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I? OTtTIVNVD , OREGON, 3TRirA.Y, VXJGTJST gt, 1873.
IVTJMIiETt l.
Fkee Speech. Fkp.e Press. Fhee People.
Tno Little Feet.
BY rXOBENCE PKBCT.
Two little feet, h small that both may nestle
In one caresnlng hand;
Two tender feet upon the untried border
Of life's mysterious land;
Dimpled and soft and pink as peach-tree blos
soms
In Aprtl'n fragrant days;
How can they walk anions the briery Unsle
Bdclng the world' rough wayst
These white-rose feet alon; the doubtful fU'
ture
Must bear a woman' load;
Alas! since woman has the heaviest burden
And walks the hardest road.
Love, for awlilie, will make the path before
them
All dainty, smooth ami fair
"Will cull away the brambles, letting only
The roses blextora there.
But when the mother watchful eye Is
shrouded
Away from sight of men,
And these dear feet are Iclt without the euld
lne,
"Who shall 'direct them then t
How will they bo allured, betrayed, deluded,
Foor little untaught feet!
Into what dreamy mazes will they wander,
"What dangers will they meet?
Will they so stumbling blindly in the darkness
Of Sorrow's tearful shade;
Or And the upland slope of Peace ami Ucauty
Whose sunlight never fades?
Will they go tolling up Ambition's summit,
Tlie common world above?
Or In some nameless vale securely sheltered,
Walk side by side with Love?
Some leet there be which walk life's track un-
wounded,
Which find but pleasant ways;
Home hearts there be to which this life is only
A round of happy days.
But they are few. Par more there are who
wander
Without a hope or friend
Who And theirjonrneyfullof pains and losses
And long to reach the end.
now shall it be with her, the tender stranger,
Fair-faced and gentle-eyed.
Before whose unstained leet the world's rudo
highway
Stretches so strange and wide ?
Ah! who may read thefuture? Fbrourdarllng
We crave all blemlngs sweet
And pray that He who feeds the crying ravens
Will guide the baby's reel.
"Lady's Friend."
ELLEN D 0 WD, THEFAEMEB'S WIPE.
PART BECOSD.
Entered according to the Act of Congress In
the year ISTi by Mrs. A. J. Dunlwny, In the of
fice of the Librarian of Congress at Washington
City.
CHAPTER VI.
The miuing excitement of tbe days of
'49 no longer fevered the brains of the
great mass of fortune hunters. Agri
culture, with its benign accompani
ments of peace and plenty, smiled over
the fair Golden State, and many men,
dissatisfied with the uncertainties of
mining, or having grown rich in the
flush daj's of placer diggings, betook
themselves to husbandry. Whole town
ships, and in some instances whole
counties, of the fairest virgin soil that
ever cradled trees and grasses on its bos
om, as it lay smiling in tbe balmy breeze
of God, became the property of private
corporations or individual owners.
Much dispute and litigation arose
among the new settlers and old Spanish
and Mexican claimants about the valid'
ity of titles.
Ellen Dowd, whose purchase of two
hundred acres proved for a year or two
a profitable investment under her able
financial management, found herself
suddenly dispossessed by original title-
holders.
I have said the great mining excite
ment was over. So it was, but all
through the mining districts were little,
populous towns, where quartz mills
were running night and day, crushing
out the precious ore that proves the
bane of thousands! alJd is also the bless
ing, under tbe world's system of com
merce, that brings hope and peace and
comfort to tens of thousands more.
Disappointed in her expectation of
ending her days upon the ranche which
she and her children bad made to bios
som as the rose, ourberoine removed to
a busy, bustling town, high up on the
bluffs of the noted American river, and
occupying a temporary building, rudely
fitted up for the purpose, began to keep
hotel.
me lair young wiuow, with new
teeth (thanks to an Itinerant dentis
who had sojourned for a season at her
country home), with the sunken out
lines, of the beauty of her girlhood all
renewed under the invigorating climate
and still more invigorating relief from
a marriage that was a mockery, pros
pered beyond her most sanguine expec
tations.
Employing men to do the coarse,
rough work of her establishment, which
Peter Dowd, had he retained the posi
tlon of "head of the family," would
have required her to do herself, Ellen
gathered tbe few children of the village
into a scnool, and, with her own half-
score, filled tho large upper room of her
notei" ny day with pupils, and con
verted it iuto'a sleeping apartment for
uer many lodgers by night. The in
come of her school kept up the heaviest
part or lier expense.
v luuiijuiuiuai ouera were
numerous, whoever saw capable, self-
'""""I b'""; wuiaen WHO went
not beset by oners In plenty from whole
souled, noble men, of course, who were
"dying" lor opportunity to "sunrjort"
and "protect" them off of the proceeds
of their own (we mean the women's)
earnings? Trup, meu pay that they ad
mire loveable dependence above all
things in woman, yet tho fact that love
able independence Is always found to be
the most attractive magnet in the mat
rimonial market, leads us to tbe forced
conviction that all the, talk about men's
preference for the orthodox "clinging
vine" is the merest soft sawder, and,
from ils being so often believed in by
what they term the susceptible sex,
may be traced tbe prime cause of so
many incompetent wives and mothers.
