Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-06-07

way TO burst OF despair which is pain
full to witness. "I shall be marked;
shall be hideousr she exclaimed, sob
bing bitterly. Poor Frank, how he
will hate metz
In vain | try 10 comfort her, 10 CON
vince her that in not one out of hum
dred cases does the disease leave dread
fui traces behind it; she refuses to be
eonsoled. And soon she is too III TO be
reasoned with or indeed to know much
of her own state She is an orphan and
has no near relatives for whom we can
send, so Mary Anne installs herself In
the sick room as head nurse, and, as
see her bending lovingly over the poor,
disiigured face and ministering with
tender hands to the ceaseless wants of
the invalid, my wife is in my eyes beau
of good deed cast glory around the
most homely countenance.
For some time Mrs. Ogilvie's life Is in
great danger; but her youth and good
constitution prevail against the grim
destroyer, and at length am able to
pronounce all peril past.
But alas, alasl all my hopes, all my
care, all my poor skill have been in
vain; and the beauty which we have all
admired so much, and which has been
so precious to our poor patient, is n
thing of the past. She is marked
slightly, it is true; but the pure COM
plexion is thick and muddy, the once
bright eyes are heavy and dull, and the
golden hair is thin and lusterless. We
Keep it from her as long as we can, but
she soon discovers il in our sorrowful
looks; and her horror, her agony, al
most threaten to unseat her reason.
My wife is with her night and day,
watching her like mother, using every
argument she can think of to console
her, and above all, counseling with
gentle words submission to the will of
God But her misery, after the first shock,
is not so much for herself as for the pos
sible effect the loss of her beauty may
have on her husband, who is now daily
expected. His ship has been at sea, so
we have been unable to write to him;
and only on his arrival in Plymouth
Sound will he hear of his poor young
wife's illness and Disagreement. Be
fore her sickness she had been counting
the hours, now she sees every day 90
past with a shudder, feeling she is
brought twenty-fours nearer to the
dread trial. AT length his vessel ar
rives, and | receive a telegram telling
me when we may expect him, and beg
ging me to break the news gently to his
wife. She receives it with flood of
bitter tears and sobs, crying out that he
will hate and loathe her, and that she
is about to lose all the happiness of her
life. My wife weeps with her and l am
conscious of a choking sensation in my
throat as we take leave of her half an
hour before Mr.. Ogilvie is expected, and
pray God to bless and sustain her.
We are sitting in rather melancholy
mood after dinner, talking of the poor
young husband and wife, when Mr..
Ogilvie is announced, and hasten to
the door to meet him.
"She will not see mer' he says i'm
petuously, coming in without any form
al greeting. "She has shut herself in
to her room, and calls to me with hys-
terical tears that she is too dreadful to
look upon, that l shall cease to love
her as soon as | behold her, and that
she cannot face it." And then the
strong man falls into chair with sob.
at is not so bad as that" / begin.
~ don't care how bad it is, - he cries;
"she need not doubt my love. My
poor darling will always be the same
to me whether she has lost her beauty
or not"
Whereupon extend my hand to him
and shake his heartily; and know my
wife has great difficulty in restraining
herself from enveloping him in her
motherly arms and embracing him.
"We must resort to strategem,n /
say. q will 90 down to the cottage
at once and you follow me in ten min
utes with my wife. l will try and coax
Mrs. Ogilvie to come out and speak to
me and You must steal upon her una
wares"
Mrs. Ogilvie at first refuses to see or
speak to me; but | go up to her door
and am mean enough to remind her of
my wife's devotion to her and entreat
her, for her sake, to come down to me.
"Where is Frank?' she asks.
81 left him at home with Mary
Anne" l reply, feeling that l am
worthy at being a diplomatist at the
Court of st. Petersburg, as she opens
the door and descends the stairs. /
take her out into the garden and begin
to reprove her for her conduct, with as
suming anger. l, on the lookout for it,
hear the latch of the garden gate click;
but she, absorbed in her sorrow, does
not notice it. look up and see Frank
Ogilvie's eyes fixed hungrily on his
wife. Her changed appearance must
be an awful shock to him; but he bears
it bravely; and in a moment he has
sprung forward, clasped her in his
arms, and the poor Scared face is hid
den on his true and loving heart.
Then Mary Anne and / turn silently
away, and leave him to teach her that
there are things more valuable, of far
higher worth, than any mere beauty of
face or form.
After all, we do not lose her, for Mr..
Ogilvie coming into some money, leaves
the navy and purchases small estate
in our neighborhood, on which they |
still reside. Mrs. Ogilvie is no longer
young, and has a family of lads and |
lasses around her who inherit much of |
their mothers loveliness. But one of
the first things she teaches them is not |
to set a ficticiOus value on it; "for,n |
she says, a. thought too much of mine, |
and God took it from me-" No one |
ever hears her regret the loss of her
beauty; "for through that trial." Sic
tells my wife, - learned to know the
true value of my Franks heart"
She simply worships her husband,
and is in all respects "a happy woman.
Indeed, seeing the sweet smiles which
adorn her face and the loving light
which dwells in her eyes, am some
times tempted to call her as of yore-
Pretty Mrs. Ogilvie. Chambers Jour
nal.