Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-11-06
BACK TO THE OLD HOME.

with an orchard full of weather beaten
apple trees behind it, while an outer
circle OF ancient cedars drew up about
1t like faithful guardians the low.
white house, with its broad wings,
made you think of mother bird
brooding over her well-filled nest
But the nestlings were all gone now
had wandered far from the old house
which seemed to them shabbier and
more cramped every time they caue
back for visit.
Only grandma chung to it closer and
closer as the years went by. When tho
busy sons and fashionable daughters
called it lonely and the grandchildren
wondered over its queer little cuddy
holes, and remarked with open con
tempt upon the stiff old furniture and
tiny paned windows, the Old lady lis
tened and said nothing. but her heart
throbbed with pain as though she had
heard the maligning OF some dear
friend
They don't of course. know, :"
she thought eXcusing them in her
gentle way. Though TO other eyes it
may seem poor and old fashioned. to
me it never can be so, for it Is the
first the only home | ever had" And
after the sad, tender manner of the
old, who only have happy past and
an empty present without Turing flu
ture here. she fell a-dreaming of by
gone times when her faithful John
had brought her a bride TO this dear
home. which seemed so grand and
beautiful then. after an orphaned
childhood and girlhood without a set.
tied home.
How could it ever seem lonely and
humble to her when it was SO rich in
thousand happy. blessed associa-
tions? Had not she and John planted
that very mountain ash together? Had
not that been Johns favorite rose
bush? And could the rooms ever
seem empty and cramped TO her. when
every nook and corner spoke TO her
sometimes OF the living or the dead, rs
eloquently as tongue could do?
Here was where she used to sit and
watch the fire on winter evenings,
rocking the cradle with her foot, while
she toasted the bread John liked brown
TO shade. This dark spot on the
worn floor was where Baby May had
turned the ink over while she sat
writing to the soldier father far away,
where the Potomac rolled its bloody
waters. And here beside the centre
table, on which lay the well-thumbed
family Bible, she had knelt and prayed
for twenty years with John. prayed
with her little ones in fearful grief
when he was gone, prayed for them
when they slipped from her arms out
into the world and where she still
nightly bent her stiff. old knees 10
pray for them and theirs.
Grandma only loved the old house
better as the years rolled by. but when
old Phoebe, who had been half servant
half companion TO the old lady, died
1t was decided in family council that
she must really make up her mind TO
live with one or the other OF them.
and it was out OF all question her re-
naming in that gloomy old house all
alone.
SO one sad day, overpowered by the
sons and daughters, who meant TO be
kind. grandma went softly TO and fro
over the old house, taking leave Of it
all, and the last of the farewells was
the visit paid TO the two mounds under
the oak, where John slept and the first
born little son. Then, with the feel
ing that the world had come To an end,
grandma drove away to the fine big
residence-they don't call them homes
nowhere Henry and Henry's wife,
who. for all her kindness, rather over
powered grandma with her fine ways.
had given her stately room. and.
what was most dreadful. maid! A
maid that called her Madam" aud for
Yes" said OUR
Yes, they meant to be kind 70 her.
but the gray stone pile and the maid
gave the old lady the feeling that she
was in an asylum and had keeper.
and in spite OF all her grandeur.
grandma's wrinkled cheeks lost their
soft pink. like that OF half withered
rose, and she grew feeble and worn.
though every one was so busy that it
passed unnoticed. She was pining for
the old home, though she felt it would
~ 'HS esVOioi W soy 81, SOl1tHON
TO pray in the magnificent church.
where she sat in "a velvet cushioned
pew. did not seem to give her help,
for God was not close to her. she
thought as He used to be when she
knelt at home. If she could only go
back and tell her friend all about it.
just once, kneeling where John seemed
TO come and JOIN her! This feeling
grew and grew, though as there was
no one to tell it 10. she shut IL up in
her own lonely heart.
One morning the French maid came
running down to the family with great
excitement in her dark face. and in
broken English informed them that
MADAM had slept not in her couch.
nor could Celeste find her anywhere.
though she search. she search every
wherel
Then Henry recollected all at once