As men sow, so shall they reap.
A year rolled itself away into the
wierd scroll of past Infinitude, and El
len Dowd awoke one morning to find
that her combined hotel and school was
situated right over the richest mine in
the vicinity. A mining company of
fered her a fabulous snhx'for her possess
ions, and KUen, accepting, prepared for
immediate removal to the sounding
shores hard by the Golden Gate.
Another year rolled on to nestle it
self away within the scroll containing
those that had gone before it, and In
one of the most elegant houses in San
Francisco, surrounded by her children,
who arose to call her blessed, you could
scarcely recognize, in tho queenly car
riage and beaming, chastened smile of
the still young widow, the once thinly
clad, overworked, despairing Ellen
Dowd. Her wondrous taste for tho
beautiful, heightened by long starva
tlon, found its vent in statuary, paint
ings, flowers, fountains and shrubbery;
and her marked literary abilities were
gratified with the choicest authors.
Still, Ellen Dowd was not happy.
Her older children were away at school,
and the younger ones were so well grown
up that they no longer needed her con
slant care.
Often, after having busied herself with
books and work and music until hands
and brain were too weary for further ef
fort, would Ellen wander silently
through the grand apartments of her
luxurious home, and with bowed head
and aching heart commune with her
own loneliness.
"O, why am I not happy?" was her
constant query; and ever, as the days
rolled on, wierd echo answered onlv.
Why?"
Charitable institutions, church festi-
als and temperance societies served to
give vent to much of her surplus en
ergy; but often there were days together
when through the grand halls would
echo to her silent tread tho one sod
word, "alone."
One day, after having indulged for
hours in a fit of abstract reverie, as she
at gazing out over the flashing billows 1
of the shipping-crowded bay, her atten
tion was directed to a carriage that
came bowling up the drive in her com
modious grounds. Although carriages
were arriving daily, her heart involun
tarily gave a great thump and then
stood still, as she watched this one with
an undefiuable apprehension or expec
tation of she knew not what
Presently a veiled figure alighted, and
with a wave of the hand, bidding the
carriage be gone, came painfully up tho
steps. Ellen did not wait for servants
to answer the bell. Meeting the mys
terious stranger at tbe door, she invol
untarily invited her to an inner appart
nient.
"Ellen D'Arcy, do you know me?"
The speaker threw off her disguise as
she spoke and stood before her former
pupil.
"My old governess! Am I waking or
dreaming? "What does this mean?"
Ellen asked in astonishment
"It means, my poor, wronged child,
that I have fulfilled my vow. Ha ! ha 1
ha! I'm out of old Kllllngsworth's
clutches at last!"
Throwing herself upon a lounge, the
former governess, now old, rheumatic
and half deranged, continued long in an
uncontrollable fit of laughter.
Several days passed, and Ellen could
get no sensible elucidation of the mys
tery that shrouded the woman, whom
she had always suspicioned of having
been inleague, In some way,witli the old
man who had conspired to use her hand
In marriage for the purpose of obtaining
the D'Arcy estate. She had no time to
think of being lonely now. How to
bring back the fading reason or the old
governess that she had loved was to her
tne most Important matter in the land.
Physicians of noted skill were sum-1
moned and Introduced as acquaintances
of the family, with instrne Hntia in
watch the patient furtively and pre
scribe for her, without awakening her
suspicion that their visits were profes
sional. An opiate was decided upon,
but how to administer it without excit
ing the patient's anxiety or curiosity
was the perplexing question. She had
not slept since entering the house, and
whenever Ellen tried to converse with
her, the old fit of laughter would return,
accompanied by constant exulting ex
clamations of delight at being "out of
old Klllingsworth'fl clutches."
Ellen was convinced that tome dark
mystery was connected with the untold
Btory of the woman, and greatly feared
that her prolonged wakefulness would
end in total insanity. Tho day was
warm, and preparing iced lemonade, to
which she added tho opiate, she pre
vailed upon her to drink. In an hour
the patient sank into a deep sleep, from
which, after many hours, she awoke,
weak, exhausted, .bat rational.
Ellen was careful to leave ber alone
for an hour after awaking, that she
might beltercollect her shattered senses.
She had beautifully adorned tho cham
ber with books and, flowers,, in the
window hung a gIIdeu'cage,(from which
tho trilling notes of a canary floated
through the air. The patient rubbed
her eyes and gazed about her.
