The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-01-12
and rubbish, and would have continued


alogy. He contrastcd the story of the
ring with the story Of poor girl Her
parents were refined aud intelligent,
She herself was refined and sensitive,
her earliest years were passed in COM
fort, and in surroundings suited to her
tastes. But when she was fourteen
years old, her parents died, she was
left destitute, there was no near rela-
tivcs to take care of her. and she was
obliged to go to work in n factory in or
der to support herself. The other girls
III the factory were commonplace, not
few of them were vulgar, and some
were vicious. The best ones were good.
hearted, but they did not understand
their proud and sensitive companion,
who did not readily mingle in their
conversation and amuscments The
girl was unhappy; she could not be
otherwise in observation-disclosures, and vet
she was too weak and too fricndlcss to
better her condition. She tried to read
and improve her mind during the win
ter evenings, but the severe work in
the factory during ten and sometimes
twelve hours daily fatigued her so
much that she found it almost impossi-
bic to crafty her ambition. Moreover,
the woman with whom she boarded
was ignorant, and the house was I'M
clean and uncomfortable, so that the
home life of the girl was unfav-
orablc for the development of
her higher tastes. Not singular,
then, was it that she finally be-
came desperate and began to yield to
the weight of the circumstances that
oppressed her. The vulgar talk of her
companions no longer shocked her, and
She gradually adopted words and OK
pressions which formerly nothing
would have induced her to use. She
was dcteriorating. Like the ring in
the furrow, the best in her was becom-
ing dim. She was out of her proper
sphere and she knew it. She longed to
escape from her present condition, to
save herself from mental and perhaps
moral ruin, to minglc with better poo
pic and to enjoy congenial surroun-
ings; but of what avail was it for her
to battle longer?
Fortunately at this critical period in
the girls career 4 rich and philan-
thropic man who lived near the factory
became Interested i'll her. He ascer-
tanned that her parents had been re-
fined people, and that the hereditary
traits i'll her family were good. He
comprehcnded the circumstances SUR
rounding her, and saw the temptations
to which she was exposed lie
recognized in her n gem in obscurity,
which only needed some person able
and apprcciative enough TO place it
where it ought 60 be. Accordingly lie
adopted her as his daughter, gave her
trooI nJ MI ot1,a,
She became Il noble and accomplished
woman, and her benefactor felt we'll
repaid for his kindness But what
could be said in regard to many cases
like that of this girl, where no helping
hand was extended? 1t was sad to
think of these cases. The fate of the
individuals involved was similar TO
what the destiny of the ring would
have been, had it not been found by
the farmer.
The audience, most of them well-to-
do persons were much Impressed by
the sermon. One wealthy member of
the church was especially impressed
1t happened that he had become in
tcrested in Il girl whose circumstances
i'll life were almost identical with those
of the one whose story the pastor had
related. The man had thought of
adopting her as his daughter, but lie
had been restrained by selfish consid-
erations. 1t only needed the sermon to
overcome his reluctance, and he immc-
diatcly decided to carry out his philan-
thropic plan the next day. Now it
CHANGED that the poor girl whom the
rich man had in mind also heard the
sermon, she occupying one of the free
seats near the vestibulc during the
services. She, of course, WAS aston
ishcd, and wondered whether the
preacher had heard of her, and had
founded his story on her experience
She dared not hope, however, that she
would be fortunate like the poor girl
in the story, and have helping hand
extended to her. Great then were her
nmazcmcnt and joy when the bcncvo-
lent man ccmc to her and made his
proposition. She accepted it with pro-
found gratitude. Her new guardian
was especially anxious that she should
be well educated, and it was not long
before he sent her to 4 noted boarding
school in another city At the end of
five years, Mary, that was her name,
returned to her benefactor, beautiful
and accomplished young woman
Every Sunday Mary accompanied her
adopted father to church and listened
to the preaching of Rev. Thomas Moul-
ton. The minister noticed with de-
light that the fair young woman APP.
pearcd to appreciate his sermons very
much. Soon he began to cultivate her
acquaintance, and made such rapid
progress that friendship ripened into
love with surprising celebrity. He was
more Undetermined than are most
preachers, however, and he was dis.
heartened by Il fear which many manly
men have felt HI. fcorod tbot ba mo-