CREEPING UP THE STAIRS, In the softly falling twilight Of a weary, weary day, With a quiet step 1 entered W here the children were at play; I was brooding o'er some Srounle Which had met me unawares, ittle voles came ringing, i +h wich melodies awakened, no wording can define, raed to see our da riing, | forgetful of my cares, [ saw the little creature ow!y creeping up the stairs. £ ¢ step she bravely clambered little hands and Knees, up a constant chattering, magpie in the trees ; t she reached the topmost er all her world’s atiairs ihe d stood a victor reeping up the stairs. heart, behold an image s brief and struggling life, «st prizes must ba captured noble, earnest strife; {, upward, reaching over, ling to the weight of cares, +. fearing, still expecting, ing up the StaiLrs, may be no carpet, ides may be no rail; knees may often pain us, rt may almost fail, here is the glory, y sinfulness impairs, st and joy forever, eping up the stairs, IN A FLASH. T first remember my Aunt Barbara. she was over forty years of age; | could never have been accounted a handsome woman. She was a very tall and a very angular, with | a long, remarkable | featur commandin she proportions. the kindest hearts in the | looks seemed a matter of trfliing moment to those | who had the privilege of knowing her | well. It was at my request that, some two or three years before her death, she wi ce out the following narrative of an actual occurrence in her early life. I put away the manuscript at the time, and did not come across it again till the lav. On looking 1t over ance ¢ ssemed to me not unworthy of nseribed for a wider circle of n that comprised by the wri- me of ul being reader ter's immediate friends and acquaint- ances Youa (begins u go back in to iy aunt) to what seems to me now like a period of remote antiquity, when I. Barbara Waldron, was twenty- four vears of age, and my sister Bessie five years younger, and endeavor to put down in writing the little story 1 told you by word of mouth a few days ago. You must know, then, that in those far-off days my sister and I were keep- ing house for our brother John, who at that time filled the position of steward and land-agent to Lord Dorri The house we lived in was a pleasant but somewhat lonely residence, about half a mile from the little country town l.eavensfield. The house suited us for several reasons. In the first place, was low; next, a large gar was attached Jessie and 1 sj and in the third place, th to Dorrington Par my brother yuld take a hall whenever he had bi with his lordship, his lords with him. Our | i was a small one, and besides our- selves comprised only Mary middie aged woman; and niece, a girl of mix John's horse and gig were looked after bya yo he pame of Reuben Gates, who did not, however, sleep on the premises, An important part of John's duties was to receive and pay into the Levensfield bank the rents due from farmers and other tenants of property held under Lord Dorrington. One such tenant | was a certain Mr. Shllito, a corn and seed merchant, who was noted for his eccentricities, It was only in keeping with Mr. Shillito’s aggravating way of doing business that he should never pay his rent at the time other people paid theirs: that he should always payitin gold and notes, instead of giving a| check for the amonnt, as he was quite in a position to have done, and that he should make a point of bringing it him- self. instead of naming the time whefi my brother might have called upon him; and finally, that he seldom arrived h the money till after bank- SK ne memory “ord ngion. |