Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-12-04

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the incense of prayer, and perform the
t,Idcr duties Of family worship.
Thrice had spring perfumed the breast
of the land with flowers. and thrice had
been celebrated that festival of the dead
which Sin-fanti. and thrice had Tong
swept and garnished his fathers tomb,
and presented his tivefold offering of
fruits and meats. The period of mourn
ing had passed, yet he had not ceased to
mourn for his parent. The years re-
volved with their moons, bringing him
no hour OF Joy, no day of happy rest,
vet he never relcnted his scrvitudc, or
failed to perform the rites of ancestral
worship, until at last the fever Of the
rice fields laid strong hold upon him,
and he could not arise from his couch,
and his fcllow-laborers thought him des-
tined to die. There was no one to wait
upon him, no one to care for his needs,
inasmuch as slaves and servants were
wholly busted with the duties of the
household or the labor of the fields. all
departing to toll at sunrise, and return
ing weary only after the shutdown.
Now while the sick youth stu mbered
the titful slumber of exhaustion one sui
try noon, he dreamed that a strange and
beautiful woman stood by him, and bent
above him and touched his forehead
with the long fine fingers CT her shapely
hand. And at her cool touch a weird
sweet shock passed through him, and all
his veins tingled as if thrilled by new
life. y q y Opening his eyes in won
der. he saw verify bending over him the
charming being of whom he had
dreamed, and he knew that her live hand
really caressed his %throbbing forehead.
But the flame of the fever was gone, a
delicious GOODNESS nov penetrated every
fibre of his body, and the thrill of which
he had dreamed still tingled in his blood
like a great Joy. Even at.the same mo-
ment the eyes of the gentle visitor met
his own. and he saw they were singu-
larry beautiful, and shone like splendid
black jewels under brows curved like
the wings of a swallow. Yet thcircalm
gaze seemed to pass through him us
light through a crystal; and a vague
awe came upon him, SC that the ques-
ton which had risen to his lips found no
utterance. Then she, still caressing
him, smiled and said: 81 have come to
restore thy strength, and to be thy wife.
Arise and worship with me-"
Her clear voice had tones melodious
as a birds song, but in her gaze there
was an imperious power which Tong
felt he dare not resist. Rising from his
couch, he was astounded to find his
strength wholly restored; but the cool
slender hand which held his own led
him away so swiftly that he had little
time for amaZement. He would have
given years of existence for courage to
speak of his misery, to declare his utter
inability to maintain q wife: but some
thing irresistible in the long dark eyes of
his companion forbade him to speak,
and, as though his inmost thought had
been discerned by that wondrous gaze,
she said to him, in the same clear voice:
81 will PROVIDE Then shame made
him blush at the thought of his wretched
aspect and battered apparel; but he OBJ
served that she also was poorly attired,
like a woman of the people, wearing no
ornament of any sort, nor even shoes
upon her feet. And before he had vet
spoken to her they came before the an
cestral tablets, and there she knelt with
him and prayed, and pledged him in a
cup of wine-brought he knew not from
whcnce-and together they worshipped
heaven and earth. Thus She became his
wife.
A strange marriage, it seemed; for
neither on that day nor at any future
time could Tong venture to ask his wife
the name of her family, or Of the place
whence she came, and he could not an
swer any of the curious questions which
his fellow-laborers put to him concern
ing her; and she, moreover, never utter
ed a word about herself, except to say
that her name was Tchi. But although
Tong had such awe of her that while her
eyes were uponhim he was rs n having
no will of his own,h he loved her unspeak-
ably, and the thought of his serfdom
ceased to weigh upon him from the hour
OF his marriage. AS though magic the
little dwelling had become transformed;
its misery was masked with charming
paper devices, with dainty decorations
created out of nothing by that pretty
jugglery Of which woman only knows
the secret.
Each morning atdawn the young hus-
band found Il well-prepared and ample
repast awaiting him, and each evening
also upon his return; but the wife all daY
sat at her loom, weaving silk after
a fashion unlike anything which had
ever been seen before in that province.
For as she wove, the silk flowed from
the loom like a slow current of glossy
gold, bearing upon its undulations
strange forms of violet and crimson and
jewel green, shapes of ghostly horsemen
riding upon horses, and of phantom
chariots dragon-drawn, and of standards
of trailing cloud. In every dragon beard
glinlmered the mystic pearl: in every
riders helmet sparkled the gem Of
rank. And each day Tchi would weave
a great piece of such figured silk, and
the fame Of her weaving spread abroad.
From far and lear people thronged to
see the marvellous work, and the silk
merchants of great cities heard of it. and
they sent messengersto Tchi, asking her
that she should weave for them and
teach them her secret. Then she wove
for them, as they desired, in return for
the silver cubes which they brought her;
but when theyprayed her to teach them,
she laughed and said: ''Assurcdly
could V teach you, for no one among
you has fingers like mine" And indeed