"I wonder If this Isn't heaven?" she
whispered. "I've always imagined that
when people die they awako In some
place like this."
After :i whilo she ventured to speak
to the bird as it trolled its roundelay.
"Sweet!" answered the tiny warbler as
it flitted to and fro.
"Yes, yes, this must be heaven; but
why am I left alone?"
"You are not alone, my dear govern
ess; neither are you in. heaven. You
are snug and safe with Ellen D'Arcy
Dowd. You have beerr very ill, and
now you are my patient and must lie
very still till you recover, and then
we'll have a delightful visit together,
talking over old times."
"Old times? Yes, I remember; ho
wouldn't own me as his wife. He took
our son away from me, and when I
threatened to expose his designs upon
you, he always silenced me by saying
he'd kill my boy."
Eager as was Ellen's curiosity to hear
more, she felt that It would not be safe
to permit her to talk.
"You can tell me the rest to-morrow,
but not now, my dear," kissing the
once fair brow, now furrowed with years
and sorrow.
"It was a false marriage," she contin
ucd wildly, "but I wasn't wicked. I
thought I was his wife."
"Not another word till to-morrow,
dear. Remember you must live to be
avenged."
"I will! I will! Revenge Is sweet,
but It Is long in coming sometimes."
To be continued.
Wrecks.
I once heard a graphic description of
the agony or a woman, mo wife or a
fisherman, who, battling with the fierce
storm, made her way to the seashore to
watch for her husband's boat. Grasp
inirwith all her might tbe projecting
point of a rock, she strained her eyes
seaward. The drifting rain ceased, but
turbulent winds tossed tne waves moun
tain high could the boat have outlived
the storm ? She feared not, but In tear
less agony gazed on and out. A speck
In the distance drew near. It was the
boat; now It rose upon the crest of an
immense wave; then was' lost to sight
in the trough of the sea. A faint hope
beat in the wife's breast. The man was
doing his best, fighting for life and for
her; but as he came into tho white foam
of the breakers he was engulfed. Ex
hausted, ho could only struggle ror a
brief moment more and was gone gone
before the eyes of the woman who had
no ono else to love, wnose iuitii auu
hope could find no other human stay.
One walks tho shore on halcyon sum
mer days, and, listening to the moan of
the sea, thinks with shuddering pity of
tlie woman who nau to nvo on u mat
bo life when bono is dead and prays
God to bear for her the burden of her
grief.
It is a pitiful talc, but there are those
more pitiful. This woman's tragedy
was compressed into a day; others watch
with strained hearts their coming fate
through awful years. They signal to
the men they love, "This way lies safe
ty." but blind eyes cannot see. They
utter warning cries, but the deaf cars
hear not.
When at last the end comes, a dead
face drifts out into the infinite waste of
waters, there is nothing to mitigate
their anguisli. To tnem time win bring
no healing balm. These women keep
ing watch over their endangered sons
and husbands are among us. They walk
our streets, and sympathetic souls know
their secret, although they make no
outward sign of their intense disquiet.
Their beloved ones have dallied with
an appetite for stroug drink, and it has
become their master and tyrant; they
struggle with more or less earnestness
to escape their doom, but they go down
before those who would give their life
to save them, but are powerless.
I do not envy tho man who can con
template this vast sum of misery who
can think of theso wasted lives, and
knowing that by eternal laws efficient
help can come only from changes of
morals through individual effort and
example, j-et coolly Intrenches himself
behind the general truth that that we
are each responsible for our wrong do-
lug, and refuses to give tho impetus of
ills sen-ueniai towaru tue upiming 01
fallen or falling souls.
So we are responsible for our sins, but
you, O man of ice, are you not responsi
ble for the usoyou make of your wealth,
your culture and nil the gifts of God,
and will he hold you guiltless If, having
w much to enjoy, you will not lay upon
liis altar a mere appetite v
In view of the thousands of wrecks
that yearly sink beneath the surface of
society becauF" or tueir lovo 01 intoxi
cating drinks, la it not time for Chris-
nans to ask llie.nsclves if the time has
not fully come when fidelity to golden
rule forbids them to maintain the wine
drinking customs In which so much of
tins rum originates. Elizabeth Chxirclt
hill in ChrMian at Work.
IT is Better. Better to wcara calico
dress without trimming, If it be paid
for, than to owe a shop-keeper for the
most elegant silk, cut and trimmed In
tue most oewiicning manner.
tj 1 : i i . .
icLii-i iu uv in a iog caoin, an your
on, nau u uiuwii stone mansion be
longing to somebody else.
Better walk forever than run Intodebt
tor a nonsc nuti carriage.
Better to use tho old cane-seated
chairs and fadod three-ply carpet than
tremble at the bills sent home from the
upholstcr's for tho most elegant parlor
set ever made.
