Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-12-24
MISCELLANEOUS.
THE WaaGEaER'S RETURN.
A CHRISTMAS STORY.
BY II. ELLIsoN wARNEn.


hearts at its coming, and cure, at least, OF
hearty welcome from the little onos, listoniug in
awe-sirl' be, silence to their mothers tale Of tho
good Old Santa Claus, and hp wonderful span Ct
snow-ahite reindeer.
Nlmt world OF cheer ard good fellowship in
that inagic word, Christians Its very eound liz
pregnant with thoughts Of roaring hickory iiree
huge baskets OF rcs1 -ciiocksd apple, hcapel up
plates Of nuts, tat, broYii ronstcd turkeys, and
great generous sittes Il plunmy cake, refore
one b virion sppcsrs gond old 81 N,rLnla4, with
his merry. jolly fhca ai Il twnllin,; o. ~ honrnr
upon his mythical back rrmliBiotis quantities. Of
presents and gopoiies icr LIS ail,ciioiaie Glil-
dren.
For weeks beforehand preparations have been
going forward ion the proper celebration Of this
grandost festival of tho yoar-grandoat in that it
colnmemorated the gaudest epoch tho world
has over witnessed.
II tlIere is ono heasun Of the wear calculated
to soften the ntieet heart or to drive away all
thoughts OF caro- and yeXation, that season liz
Christmas Inc, for donht not that the holy
pence wich thrilled tho earth on that wonderful
hight eighteen hundred years ago, has not been
lessened ia its gentle power, hut once a year at
least returns aud gorilles with it's b essed pres.
| enee tho woisiippers OF all mankind
1t was The night before the ever memorable
holiday, aud the business streets of our city
wore thiongeu with restless eager crowd of
hniiying men, women ana children. There war
bluif old pdieI fdnid,ds his warm oyercoat but
toned securely about lIis mex, threading his
| careful way through the NOISY crowd, growing
oacasic nay at the pert little sunwilskes falling
thlckly around. and which would now ami then
find resting plsca oil hls jolly rcd no4e, cAuA-
ing hin much Ingenious tormont thcioly.
Nnmerors brown paper parcels pfotrnl,d from
| his Capacous pockets, aud IN he Ontwaid div
| ahivers, he thinks of the happy homo cii Gle
| awaiting his coming aud hasteis his retarded
footsteps.
Happy looking mothers staggering along un-
| der the weight Of clumsy bundles, happy under
| tho bundles which were to produce happiness.
| Gay misses ruslied hther aud thther dragging
with them their big brothers AZ beasts OF bur-
don. Eyeryone in the whole city seemed to be
happy TINT evening in tho pursuit of some bene-
VIOLENT purpose.
| Everyone but one and that Que, n woman.
| Pale and shiyerlng, she had drawn herself into
tho partial shelter and gloom of little allie yway.
| and stood gazing hungrily and OH Ao MOURN
| fully, upon the gay crowd paasinS bofoie ller
| eyes.
con. 1t WIS pitful.
Nenr a whole city ful,
Hone she had none"
| She was yonng, apparently not more than
| twenty-five or three, and her fmo WAS one OF
| starvation, tho drawn eXurCnsion Of ntenre auf-
| fering, was 30 plainly visible NJ almost to hide
| the sweet purity Of tho regular features. The
| wind howled dismaily about her trembling
frame, and struck all icy thrill through hor worn
garments, piercing her very marrow.
