The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1881-11-26

"Once / did. Yes. L saw an angel
last night, Ben.'
81 guess So"
" l did. Really and truly | did, :"
said Ash. 81 saw two of them, Ben.
l woke up in the night, when it was
dark, and the fire was out, and one was
standing by the hearth, and the stars
shone all over it. And l saw it all in
white; and it went away. And it looked
just like the angels mother reads about
to us In the Bible"
81 guess it was mother" said Ben.
"The other wasn't mother!" an
swered Ash, Indignantly. 1.-The other
was real angel, any way. 1t went sail
ing by the window with great wings like
fire, and it left path shining behind it.
And | know it was the Angel of the
Lord"
do you really suppose it was Ash ?"
know 1t was. And, of course, it
came for something, you know, Ben. L
shouldn't wonder if we were going to
have Thanksgiving to-day, after ALL"
:" hope therell he raisins IN it, then"
said Ben. 81 like raisins sop
Just hear the darlings," whispered
Anstice, after her custom, to Greta. "I'd
give my hand to get him raisins for the
day. Going to have Thanksgiving,
after all Thanksgiving for being cast
adrift upon the world % And she began
to cry bitterly.
"Come, boys" called Greta, who had
been gently moving about till the fires
were bright in the two rooms, for of
wood they had still plenty. Gone
should be stirring early on Thanksgiving
morning. Porridge is ready when you
have said your prayers. And as she
sat down where the rose and purple of
the sunrise fell over like an aureole, as
the two little chaps came pattering out
to the swapping fire in their long white
night-gowns, and, kneelIng before her,
hid their faces In her lap while she said
the prayer.
One would have thought it little enough
that Greta Purcell had to give thanks
for that day-husbandless, homeless,
portionless, and with three helpless
souls hanging on her for help. But to
one hearing the simple words that she
had offered in her morning sacrifice it
would have seemed as though princes
had no moe to be grateful for-as she
gave her thanks for life, for health. for
hearts not yet broken altogether, for the
bright morning, the lovely earth, for
hope of heaven, for each other.
"Amen p SAID a voice at the other.
None thought of fastening any door III
tnat unvisited country.
The children lifted their faces as they
kneeled, and Greta turned her head, to
see tall man standing in the doorway,
with loose cloak wrapped about him.
Perhaps it is the angel" whispered
Ben, still little under the spell of his
mothers prayer.
"John! John p came a cry from the
inner room. ooh, John p cried old An
stice. MY son my son!" And she
would have fallen before she reached the
bearded, black-eyed stranger, with a
sort of wild beauty on his dark, sweet
face, had he not caught her on one arm
while the other already folded Greta,
who sat like white stone.
81 knew him. / knew him first I"
cried Anstice, presently,nto Greta
"Oh trust mothers instinct. Hes
my flesh and blood p
And do you suppose | did not know
him p flashed back Greta, not yet quite
herself. He is my very self And I
always knew he was alive. | always felt
it. [ was sure half of me was not dead ~
But half Of you came mighty near
1t twice, said John, from where he was
sitting then, with an abashed and un-
draped urchin on either knee and his
cloak about them both. +" I shall never
be any nearer death, after last night.
than was on the day the "AIbatross -
went down. | have thought, all these
ten cruel years, that / had better have
been dead; for | was picked up by craft
that carried me into Formosan port.
and | have been a slave" he said. 81
have been slave, with slavery made
more terrible by thought of what has be-
come of my mother, my wife, my child
[ did not know that bad two of them ~
said John, with half a sob.
"Oh John Dear John p
"To think of us, cried Anstice, lift
ing up her voice, when you were suf-
fering SO yourself, my boyl"
"To think of you he exclaimed, with
a fash in his eyes that melted in the dew
that followed. "There never was day
or night, sleeping or waking. that [ did
not. The agony of it passed all the rest,
and l see now my worst forbodlngs al
most true. You would have been starry
ing in little"
land the mortgage is foreclosed to-
day" cried Anstice, wringing her hands,
with the sudden remembrance thrust
upon her Joy.
"Not exactly" he laughed-and he
was fumbling in his breast for little
goat skin bag, as he spoke" although
heaven knows what might have been if
last night, Just as | was going over old
Whitehorse Ledge, huge meteor had
not suddenly blazed out, and showed me
the chasm into which the next step
would lead. Not exactly, for when 1
escaped, months ago, and found my way
to the cape-South Africa, you know
went to the diamond-fe|ds, while |
waited for ship. Great Heaven How
good it was to go where would Do
you see this, Greta? Do you see this,
mother? The little crystals are worth
less-looking things, are they not ?" And
he poured them out ID his palm. "They
are diamonds, and of my own finding. I
/ have sold enough already for emergen-
cies-"
"And I need not leave my home: nv
fathers home, this spot of heaven to me,
and all of earth, full of the Purcells' life
and death p cried Anstice, sharply,
springing forward, to look at her son's
face again.
"Never, mother And we will make
it whatever 1t used to be; for, worthless
as they look, in that handful lies whole
universe of happy possibilities for us.
Oh Greta, my faithful wife there lies
home regained, my mother blessed, my
children educated, and you without a
L