The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1872-01-05

then the children must 60 TO bed. And
after that, the lamps must be lighted
and the sewing taken up again, not TO
be laid down until midnight. The room
where she sat had a faded look. The
-leanly-swept carpet had lost its fresh
sss, and the plain furniture had care
ully-kept appearance The portraits
We're Old-fashiOned, and the delicate
muslin curtains were here and there
skillfully mended. a vase or two on
the mantel, few well-wOrn books on a
stand in the corner, and shelf of bloom
ingflowers i'm the window where Eleanor
sat, gave a touch Of refinement to the
neat, plain room. Eleanor, like the
m, was a little faded. There were
ds of silver in her smooth, dark
Though she was but thirty-five,
her forehead the lines were
deepening Then there was Il
ed look in her eyes, and a sOrrOw-
Irve to the mouth. 1t was a very
face, though il had been pretty
Jugh once. O, yes, Eleanor used 10
Je pretty, very pretty. But that was
long time ago, when she was a girl.
There was a picture up stairs, in the
drawer where she kept her wedding
slippers, and the children's first little
dresses, and all those things that women
treasure, "a picture of a fair, young face,
with a little rosebud mouth and laugh
ing eyes, and brown curls falling down
on the white shoulders, face
when she was young. She took it up
sometimes with a sigh, and then laid
it down quietly, and shut the drawer
resolutely, and went away down stairs
to her sewing. And the sigh meant a
great deal 1t meant more than that
the face had faded. That wasn't so
much. OF course one couldn't keep
young and fresh always. Nobody could.
Ii meant that while the face had faded,
all the JOY and hope of youth had faded
with il, and she had grown sad and pre-
maturely old. She had been married
sixteen years, and she had two children,
Rob and Ellie, named for her and Bob
ert, her husband. People didn't like to
say much about EleanOr's husband.
Old women shook their heads, and said,
"POor EleanOrw and the men said,
''Martin might be a smart man if he'd
only behave" and there the subject was
dropped. She was very young when she
first saw RObert-just out of school. He
was manipulating and handsome, and
her friends thought it "a good match, y
for his father was rich and he was an
only son. She didn't care for that,
though; Robert loved her, and she gave
him her whole heart. She remembered
so well the first time they met. Ii was
on a clear, bright winter afternoon, and
she was skimming over the ice in her
blue skating-dress, with her curls float
ing out under the iaunty cap. After
that, she used, somehow, TO meet him
when she went down street, and then he
got to walking home with her from
singing-schOOl and then to dropping
in now and then of an evening. After
awhile, he came oftener, and staid
longer, and then there were sails on the
pond where they had skated in winter,
and moonlight strOlls under the elms,
and al last one night, (hOw its memory
thrilled her yetD he said those new,
sweet words, how he loved her, and
would she be his little wife; and she hid
her crimson face on his shoulder with a
faltered "Yes, Robert"
And then - well, after that, one
bright spring day, carriages hurried
hither and thither, and the bells
rang, and all i'm white she walked into
church with Robert, and when she
came out she was Roberts wife. Rob-
erts wife! o, she would be a true and
loving wife. He should never want any
care or comfort; never want anything
that she could for him. o, that sweet
May morningi The sky was blue and
clOudless, and the trees wore n misty
veil of green. There was n singing of
birds, a murmur of brooks, and fra
GRANGE of early flowers. And full of
youthful love and trust, looking out into
the future, she saw a pleasant home,
where, through all the Years of her life,
she sat crowned with love. Sorrow
might come to her, for she knew that
none escaped it, but the arm she leaned
upon was strong. 1t would not fail her.
So the years would glide quietly away
and they would grow old together, but
the love which they had pledged in their
youth would still burn brightly. Then,
when her brown hair should be white,
she and Robert would sit by their fire
side like her own father and mother,
and their children should come home
10 them as they went home TO her par
ents.
Life had been so different from the
promise Of that May mOrningl so diff
ferent. They had been very happy at
first. By and by a child came, and then
anOther-she had had four in all Two
were laid away in the church-yard.
She was very glad of that now. it was
very pleasant out in the church-yard
The trees rustled, and the birds sang,
and the flowers bloomed all summer
long Only sometimes in the winter,
when the snow fell thickly, and the
wind mOaned, she shivered a little, and
thought il must be cold. Sometimes
she thought she would like TO lie down
there too. She would be very glad to
do so if il were not for the other two.
Well, after that unlucky speculation
which had swept away their all, Robert
had worked steadily for a time. But
soon he grew discouraged, so the chari-
table said, not being used to work, and
so fell into bad ways. Eleanor "sup-
posed 1t 1rds hard for him" She said
10 her heart, we mustn't blame him
700 much. But II was such di sap
Polntment! 1t didn't seem possible
That this Dlear-eyed, sodden-faced man
who came home to her nightly with nm
steady step, who swore AT her when
anything went wrong, aud told her She
was always asking for money. could be
the Robert she had once loved so dearlyi
Robert used to be so kind, so careful of
her comfort, oh, so different from thisl
Perhaps he would be himself again
sometime. She must wait and hone.
Meanwhile she must try and bear il,
and do all she can to earn some herself,
for they must eat and drink, and the
children must have clothes. So she
took in dress-making, when she could
get it, and plain sewing. One by one
the silver threads came i'm her hair, The
deep lines in her forehead, and that
troubled look into her eyes. The chill
dren were her only comfort. When she
put her work away, late at night, she
would steal in softly, tired as she was,
4, Il T.. IL IN. L.