The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-10-16

- ItsAAs AL eukouSu LILO iOFoly Dep
tember weather had been prisoner
within four close walls; and as Octo-
Der was flinging her banner of scarlet
and gold upon the hillsides, Icame
slowly back to strength and freedom.
John, my own dear blessed John, who
had been SO patient and tender through
All the changes of mental moods and
lenses caused by tortured, diseased
nerves, persuaded me, one lovely In
dian summer day, to take O drive with
him out into the sunshine and softened,
misty glory. But was weak and de-
pressed, and hardly knew whether, on
the whole, to be glad or sorry came.
AS We drove quietly over the hills and
through the valleys, was rebellious
and out Of tune, and all the beauty
around me failed to bring harmony out
OF the discords. John, wise and thought
ful, did not directly combat my humor,
but contented himself with few quiet
words now and then to draw my
thoughts from myself to the lovely
scenes around us. But he did not break
the spell of silence, for felt SO weak
and useless, such a dead weight in
Gods world of busy workers, that all
the beauty Jared upon me, and 1
longed for clouds to correspond with
the shadows in my heart.
Suddenly John checked Neddie
Morse, and, springing from the carriage,
soon placed in my hands bunch of the
loveliest blue blossoms 1 had ever seen
"OA, what are they ?" / cried. II have
it n6wl You know in Whittier's Psalm
he says of autumn:
-'Yet shall the blue eyed gentian look
Through fringed lids to heaven;
and seel this answers the description
perfectly. They are very rare, and L
never saw one beforel"
John smiled at my flushed, lighted
face, so different from the pale, hstless
one'of few moments before. "Drive
on slowly, DEAR" he said, "and I will
pick large bunch for you. The ground
is blue with them o little further into
the swamp"
"Oh, those blue-eyed gentians Never
were larger, more perfect specimens
fonnd than those which came to us that
autumn day. Neddie seemed to under
stand the case perfectly, and walked
leisurely along, as though waiting for
fower-hunters had been the business of
his life, while 1 drank in the beauty of
the blossoms eagerly, and studied their
lovely proportions; noted the dainty
pencilings in the heart of the flowers,
and the exquisite fringes, which in their
softness and grace somehow reminded
me of the delicate dropping lashes which
lay closed upon my dead baby's face
years ago.
When John returned, his hands over
flowing with their wealth of beauty, he
found my tongue verify unloosed, and
my heart stirred to its depth with en-
thusiasm.
"Isn't it strange enough" said, "and
romantic too, that Whittier should tell
me the name of our flower? And Lucy
Larcom, think it is, says,
1.-The gentian
Hangs all her fringes out on sunny days"
o John, am so glad 1 camel" and I
kissed my precious blossoms in my de-
light
Ny good mans grave and tender eyes
looked at me with smile in them.
"Yes, darling" he said, Il thank Provi-
dence, and Whittier, and all the sweet
influences which have proved such a
potent medicine. Providence directed
us this way, where we should find the
flowers, and Whittier has suggested all
sorts of happy thoughts by his vivid
description. am so glad the sunshine
has crept into your heart, and shines
out of your eyes,"
Then, as we rode homeward, I con-
fessed it all to John; all the rebellion
and bitterness that had blinded my
eyes to the beauty around. But now
all was changed. 1t seemed as though
the golden, mellow day was sacred, and
the calm Sabbath calm of peace. As
/ looked on the soft autumn glory Whit
tiers psalm" still echoed in my heart,
and the same poem which had chris
tened my treasures sent its strong,
grand measures to lift and sustain my
weak soul.
Neddie walked slowly up hill and
through a grove where the dying glory
of the trees strewed the ground, as /
said:
81 see it all, John. The discipline is
needed, and yet there are compensa-
tions. Autumn, bleak and dreary, has
its Indian summer, its drapery of scar
let and gold, and even its asters and
blue-eyed gentians.
l. bent low over the blossoms winch
had been such eloquent teachers, and
John repeated softly from this grand
poem, while my heart echoed his words {:
All as God willis. who wisely heeds
To give or to withhold,
And KIN we IN more Of all nv needs
Than all my prayers have told.
Enough that blessings undeserved
Have marked my erring track,
That wheresoe'er my feet have sweryed
His Christening turned me back.
That more and more a Providence
OF love is understood.
Making the springs of time and sense
Sweet with eternal good.
Looking up from the flowers with
Swimming eyes, I whispered, smiling
through my tears:
And 30 the shadows fall apart,
And 30 the west winds play,
And al the windows of my heart
open to the day.
The Festival OF Snakes.
A celebrated Abruzzese painter is
about to put on canvas the character
A