Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1872-03-14

BY GENIE VI. WILDE.

comfort always varying It's sympathy to
suit the mood in which it may find me.
Sometimes | am glad; my heart
throbs high with happiness; III every
flower and blade of grass, III every tree
that dips It's leafy top IN the blue of
heaven, see the impress of Gods fin
ger; III every brook and MARBLE of the
wild birds song l hear the utterance of
his voice. Then into the homely
stocking | weave bright thoughts of a
beautiful world. Nor is my confidence
in vain. The wool twines itself low.
ingly about my fingers, and the needles,
i'll their cheerful, constant converse,
echo the thoughts III my mind.
Again clouds overshadow my life.
1t seems naught but "a long, a rough,
weary road" No flowers, no sun
shine, mo JOY. The cold phantom,
Memory. keeps grim watch over the
graves in my heart. And o the dreary
desolateness of heart graves. My I'M
needed knitting work looks its silent
reproach, as / take it in my hand, and
the heated tears fall upon it, The
wool grows softer under my saddened
touch; he clash and clatter Of the
needles sink into gentle whisper in
their kindly efforts to console me, and
as one by one in quick succession
note the stitches change their places,
my brain becomes clearer, and the
troubles on my heart seem to have fall
en- into the work.
Then quaint thoughts come cluster
ing around the glistening needles. |
see my work increase by the simple eff
fort | make i'll placing the wool over
the ends and drawing 1t through the
stitches relax my effort, and the work
remains unchanged continue the mo.
ton, but fail TO use the wool, and still
/ it is the same. While my hands are
thus employed, my mind finds amuse-
ment in the semblance between the
work and life | remember that We
cannot by our work 0lOHC form truly
beautiful character, but must constant
ly draw material from the Great Source
and then by our own hands 1t must be
wrought into symmetry and beauty
pleasing to the Father.
But see! | have carelessly dropped
a stitch. Half vaguely / watch 1t, for
getting that to save my work the wan
dering stitch should be at once reclaim
/ tNt' nv lllSl VIC y Nti y SiISIt,
scarcely to be noticed in fact but it
creeps stealthily adown, adown the
the work, until too late | find that my
labor Is almost lost because of the ugly
streak my carelessness has made. |
see in this an evii habit, scarcely per
ceptible at first, but slowly and surely
stealing its way along, until a life is
irreyocaby married that might other.
wise have seemed perfect.
Anon If ali 10 making comparisons be-
tween the work and people have seen.
There are the coarse, unpleasant black
or brown stocking people, from whom
we lnstlnctlyeiy turn aside, as they
stalk along through life, savagely push
ing everything before them, while they
cry out from hearts void of any love
save for self, Lies a aCQfuily praeti-
cal race, and you folks that stop to
pluck flowers by the way will find the
gate at the other end closed before
YOut" Then the blue and white yarn,
"miXed" | think they call it, does 1t
not carry you into the very midst of
Jolly, good-natured farm people by
whom 1t is used so muchl 1t does me,
antil | can almost see the gay family,
rejoicing IN the full possession of physi-
cal and moral health, gathered around
the evening table, and with them can
almost taste the yellow pumpkin pies
and nice seasoned ginger snaps.
The hight, gayly plaided work rep
resents another class of people These
/ fancy are mostly young girls.
Gay, joyous creatures, who,
though now and then surprised
into the knowledge that life is not all
dreams and fancies, persist in never
quarrelline with it, but laugh their way
along, as merry as a June day. Ca
PRECIOUS, dangerous creatures they may
be,-and, like skein of tangled yarn,
the more we look at them the worse
they may get,-yet withal SO full of
warmth and sunshine are they, making
US so happy by their presence even
while they torture rs, that we can but
love and take them to onr hearts, al
most wishing that the world were filled
with just such beings.
And the pretty white knitting work, |
-shawls and other articles of real ar
tistic beauty,-even this passed over
common wooden needles, stitch by
stitch, and in every one invisible /.
threads of genius and patience are cum
ningly interviewer. And this IN its |
delicate beauty reminds me Of persons /
not less pure, characters that, save I
for the hard, unpliable needles of dici- I
phre, could never have been woven +
into the quiet, loving influence which I