Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-09-25

> the consciousness
of heart to b,
son and given. She would hay,
blushed with Indignation and wound
ed feeling, had any one told her she
was actually in love, and there woulG
have been no falsehood in her denial.
Yet, since the Rev. James Castletor
had come to Rosedale, and taken the
church under his care, life had seemed
brighter to Susie.
The Rev. James Castleton was q
quiet, rather reserved man of thirty.
five. not handsome, not especially
gifted with eloquence. But in his soft
gray eyes, IN the curves of his gravely
set mouth lay an expression of good
ness, of unostentatious, true piety,
that made his simple language more
effective than the most elaborate ora
tory. Old women brought their sor-
rows to Mr.. Castleton, and went away
comforted, blessing him for an unsf-
fected sympathy that doubled the
value of his counsels. Children clus-
tered about him wherever he called,
and looked eagerly for his coming
into the Sunday school The young
people liked him and trusted him,
wondering n little sometimes that one
so grave and quiet could so thoroughly
understand the troubles and tempta-
tions of youth.
He had shown an interest in Susie
Barclay for many reasons. She WAS
An orphan and had lost both parents
and sister within fortnight, vic:
tins of malignant fever raging in
Rosedale, four years before. She wa,i
poor, having taken a position as house,
hold teacher In seminary, and been
household drudge as well, to earn an
education. AT the time Mr.. Castleton
came to Rosedale, Susie was teaching
music, was organist at ST. Marks, and
IN leisure time at home earned many
an odd dollar by embroidery.
And it was upon embroidery she was
busy on the week preceding Easter
Mr.. Castleton's first Easter in Rose
dale. AS organist, Susie was com
PEELED to take part in all the services
at st. Marks, but beside this regular
attendance, she was a devout, sincere
member of the church, and gave her
time, little as she could spare it, to
the work IN the missionary society,
sewing circles and festivals of the
year.
And the work upon which she was
lswlng SO steadily Susie called, in her
her heart, her Easter offering. Mrs.
Stacey, the richest woman IN Rose
dale, often employed Susie's busy fin
gers, and it only made the gentle girl
smile scornfully when she heard Bes-
sae Stacey praised for the exquisite
embroidery her own active fingers
wrought.
Mrs. Stacey intended to make an
Easter offering, Mt st. Marks, of a
new set of church linen, and she had
engaged Susie to hemstitch and en-
broider it, promising her ten dollars
for work she well knew would cost her
three times that sum in any city store.
And Susie had already appropriated
that sum, in her mind. She would
buy a large cross of white flowers,
such as she had seen in her visits to
the city, and present it to ST. Marks.
Not one penny of those ten dollars
would she use for her own expenses /;
and i: Bessie Stacey let it be under
stood that she had embroidered the
linen her mother presented, why,
Susie could give her cross, and SO
balance matters.
For, somewhere in the depths of her
heart, SO far down she had never
called it to the surface. Susie knew
hot hot
Stacey and herself. She knew that
Mr.. Castleton was frequently at Mrs
Stacey's, to luncheon, to dinner, to
arrange various church matters in
which Mrs. Stacey suddenly waken ed
to an interest she had never felt when
good old Mr.. Murray presided in the
pulpit.
And Bessie wore the most becoming
dresses right under the minister's
eyes, while Susie's modest dresses were
hidden behind the curtains of the
organ n-loft.
As she worked in the passion-flow
encircling her cross, Susie thought of
the order she would send to her Aunt
Mary in the city for the cross she
meant to buy. She had steadily put
away the temptation to buy new
spring hat or one new dress, resolving
to make over her gray poplin once
more and have her old hat cleaned
md pressed. And, really, one must
- eighteen, with a very limited,
hard-earned wardrobe and a strong
desire to appear attractive in the eyes
o. one person, to appreciate the sacri.
flee Susie was making. Ten dollars.
with her economical habits, her skill
in sewing, woul d go SO far toward
v,,l,a. s-iornment!
n"- - ,.as to be her Easter offering
md if there lurked thought of Mr..
Castleton's words of praise or his grave
eyes looking approvingly upon heI
tasteful gift, was she SO very much
to blame?
She had finished her work before
sunset, and took it home. Mrs. Stacy
was in the sitting room, where Bessie
was opening the parcel containing 9
new silk suit for Easter Sunday, and
Susie WAS called upon to admire the
color, the style. the general saeot