Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-11-19

them any. II thought I could DO anything
that WY, toward sending them frost
No" he added, that aln't reasonable.
frost and a human life aint convertible
coin. He don't do unreasonable things. May
De we lost my bead already. But I'd be
glad 70. That's all. ] suppose ! can ask
1ou Tor frost That's reason.
Lord God Of earth and HeaYenl that
made the South and North, the pcstilence
and destruction, the sick and we'll, the living
ana the dead have mercy on Us miserable
sinners! Have mercy on the folks that pray
10 You, and on the folks that don'tl Re-
member the old graves, and the new ones,
ana the graves that are b be opened n this
hellish heat goes on, and send us a blessed
ir0st, Lord, as an act Of humdHityi And
that Amt the way 70 speak 10 You, re-
leinDer haYen,t been praying man long
enough 70 learn the language very wel-and
that Pm pretty sick-but that would be
glad 70 dle--to give thcm-a great, white,
holy frost. Lord, n frost! Lord cool.
white, clean frost, for these poor devils that
have borne 20 much 20
At midnight Of that Saturday he dosed
and dreamed. He dreamed Of what he had
thought while scip was sick; Of what Il was
IKE, TO be holyi and sadly waking, thought
OF holy peOple--gOOd women and honest
men, who had never done a deadly deed.
j can not be holy" thought Zervlah
Hopei "but can pray for frost" 30 he
tried TO pray for frost. But by that time he
had grown confused, and his will wandered
pitlfully, and he saw strange sights IN the
little hut IL was as IL he we're not alone
Yet no one had come IN. She could not
come at midnight. Strange-how strange
Who was that who walked about the hutg
Who stood and looked at him? Who leaned
10 himY Who brOOded over himY Who put
arms beneath himY Who looked at him, as
those look who love the sick too much to
shrinkfrOm them?
" don't know YOU" said Zeryiah, IN a
distinct voice. Presently be smiled. "Yes,
guess do. see now. Pm not used 70
You. never saw You before. You arc
Him I've heered abOut-God's Son. Gods
Son, You've taken a great deal Of trouble 10
come here after me. Nobody else came.
YOU'RE the only one that has remembered
me.
" Yes, ] remember. They made
a prisoner Of IOu. Why, yes They deserted
You. They let You die by Yourself. What
did You do II fOry I.don't know much about
theology. ! am not an educated man. /
never prayed till / come South. I
forget - What did lOu do Il Cor?"
a profound and solemn silence replied.
"Well," said the sick man, breaking It in
q satisfied tone, as If he had been answered,
81 wasn't worth it but Pm glad You
came. wish they had a frost, poor things
You won't 60 away? Well, Pm glad. Poor
things Poor things Ill take Your hand,
il You've no objections"
After a little time, he added, in a tone of
unutterable tenderness and content:
Dear Lordn' and said no more.
1t was quiet night. The stars rode on
as IL there were no task but the tasks Of stars
in all the universe, and no sorrow keener
than their sorrow, and no care other than
their motion and their shining. The web Of
cloud tOated like eXhaling breath between
them and the earth. It grew cooler before
the dawn. The leaves OF the palmetto over
Scip's grave seemed to uncurl, and grow lax,
and soften. The dust still flew heavily, but
the wind rose.
The sunday-bclls rang peacefully. The
sick heard them, and the cOnvalescent and
the well. The dying listened to them before
they left. On the faces of the dead, too,
there came the look Of those who hear
The bells tOlled, too, that Sunday. They
tolled almost all the afternoon. The young
NOrtherner DR.. Rename, was gone-a reti-
cent, brave young man-and the heroic tele-
graph operator. Saturday night they buried
her. sunday Bobby" took her place at the
wires, and spelled out, with shaking fingers
the cries OF Calhoun to the wide, well
world.
BY sunset all the bells had done ringing
and done tOlling. There was a clear Sky,
with cool cOlOrs. 1t seemed almost cold
about Scip's hut. The palmetto lifted its
faint head. The dust slept. II was not vet
dark when little party from the city rode
up, searching for the dreary place. They
had ridden fast. DIR. Frank was with them,
and the lady, Marian Dare. She rode at
their head. She hurried nervously on. She
was pale, and still weak. The chairman of
the Relief Committee was with her, and the
sub committee and others.
DR.. Dare pushed on through the swinging
door of the hut. She entered alone. They
saw the backward motion Of her gray-sleeved
wrist, and came no further, but removed
their hats and stood. She knelt beside the
bed, and put her hand upon his eyes. God
is good, after all Let us hope that they
knew her before they closed.
She came out, and tried to tell about it,
but broke down, and sobbed before them
all.
at is a martyrs DEATH" said the chief;
and added, solemnly, "Let us pray"
He knelt, and the others with him, between
the buried negro and the unbuTied nurse,
and thanked God for the knowledge and the
recollection Of the holy life which this man
had lived among them In their hour of need.
They buried him, as they must, and hur-
ried hOmeward to their living, comforting
one another for his memory as they could.
As for him, he rested, after her hand had
fallen on his eyes. lie who had known so
deeply the starvation of sleeplessness, slept
well that night
In the morning, when they all awOke, these
Of the sOrrowing city here, and those Of the
happy city yonder; when they took up life
again with its returning sunrise-the sick and
the well, the free and the fettered, the liy-
ing and the dead-the frost lay, cool, white,
blessed, on his grave.-Elizdbeth Stuart
Phelps, in ScribHer'S NORthlg.