14
THE WEST SHORE.
Ami if, when a glowing thought cornea into your bruin,
quick imuI hikMi-ii, you could lull it over as to a second
self, to that sweet creature, who in not away because she
loves to 1 there; and if you could watch the thought
Hitching that J,'ii!i"h mind, illuming tlint fair brow, spark
ling in those plcasantcst of eyes-how far better than to
feel it Hlumlcriiig,and going out, heavy, lifeless and dead,
in your own Hellish fancy. And if a generous emotion
steal over you, coining you know not whither, would
there, not lxi n richer charm in lavishing it in caress, or
endearing word, Uhii that fondest and most dear one,
than in patting your glossy-coated dog or sinking lonely
to mailing hIiiimImts?
How would not iH'iievolenco ripen with Buch monitor
to Uik it! How would not HelfishneHU grow faint and
dull, leaning over to that second self, which is tho loved
on! How would not guile shiver and grow weak before
that girl-brow and eye of innocence! How would not all
that boyhood prized of enthusiasm, and quick blood, and
life, renew itself in such presence!
The (ir was getting hotter, and I moved into the mid
tile of the room. The shadows the Haines made wore
playing like fairy forms over floor, and wall, and ceiling.
My fancy would surely quicken, thought I, if such
Wing were, in attendance. Kurcly imagination would be
stronger and purer, if it could have tho playful fancies of
dawning womanhood to delight it All toil would be torn
from miml-laW, if but another heart grew into this
present Koul, quickening it, warming it, cheering it, bid
ding it ever (lod-sMed!
Ihr face .would make a halo, rich as a rainlx.w, atop of
nil such noisome things as we lonely houIs call trouble.
Her smile would illumine the blackest of crowdiig cares;
and darkness tlmt now seats you desiondent in your Koli
tery chair for days together, weaving bitter fancies, dream
ing bitter dreams, would grow light ,1 thin, ,! B,)mul
and ll.Hit away, chased by that Wlovod smile.
Your friend -,KH,r fellow! -dies; never mind, that
gentle clasp of h,r lingers, s she steals behind you tell
nig you not to we,.,, - it jH (u frj,mjHi
Vour sister, sweet one, is .lead -buried. Tho worms
re msy;,,,;i,,,,,rfllirmw JIow it makes you S
.mi ll, nolh.ug but a s,H,t to dig graves ,,! '
It is mora, Shr, she says, will Ik, sister; and the
waving curls, as she leans u.ku, your shoulder, to cl y
... . d your wet eye turns to meet those other ey . !
(bxl lliui sent his nngel, surely! J
Your m..ther. h.s for it, she is i-oiie' 1 i1M
'"":;nr """";' ""-U ii n .
. . . "'"K yours, her smile liehtii
" h "iiis,
i.-r grief kiiH, vour.r,;,,.. ::' nKl,ui1
n.atkimU.m.wofhcrx m
assunjre
1 1 "'. '"' rh.ldr,.,,, rosy, fair-haiml; no thev d . .
... yo lhl.ir , ;r , V Ut
jr there on the grsward; Iu.v,r nfi.wl l V
th siiowdn,, vil..t if 1 ' . ..,m,U, ,e '.""".tils,
fume of .ir he.hl.f. .; ' C " ?" T Um m
..ri.L x. ,i ,, r um at the
' "",,,H',,(llelstoloVemu,
cherish; flower, tree, gun, are all dead tilings; things
livelier hold your soul.
And she, the mother, sweetest and fairest of all, watch
ing, tending, caressing, loving, till your own heart grows
pained with tenderest jealousy and cures itself with loving.
You have no need now of any cold lecture to teach
thankfulness; your heart is full of it. No need now, as
once, of bursting blossoms, of trees taking leaf and green
ness, to turn thought kindly and thankfully; for ever be
side you there is bloom, and ever beside you there is
fruit, for which eye, heart and soul are full of unknown
and unspoken, because unspeakable, thank-offering.
And if sickness catches you, binds you, lays you down;
no lonely moanings and wicked curses at careless stepping
nurses. The step is noiseless and yet distinct beside you.
The white curtains are drawn, or withdrawn, by the magic
of that other presence, and the soft, cool hand is upon
your brow.
No cold comfortings of friend-watchers, merely come
in to steal a word away from that outer world which is
pulling at their skirts; but ever the sad, shaded brow of
her, whose lightest sorrow for your sake is your greatest
griof, if it were not a greater joy.
The blaze was leaping light and high, and the wood
falling under the growing heat.
So, continued I, this heart would be at length itself;
striving with everything gross, even now as it clings to
grossness. Love would make its strength native and
progressive. Earth's cares would fly. Joys would double.
Susceptibilities be quickened; Love master self, and,
having made the mastery, stretch onward and upward
toward Infinitude.
And if the end came, and sickness brought that follower-Great
Follower which sooner or later is sure to
come after, then the heart, and the hand of Love, ever
near, are giving to your tired soul, daily and hourly, les
sons of that love which consoles, which triumphs, which
circleth all and centreth in all-Love infinite and divine! .
Kind hands-none but hers will smooth the hair
upon your brow as the chill grows damp and heavy on it;
and her fingers-none but hers will lie in yours as the
wasted flesh stiffens and hardens for the ground. Her
teare-you could feel no others if oceans fell will warm
your draping features once more to life; once more your
oye, lighted in joyous triumph, kindle in her smile, and
thou
The fire fell upon the hearth; the blaze gave a last
eap, a flicker, then another, caught a little remaining
twig, blazed up, wavered, went out
There was nothing but a bed of glowing embers, over
, th? wlllte B1 gathered fast. I was alone, with
dy my dog for company.
III. ,
ASHES SIOMFYING DESOLATION.
Deiwi'l11' " TUKht 1 mhes '"How blaze, inevitably as
XnZ wT8 Mi8ery tre,lds on l keels of Joy;
A"gmsh rules swift after Pleasure.
U)1Ue 10 ,ue "Bain, Carlo," said I to my dog, and I