The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-12-21

| lne uRuf6 Sllently leu MIN IrOm the
room, and down the long stairs, out into
the street again. it was no longer night
there, for the sun was shining brightly,
and the thoroughfares were thronged
with busy crowds hurrying to their ac-
customed avocations. The air was keen
and frosty, and the extra wrappings and
comforters which the people wore, as.
sured the merchant that it was very
cold.
The figure led him into large store
on one of the store business streets, and
only stopped when they reached the
counting-room, where several merchants
were collected around the stove. Gideon
Grindem and his companion paused be-
| side them, but the gentlemen did not
seem conscious of their presence.
"Whai was that you said about Gideon
Grindem % asked one.
81 said he is heartless brute!" re-
piled another.
"What new thing has he done?"
He has killed his daughter and her
husband and children. They froze to
death yesterday in a miserable hovel
near East River. Think of it-on Christ
mas day, too-and old Grindem rolling
in wealth in his sumptuous homep
Gideon Grindem's heart stood still.
"It is true" said the figure, solemnly.
SIN the sight of God you have murdered
your children" Again the merchant
felt himself borne swiftly along, and
when he opened his eyes again he found
himself in his own home.
He stood in his chamber, and involun-
tarily he marked the contrast between
its luxurious comforts and the miserable
garret in which his daughter had frozen
to death. He saw, to his surprise, his
desk, where he kept his private papers
and considerable sum of money, open,
and one of his servants searching among
the contents. He tried to spring forward
to stop the man, but he could not move,
and when he endeayored to speak his
voice failed him. The figure pointed
silently to the bed, and Gideon Grindem
looked helplessly in that direction.
A man lay on the bed, silent and mo-
tionless. His hands were clasped mutely
on his breast, and his eyes were wide
open and staring blankly at the ceiling.
Gideon Grindem bent over and gazed at
the countenance, but he shrank back in
horror and dismay. Never had he seen
such look Of despair as that dead mans
face wore. So still, so terrible was it,
that it seemed to be something supernat-
ural. The merchant shrank back with
groan, for the face upon which he looked
was his own.
els this to be the end ?" he moaned.
"This will be the end" said the figure,
solemnly. "To die alone, neglected and
unloved, and without hope hereafter.
God help you, unhappy mani"
The figure slowly faded away, and
Gideon Grindem looked up with start.
He was sitting in his library, with the
untasted refreshments on the stand by
his side, and the embers cold and lifeless
in the CRATE before him. The gas was
burning in the chandelier with sickly
glare, and through the curtained win
dows streamed the broad, full light of
the Christmas sun. The merchant rubbed
his eyes and stared around vacantly.
Then his gaze rested on the portrait of
his dead wife over the mantelpiece. The
golden sunshine fell lovingly upon her
face, and the eyes of the woman who had
been so dear to him seemed full of sweet
ness and tenderness as they shone down
upon him, carrying light straight into
his heart that had been SO dark.
go, God, be thanked! it is but a
dream"
Another look into the dear eyes of the
woman who had loved him, and he sank
down on his knees and bowed his head
slowly and reverently. Gideon Grindem
was praying.
1t was still early morning when the
handsome carriage of the merchant
drove by the Park on its way to East
River.
Down through the vile streets, reek-
ing with filth and crime and misery, that
mark the worst quarter of the great city,
the splendid equipage passed. 1t paused
before a miserable dwelling, and the
merchant sprang out with a flushed, ex-
cited face, and hurried up the rickety
stairs, fearing that one part of his dream
might be true after all. He pushed open
door and entered the miserable room.
A glance satisfied him that the blessed
day had brought no joy to the inmates
of this sad abode. A woman, pale and
careworn, sat by an empty CRATE, with a
look of hopelessness on her sweet, young
face, while a man, wan and sickly, lay
on the bed with closed eyes, and two
children rested on a rude pallet, still
happy in their innocent slumbers.
Started by the noise, the woman
looked up. Gideon Grindem's eyes
clouded, and he held out his arms and
faltered:
"My daughter, forgive mel"
With glad cry she sprang into his
arms, and the penitent father felt that he
was forgiven. The princely mansion had
never seemed so gay before as on this
blessed Christmas when it rang with the
merry shouts of the children, and echoed
the soft laughter OF the elder ones; and
as Gideon Grindem listened he lifted up
his heart and blessed God for the dream
He had sent him to bring back so much
happi ness.