The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1885-12-24

NAs = summer one, nr0oq4lY eoQ0 goar
sAmer thing that had been 1iS1n hsr. She
looked A me- pleadingiy, 81 for the life
Of me I Could think Of p0tkfng bat the
eyes of my dead child. SsA g n. = =
It Itrushed ever me d n f0l9Wed her 70
the door: q Fancy II thi4 ~ your own
little Kitty" and ny heart bsgsn TO beat
! furioasly. rs' - ~'t ~
As opened the door cid wind blew
in that chilled De ts the 0oFs, and the
child booked pit{kalty up TO me again.
couldn't stand Il. took hef By the shoal-
der, and led her ,bsckssc the Ere, and
though / didt't Roowl q; - tears. were
rolling down my chceks-A who hadn't
wept since / laid nv darlines togesher iu
their last cold bed. -..
The child staid that hight and was
quite ready the next norntng TO 90 out
and beg, bat the COED aqgel who stood
at my side the night tseosH prompted me
again. s ,.a 49, s.g,
Do y0a .hiet zes e|asl 90 ,.nythias
.Ohr' and her hands came together,
"I'll clean UP everything and do just
what you tell me. rm so tired Of being
cold and hungry"
Then stay,"I said, my eyes auspici-
ously full again. That day l had some
thing to think of besides gain. shut up
my Office earlier, pulled my hst over my
eyes, and went across the city to the shop
of a German Jew, and there l bought
what l thought the child needed, ready
made. 1t cost q good many twinges-
the soul of the miser was almost rent in
twain. By the time reached my own
door had called myself a fool at least
twenty times, and fully expected to find
the child gone with everything she could
lay her hands on. But no, there was the
fire blazing, the hearth swept up, the floor
washed, and the room, even with its scant
furniture, 80 homelike and attractive, that
my heart began to throb with human
pulses again. The girl had washed, made
herself a. tidy as possible with her scant
opportunities, aud looked really beautiful
in the glow Of the evening FIRE. That
night she sat beside me, dressed in the
warm and comfortable garments, and l
quite forgot to look over my accounts. l
could do nothing but look at her.
One night l came home and was sur
prised at the appearance of my room. A
handsome rug lay before the FIRE, and
four faded crimson chairs and q rocker
brought back the old time sense of COM
fort. A little table decked with a white
cloth held the old-fashioned chinaware
which my wife bad priced. At first [
looked round, almost expecting to see
her. But no there stood Ally, as she had
called herself, smiling and blushing, yet
half afraid at my hasty exclamation.
"You won't be angry with me, will
you? But all the things We're up stairs,
and they looked so sad and lonesome,
just as used to feel, that thought I'd
bring some of them down stairs. Now
don't they make the room look beautiful ?
And, oh, found this, but | didn't dare
to. play with it. As she spoke she
brought from another part of the room
little broken, ed-faced deu.
That was too much for me my little
child with its brown tresses and blue eyes
came 10 me in the person of the waif who
had brought order and symmetry and
love into my desolate home. and from
that moment / said She shall be mine,
and will never part from her, but will
be to her a father indeed"
Then awoke from the lethargy that
had bound my soul 80 long. became u
new man. Together we sang and work
ed and prsttled, like two children. l
ceased to think that she hsd ever heen a
stranger, and her thoughtful, womanly
little ways were constant delight to me-
Ry degrees my home frightened more
and more. The cobwebs disappeared
from doors and windows; iu their stead
came fresh new paint and house plants
All the books were brought down from
the garret, with their old racks, and nail
ed to the wall where my wife herself had
planned for them to be placed. Ev-
cry night after my work came home to
a well ordered dinner, for the child SEEM
ed to take naturally to all the mysteries
of cooking, and after that spent two
happy hours in teaching her with books
ami slate pencil. / was myself again. l
had something to live for, something to
look forward to. The flesh came again
upon my bones, my old friends recog-
nized me, and the world took on new
beauty, for saw it. out Of fresh young
eyes, and felt it throb in . grateful heart.
Now, in place of the rusty lock, the
spent candle, and the greed for counting
money in den thick with dirt, through
whose windows the glaring sun itseif locks
dim-in place of the discomforts Of cold
and niggard meals, / sit in my pleasant.
gas-lighted room, filed with the perfume
Of flowers. Am I weary? My Alice
reads to me? Am | sorrowfu!? She
sits down at the piano and plays the
sweet melodies l love, the songs OF long
ago. The gray hairs are shining on my
temples, but thank God, the rust and the
canker have faded out Of my heart.