Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-11-08

, hOoitb,InC ptuGulIlSo Vi pUNcIbl auA
my heart smote me when / contrast
ed my easy, pleasant life beside hers.
| had so much more for which to be
| thankful.
And yet she went down into tho
valley, looking up trustingly into
His face, and giving her unsheltered
babes, who had always been Graded
in her soft arms aud in sound of her
sweet voice, into His care.
Standing on the cold heights, look-
ing on with the unannointed eyes OF
one loving the world, | could hardly
comprehend this. | almost felt that
| should come first in her thoughts
when she sought to fill the sacred of
/ flee of mother TO her bereft darlings.
thought much and often, and
wondered about this, until one day q
| half forgotten inncident came to me,
and the mystery was solved.
l Daring visit had made her the
year previous we were sitting one
evening 10 he: cosey little room
/ talking. Her husband was absent
on business in distant State, and |
! had taken advantage of that time TO
/ make her a visit OF three or four
days
| was telling Annie that | believed
/ Gods angels met US every day !; that
when we were prompted strongly to
| do good. unselfish deed they put
/ the desire into our hearts that
| through thea we often withheld the
unkind word, and that when we
sought to do right they upheld us ;
they were Gods messengers for good
and came directly from Him.
go Rosa !" she said, "you do max e
me so glad;" and while the tears
1 filed even to the dark lashes of her
beautiful eyes, she laughed as she
/ said : 81 know one time then that |
was met by the angels. 1t was only
few weeks ago-about month
after John went away. | took one
of those dreadful spells of pain in my
/ head and breast. that lasted two
| days Willie had cut his foot and
could only just limp around little,
! Charlie had had severe attack of
Group, and the baby was unusually
cross, and everything seemed to go
1 wrong. In the night the cows from
town came up and broke into our
good garden and destroyed nearly
everything, after | had worked so
I hard in it-and it was the best one
in the neighDorbood. Just then
came letter that father had taken
TO drink again, and mother contem-
plated leaving him, and that Sister
Lu was determined on marrying
that Idle, worthless, homeless fellow,
Harry Blake.
ooh my troubles came thick and
fast indeed, L was so broken and
bowed down that [ could hardly
live. / just felt completely prostra-
ted, as though | wanted to lie on the
hard, cold floor and groan. and not
try to live another day. To add to
all my troubles, my husband was
hundreds of miles away from home,
and aid not write half as often as be
should have done.
s'All this, Rosa, in the beautiful
June, remember, the crown month
of the year the June for which
all through the dreary, white winter,
and the bleak, cold, muddy spring [
had so longed and lived and waited
for.
"That saddest night when we went
to bed my heart was full of bitter
ness, the heavens seemed brass, and
the Fathers face seemed turned
away from me and mine. Oh
was wicked and hard and stern. |
felt my lip curl with a sneer as the
little prayers of Now | lay me- fell
upon my closed ear. The wanderer
Cain with the marx upon his FORE
head was happier than was.
"That night there came terrible
storm strong winds that almost
lifted our humble cottage from the
winds that swept and LASH
cd the trees. thunder that pealed ter
rifcally, and blazes of lightning
that made it seem as il the whole
earth were wrapped in flames. The
rain came through the roof, and lit
tie rills ran dawn upon our beds,an
drizzled down the white walls in
muddy streams.
81 sat up the rest of the night.
There was storm without and storm
within. As tho sounds died away,
the winds lulled, and the thunder
muttered afar off among the hill
tops, and the rain fell with g monot-
onous sound, slept little in my
rocking-chair.
"When awoke, desoiation
abounded. Inside of the house was
dirt and confusion, and mud and lit>
ter. My pretty sunfower quilt, that
you and | pieced out on the rock
under the cedars, was dabbled with
mud stain, the white window cur
tains hung limp and yellow, every
thing was dirty; and the CHEEKY sun
shine that came in at the east win
dow seemed to add only insult to in
jury. With the pain in my head and
the sadder pain in nay heart, it was
to try to bring order and neatness
out of such dire confusion. The
grassy meadow below the house
looked as though heavy roller had
gone over it;the grain lay flat on the
ground in places, and in others was
tangled and twisted; the roads were
washed into gullies and the little
plank bridges torn away. Brooks
that the day before had tinkled lazily
along were rushing madly now, fill to
the edges of their grassy banks.
knew the last drop would be added
to my full cup of bitterness when
should go to the spring-house.
at was an excellent spring, situ-
ated in a hollow between two mills,
but during storms and heavy falls of
rain torrent would rush down the
ravine, suddenly carrying destruction
with it. 1t proved this time as l had
feared. Every crock and jar had
been turned over and emptied of its
contents. A churning of sour cream
was gone and only the stone churn
L