The street was already full of half
ressed people.
"Aiiss WaringI" cried half a score
f voices. "Where is she? ?"
''Not here-she did not come home
Lst night" came from the widows
ale liDs.
'.Thank God for that ~
And through it all-the tumult, the
louting. the hurrying steps, the rush
the destroying fire-she lay in that
range, unbroken trance ofsleep. No
ne could reach her now: the whole
,wer story of the old honse was one
hell of fire, which burst through
lelting panes and smoking clapboar-'
ing. Men, women, and children
m aimlessly to and fro, or stood, as
r...i...A.I Nth Al,n;,. ,.rnIn,n rnnila |