Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1883-11-06
For the Democrat.
HOMEWARD BOUND.

Circumstances alter cases !" In al
Eastern village, in the flush of early
springtime, with high hopes and bound.
ing heart, we had bestowed our earthly
effects within a trunk, new and capa.
cious dreaming all the while of golden
days in store, and assuring our heart. in
the midst Of farewells, that the parting
was but for a few short months; months
that should be too full of enjoyment to
admit regretful thoughts of friends and
scenes behind.
Rapidly, so rapidly, have those months
come and gone; each leaving fadeless
pictures upon Memory's walls, but bring
ing around, no less surely, the sad No
vember days, and with them the necessi :
ty. no longer pos,ponAble, Of once more
packisk the selfsame effects into the self
same trunk-this time in little West
ern town.
The trunk is old and battered now-it
is surprising how soon trunk takes on an
air of experience six months ago we had
con6ded in its youthful strength, now it
carries scars from many rough encoun.
ter, and has, withal, a general air of de-
crepitude, and we eye it questioningly
before entrusting to its care the we'll
worn wardrobe which hints so plainly
that we have prolonged our visit quite to
the hmi, of its endurance. The change
in season. in trunk, and in wardrobe, is,
in a sense, symbolical of the change of
feeling with which we once more take no
the task Of packing.
The JOY which the thought OF home
brings, is so counterbalsnced by the sor-
row of leaving for years or forever the
scenes and friends which have become so
dear, that the hands move more slowly
than in the spring,ime. With the heart
s,,uned to a minor key, the poets de-
of these saddles, days of all the
year floats ever and anon through the
mind, touching a responsive chord
" Now the autumn's gold is turned 10 gray;
Earth puts on saoscloth; and from sobbing
caves
And bare tree-branches. weeping all the day.
The raindrops fall upon the quivering
leaves
Anon u ray OF sunshine streaks the gloom,
And the pale skies shed faint -ickly smile
O'er the cold earth. A. one SMILES DER tomb
who tries his will with God's To reconcile.
Yet feels that he would call the lost one back
Even from Paradise. were IL but given
The power TO follow In the spirits track,
And hold II at the very gates Of heaven
So sad November hlindiy sits and gricvcs
Ger the lost beauty OF her fallen leaves"
Ii seems fitting that our last good
byes should be said at midnight, and our
journey, long and lonely, should begin
in darkness. We are too far from home
to realize that we are tending toward it
and the pangs Of separation from the
loved ones we are leaving are yet too
fresh to give place to other thoughts, as
through tedious hours we 20 to meet the
rising sun. which sheds its welcome light
around US as we enter Chicago. An
hour or two later we bid adieu to the ell
egant waiting rooms of the Union Pass
enger Station in that city, with increased
for fresh start, over an untried
route. Illinois is soon behind US, and
all day we are rushing across Indiana
all night, sleeping or waking, we are
borne relentlessly onward over the fertile
prairies and past the slumbering towns
of Ohio: land of statesmen, name forever
linked with that Of the immortal Gar
field, Small wonder if visions Of the
White House are this night dancing
the dreams Of many an Ohio ur-
chin. 1t is morning again, but darkness
still covers the earth, as we pass Allie
ghany City and enter Pittsburg. Surely
no other town in Christian America pre-
sents so wierd and uncanny an appear
ance by night as does Pittsburg with her
myriad foundries and blast furnaces gro
outlined against the sky. With
red lights cleaning from their every win
dow, and balls and forked tongues Of
flames surmounting the tall chimneys,
but little stretch of the Imagination be-
comes necessary to make the scene in
fernal Steaming out of Pittsburg by
daylight, we are soon in the heart Of the
Alleghanies. To one born among the
mountains, a six months absence from
them Is quite enough to give zest to the
enjoyment Of this day, even though its
hours be passed in railroad Car. Do
the whole we are sincerely thankful for
the triumph Of engineering skill which
makes it possible at so little personal in
convenience to enjoy so much. Not
otherwise could we have ever hoped to
scale these lofty heights and gaze far
down into the valleys below, or across to
other and nobler peaks; or to have fol-
lowed through all its wayward wander
ipgs the fsr-famed Juniata, which. while
it may be disa ppointing in color and in