Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-12-10


place a truer and better estimate upon life
and its purposes. and | think booked mo,e
seriously upon everything. AID so it came
to pass that when saw Tom Russell wcnd-
ing his way to church with his eged mother
leaning upon his arm, the true ense, along
with a due appreciation, this thorough
manllness came TO me all at olse. [ no
longer seemed to think of his gtiIny work
and his dirty oyeralls, no longet noticed
the angular limbs aud awkward carriage;
only saw before me one of natures noble
men-a man with great soul ycarning for
The srnld and the beautiful, Yet content to
live and labor in The narrower but ho(ier
lut of duty. And that morning heard no
discords as the county choir sang john
heblefs morning hymn, ior my thoughts
were of Tom Russell, as those words fell
upon my ear
"fhe trivial round, Tie common task,
viii furnish MI we ~;ttt TO ask
Room to deny ours 5lNes, II road
70 bring US daily nearer God.
Then when Tom sang his usual Sunday
morning solo my old interest awakened,
and think il has never slept since. But
poltunity to speak 20 him. One evening
greeted each other.
a have 10 start tae lighthouse lamps
quite often now" he said Poor old
father is growing very feeble, but he is
proud OF his more than fifty years Of service
at the lighthouse, and wants TO continue to
the end. SO long as the lamps are
punctually lighted they don't care much at
headquarters. and of course they will be
cared for as long ash can DO it.
Then there was apause.
q don't know, " la continued, whether
did right TO addres youas Miss Braith-
waite. You know there was Il Mr.. Harling-
ton, and you were going to
Eyes, l know" replied, 81 was going to
marry him, but ! did not, and never shall.
Nor do | think I shall ever marry any
one"
Another pause. aid ] went on. Cant
you and l. be friends, like we once We're?
Mont YOU come ana see me?"
Yes, he would cone. And he came on
Sunday. 1t was Il lovely but sultry even
ing, and he sat and sing two or three of
our old favorites, and then drifted off,
into some Of the oll-fashioncd, simple
Sunday school songs that we have ALL
probably, almost LEARNED by heart, at one
time or another.
do you know" he said in sort of
apology. Il like these old hymns. On
Sunday evenings l always feel good infu-
ences at work within me. OF course it
may be sentiment-it doubtless is-yet it
does me good ! am sure. ard ! imagine
that it makes me a better man than might
otherwise be. On Sunday nights l feel al
most like an innocent, happy boy again;
all that is best i'll my makeup forces its
way to the surface, and feel as though it
were quite possible for NE to be good al
ways. and, at the end, to gain place in
heaven. Perhaps you think it silly and
childish for me to talk like this? Ii it is
childish, ! like the idea all the better. for
we We're really good only when we were
little children"
Then with his rich voice he sang some
more of the old, old hymns-hymns which
wearied me in my Sunday-school DAYS.
but which I now listened to until II. like
Tom, began to feel their strange influence
creeping over me.
The midsummer twilight lasted until
o'clock, and then Tom rose to go. "I1nust
light up for father" he said.
Together we walked out onto the porch,
which overlooked the lake Though
everything was SO peaceful, the sky wore a
troubled appearance. 1t was partly COW
cred with heavy, black clouds, tipped with
FURNISHED gold, while away in The west,
where the sun had gone down, fingered
great streaks of red.
We stood upon the porch for several
minutes in silence. Tom spoke first.
Esther, can only come again on the
old conditions. You have said there is no
Mr.. Harrington now. Will you accept the
terms?"
What should 1 answer him? What
could l answer him? Did i love him?
Standing there, almost thought I did.
but-ah, if Lad only known then what /
know now, l would not have hesitated
long. AS it was, stood mutely watching
the waters as they rippled upon the beach
below, and answered not a word.
"Good-bye." he said at last, and turned
TO go. Some strange impulse took pos
session of me. Why yielded to it I can
not tell.
Tom, come back" called, andhe came
quite close to me. "you may kiss me once
before you co."
Our house-my aunts house-was quite
close to the water and very little more than
two hundred yards from the lighthouse al
the end of the pier. I saw the lights flash
forth from the lanterns and then went tc
my room. But the air was so hot and
heavy that l could not sleep, so took {;
rocking chair and sat by the open window
Soon heard singing. There was nc
installing the singer, for there was only
one voice in White River like that. 1t was
Tom, who must have remained at the
lighthouse. He was singing, more sweetly
than ever, some of the old hymns that had
been on his mind all through the evening;
and with this lullaby borne to me across the
water through the still night air, drifted
off TO sleep. How long slept I do not
now remember, but was awakened by q
terrific peal of thunder.
For an hour the storm of rain and cleo
tricity ragged, and when it passed away
went to bed and to sleep.
AS is mostly the case, a magnificent morn
ing succeeded the storm, and by o'clock
was walking down the pier to WOO an APP
petite for breakfast. On the pier I over
took old Father Russell.
"Ah, Miss Esther" he said, "Tm come
to look for my boy. He hasn't been home
all night. reckon he was tired, maybe
and fell asleep in the lighthouse. But he
won't want to be late for his work, so II
go and rouse him.
Hale an hour slipped away and he die
not come back. Soon it was an hour, ant
I curiously peeped into the narrow door.
way OF the light house. called, "Mr
RnSEa11 h,1f fhara