Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-04-18

into glowing. outpOuripg ferYor, dee
and ardent excitement fired his eye an,
Ioosed his tongue, and Mr.. Brooks, VIII,
had tinge OF the metaphysical and In
quisitive about him, was nightly interest
ed in the man, and being, as he phraset
IL, "student OF character" which Is, be
Ing interpreted. impertinent soul who
make puppets OF his fellows TO see how
their wires work and discover the thought,
| of their hearts for his own theories an(
speculafions. he gently drew out this 10.
toxicated man. drunken, but not with
wine." As he was, with judiclous sugges
tions aud inquiries, til he knew him to the
core; a knowledge Of use to neither party
| and to the yonng clergyman only another
apple off the tree from which Eve plucked
sin aud misery. and sour one at that.
| Once more the old china punch-bowl thai
had been relic In the Wheeler family be-
yond their record. aud would have crazed
. china fancier with the lust OF his eye
was flied from the spring and set on the
| claw footed round table in the parlor, the
door left open into Melinda's room so she
| could see all the ceremony, the aunts and
nurse assembled in solemn array (all the
| children being sent over to the red house, J
and with due propriety the new baby
| squirming and kicking with great vigor In
| his fathers arms, was baptized Freedom
| Wheeler.
Why Is It that the curse of a granted
prayer" comes sometimes Immediately P
Why do we pant and thirst. and find the
dranght poisonous or after long exile
come home, only to find home gone? Alas
these are the conditions of humanity; the
questions we all ask, the thwarting and
despair we all endure; and also the misery y
and incomplcteness which tell us 10 hourly
admontlon that this lie Is fragment aud
beginning, and that its ends are not peace
and rapture. but discipline and education.
Freedom Wheeler was no apt pupil but
his sharpest lessons came to-day.
Full of exultatiou over fate, Melinda and
the aunts, chuckllng to himself with saw
age satlsfactio. AZ the conscious feeling
that it was no use for anybody-even the
indefinite influence he dared not call God
to try TO get the better OF him, he strobe
across the room to give his boy back to
Melinda, stumbled over a little stool that
intruded from below the sofa, fell full
length upon the floor with the child under
him, and when he rose 10 his feet, dszed
with the jar OF the fall 1t was but Just in
time 10 see those baby eyellds culver once
and close forever; the child was dead.
Melinda rose mp In the bed with dread
ful face; shrek on shrek burst from Ter
ups ut Women CEpWucI ABOUT FttuOtu
and took the limp body from bis arms he
leaned against the doorway like man in
a dream; the totnents OF reproach and
agony that burst from Melinda's lips seem.
ed not 10 enter his ears Now you've
done It. you've Killed him. you have
you have But why repeat the wild and
bitter words OF 4 mother bereft of her
child In the first hours Of its fresh strong
/ lifef Melinda was not a cruel or ungener-
ous woman naturally. but now she was
weak and nervous, and the shock was too
much for her brain.
In this sudden stress Mr. Brooks forgot
his metaphysics and fell back on the old
formulas, which after all do seem to wear
better than metaphy sizes in any real woe
I or want; he drew near TO Freedom and
put his hand upon the wretched mans
shppliar ""y ."nihar'' : --.a ~ -.~,'y g,
This evil is from the hand Of The Lord /;
bear 1t Ike a Christian"
'He mint no Christian" shouted Melin-
da, with accents OF concentrated bitter
ness. christians amt that sort, growln'
and scoldiu' and tightin' with the Lord that
made him. eos he could MT hev his own
way, aud uplltted sky-hlgh when he got it !;
| nd now look to where It's. The hypo-
critics hope i cut of Oh, my baby. my
baby" Here she fell into piteous .wailing
and fsinting, aud Mr.. Brooks led the pass
i've stricken man away, while Aunt HUI
dab despatched Reuben for the doctor, and
Aunt Hannah ard the nurse trIed TO calm
and restore Melinda.
But it was idle 10 try 10 draw Freedom
from his silent gloom; he would neither
speak nor hear, arently, and Mr..
Brooks, seeing Reuben htchins the horse
to the wagon, took his hat To leave. A0nt
HuldIh followed him to the door for po-
| liteness.
Send for me when you are ready tor
the funeral, Miss Huldah, said he, in TAX
ing leave Il feel deeply Cor you ali, es-
pecially for brother Wheeler; the Lord
seems TO have controversy with him, in.
deed -
That's So curtly replied Aunt HUI
dab; IAN don't see but what he's KEEP
up his end ont pooiy we'll; but | guess
he's got to let go. This makes three on
'en, and it's an old sayin'. ,hree times an
out
suddenly subdued smile curled the
corners OF Mr.. Brooks mouth for mo-
ment; poor man, he had keen sense Of
the ludicrous, and was minister In coun-
try puri,h,
Good day" nodded Aunt Hudah, quite
unaware that she had said anything pecrl-
lar. aud then she returned TO Freednu
but he had gone out of the Kitchen, no.
did any one know where he was, I'll The
horn called 10 supper, when he came in,
swallowed cup OF tea, and went speech
less To bed, not even asking about Melinda,
whom the doctor funnd in the first stage OF
fever, and pronounced dangerous
But Melinda was strong and could bear
"A great deal yet; she was comparatively a
young woman. and after a months severe
Illness she began to improve daily, aud in
smother month WAS like her own self again !;
perhaps a trifle less CHEEKY. but still isy
vivaci"us aud unsparlng OF herself or 9th.
ers But Freedom was changed man :;
the scorniul aud bitter words Melinda had
uttered in her frantic passion burnt deep
Into his soul, tho ush hegave no sign even
OF hearing them.
kingsley speaks Of 1.-THE still. deep
hearted Northern, whose pride breaks
slowly ana silently, but breaks once for
all; who tells to God what he will never
tell to man, aud having told IL is new
creature from that day forth iorever;" and
something after this fashion WAS Freedom
Wheeler shaped. He had been brought up
IN the strIctest CalvAnism, had his ''expe-
rience III due form, AID then united with
th" ehurch; but Parson Pitcher never
preached To anybody but unconverted sin-
ners; hell fire drove him on TO save him
from the consequences OF sin; its condi-
tions people who were once converted
must look out for themselves; an6 Free =.
dom's strong will, sullen temper. and un-
discipir ed character grew up like the
thorns in the parable aud choked the strug.
Cling blades of grain that never reached
an ear. Melnda's accusations were the
first sermon that fever awoke his con-
sciousness; he had always prided himself
on his honesty, and here he saw that he
had been an utter hypocri.e.
With all his faults he had a simple faith
In the truths OF the Bible and q conscien-
tious respect TOR ordinances. and now there
fell upon him deep COW iction OF heinous
sin, gloon, despair that amounted al
most to insanity; but he asked no counsel
he inplored no divine aid with the pecu-
liar sophstry of religious melancholy he
considered that his prayers would be an
abomipaton to the Lord. So he kept ST.
lence. poring more and more over his BIZ
Bile. apprOpriating its dreadful texts all to
himself. and turning his eyes away from
every gracious and tender promise, as one
unworthy to read them.