Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1877-05-31
THE SCARLET yISITANT.
From the Chicago Tribune.

very large, but there was no other child to
fill it. Only Gracey. Blithe, hazclcd-eyed,
joyous Graccy pattering about the great
house with her baby feet like some fairy
that Love. had sent; showing her happy face
in all the rooms just as a stray sunbeam
that forces its way through the smallest
chink in the blinds, warns and brightens
each spot where it is allowed to shine
now sitting demurely on her little stool
and reading in infant lore the story hand
ed down from "Mother Goose lone
little mice at in barn to pin etc; now
using the persuasive powers Of her win
ming voice on Blddie for bit of dough to
make s. G acey" pie; again frolicking
in her lady mothers lap and showing,
midst the merriest gurglcs of laughter,
the 'sweet place" under her chin for
mama to kiss; and now, when the sun
is gone down and it is almost dinner
time, with her rosy face pressed close to
the window pane, watching for "papa :"
to come home tiny heiress of millions.
She has not long to wait. Round the
corner the expected one comes. Not very
attractive, you'll say. Few, indeed, would
wait with such loving anxiety for him,
rich as he is. His brows are knitted with
business cares, and his eyes have a keen,
furtive expression as they look out from
beneath their shaggy brows. But they
are studying the sidewalk now, and he is
thinking Of the latest fall in gold. The
man knows nothing higher than this. II
he ever thinks of heaven at all, it is some
time when gold has risen and he has oc-
casion to estimate the worth of her gilt
tering streets. He acknowledges no God );
has never known the holy babe at Beth
lehem; but way down in his cold, selfish
heart are two dimpled hands that keep
the fire of love burning, and an angel
face, with pair Of sweet hazel eyes, that
fill up the place where God and Maker
should be.
The little one at the window is all that
he has,-all that he loves but his bank
stock and mortgages gossip says
that his wife and he are not suited to one
another. 1t is the old, old story. You've
heard it many time. But the million
aires hard, uncompromising business
voice trembles when he says Ny daugh-
ter" and softened light comes into his
eyes at sight of her winsome little self
He is working for her,-laying up money
that by and by shall make her life grand
and fortunate one. He is building mas
sive blocks and magnificent palaces that
some day, he thinks, will add to the COM
pleteness of his little ones happiness. He
does not dream that some one else may
be building a mansion for her too.
Upstairs, in her gayly-furnished bou-
DOR, the mother is fashioning small gar
ment of lace and ribbons of delicate blue,
and she is thinking the while how her
baby will shine some day in elegant lady
apparel, and how society will some time
bow down before that angel face. She
has not thought Of that grander society
yet than all other, in which her darling
may shine; nor has it once occurred to
her mind to think what flood of bitter
tears may roll between them then.
"How fast the river runs!'
never stopping, never resting, always on
ward, bearing something from us every
day. How the golden sands creep through
our fingers to the deep.
20 God! can 1 not grasp
Them with tighter clasp?
o God! can l not save
One from the pitiless wave?'
And the human cry is answered in good
time.
But l hear the skipping, dancing feet
of Gracey in the hall. Her eyes have es-
pied the silent, austere man upon the
walk, and her tiny fingers are trembling
on the door-catch. It is raised from out
side now, and with joyous shout she
springs into the arms of the stern million
aire, and her white arms Irvine about his
neck. What does he care now for rise
or fall in wheat2 What does he care for
the big, grand earth, for God, or the world
beyon12 What matters it to him now,
his business cares or his unloving wife?
His darling-his all of Heaven, Of Christ,
of earthly happiness-is nestled close to
his heart with her beautiful cheek pressed
close to his own. She loves him with the
purest, truest devotion. She honors him.
She believes him when others doubt.
A great man in your strength; you who
SCOT at the Christ-child of long ago; who
laugh ct the sentiment there is in religion,
who disbelieve in the power of the strip
ling David, Behold, little child shall
lead you'll"
If YOU had seen the millfonaires that
evening you would scarcely have believed
in hardness You would scarcely have
believed that her hand only that afternoon
angrily denied wah-faccd, hungry beg