Better to nay the street organ-grinder
for music, If you must have it, thnn owe
for a grand piano.
Better to gaze upon bare walls than
pictures unpaid for.
Better to eat thin soup from earthen
ware, if you owe your butcher nothing,
than dine off lamb and roast beef, and
know that it does not belong to you.
One Woman's Wrongs,
nv nrarrnA dwxe.
That blessed baby I Who could do
less than effervesco with most rapturous
epithets, else than overflow with adora
tion, elso than act generally in the most
gushing and hyperbolic manner possi
ble upon introduction to her? She had
such winsome blue eyes, this dainty lit
tle lassie; such a sweet, little, puckered
up mouth, she would disarm life ot its
sternness with tho rarest of kisses.
Such a complexion white lily borrow
ing a blush from the damask rose; such
an enchanting little voice, with Its un
wedded syllables a-go-oo-oo-nan-nan-nnn,
with no shadow of human reason
in their inarticulato form, yet echoing
tho music of heaven to loving hearts.
And such an artful little witch as she
was! It wasn't enougii for Iilt insatia
ble love of conquest, her thirst of do
minion and lust of power that tlie whole
household lay In spiritual prostration at
her feet. No; she seemed determined
never to cease her wiles till the whole
world wa3 her captive. Therefore, no
matter whose face bent over her as she
lay in her cradle or upon her mother's
lap, whether countenance of kindred or
stranger, all her small allurements were
put into operation for the observer's com
plete subjugation.
She was indeed queen of hearts; and
tho invisible scepter that those puffy
little lists wielded extended over a
kingdom that could never be measured.
For who has ever fixed boundaries to
the love of human hearts, the love that
stretches in glorious enfoldment from
the finite object to the Infinite One?
Such a marvel of lovo hung like a
bright halo always about her, that she
was as often the subject of our conver
sation, as if slio had been a conspicuous
actcr In tbe great theater of lire. We
used to sit often by her cradle, her fair
haired young mother and I, and specu
late upon the mystery of ber destiny, tho
shifting scenes of the drama of life just
opening for her; and her young moth
ers lips would raiter, as we thought, and
say, "A drama that may be tragedy;
only God knows."
But that little mother had such a
beautifu faith, tho faith as well as the
love that caste th out fear, in her Father,
her God, that tho shadows of futurity
which drifted athwart her sunshine
wero but fleeting ones. "Whatever it
may be," she would say, "it will be
God's will, and I will try' never to mur
mur: vet." aud the sorrow in her eves
but dimly shadowed the anguish of her
neart, "no cannot bind upon my heart
heavier cross than to force me to witness
the blight of disappointment and sorrow
upon this blessed little one."
All. poor young mother, would that
wo all had thy holy faith. Yet what
can we do, we faithless ones who drift
anchorless over lire's troubled sea? In
the fibre of some natures the far-re
moved growth from some ancestral root
of scepticism aud Godless pessimism.
faithlessness is engrained, aud we pray
vainly who pray that a warp of our na
tures may be removed, which came in
tho natural sequence of generation.
xsauio uiossom was oniy sixteen
months old when her brave father went
to the war. How handsome he looked
that bright Spring morning in his offi
cer's uniform, tho pallor of grief at
parting from his darlings, struggling
with tho crimson glow of patriotic pride
upon his face-. The echos of Sumter's
guns rolling over the land, had found
him among the first to do his country
needed service, aud now, ere those echoes
had fairly ceased, he bade us good-bye.
"Don't cry, love," he whispered to
her, who clung to him as If In losing
him she lost her life. "Don't cry so.
Its only three mouths at farthest, and I
feel sure we will bring those traitors to I
cry "quarter in liair tliat time, lvcep
up a good heart, darling, bo merry and
happy with little Blossom, and I shall
bo back again before you havo fairly
realized my absence."
Back again ? Yes, so he was. But it
was back again only for another good
bye. For He. .whose absolute wisdom
works with both just and unjust, had
narueneu uie southern Heart; and
though the time of our brave boys who
volunteered for threo months was over,
the end was not yet.
So Lieut. Harry came home, unscathed
by the battles through which he had
passed, to fondle Babie Blossom with
the old idolatrous love, to comfort aud
caress his even dearer treasure Babics
pale mamma, and again was gone.
Gone! oh, Father! gone with the dew
and fragranco of youth not yet departed
from his proud manhood! Gone, to
feel the horrible monster which devas
tated our land, mado hearthstones deso
late, dispersed families, and hid God
from us in thick clouds of battle smoke
and the din of conflict. Gone, to be
shot down at the front, to be lost in the
tumult of a temporary defeat, to be
trampled upon by iron hoofs, the silver
cord severed which bound ms iresu,
pure soul to its beautiful body, amid
surrounding shrieks and groans, prayers
and cursings, then hurrying feet crush
ing all human comeliness from him,
with mutilated form and features unrec
ognizable, to be at last taken up and
burled witn the unknown dead.
