Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1880-05-26

the beauty ol which he had been s'
proud and fond was gone, every bit o
II gone, sleepless nights and useless
repinlngs, long, wearlsome days, end
less years, filed with yearning fol
that which seemed forever hopeless
had robbed me Of all, The old bloom
Of the heart took with II the crimson
cheek, the laughing eye, aud the light
elastic step, Even my hair tell out
Alas, poor me ! the 0csh fell from my
bones, As tainted before, II wa'
not u very alluring object that greeted
me In the glass on the morning OF my
twenly-sevenlh birthday. "Aroln'
thee, witch" | cried, aud wiped
away with the hand towel some tSars
that iell on the dimily bureau cover,
aud upon tho grave OF sad sweet mem
ories. Then ! pnl on my ugly. brown
dress, and the hldeous bonnet TO
match and went of TO tho church,
pausing at the portal 10 look longing
~ over at tho cool, quiet graves oi
some OF our old nclghbors, \ soft
wind stirred tho long grass here; a
lew birds hoped lightly and fearless
ly about,
GLOW calmly, calmly smile The dead
Who do not therefore grleye."
"The Yea oi heaven Is YEA !
said. and went on into the church,
where the ladies were grouped around
the Strawberries that had Just arrived.
I took possession Of a whole crate Of
these, sending the young and pretty
maiden. home to recruit for the eve
nlng
There were n few faint, polite re-
monstrances when ] declined TO take
any active part in the evenings enter
tainment. 1--WE must leave that part
to the young and attractive said,
and there was q general buzz of ac'
quiesccnce. | had the consolation Of
hearing several remarks upon my ex.
traordinary good sense and practical
capability.
I was graciously allowed, after /
had hulled whole crate OF strawber
ries. to hold u step-ladder and some
nails for Mrs. Smith, the apothecary's
wife, while she hung some gorgeous
drapcry, and otherwise deiormed the
cool, gay walls of our little chapel,
so thatiI was petty we'll tired when
went hcme at nightfalI. Mamma met
me at the gate and looked so aolefnl
that | burst out laughing.
"Neyer mind, mamma ! srid, II
won't look 10 cadaverous after | am
rested and dressed for the evening"
But I'm afraid I was rather pam
ful object for the gaze Of a do1ing and
once ambitions mother, even when |
had donncd my black silk, and was
ready for the evening. My hair was
neither crimped or curled! Yon see
l had depended upon the switch,
which was bought for purposes of
that kind, and it failed me ignomini-
ously at the last moment. My head
ached, and I could not bear the hair.
pins thrust INTO my scalp; in no way
would the obstinate thing stay on.
Mamma was heartbroken and | was
disappointed; but even inanimate
things become perverse at times. !
thought perhaps the switch was griev-
ing over a bereaved and lost head of
which it was once part and parcel
and l torgave it, and LETT it to its per-
yerseness from that time onward.
When | reached the church was
Immediately seized upon for something
they called ".he grocery counter'-an
innovation brought about by the ad-
vent of q well-to-do grocer in our
midst, a widower a stock raiser, and u
man afflicted with many maladies, of
which he loved to talk. He had gen
erously sent down ktrom the city, in
pound packages and tin pans, samples
of his available goods, and had pro-
posed this grocery counter" TO the
young ladies, which they despised
and would have none of. The grocer
himself found favor in their sight.
They fitted about him, filled his but
ton-holes with bouquets, his pockets
with bonbons they looked up in his
face and tried to talk to him, poor
as best they could. But
they appealed to me to take the ugly
counter, with its sordid pound pack
ages for home necessity, and l took it
with ill-concealed avidity. The truth
was n kind Of heartsickness seized me
when l thought that the evening must
be passed in making myself generally