Year: 1870

green. The house still kept its
tasteful beauty and its nice order,
for the lady who presided there was
ambitious in her turn, and secretly
intended to make herself so indis
pensable to its master, that he, in
time, would gladly select her to fill
the vacant place in her home. He
missed no comfort, no attention
that had been in the olden time.
He only missed his wife! Mrs.
Grundy would never have believed
it of him! He sat in the little
room that had been peculiarly her
own, leaning his head upon her
writing desk, and sobbing as if his
heart would break. The door was
locked, and no one could intrude
upon his grief His wife's picture,
taken just after her marriage, smiled
gently down upon him from the
wall. Her desk was open and he
had been looking over the letters
and papers she had left behind. He
had intended to destroy them, but
his hand was stayed. There, tied
with rose-colored ribbon, were the
letters he had written to her when
he sought to win her for his bride.
How fond they we're how tender
how full of promises for the future
toward which they looked, with
love and hope, together! How had
he fulfilled those promlses-how
had he kept those vows? Heavens
In those days he had been glad to
kneel at her feet, and kiss the hem
of her dress, the ground on which
her slender foot had trod! How
had it been with him, in the later
yeprs, when she was all his own !?
How! The tear stained passages
of her journal. with his little hope
less, loving daily entries, answered
him only too we'll:


Stephen is no longer happy
with me; he loves me no longer
Alas, can see it so plainly, and he
never knows that he betrays it
never dreams that my heart is ach-
ing and yearning for one of the
looks, the words. the kisses of the
dear old time! And yet / love him
oh, 1 love him thousand times
better than when we were engaged !!
He is so noble, so manly, so hand
some, so far above all others that l
see !--Why-why has he cased to
care for me, while he is still dearer
than all the world to me?"


And again:


Little Susv, my last darling
child was taken from rs to dav.
Her father grievcs, but oh, he does
not grive Nth me! Childless and
rnloved. o how can 1 bear all the
long and weary years that may lie
between me and my graven'


And again:


"The doctor has told me this day
that l have not long to live. l
made him tell me He hesitated ;
he feared that it would have bad
effect on me, weak and low as 1 am.
All, he little he knows! For the
first time in long years, see 8 ray
of light before me 1 go, while
Stephen is yet a handsome man, in
the prime and vigor of life. Some
other woman will win his heart.
and his home may yet be happy. l
shall no longer be burden and
clog in his path; but oh, Stephen,
Stephen, my darling husband. what
woman can ever love you better than
I-or who can ever"


There the pen had dropped from
the dying hand, and blot had fall
en-! They were the last words she
ever penned, and they were prayer
of thanksgiving on his account, be-
cause she was about to be taken
from him! Who loved him now
like this? Thai coldly elegant wo-
man, sitting at her work in Marga
ret's vacant place? Oh, no--no!
Many a woman would be glad to
marry him for the sake of his vast
wealth, but no other heart would
ever cherish and cling to him, in
spite of his indifference and his
faults, as this fond heart had done,
that was now silent in the grave!


"Oh, Margaret, if / had known
this! If you had only spoken--if
you could but come back to me"
he groaned." "And now-now it
is forever too late!''


Yes--for him it was s'too late"
and nothing cou'd recall the past


But oh, careless and indifferent
husband, with no kind word or kiss
of welcome for the pale wife whom,
after all, you really love, the hearse
and the train OF mourners stand not
yet at the door of your home! 1t
is not yet "too late" for you to re-
pent and make amends, and save
your heart such pangs of remorse
as this proud man was forced to
endure New York Ledger.


The Last Ten Cent Piece.


Mr.. E Z. Judson, (the "Ned