Crouching in tho awful storm which
swept across our country, the blinding,
benumbing, pitiless storm of anguish
which followed the battle of Pittsburg
Landing, I found poor Mary. Her
white lips moved slightly as she. saw
me, as if she would speak, but It was as
if woe had stricken her dumb, for not
even a moan came forth. Her eyes
were tearless, for the wound gaped too
deep for tears, her face, but for its wide,
open, agonized eyes, was the face of the
dead.
I did not try to comfort her. I could
not even point her to the God she wor
shiped; for I knew that not even God
himself could pour balm luto the wound
ere yet the cruel weapon which cleft it
Is withdrawn. There Is no comfort for
the widowed In the freshness of the
hprt; nor faith, nor hope, nor love dare
offer ministrations then; life lias no sol
ace, and heaven no power of healing;
there Is nothing for the stricken but to
power hefnm tho blast, to agonize with
the hurt, and to wait for deatli or life
to bring an opiate. ..."
Iu the midst of it all this tragedy
which was to overshadow Her young
days, Babie Blossom prattled innocently,
which was to overshadow her young
wlth Uio hnnnv unconsciousuess of spir
itual straits, which is a blessedness of
childhood. She tottered across the floor
to greet me, as I sat weeping and
speechless by Mary's side, aud lipsed:
"Mamma don't say somesin to her
baby, guess she are too bungle."
Hungry? Yes; poor little mamma!
the days will never como that she will
not hunger and thirst for the love which
once mado life a continued feast of hap
piness to her. Hungry? Yes, poor
soul, starving, fainting forher lout love.
1 must not a wen upon uio monins
that followed. I cannot describe tlie
footsteps marked with blood with which
she traversed tbe dreary road buck again
to lire inat roaa wiucn only those
smitten almost to death ever travel. I
would riot If I could; for the happy can
never Tealizo grief, even by most iu
snired description, and those who have
suffered can trace Mary's tortured steps
by tbe tear-staineu print or tueir own.
The harsh necessities of existence first
aroused Jier from her stupor. She aud
Blossom must be red and clothed even
yet, though she knew little what she
ate or what her raiment was. I exerted
myself to see that a widow's dress shut
her. In its merciful seclusion, from the
careless world, although she gave no
sign that she observed the change from
tier dainty colors to sombre black.
With aid I Hecurcd for ber the pay
which was Harry's due, and finally the
small pension to which his death enti
tled her. But wheti finally tbe stern
question "What shall wo eat, what shall
we drink, and wherewithal shall we be
clothed," became imperative, Mary
herself was forced to look into her af
fairs to And answer. And we found that
except the pension of twelve or fifteen
dollars a month, nothing stood between
tue two ana starvation. Then began
that pitiful struggle so familiar to many
who drop a tear upon this page, for this
young widow; the struggle for bread
against depressing odds of inefficiency
aud hopelessness. She had nothing to
offer the world in exchange for food and
raiment, but very unskilled labor; for,
poor girl, she had been "elegantly"
brought up to idleness and showy ac-
compltshments She had married right
from school, berore uer mind bad at
tained sufficient nobleness of stature to
overlook the complexities of our social
system, and to Bee that no object in ex
istence is so useless ana so ueipiess, so
entirely ibe victim of chance, as the
womau who is not prepared to conquer
foothold for herself and then to protect
it, the woman who drops a dead weight
to earth unless masculine arras out
stretched tor her keep her midway be
tween earth and licaven neither a
grand woman nor an inferior angel.
So Mary had lived iu her husband's
house, nominally its mistress, yet really
only secondary in its management to
the servant who alternately bullied and
cajoieu uer And when disaster came,
she was no more fitted to cope with pov
erty thau liable Blossom was.
Impotent to help, I watched the strug
gle for years. First she opened a small
school. But in that thriving Illinois
village the publie schools absorbed all
tho children, save a few, so few indeed,
that their tuition fees scarcely paid her
rent. Then she tried tho sewing ma
chine, working early and late to dis
tance tho fiend which followed upon
her steps. But alas! Mary had never
beeu taught to sew, aud the mysteries
of cutting aud planning, of matching
scams and cutting biases, of eking out
scanty materials to lit generous patterns,
were as much beyond her comprehen
sion as the differential calculus or New
ton's prlucipia. She hadn't a mechan
ical faculty, poor girl, and all the pov
erty in the world couldn't develop ono
in her. Next she essayed giving music
lessons, toiling through tropical heat
and artic cold, year in and year out, vis
iting pupils at their homes. But the
fatal war had mado other widows, upon
whom poverty's grip was laid as heavily
us upon her. So she found, one sad day,
after a mathematical exercise, that the
fourteen music pupils of the town were
divided amoug three teachers, each of
tlie others more proficient in the profes
sion than she.
