The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1883-10-31

knees, or on the gold stones In the
street, an play on their harps to 60 with
the singin'."
The other sister gave scared, awed
look OF her. '1or, don't talk that way,
sister," said she. "What has got into
you latelyf You make me crawl all
over, talkin so much about dyin'. You
feel well, don't you?"
"Lor, yes, replied the other, Laugh.
ing, and picking up clothcs.pin for her
pillow case; 81 feel well enough, an I
don't know what has got mo to talkin'
so much about dyin' lately, or thinkin'
about it. Iguess it's The spring weather.
Pr'aps flowers CROWN make anybody
think OF wings sproutin kinder materially.
won't talk 30 much about it if it both.
ers you, an / don't know but it's sorter
material it should. Did you get the po.
tatoes before we came ont, sister ~
with an awkward and kindly effort to
change the subject.
NO." replied the other, STOPPING over
the clothes-baket. There was such film
Of tears in her dark blue eyes that she
could not distinguish one article from
another.
"Well, I guess you had better 90 in
an get 'em, then; they amt worth any
thing, this time of year, unless they soak
while, an I'll finish hangin' out the
clothes while you do it"
"Well, p'r'aps I'd BETTER the other
woman replied, Strengthening herself up
from the clothes basket. Then she went
into the house without another word;
but down in the damp cellar, q minute
later, she sobbed over the potato barrel
as If her heart would break. Her sisters
remarks had filed her with vague ap-
prehension and grief which she could
not throw of. And there was something
little singular about it. Both these
women had always been of deeply re.
ligious cast of mind. They had studied
the Bible faithfully, if not understand.
ingly, and the religion had strongly
tinctured their daily life. They knew
almost MS much about the Old Testa-
ment prophets as they did about their
neighbors; and that was saying good
deal Of two single women in New Eng
land country town. Still this religions
element in their nature could hardly
have been termed spirituality 1t de-
waited from that as much as anything of
religion-which is in one way spiritual.
ity itself-could.
Both sisters were eminently practical
in oil affairs of life, down to their very
dreams, and Priscilla especially SO.
She had dealt in religion with the bare
facts of sin and repentance, future pun.
ishment and reward. She had dwclt
very little, probably, upon the poetic
splendors of the Eternal City, and talked
about them still less. Indeed, she had
always been reticent about her religions
convictions, and had said very little
about them even TO her sister.
The two women, with God in their
thoughts every moment, seldom had
spoken His name to each other. For
Priscilla to talk in the strain that she
had to-day, and for week or two pre-
vious, off and ON, was, from its extreme
deviation from her usual custom, Ger.
tainly startling.
Poor Mary, sobbing over the potato
barrel, thought i. was sign of ap-
proaching death. She had few super
stitious.like CRAFTS upon her practical,
commonplace character.
She wiped her eyes finally, and went
upstairs with her tin basin of potatoes,
which were carefully washed and put tc
soak by the time her sister came in with
the empty basket.
At twelve exactly the two sat down to
dinner in the clean kitchen, which was
one of the tworooms the cottage boosted.
The narrow entry ran from the front
door to the back. On one side was the
kitchen and living-room; on the other.
the room where the sisters slept. There
were two small, unfinished lofts over
head, reached by step-iadder through
q little scuttle in the entry ceiling, and
that was all besides. The sisters had
earned the cottage and paid for 1t years
before, by working as tailoresses. They
had quite a snug little sum in the bank
besides, which they had saved out of
their hard earnings. There was no need
for Priscilla and Mary to work so hard,
people said: but work hard they did, and
work hard they would as long as they
lived. The mere habit of work became
as necessary to them as breathing.
Just as soon MS they had finished their
meal and cleared away the dishes they
put on some clean starched purple
prints, which were their afternoon
dresses, and seated themselves ut the
two front windows with their work; the
house faced southwest, so the sunlight
streamed through both. 1t was very
warm day for the season, and the win
dows were open. In tho yard outside,
great clumps of lilac bushes stood close
to both. They grew on the other side
of the front door, too; little later the
low cottage would look half buried in
them. The shadows of thoir leaves
made dancing network over the
freshly washed yellow floor.
The two sisters sat there and sewen
on some coarse vests all the afternoon.
Neither made remark often. The
room, with its glossy little cooking
stove, its eight-day clock on the mantell
its chintz-cushioned rocking.chairs, and
the dancing shadows Of the lilac leaves
on its yellow floor, looked pleasant and
peaceful.
lust before six o'clock neighboi
dropped in with her cream pitcher tt
borrow some milk for tea, and she So
down for a minutes chat after she hat
cot il flied. They had been talking
few momeats on neighborhood topics
when all of a sudden Priscilla let ne,
work fall and raised her hand. "Hush !!
whispered she. , .,,;no ~,
listened, staring at her wonderingly' Du
they could hear nothing. -, =,
@What is it, Miss PRISCILLA" aske'
the neighbor, with round blue eyes ya
She was pretty young thing, who M
not been married long.
"Hush /! Don't speak. D1nt 20
hear that beautiful music ?" Her ca ca
was inclined toward the open window
1 rnInnly nlu nt