The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1881-12-29

lIdEo sl6w 'lgIllI01ee'' IA 1"'lad, iL,nr|~s
tnelle N 4 ouflaihleia window, f5n, which
ne pgne9 IN elsv ware broken. HE iva
looktd 0plhl nhe IoIeHd 4 candle, duok
nd q brbsen bMile, lhfew n don, htfdl
Hot OeiH In fOfifn, fdyenllng l0v cot.
uson Which lie wasied form N a woman,
hppsfehtly ne gone IN osnsnmptlon. lay,
willie near Wy, iipon.a hcap.of hlthy rags,
| Ivy her drunken husband, With three sleep,
Ing children. whose plnclied features showed
eyidellces Of want aud suffering Eetelle
shuddored, aud covering her face with her
hands, turned away from tho gloomy
scene. "You have thought your hams dull
and drcary tonight spoke the lady Is
kind gentle totes, "but only consider how
much better your condition than that Of
those poor children there, who have only q
drunken sot for q father, and who will soon
be m9theres'. hope you will not forget
children when you pray"
~ will never think my home gloomy
again." said Estelle, earnestly, since see
how much have for which should be
thankful"
"And remember, my child" the lady
urged, that each OF us have crosses and
disappointments to bear in this life. You
must learn while young to be patient under
disappointments, and pray to God that He
may give you grace and strength day by
day, as you grow older, to bscome Chris
tian, and that you may be the means of
bringing your parents TO think of duties
lhigber and nobler than things of this world
alone" Estelle's heart bounded with a
new, strange joy; at the ladys words, and
she silently resolved to make the effort to
follow the lady's advice. ~ .
81 have saddened' your little heart, y
resumed the lady" by presenting. this
| scene of misery within this house
Ito your view, and to cheer you again,
We will now hasten to, more genial
quarters" Before Estelle could makea re-
ply, she found Herself sanding with her
dence. resembling her own home. They
amounted the marble steps, and standing be-
tside window, looked in upon the home
picture. A soft, yielding carpet covered the
| floor, and crimson velvet sofas, ottomans
and arm-chairs stood at convenient inter-
walls around the room and IN the center Of
the room, the browning ornament of all,
stood a beautiful Christmas tree, laden with
ltoys, and glittering with wax tapers. A
group Of happy children stood around the
beautiful tree, receiving their presents
from the hands of father and mother, and
! the smiling faces of the household servants
were seen in the background, awaiting their
turn to receive each a present forthe Christ
| mas. The distribution of the presents was
and while Estelle and her guide looked on,
the children, at a word from their father,
quietly took their seats Their father
then opened large family Bible,
and read + chapter, after which
the children joined him in
hymn OF. praise to, God then listened to
their fathers earnest prayer of thanks to
them received goodnight kiss from their,
parents, and retired to sleep, their lit
tie hearts throbbing with love and happi-
ness: Estelle became very much engrossed
with the happy picture, and WAS only re-
called to herself by the lady's voice. "You
see this family have given all honor due to
God-have thanked Him for their bles-
sings
"Oh! how happy those children seem! oh!
| wish my home was like theirs!" Estelle
said in quivering tones. ,sg
The lovely lady drew her arm cafessingly
around the dropping figure of the little girl
and whispered low words of comfort in her
listening ear which brought the smiles
again to her face. ia ~
1--WE must move onward to your home
now" the lady thcn said; for thenight is
advancing They walked on and suddenly
paused before large, brilliantly lighted
edilice, from which strains Of exquisite mu-
sic came bursting forth. Estelle realized
that she was standing on an elevation Of
q
the interior of the building, which her guide
informed her was an opera-houses- Estelle
looked cager1yiin, and,her eyes wandered
over the brilliant Assem- bIage, over the way.
ing plumes and sparkling gems, and at
last rested upon the face Of her mother, who
occupiedla cerlspicueus place lin the FASH
ionable throig. Estelle loved her beauti.
full, worldly mother with an intense, alb
sorbine love, and when she saw her there
her mind reverted to the scene ofthe Christ
mas tree, which she had witnessed only a.
few minutes before the scene in which the
kind mother shared in all the joys of her
children; and the little girl knew how well
her own lovely mother could grace such o
scene, and-how much brightness she coulh]
add thereto. Her heart yearned toward htr
mother now with feeling inexpressible,
and stretching forth her little hands, the
words escaped her lips, "Mother, oh, my
mother, come to your little girl y
Again the lovely guide .clasped her
arms around Estelle, saying in low, musi-
cal tonesl ''Be comforted, my child, for
henceforth | will always be near you, to
cheer you in your efforts to do right, and
will shield you from all harm, for | know
your heart is pure and guileless. j am
your guardian angel, but tonight have as
sumed human form that might conduct
you in safety to behold some OF the scenes
transporting tonight, that you may gain ir-
struction from them. But | must now
leave you, and wish you to remember
that | will always be near you, although
invisible to you; and my parting counsel TO
you is to try to do your duty in all things,
resist temptation TO do wrong, be obedient
to your parents and ask your Heavenly
Father to help you to do all things to His
honor" rtf
She bent low over her little charge as she
spoke, and Estelle, raising her eyes saw the
lady's figure transformed into that of |