Poor Mary! She was so iucapable,
there really seemed but two things left
for her, aud of these, one was death, the
other marriage. Who must we blame
for this-sin of false marriage? Surely
not the helpless girl or widow wbo es
capes from starvation through tbe only
door open to her, even If Into the dreari
ness of an unhallowed marriage.
No! how dare we? for how few are
we who have gained that high plane of
spiritual consecration, whero the carnal
needs feed sacrificial flames; where
meat, drink, and raiment are less to us
than a life verified by a grand ideal.
We may long to live exalted lives, but
first we must live In the body; let us
cease to reinforce tliebody, and thespirit
deserts it, to exhale into some vaporous
abstraction which' we cannot limit or
deflue. Therefore, let not. the world's
reproach fall upon those who choose
marriage only as an alternative with
destitution. But if we havo curses for
the guility, let them be plied high upon
the heads of the faithless guardians who
sin so deeply as to send a human being
from their charge out into the world,
unarmed and defenceless for the battle
of life.
I mean such as you careless and
thoughtless fathers and mothers, as well
as you indolent and luxurious ones,
who think no better, build no more
wisely, than to give your daughters easy
aud aimless lives, till somebody comes
to relieve vou or their care. What ir
death comes for you, and the suitor de
lays? What If disaster engulfs your
substance, and husband stands alone. I
say you aro as much the enemy of your
daughters as li you put manacies upon
their limbs, and limited to your will
the use of their physical powers.
Thinking all these things, and know
ing how both horsemen and footmen,
in the struggle, had trampled poor Mary
down, I was not, I must confess, over
whelmed with astonishment when I
heard that she was soon to contract a
second marriage. She made the an
nouncement to me herself, with such a
strained, unnatural voice, such a pulse
less calm of manner, such a rigid face,
that I knew, better than if she had
broken Into shrieks and fierce outcries,
that jogged nails tore her tender flesh,
and that In th's marriage she was cruci
fied anew to a sorrow hardly less than
that of Harry's death.
She had grown so wan and worn In
these years, that little of herearly beauty
remained. Neither was there more
than an echo In her voice of the sweet
chimes that onceBeemed to ringthrough
i it. xei was sue w ont
( womau, aud it was no marvel that wlfe-
it. Yet was she still a sweet, lovable
less homes opened their doors wide witli
invitation for her. I will not dwell
upou this part of the sad story, for my
heart ache with the bitterness of its
memory. Suffice It to say that when
Babie Blossom was six years of age her
mother married Col. Allston, of Alls
tonvllle, with full understanding be
tween himself aud ber,. that she gave
him wifely duties, not wifely love. Yet
so fierce was his greed forher sad sweet
self, that lie took her even thus.
Col. Allston was a man of taciturn
manner, but of racing passious. Thouch
so ready to concede to Mary before mar
riage, no sooner was tne vow irrevocably
taken than his sardonic temper made
her his victim. Ho was jealous to a
degree almost inconceivable to natures
who know not the tortures of insane
suspicion.- He seemed to be perpetually
tormented with the idea that the mem
ory of the dead rose, like the smoke of
sweet incense, between him aud the
eyes of her aflection. Yet, unwise man
that he was, craving her love as the
famishing man craves bread, he sought
I li- li.. r t & ' 1 1
uiinuiy to lorce uer iuve, iiul iu win u.
So .Mary learned soon to guard lier
speech against any allusion to those
T I I 1 1 1. 1 .7 . ..
ai v.iiuii uajrs wiieu uie? kuiucii umuum-
Ehere of happiness enfolded her with
er lost love. She never spoke Harry's
name, and hid bis pictures whero no
other eyes than hers and Babie Blos
som's could dwell ppon them. But do
all he could, Col. Allston could never
profane the sacred shrine in her heart,
where her tears and sighs ascended con
tinually to him who was second in her
love only to her God.
Col. Allston seemed also to look upon
Blossom as a barrier to bis wife's heart
and himself. Yet rather than warily
win his way to the mother throuch the
child, he madly thought to thrust tho
nttie one away, that sue should not
keep him from his soul's desire.
When Mary married, of course her
small pension reverted toherrhild. At
first she made no effort to secure this
for Blossom, as Col. Allston's means
were ample, and alary, with, an over
estimate of her "rights," ridiculously
feminine, deemed that endowing her
with his worldly goods, meant both for
herself and child, a corresponding sup
port, iiut siio erreu, as women nave
erred before, who have trusted mascu
line generosity to fill out the sad vacuum
which masculine legislation leaves in
Woman's Rights. Col. Allston insisted
that tbe claim should be made for Blos
som's pittance, and Mary, heart-sick
with shame for him whose name she
bore, gave reluctaut acquiescence.
