THE TIMES, NEW BLOOMFIELD, PA., AUGUST 12, 1879.3
3
THE LONELY BRIDE.
A PLEASANT STORY.
THE day accomodation train on the
Shore Line wag making its deliber
ate way westward, curving with every
curve of the Connecticut shore, and
clinging to the water Bide as though
actuated by a sentiment for coast scen
ery. On one side of the track lay the
blue, white-capped sea ; and the other,
low rolling hills with the foregrounds of
brown meadow and golden sedge, over
all the superb arch of sun-lit sky. It
was a delicious, late autumn day, and
Miss Mallows found "That Husband of
Mine" so little engrossing perhaps be
cause of her maidenly unacqualntance
with the possessive case of that article
that she flung it down and betook
herself to gazing from the window. Bhe
was growing dreamy, as gazers at a
rapidly changing scone are apt to do,
when a word reached her ear, and
aroused curiosity enough to make her
turn her head. It was a woman's name,
and an uncommon one "Arethusa."
The persons who uttered it was a man.
.His seat was on the opposite side of the
car, and a little in advance of that which
Miss Mallows herself occupied, and she
now observed that there was something
odd about his appearance. Ills head and
shoulders were massive and finely form
ed, his face Been In profile was a good
one, with kindly eyes and - a striking
forehead, broad and benevolent. But
there was something dwarfish in his
appearance, and when presently he half
rose to shut the window it became ap
parent that he was a dwarf. There was
no deformity, but the large bead and
broad shoulders were balanced by a mis
erable pair of little legs not longer than
those of a child of ten years. He was
not young, for there were grizzled hairs
about his temple and In his full beard,
and altogether his appearance was half
attractive, and awoke a feeling com
pounded of good will and pity bo strong
ly mingled that it was hard to tell which
predominated.
His companion evidently the " