Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1888-06-16
a BIi9bted Life.
THE UNLUckY MONTH OF WAY.
BY 4 BERKELEY SEMINARY GIRL,
CHAPTER ii CONTINUED.
OR

~ face, keen intellectual gray eyes,
high, noble forehead, decidedly Ro-
man nose, and, to crown all, the most
polished distingue manners, and you
have an excellent delineation in your
minds eye, of one of Washington's
most eminent lawyers. A gentleman
not handsome, but, nevertheless, i'm
pressively prepossessing in appear
ance, he would have attracted atten-
ton anywhere, but unfortunately he
was so conscious of that fact as to
preclude him from being the com
handing parsonage for which he
seemed so pre-eminently qualified.
just five years had passed since
Mr.. Hamilton's lovely christian wife
sank peacefully to rest in her Saw
ours tender arms. He fondly loved
her. and made a model husband in
every sense of the word, but natural
" of an emotional nature his grief
was not long proof against the heal
ing balm so persistently applied by
sympathetic friends, and such was
the natural buoyancy of his DISPOSE
ton that, no sooner had his year of
mourning expired, than, although he
was on the shady side of forty, he
came out spry widower-the gay
est of the gay-and as his reputation
professionally, had long since been
established, enabling him to amass a
considerable fortune, as he dressed
fashionably, spending his money Law
ishly, he, at once, was lionized by the
beau monde of the city, by whom he
was hattered and pampered until he
imagined himself almost a demigod;
while every mamma with marriage
able daughter skillfully devised a
web in which to entangle so desirable
parti, but he successfully Guided all
of Cupid's well aimed darts.
Such was the state of affairs when,
just three months previous to his in
PRODUCTION to the reader, his cup of
happiness, filed to overlooking, was
dashed to the ground. His only
child, the idol of his heart, a frail,
delicate girl just budding into woman
hood, was suddenly, almost without
warming, felled by the cruel scythe OF
the reaper death, a victim of that ma
lignant destroyer, typhoid fever.
At first the blow completely pros
trated him in its overwhelming
weight, but by an almost superhu-
man effort, he at length succeeded in
penetrating the black, heavy cloud
by which he was enveloped, and oh
tanning glimpse of the silver lining.
GA change came DER the spirit of his
dream,o life again was invested with
some interest, but he could no long
er enjoy the designations ofsociety,
the frivoity which formerly excited
only pleasurable emotions in his
breast, now Jared discordantly up
on his ears, so, forsaking his former
associates, he applied himself sedu-
lousy to his profession. A shade Of
melancholy settled upon his counte-
nance, softening his features, while
his usually genial voice became even
more modulated
at is such comfort, dear sister"
Mr.. Hamilton is saying, "to be once
again among the favored number
that gather around the cheerful fire
side of your home nest, and yet"
sighed he, regretfully, Show painful
ly memory carries me back to the
same period year ago, when my
sainted little Violet participated with
me in the same pleasure. Both ofmy
treasures are angels now, in Heav-
en-" added he, plaintively, "and am
left all alone with no one to love.
You have happy household, and l
deserted hearth. l spend the long,
weary day at my office, eat my meals
among strangers, and when / come
home at night there is no one to greet
me with q warm kiss, and call me by
that sweetest, most musical of titles,
papa as in the other days"