The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1876-03-30

FI| ~
ggids8f summer sunlight. aud the
shine of summer stars fell down. into
your hands at once, for you to paint
scrap.books with, should you know
what to say7
Into the poor scrap-book of Deb's
life the colors Of heaven dropped and
blinded her on that bewildering, beau
tiful, blessed ride.
In just an hour the sleigh was there,
with the easiest cushions, and the
warmest robes, and bells-the merri-
est bells Land the straight young lady.
And Jim McMahoney was there and
he carried her down stairs to set her.
And her mother was there, and wrap
ped her all up in an old shawl, for Deb
had no things like other little girls.
The young lady remembered that, aud
she had brought the prettiest little
white hood that Deb had ever seen,
aud Oeb's face looked like a bruised
day lilly bed between the shining wool,
but Deb could not see that and Mrs.
McMahoney was there, pairing onions
at the door, to wish her good luck
and all the little McMahoneys were
there, and all tho children who did
| wonder and the grocer turned in al
the alley corner, and the baker stop.
as he turned out, and everybody stood
and smiled to sec her start. The white
horse paved the snow, and held up
his head-Deb had never seen such a
horse, and the young lady had gath
cred the reins into her brown gloves,
and the sleigh bells cried for joy
how they cried !-and away they went,
and Deb was out Of the alley in min.
ute, and the people in the alley hur.
rahed, aud hurrahed, and hurrahed to
see her go. ha'; s1isRi'
That tbewildering. beautiful, blessed
ride! How warm her little white
hood wasi How the cushions sank
beneath her, and the fur robes opened
like feathers to the touch OF her poor
thin hand! How the bells sang to her.
and the snowdrifts blinked at her, and
icicles and the slated roofs, and sky
and the peoples faces smiled at her!
"What's the matter? asked the
young lady: for Deb drew the great
VOLTS robe over her face and head, ,and
sat for a minute still and hidden. The
young lrdy thought she was frighten-
ed. 'ns
"But I only want to cry little
said Deb's little smothered voice. 81
must cry n little first"
When she cried = little she held up
her head, and the shine Of her pretty
white hood grew faint beside the shine
of her eyes and her cheeks. The be-
wiIdering, beautiful blessed ride!
Streets, and crowd, and church
spires were in it-ycs, and a wedding
and funeral, too; all things that Deb
lad seen in her high chair in the day
time WITH her eyes shut, she saw in
that ride in the sleigh with her eyes
open wide.
She was very still. The young lady
did not talk to her, and she did not
talk to the young lady. The horse held
up his head. 1t seemed to Deb to be
flying. She thought that he must be
like the awful beautiful horse lnReve-
lation. She felt that ne could take her
to heaven just as well as not, if the
young lady's brown glove would only
pull the rcins in that direction.
They rode on and on. In and out
of the merry streets, through and
through the singing bells, about and
about the great church spires-all over
and over, and over the laughing town.
They rode to the river, and the young
lady stopped the white horse so that
Deb could look across, and up and
down at the shining stream and the
shining bank.
"Thers is 80 much of it," said Deb,
softly, thinking Of the crack it that
she had seen between two houses for
fifteen years. For the crack seemed
to be very much like fifteen years in a
high chair, and the long, b:oad-shoul-
dcred, silver river seemed to her very
much like this world about which she
had wondered. 8si.
They rode to the mills, and Deb
trembled to look up to their frowning
walls, and to meet their hundred eyes ;
but some of the girls who wore the
little pink bows, and who knew her,
came nodding to look down out of
them, and she left of trembling again,
for, all at once, without any warning,
the great AndroscOggin bell pealed
forth the time just over her head, and
swallowed her up in sound. She
turned pale with delighted terror, and
then she flushed with terrified delight.
Did it pray, or cry, or laugh? !? Deb
did not know. 1t seemed to her that
if the white horse would carry her to
the great heart of that bell, she never
need sit in high chair at window
again, but ride with tine young lady.
1t seemed to her like forever and for
ever.
They turned away from Androscog-
gin without speaking, and rode and
rode. Daylight dimmed and dusk
dropped, and see! all the town blazed
with lights. They rode and rode to
see the lights. Deb could not speak,
there were 80 many lights.
And still she could not speak when
they rode into Brick alley, and Jim
McMahoney and her mother and the
children who did not wonder, came
out to meet her and take her back to