" Oh, heavens :" she mOaned, "hunleloss such
| Il night as tins. oh father, mothor, could you
| zee your poor child now" And rho groaned
aloud III her anguish, attracting tho attention Of
| oue from tue great busy thronS moving past
| her
"Why, bless my soul, its woman. and nearly
| frozen TO death ut that Come, my poor girl,
what's the matter Why amt YOU at homo such
| a terrible night as this Y
| A poinpous though kindly face peered down
| lnto the eyes OF the homeless waif, from the
comfortable recesses OF warm fur collar and
and thick fuzzy comforter. At tie hrst sound OF
the CHEEKY voice, tho girl gave great start OF
| fear and alarm. y glance into his face was all
| the response she made to hia KIND inquiry, and
| loosing herself from his astonlslied grasps she
| sped swiftly down the street and disappeared
| among tho countless myrads OF foinis that
thropged the path
| tBess my soul !" CALCULATED tho amazed way
farer, using his favorite mid oath to express ms
ne 10 be T rascal ite s way .be BE. ram ran. wen
well tho wicked ilee when no man piirtuetl
| and doubt not there is something wrong rome-
where" and with this exceedingly wise and orr
pnl remark, Mr. solomon Graves marched sol
emnly on to join his family, where kind reader,
| with your permission, We will accompany HIM,
| A bright fire and warm supper awaited the
| old gentleman, and it was with sigh of the
| deepest pleasure that he sank luxutiCusy into
| his eaey char after the meal, and listened llac-
| idly though with slight inward shiyer to the
| bowling winds without.
"How thankful we ought to be, my loyo, he
observed to ha dumpy, rosy little wife, who sat
| lovingly on an ottoman by his side, and divided
| her motherly Offices between her husband and
the two chubby children playing near at hand.
| 4" How thankful we ought 10 be that we have Il
| good home, II warm shelter and comfortable
clothing tonight, while 30 many thousand poor
creatures are without either, wandering about
the street. And besides" continued he com
placently, playfully pinchirg his wife's plump
cheeks, - think of our pantry loaded down with
good things for the Christmas table tomorrow.
| tell YOU, Mary, there are not many families
| more comfortably situated than us, and we
ought to be very thankful to Him who has st
blessed us." Lifting his eye pioualy upward,
Now | have observed, dear reader, and
doubt not the same thing has occurred to you,
that no one, and especially no member OF the
sterner sex, is ever in such u line hunlor, or bot
ter pleased with himself and the world IL
general than when he has just arisen from
| nounteous repast, and is sitting before bril-
| liant fire. A man s never moro benevolent
never more sef-sacrliicing, never more prodi
gally generous in his thoughts, than at Thai
pleasant period OF His exis'ence He turn
his thoughts toward the suffering poor, and II
| u
| lie abuses the "bloated boudholders ant
> "pampered aristocrats," while he condolei
with the uufortunates OF the laborng classes
But did you ever likewise notice that thes'
generous thoughts and sympathizinG words arr
Generally the extent OF that benevolent ma
Vidual's retiections2 Did yon ever mark how
as tho pang OF supper time commences e
ppaw at his stomach, and the burning coal
yrow DINNER, he shoots out sharp replies Il
. 6i- wife, makes hits at his daughters beanX
and rrightens tho cook half to death with III
. loud commands? Such IL the inevitable en-
{ of the great ajcrity of such cases-but be!
pardon for this dgression, brought on NJ
was by the remarks of our friend MIR. Snlomo
| Graves. after eating Il hearty meal, and heatt
= IN the bosom OF Lis family before cheeriu
anthracite blaze.
A half smile at the compliment to her house
wifely industry, and the little woman Iooke
pleasantly up into hor husbands beamihg i"c'
j .,Oh Solomon, nle raid, 'if lIulen were OF
lv here with us tonight, how happy ihuee
ahouId we be- Heaven knows where she is
y nerhaps wandering about our very strech
starved and frozen, whilo we are AL coihior'ao
here :" and at this first mention OF ION
taboosd subject the tender mother gave way,
a flood of bitter tears, III she Thought OF her uA
linr child driven from home five years peio
hv her fathers curse, uttered III the bltGeIhe,
!, OF rage and disappointment, Tor her disoDou
, enco In marrying II young sculptor, destitute {
everythipg but Il handsome face and modera
talents. ... ,..., i,,,
y. | ,he skeloton in tho closet of Solomon GraVt
! 4 Hall l.pan aun