The first step necessary was that a
guardian should be appointed, whose
duty it should be to advance the claim
against the Government. Of course no
other than the mother was a fitting per-1
son for this office, and Mary thought !
nothing else than that she should take i appearance the husband does, at the
upon herself the guardianship of her j door of the room where you are getting
only child. But mark this, you who , the baby to sleep, aud shouts "Jane," at
assert so loudly that womau has all the the top of his voice, under the Impres
rights she needs, that woman fares bet- . sion that you are up stairs, an irapres
ter under exclusive masculine legisla-. sion speedily removed. To cover the
lion than If she herself built up the bul- confusion of his retreat, he steps on the
warks of her own defense, hark you I dog's tail and bumps the bird-cage with
this, and hide your faces for very shame. I his head, then wants to know what you
When Mary went to her friend, Judge have done with that bootjack, aud why
Way, to assume the legal responsibility it is that you never keep things in their
oi uer cuiiu, sue learueu mui a wise re-
suit of legislative deliberation forbade
ber tho right without her husband's
consent. With a dim realization of one
flagrant injustice of class legislation,
she pondered it quietly in her heart,
while she sent a messenger for her hus
band. Straightway ho came, knowing
of Mary's intention, aud aware, by rea
son of his familiarity with the law, that
when sue visited Judge Way, she would
have need of his presence.
"Col. Allstou," said Judge Way, "we
have a small technicality to adjust in
this business, simply your consent that
Mrs. Allston shall assume the cuardian-
shipof her child."
"Wincu i rerusc to give," answered
Col. Allstou.
And, reader, that husband, fuliv em
powered by such legislation as remands
woman to the companionship of crimi
nals, lunatics, and fools, empowered to
withhold nature's birth-right, a moth
er's right to her own child, steadfastly 1
refused to give his consent. But with
equal persistency, lie demanded that iu
his own hands should be placed the le
gal guardianship of his step-daughter.
Aud of course he persisted to the eltect
lie sought, lor witu an our bombast and
fine rocket rhetoric concerning the lib
erty and equality of our Government,
truth Is that might is yet right, in the
ethics of our Nineteenth Century civlli-
zation.
Thus Babie Blossom, the dainty lassie
whose witcheries were once so potent
with her dead papa, whose lifo was so
inextricably interwoven with ber moth
er's, became Col. Allston's ward.
It is not for a moment to be thought
that Blossom's paltry pension was the
abject of her step-fathers machinations.
Not so. His demand that she claim it
was a part of his deep laid scheme to
obtain the control of Blossom herself.
The pension was only a necessary ruse,
for he could advance no other plausible
reason for a guardian to be appointed
over a child who had no estate or purse
to be protected.
I need not recapitulate the persecu
tions which this authorized tyrant, from
this time on, laid upon mother and
child. Every caress, every tender word
bestowed upon Blossom by her mother,
seemed to him a direct infringement
upon his own rights. Mary did not at
first understand that her love for her
child inflamed her husband's hatred for
Blossom, and when she did, her indig
nation took almost the form of defiance.
She snoko no word of rebellion, but.
unwisely for one whom neither love nor
law protected, and from whom only her
own small guile could warn on persecu
tions, made her love for Blossom as
demonstrative as If it did not gall her
husband to the quick.
Then Col. Allston took the child from
her mother, regardless of their grief and
iudicnant expostulations, and placed
her with his sister, in a distant country
villiage. Poor Mary! what couiu sue
do? Appeal to the law for the custody
of her child? Tho law had already
given it to her husband. Appeal to
him? His heart was gall In its hatred
of Blossom, and she appealed In vain.
What could she do ? Only what thous
ands upon thousands of heart-stricken
women In our perfect Republic (?) do to
day; fill the world with cries, "How
long, oh Lord, how long!"
For a dreary year Mary trod the wine
press alone, hoping and fearing, hoping
that the hard heart would become eter
nally adamant.
But He who rules gave entrance to
another character upon the scenes of
this life-drama whose name had not
been, cast in the dramatis persons, aud
that was Death.
Col. Allston was stricken with a fatal
malady justas Mary's heart was parting
with hope, and her health was yielding
to tho strain of long, continued grief.
He lingered two weeks, then died with
out a will. Thus Mary found herself at
twenty-nine years or age a second time
a widow, but with no threatening out-
look of a second alternative between
marriage and starvation. For the gen
erous law, which takes the widow and
tho fatherless into its gracious care, gave
her a whole third of her husband's
estate, while the other two thirds went
to distant cousins, already burdened
with over richness. Her first act after
Col. Allston was covered with tho sod,
was to take out guardianship papers for
Blossom, then to receive her ,Babio"
again to ber arms.
