The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-07-22


To Miss Woodby the sounds were most irrl-
tating. She said to her mother:
"Wbat on earth is the matter with that
imp to-day?"
Her mother having her own hands full,
youchsafed no explanation.
81 declares" she calculated a moment
later, eff had o brat like that would
choke it."
And she hurried away to school to get out
Of the sound OF the noise, leaving her mother
TO attend to the dinner dishes.
In the afternoon she brought out her pa
per, found a cool place at an open WINDOW
for her desk, and began:
1 "TRUE NOBILITY"
"Tbere is tine nobility OF blood and the
nobility OF life. The former is but an acct
dent OF birth; the latter is the result OF
DEVELOPMENT. The former is but for the
few: the latter is for the many. True no.
biIity is a life nobly 'lived. 1t comes neither
from birth nor from circumstances. lie
springs alone from the heart. Money can
not purchase it; education cannot bring 1t;
talent will not produce it. 1t is treasure
which every man may possess, and yet us
price is above rubies."
At this juncture Miss Woody was Obliged
to take long pause to rearrange her
thoughts, and while thus engaged her little
brother appeared at the door. Miss Wood
by looked up impatiently.
"Don't come in here" she commanded.
"But want my hat"
ssWell, get it and leave at once"
"You needn't be so cross" he said.
elf you don't leave at once I'll make
you," she declared.
He got his hat with all the speed possible.
but on leaving bad the satisfaction OF
screaming out, "Mean thing!' and Slam
ming the door with all his might. 1t was
fully fifteen minutes before Miss Woody
was sufficiently composed to renew her
work. Then she wrote:
"It isa Jewel whose lustre grows brighter
with every day of its use. 1t is possession
that time cannot wear; that misfortune cam
not diminish; that no combination OF cir
c,lmstances can rob us Of. The hardest Dat
tie is the fight against self. The grandest
victory is the triumph over self. There can
be no true edu cation where self-denial IS
not accomplished. Self degrades-"
Just here Miss Woodby's mother came to
the room to tell her to put away her clothes
that had just been ironed.
81 can't bother about that now" said
Miss Woody.
"Gracious! how can l write or do any
thing if Pye got to be jumping up every
demanded the young authoress,
in a tone of very proper resentment.
Mrs. Woody withdrew her tired body
and went back to her work with sigh.
81 don't see what makes ma act so con-
trary," murmured Miss Woody to her
self. "She could have put away those
things herself if she had cared to be any
way accommodating" Then she bent her
mind again to the task Of composition. Be-
fore she could get in order to commit mat
ter to the page tea was announced. After
tea her mother asked her to clear the table
and wash the dishes, but she had to think,
and could not do this. She inquired, with
considerable reason, il she was expected TO
do everything on earth, and get an essay
ready, tOo9 She went out and sat under a
tree until the table was cleared, and then
she brought out her manuscript and con-
tinued:
"SeH deadens the better instincts. and
makes him who yields thereto a torture to
himself and burden to those about him.
True nobility is to care for others, to give
I'D self, to lose your own will in the will OF
those depending upon you. He who Is
without self will be patient in trouble, calm
in trial, trusting in adversely, temperate in
prosperity. His heart is ever open to the
cry OF the hurdened; bis hand ever ready
to minister to the afflicted. No thought of
himself, no care for his own advancement,
is ever allowed to stand in the way of 9th
ers. In honor preferring one another is the
motto Of his life, the guide to every net"
At this iuncture the baby sister Of Miss
Woody climbed upon chair at the table to
hot CHI
flicted by the heat, she had no amusement
and no company, and she climbed up to see
what was going on. The white paper and
moving pen interested her. More than that
they absorbed her very soul.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, in a paroxysm of
excitement.
"What are you doing up here?" eXplo-
siyely cried Miss Woody. "Get down from
that table this instant and take yourself out
of sight"
The great round eyes filled with tears, and
the lip OF the girl-baby trembled.
Miss Woody could have cried with veXa-
ton.
"What for pity sake can ma be thinking
Of to let you come here to bother the life
out of me? Go away this minute or I'll
slap you"
The child scrambled down and toddled
away to find her mother, crying aloud with
the pain of disappointment. The mother
being out on the front stoop to catch breath
of fresh air, beard the cry and hurried to
meet and comfort the child. In her wearied
lap she took the baby, and listened to its
story and kissed it back to quiet, broken
only by occasional halt-suppressed sobs
from its quiyering lips.
Miss Woody, being left uninterrupted,
started her pen
"No storm can reach him. He stands I'M
movable before every onslaught from the
world. True to himself, true to his God,
true to every prompting OF duty, bis inner
life is like the mountain lake in the sunshine
OF midsummer day-refecting within its
pure unrufhed bosom the bright heaven
aboye."
This was a very fine passage, and Miss
Woody was nearly an hour perfecting 1t,
including the interruption of getting light,
ms her mother was not present to do it for
her. She was reading this paragraph over
for the fourth time, with Astounding salts
faction, when her brother, with neigh
boring boy, came "troopingn in. he
brought in the other boy to shsw him a
book that had been given him. He ap.
preached the table with the enthusiasm ne.
cuiiur to youth, and, with noisy hospitality,
observed: st
"Bring un q chair, Bill, an look at the
pictures" .5;
ssC Charles !" exclaimed his sister, almost
paralyzed by the audaclty OF this move
ment. 9 don't You see Pm Writing?o
50 What OF that p, he surlily demanded:
81 ain'r touching you, am I 2s I. 40.
80 But you bother me, and won't stand
IT,. NOW you Just take your book away
Ids was very pleasant for 3 BiIl,n who
had Come in N, n a