Feliciana sentinel., 1892-08-20

en-, boys and girls, 60 and come day
after day. Dozens of them carry din
ncr pals and lunch boxes. In the
morning they go by with bright faces and
sprightly steps. many of them wearing
. fresh flower on their breast In the
evening they return, not few OF them
weary and worn. and wonder who.
beside the Great Piticr of us all, waits
for their coming with welcome OF
love. All day long they have been busy
at Office, store, ia tory and mill. and
the thousand and one places where
duty has called them. Work. work,
woyk, hour after hour. day in and
day out And while hands are
delvins, minds are busy with the
thoughts of fading yesterdays, earnest
to-dsys and brighter tomorrow. How
many of them will ever realize the hope
that ia sustaining muscle and mind?
How many Of them are performing a
labor Of love for those who are worthy
of the Offering aud the sacrifice? Day
after day the lunch boxes go and come
while tho hands that are carrying them
are building n city, copying the books
and documents, and are mingiing all
the checkered thoughts and deeds from
which the mighty weaver. Time, is
making the worlds history. What in
significant, and yet what all-irnportant,
parts these hum BILE toilcrs play. Down
in diugy Easements, up in towering
Office buildings, every where amid the
busy marts of trade they perform the
work that fate or fortune has brought
to them. AS watch them go and come
l :ry to imagine what hopes inspire
their hearts, what love sustains their
hands. I wonder if the aged laborcr.
homeward bound. still loves the old
wife as he did long years ago when
they together dreamed sweet dreams.
He was to be prince of men and she
his loving princess. / am sure the gor-
geous palace in which they were to
dwell has faded away, and in It's place
is an humble cottage or rented fiat.
And the coach and four has never, new
or stood before their door. Neither has
any other conveyance designed for
pleasure. Only the wagons belonging
to the grocer, the baker and the milk
man have ever stopped there. Or it may
be yet one other rchiclc-the symbol of
death-the hcarsc.
But if tonight they can greet each
other at the door aud call back the OLD
love light to fading eycs-f he can
hold her worn palm in his. or press
against his check the ono whose touch
once brought such exquisite pleasure
if the fire in the heart still burns, fate
has been kind to them, and their paths
have not yet led them out of Paradise.
Sometimes there passes my window
a face that awakens in my mind more
than usual interest and l watch its
goings and cominGs with deeper
thought than that born OF curiosity.
remember very distinctly the first
time ! saw blossom" pass my win
dow. She wore a pink dress and hat
trimmed with ribbons of the same
color; she looked like fresh spring
flower. Her real name l have never
known; to me she will always be "Blos
SOM" Her face was as bright and pret'
ty rs dew-washed clover mead on q
June morning, and her neatly y-fttine
dress and very becoming hat added tc
the winsome ness of her appearance.
The street in which dwell is by nc
means the most aristocratc in the city
1t is what some would call a plebeiar
neighborhood. There arc saloons or
the business corners and all about is al
air of arrested growth that for some
shadowy reason seems to be sadly sat
isficd with the present state of things
All the people who go by my window
do not possess bright. happy and intel
ligent faces. always watched tol
Blossoms" coming. Her presence wa.
refreshing and reminded Ire of a swec
rose growing among the palmer grasses s
Her step was elastic. her manner
sprightly. fancied she had recently
come from u home in the country
where the odor of apple blooms and thu
songs of birds filed the air. One morn
ing l saw her going toward the sub
urban station, carrying lunch-boN
then knew she was a mem Der of th
great company of toilers. Thcreafte
she went and came regularly. By and
BY a sturdy young mechanic. whom
had often seen pass my window alone
walked beside blossom" one evening
on her way home. He had frank
manly face, but his working clothe
were soiled and worn and his hand
were rough. After that l saw then
pass by together quite often. He seemed
to be very happy in her society, bu
Blossom" with her pretty pink dresse
and pink ribbons, often looked Ia
sway as though she were trying to dis
cover some one whose appearance wa
more in harmony with her ideal.
Near the walk at the side Of tn
saloon that Stood al tic COZ hef "
large maple tree. Men used to brlni
chairs from the saloon and sit in th
shade of the tree during the long Jun
afternoons and smoke, and chat, ant
laugh boisterously. Some of the mel
who used to meet there became familia
figures to my eye. Among the numoe
was young man who dressed splen
didIy, though somewhat flashily. fron
my window across the street, coni
sec the sparkle of his diamonds sc
in his rings and pins. He wore heaV.
gold chain and an elaborate charm, an
carried a massive gold-hcaded cane an
umbrella. should have guessed tina
he had plenty Of money, but i weat