Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1872-10-03
THE VILLAGE ANGEL.

Emily Wharton wasfhe pet and pride
of Riverdale. The old men reVerently
called her the Villas angeI;'' the
young men admired her day, and
dreamed of her by night and even her
companions of her own sex.feit for her
pure regard free from the least taint
of envy or jealousy. Had any one ask
cd if she was sbeautifi11, The reply would
have been.st I m sure don t know
but she is SO goodswe all love her; we
can't helpit.' And if you, reader, had
seen her, no time could efface the mem
ory of her glossy brown hair, her deep
tender eyes of a dark gray, and her fair,
round face with gentleness and patience
shining from every feature. You might
deny that she was really pretty, but you
would have to admit that she possessed
charms superior to those of personal
loveliness.
What little of romance there had
been in Emily's quietly happy life, she
had made herself while working for
quite another object. Her parents be-
ing the wealthiest people in town, and
her own heart prompting her to take
the most worthy advantage of this bless
ing, she had often helped those in
need, and accomplished 1T in such a
quiet way that she avoided the ostenta-
ton of charity, and caused the recip-
tents to f, ell thankfulness unburden-
ed by any sense of humiliating obliga
tion. -s A.NsE1
1t was one summer afternoon, when
sitting with her mother on the piazza
of their elegant cottage, that Emily saw
young man staggering under the
weight of a heavy barrow filed with
vegetables. Hewas coming up the road,
and as he dreB near she saw that his
face was very pale, and bore only too
plainly the marks of care and sorrow.
She watched him as he advanced, her
face revealing the sudden sym mpathy
which his appearance had inspired in
her heart. Reaching the house direct
ly opposite, the young man let his bar
row rest upon the ground and opened
the gate then moving forward with
his load, he essayed to enter, but the
gate swung to, barring his pl ogress.
Again he tried with the same result.
Wiping the PRECIPITATION from his brow,
he looked about for something with
which to hold the gate in position, and
at that moment slight, girlish figure
swept by him, and a sweet voice said:
/ will hold it while you come in.'
Surprised and not little embarrass-
ed, heregarded her moment in silence,
then while gratitude shone from his
dark eyes, he replied
You are very kind, miss; 1 thank
you"
And he wheeled his burden into the
yard, glancing almost reverently at his
gentle assistant.
Ny mother thinks you have not
been long in our village" said Emily,
shyly,
ger, you see, and don't get much work,
but shall by-and-by, think" and a
faint smile passed over his features.
"Papa has lots of work to be done !;
he might give you some if he only knew
your name" continued the maiden sa-
THANK you. My name is Thoms s
Warren, and-and live on the fats"
He spoke hesitat;pgly, and blushed as
he mentioned the name of the poorest
locality in town. Presently he looked
up, but his companion had gone, and
was now sitting on the piazza again as
quietly as if he had not moved at all.
"Tnat name drove her off, unused
Thomas, as he went on with his load.
"Well, don't wonder-it is low place.
But she was kind; there are mighty
few girls who would do what she did,
That evening, while Emily and her
father were conversing-she trying to
find out if he knew anything of the
Warren family, and he wondering what
/" the darling little witch was driving
at" the neighbor across the way came
in, and shortly referred to the incident
of the afternoon, and added:
" Itw good in you, Emily, very good
but they are rather low people-these
Warrens. They lived in Daymouth be
fore they came here in fact the old