Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-07-11

than SHINING, and his heart was inspired
with love. He struggled with difficulties, \
and acquired faith encountered LIES va
ried experiences, and learned CHARITY.
When these two people met in California,
after their long separation, 1t was to be
greatly disappointed. To John, Margaret
was statue, done in ice-clear, glitteriug,
cold; to Margaret, John was an image Of
clay-dull, heavy, wanting. I
Her manners were refined; his were
coarse. Grace distinguished her every
motion he was awkward and unganly.
She was mistress of all the arts of pleas
ing; while he had no deft ways, but rather
a blunt sincerity, often offensive, even in :
the performace of the kindest acts. How
could there be harmony. His genius re-
buked by that of his wife, John could find
no comfort In her presence, and fed from
it to the more congenial society of the min
ers.
Margaret all unconscious that John ha'
qualities and faculties that lifted him up
and made him the chief parsonage among
men in his vicinity, saw only that he ls4iiDrl
ed what she priced, and felt for him pro-N
found contempt she scarcely strove TO con-
cea.
Time wore on; year had passed. The
Hemmings, preserving the outward rela-
tions of husband and wife, were scarcely
on speaking terms and when words were
interchanged, 1t would have been better ir
they had left them unsaid. Margaret bit
terly lamented her situation. "Is it to be
ever thus? ?" said she. "Am 1 always to
endure life in this wretched place shut off
from all congenial society, hearing moth
ing from human lips but thrice-told tales
lies from the first, creations of poverty
stricken maginations-and seeing no faces
but those that are banker than the dead
wall of church,"
Then John would answer: "By and by
we will leave this place for Frisco, or the
States. Not now, for our wealth is mainly
prospective. The claims must first be
work ed out. We must realize. Have pa
tience.''
"Patience," sneered Margaret. "Have
patience while my best years are wasting,
while am growing old before my time,
while rust is corroding all the faculties of
my mind. Have patience to endure the
horrible sameness of existence in this mis-
cradle town, in quiet respectablity. No.
no; cannot endure simply TO be. ] must
live must have. If the society and sur
roundngs crave are denied me, 1 will
make The most of what is at hand. 1 will
not be immured in living tomb. Society
is here chaos, but there shall be balls and
gatherings. What matters ii that they will
be frequented by the lowest and the vilest,
from contact with whom 1 have always
shrank with horror. Their envy and ad-
miration is better than stagnation; and, If
meet man or woman, saint or devil, who
can provoke within me even monetary
interest, he or she shall be my chosen COM
panion, until, like a squeezed orange, or
faded flower, they are cast away. may
not find happiness; but will make be-
lieve; perhaps 1 can cheat myself MY
soul shall not utterly starve,' <<
Then John would answer dreamily,
"Happiness is from within"
Margaret fulfilled her threat. Ball sue
ceeded ball. Motley crowds of people were
| drawn together, and over the assemblages
she reigned n queen. At her home was
| found a welcome for all those brilliant men
with whom the mines are infested, who,
| their imaginations being in the ascendant
over their judgments, suffer shipwreck ear
| ly in the voyage of life, and ever after live
by their wits, becoming gamblers and
sharpers. For time, to save appearances,
Hemming escorted his wife when she went
out, and tolerated at his own house the
presence of unwelcome guests, but this
could not last. The time came when he
said to her, that, for the future, he should
neither do one or The other.
"As you please" said Margaret; and the
following evening, with other escort, she
attended dance. The next morning, Mar
garet saw storm was at hand, and she
braced herself for its coming.
John said, 81 have interests at Jasper
Creek. I shall o there n attend to them.
and I shall be absent some time, perhaps
all winter"
Every WE'LL" said Margaret; you cannot
go tn soon."
"I shall take Johnny" said he.
Margaret smiled incredulously.
John repeated, ~ shall take Johnny"
"Do not Think" she said to frighten me
with an idle threat. Let me at least retain
what respect I now have for your good
sense. I am not child to be frightened
into compliance with your Wishes"
at is not an idle threat" returned he
"nor do appeal to your fears to control
your actions. 1t Is my fixed purpose that
the boy shall go with me, and only speak
of it that may not be apparently guilty oI
the meanness of stealing him away"
| kIaruarat roSa IN har faaf and oaid ssCau
il be possible that beneath all that show o.
homely goodness, turks spirit so mean
as to take from miserable woman all thai
she has? That child is mine, John EsE1
ming-not yours. A wanderer and an adj
venturer, you have noted not the weary
months of toll / gave him; the sleepess
nights and weary days when / stood with
only him, in a condition moro desolat'
than that of widowhood. Human law Is
with you, but there Is a higher law that
will overtake, and, with inexorable clutch
squeeze dry the hearts and lives of those
who come in between the mother and th,
child she has borne.'
John was unprepared for this cry of an
guish from his wife. For moment hi
resolution wavered, but the purpose whicl
had been months In crystalizing, could no
be easily shaken. He could but give hi
reasons for 30 decided a step which he did
7 gently but firmly: Margaret, we have nj
, thoughts or hopes in common, nor can W
labor for a common purpose; hence ii /
best we part. 1t is inevitable; II not to
, day another day. 1t is custom of th
. country that wives from the States shal
D seek divorces and form new alliances whe
t they come into the mines. l accepted tn
! common fate for you months since"
lu.,