Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1874-03-07
CHAPTER x.

| u. u. l. d
| faction that some one who had beel
fond of Marjory..slIould live near the vii
| lage church she was married in, ant
though that was against my creed, ye
| instinct is often stronger than opinion
near the white maidstone on which wa!
| her simple name, Marjory Reid ant
which was-I mourned-the sole me
meuto left on earth of such pure an(
beautiful soul.
I erred. The Giver and Claimer o
souls knows His work better. Evi
perishes; it has done its work, as pur.
flying and Christening agent; it dies ac
cording to its natural tendency, which
is to die. But good is from its very ma
ture and origin immortal.
Every Sunday used to say to myself
passing by the head-stOne, Poor Mallory
what vert thou sent on earth for? Only
to love, suffer, die and be forgotten?
Oh, purblind unbeliever that l was
As if in the wonderful mechanism OF
Gods universe, wherein nothing is ever
wasted. He should suffer innocence and
love to pass away into oblivion, having
apparently done no work, effected nc
good, and only lived less to enjoy than
TO endure.
If we could but see little forward to-
ward the end.
1t so happened, from various counter
acting chances, that my brother and
did not meet for several years. L was
always disinclined to travel, and he was
fast bound at the estate in Shropshire
of which his marriage had made him
master.
An excellent master he proved filling
admirably the difficult position of hus.
band ''of a woman of property" He
| q n 9
large agriculturist, member of parlia-
ment, justice of the peace. Children
sprang up, one after the other, round his
board: he was to all appearance pros
porous and happy man. Nay. he him.
self told me so. His letters--for we
maintained a steady correspondence
gradually changed their character into
the business like gravity of middle age
1 hardly knew it till 1 happened to read
one of those, long ago, from Ockham
Tower, and laid it side by side with
these.
Alwyn was not my only Shropshire
correspondent. Mrs. Reid favored me
rarely; she was not a ready penwoman
but various minor scrawls came to hand
from the young Misses Rossiter, One
day Ileceived a few lines of wide-ruled
pen-over'pencil writing, as if some one
that little hand! it was of my own flesh
and blood:
DEAR AUNT Il love you, and some
of these days am coming to see you.
Your affectionate niece,
MARGARET REID
She was Alwyn's eldest child.
l will not confess to how many peo
pie in our village l triumphantly show
ed that document. 1 was growing /;
very weak-minded old woman.
On the day fiXed-it was day il
winter, Just after the New Year, wa:
awaiting my brother and my niece. AL
was trim in my cottage, over the ap-
pearance OF which | was morbidly anX-
| ious, considering what the Misses Rossi
ter had told me of the appearance o.
Manor Place. There was holly on the
mantel-piece and holly on the piano
that 10 living fingers had ever touched
since-ah, l remember! The garden
was trim and green; and knew by thu
snow-drops in my borders what mum
| ber Alwyn would find-where L sup
posed he would not think of going now
There drove up grandly post-chais'
and four. A gentleman leaped out;
could hardly believe it was my brother
| Alwyn.
Those who live alone are prone tx
| think that the world stands still, ant
that the people therein cherish memor
| les and feelings which belong only t.
solitude. Living here 1 had NATURAL,
lived wholly in past days. 1 expected
the Alwyn Reid who married Marjory
| l found Alwyn Reid, Esq, of Mano
Place, magistrate of the county of Sa
| lop, husband of Mrs. Reid, father of
large and rising family. At first I wa
disappointed. Not afterward. No
when 1 had his daughter on my knee
and him by my side, and saw the low
between them.
Margaret was a very Sweet-lookin!
child; but 1 vainly traced any famil1
line. Yet it seemed as if she belonged
to me familiarly-as if she had come ou
of the far-back period of a forgotten life
l found it almost impossible to believ
she was Mrs. Reid's daughter.
She made herself quite at home imme-
diately; strayed about the house; talked
to Mary (who had married her joy
buried him, and come back to me) eX
amined all the furniture, especially tn
| piano.
st is locked. May I open it?'
1T has not been opened for man,
years, my DEAR
| ooh, please, aunt
/ could not resist the name. l begal
fumbling among my bunch of keys.
| 'WhOse piano was it?'
| st belonged to-a lady-who is nov
dead.'
The child colored-interchange
glance with her father. He said gently
| Yes, it was hers, Margaret. and walk
ed first to the window, then quietly ou
of the room
Al
Papa has told me about her. She wa
indeed
BLESS thee, my dear child
Don't cry now, aunt. Papa and
never do, and we often talk about heI
/ know her quite we'll. Papa says | al
just very little like her sometimes. Al
|I?'
st may be-
ooh. 1 wish 1 were, She was so gooG
Papa loved her so, He says, the more
grow like her the more he shall love IN
every day.
I could hardly speak. Oh, Marjory
thou vert living stlll-thou couldst nc
die.
/ And now, Auntie, may open tn
piano?'
The next day 1 had it put in tune
4htI Sdic6 was very uappy She sal d
the evening playing her pretty, simpl
music by the tire-light, her father an
l listening. 1t seemed as if the spir
of the lost had come back to us in tha
child.
1t was strange thing-which, Will
they were staying here, struck othe
people besides myself-that little MAJ
garet was very like Alwyn's first wife
Not in face exactly, but in manner an
ways. As she grew older the likenes
rather increased than diminished. Yea
by year-fOr from this time | visited m
brothers household nearly every sun
mer-I watched her bloom into woman
hood. They were a handsome family
she was at once the least handsome an
!, the flower of them all.
She was her fathers right hand. II
, loved her better than all his other sor
! and daughters.
, do not think that Mrs. Reid minde
this, being a kind-Iearted, business-lib
woman, to whom life was an easy, al
, tive, bustling affair. She brought Il
: her family well, and from their cradle
: began settling how she should put he
sons in the world. and marry her hani
! some daughters. She was affectionate
her husband, but always wondered wb;
he could see so especially charming
that little plain Margaret.
How Mrc Paid xuouII havn rn,iIa1