The Grange advance., 1876-02-23

| il all of the blue summer skies, and
gold of summer sunlight, and the shine of
summer stars fell down into your hands
at once, for you to paint scrap-books
with. should you know what to say!
Into the poor scrap-book Of Deb's life
the colorslof heaven droped and blinded
her on that bewildering, beautiful, bless.
ed ride. -
In just an hour the sleigh was there,
with the easiest cushions, and the warm.
est robes, and bells-the merriest bells!-
and the straight young LADY And Jim
McMahoney was there; and he carried
her down stairs to ':set'' ber. And her
mother was there, and wrapped her all
up in an old red shawl, for Deb had no
''things' like other little girls. The young
lady remembered that, and she had
brought the prettiest little white hood
that Deb had ever seen, and Deb's face
looked like bruised day.lily 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 the children who did
wonder; and the grocer turned in at the
alley corner, and the baker stopped as he
turned out, and every body stood and smil-
ed to see her start. The white horse paved
the snow, and held up his head-Deb had
never seen such horse,-and the young
lady had gathered 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 q minute, and the people in the alley
hurrahed, and hurrahed, and hurrahed to
see her 60.
That bewildering, beautiful, blessed
ride How warm her little white hood
was! 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 min
ute still and hidden. The young lady
thought she was frightened.
''But I only want to CRY little' said
Deb's little smothered voice. 81 must
cry 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 bewildcring,
beautiful, blessed ride!
Streets, and crowd, and church spires
were in it-yes, and wedding and fu.
neral, too; all things that Deb had seen
in her high chair in the daytime with her
| ch,.< c1,o - that ~sIn -
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 Debto be flying.
She thought that he must he like the aw-
full beautiful horse in Revelation. She
felt that he could take her to heaven just
as we'll as not. if the young lady's brown
glove would only pull the reins in that
direction.
They rode on and on. In and ou: 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.
"There is so much OF it." said Deb,
softly, thinking of the crack Oft that she
had seen between two houses for fifteen
years. For the crack seemed to be very
much like fifteen years in high chair,
and the long, broad'shouldered, silver riv'
er seemed to her very much like this
world about which she had wondered.
| III l. l. L.. ~
bled 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 off
trembling to laugh; then, in minute she
trembled 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 tnrned pale with delighted terror,
and then she flushed with terrified de.
light.
Did it pray, orcry, 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 q
high chair at window again, but ride
with the young lady. It seemed to her
like forever and forever.
They turned away from Androscoggin
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 so many
lights.
And still she could not speak when
they rode into Brick alley, and Jim Nc