Somo of you who were of the con
course of women that went up to our
State House day after day, a short tlmo
ago, to add the argument of your pres
ence to your earnest beseechlngs for the
rignt or seir-government, may Havo
seen a pale-faced woman who never
failed to be there while the debate went
on. She was one whose footfalls lmil
lost all the elasticity of youth, whose
brow was furrowed with deep lines of
care, whose mouth had a pathetic
droop, yet whose earnest eyes took in
the significance of the icene, with fer
vent, prayerful desire that tlie wisdom
of God would illumine these councils of
men. And when that Honorable spoke
who gave the last utterance against our
cause, ho who brought the blush of
shame to pure cheeks by his assertions
that woman and virtue would be forever
divorced if universal suffrage prevailed,
I saw her write a brier note upon a bor
rowed bit of paper and send to him. I
know that the bit of paper carried In
dignaut protest against thatman's lying
prophesies, for I know by her own sad
face as well as by the golden-haired girl
by her side, that she was no other than
Babie Blossom's "little mamma.".
Woman' r Journal.
Fixnixo a Bootjack. A. house
keeper writes' (lie following plaint to the
Cleveland Leaden
When the average husband of the
period wants to find a bootjack he steps
to the buttery door, and leaning against
the doorway with his bands in his
jiockets, whistles meditatively aa his
eyes wander along the upper shelves.
When a break in tlie tune occurs, you
may know he has found tho cake, which
he devours absently, still looking forthe
bootjack. Being now deprived of that
aid to reflection whistling, he executes
a waltz in slow movement, sustained by
a large piece or cake in one i anu, a
slzablo pickle in the other. After a
while, as the bootiack does not make its
place. It you are wise, and simply and
calmly point, like Columbia, to the ob
ject iu question hanging on its accus
tomed nail, he seizes upon itwrathfully,
with tho solemn vow that it was not
there when he went through the room
before.
The offending boots are finally left in
the doorway where it is convenient to
trip over them, aud serenity transpires,
unless you have occasion to go around
them, when you will at once see their
value as a natural means of obstructing
a passage-way. It is estimated that oue
pair of boots judiciously disposed about
an apartment of medium sizcywill pre
vent cither a well-disposed person or a
professional burglar from quietly mak
ing his way about it.
At tea time the average husband does
not care about any cake; it isn't much
like that his mother used to make.
An Election Stokv. In an old Penn
sylvania town, where they voted
strictly in accordance with the dictates
of the party leaders (so the story goes),
the experiment was made of putting a
new ticket in the field. A Mr. Green
was the candidate selected, but by rea
son of sickness be was unable to go to
tbe polls on election day. When the
returns were published, Sir. Green had
just one vote.
unagrineu at mis, and annoyed at tne
accusation that he had voted for him
self, he announced that if the person
who had voted for him would come for
ward and make affidavit to the facts,
be would reward him with a suit of
clothes.
A few mornings afterward, a.burly
Dutchman called upon Mr. Green, and
abruptly remarked:
"I vant3 dat suit of clo'es."
"Then you are tho man who voted for
me?"
"Yah, I'm dat man."
"Are you willing to make an affidavit
on it?"
"Yah. I swear to "em."
Mr. Green, accompanied by the intel
ligent voter, went to the office of tho
Justice of the Peace, and the required
affidavit wa3 made; upon which the
clothes were purchased and given to the
deponent. At parting, Mr. Green said:
"Now, my friend, just answer me one
question. How came you to vote for
me?"
"You vanta to know dat?"
"Yes."
"And you von't go back on the
clo'es?"
"No."
"Veil," said he, slowly, and with a sly
twinkle of the eye, "den I tole you I
made a mistake in de ticket!"
Ark Thkre Equestrian Anqels?
An old farmer, a crabbed sort of a fellow,
used to give his minister a load of hay
every summer as his yearly present.
Whenever he came with his load, the
hay, somehow or other, used to be very
low on the scaffold, and it gave him a
good opportunity to scold. "How you
do waste your hay, Parson D ! You
have too much company; you shouldn't
ask everybody that comes along to stay
all night. Do as I do; when it comes
dark, lock your door and go to bed."
"But," replied the minister, "you would
not turn a stranger away, would you,
Mr. B ? Tlie Bible commends hos
pitality; and you know It says that in
entertaining strangers some have en
tertained angels unawares!" "Aye,
aye!" returned tho old gentleman, "but
angels don't ride on horses!"
A school inspector, examining tlie
boys, put them through their "animal
kingdom," and iu the course of his per
formance rather grandly exclaimed:
"Now, can any of you boys name to me
an animal of the order Kdentata-that
is, a front tooth, toothless animal ?
A boy at once smitten with wisdom,
replied, "I can." , , .
i'Well, what is the animal?
"My grandmother!" replied tho boj.