The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-12-27
OUR STORY TELLER.
ONE CHRISTMAS EVE.
BY JAMES PUMMILL.


Yes, it was a gloomy day. For you |
must know that the day before Christ
mas-merry, merry Christmas lis not |
always happy in anticipation of the |
coming holiday of the year. And on |
this day thick clouds of nature were |
added to the thick clouds of SCOT that |
settles over the Paris of America on
lowering days.
Mrs. WiHdom sat in her scant fur
nished room in the third story of house
on Baker-street, sewing. Her little
son Davy played about the floor making
believe he was locomotive, while his
mamma worked upon the cheap shirts,
and sighed. She looked out OF the win
dow at the thick bank Of clouds and
smoke that dimmed and blackened the
atmosphere, and her sigh deepened; for
she remembered that tomorrow was
Christmas-a day that had once been to
her the happiest and brightest of all the
year. The weather was in unison
with her feelings Just then. Why
should the Christmas eve be bright, why
should the sunshine sparkle, when her
life was darkened by poverty? That
was question which arose in Mrs.
WINDOWS mind; but only for a mo-
ment; for she was a good, hopeful
Christian woman, and believed that the
Lord would provide in some way for
those who have faith in his promise that
all is for the best-even clouds and shad-
ows-to those who lean upon His power
full arm.
Mrs. Window had once been in good
circumstances, and surrounded with the
comforts of the world; and therefore
her present condition of poverty was
the more keenly felt. She had been the
belle of one of our suburban towns not
many years ago, and her hand was
sought in marriage by numerous lovers,
some of them commanding wealth and
position; but Harry Window, the dash
ing amateur comedian, the fine singer
and the handsome lover, for whom all
the girls were setting their caps, was her
choice, and after happy courtship they
we're married.
Harry was not rich but he was strong,
full of nervous vitality, and ambitious.
Before his marriage to Katy Marvin,
his ambition was of an esthetic charac-
ter. The drama, music and poetry oc-
cupied his time; and it must be said that
he obtained good reputation in each of
these. In public entertainments for the
benefit of charitable institutions, Harry
was always called upon to take leading
part, and received sufficient applause to
satisfy his heart. His poems for the
daily papers or the magazines were not
thrown in the waste-basket, but were
printed and copied, and widely diffused,
and often praised.
But shortly after his marriage Harry's
ambition took turn. Poetry and elo-
cution are very satisfying to the soul
but they do not always bring comfort
and enjoyment to the body.
Harry had read biography as well as
poetry, and he knew that the author
and the actor have a hard strug
gle to keep soul and body together. He
knew that even those who are on the
topmost round of fame's golden ladder
are compelled to work earnestly, vigor
ously and constantly to maintain theil
high position, and that even then they
sometimes fall, and are heard of nc
more.
"No," said Harry to his wife one day
fame is precious bit of tinsel, Katy
and that is all it is. You and 1 must be
happy together. When Poverty come,
in at the door, Love flies out at the win
dow. Love in a cottage is pretty
thing in poetry-books, but not in rea
life. 1 am going to be rich-I intend tt
devote my talent and energies, now, fol
few years, in the gathering of gold
When we are rich, we will settle dowI
to poetry and art, and take the worlC
easy"
But how? That was the question
Harry's people were not wealthy. They
possessed sufficient to live in comfort
but not in luxury, and could give thei
son no aid. Harry had received a fai
education, had studied law, but not will
sufficient industry, as you may reasona
bly, think, to give him any prominenc,
as student. And after he was marriec
he removed with his family to Cincin
natl, and hung out shingle. -
He had no particular luck. Brief
came to him, like angel visits, shor
and far between, and the indications O
wealth were not very fattering. Abou
that time the California gold fever wa
raging throughout the land, and Harr,
determined to join company, and seel
the III Dorado where gold might be hac
merely for the plucking. 1t was diff
cult to obtain his wife's consent to thi
plan, for a parting with the husband sh
so much loved, and the breaking up
their happy home, was bitterness itself
AT last, however, she consented.
But babe was expected soon to chez
their home, and the time of Harry's depal
ture was delayed for that happy occa
sion, so that he might be present at tn
ceremony of christening. This most de
lightful of events in every happy HON
soon arrived, the husband in the NEAR
while preparing the necessary utensil
for his expedition to the land of golc
and assisting the captain to gather t.
gether party of men ambitious for th
same important undertaking.
The babe was a beautiful boy, wit
the nose and mouth of its father, an
the merry blue eyes of its happy mothe
At the font it was christened Davi,
after the indomitable youth in IL
Sacred Book who slew the giant with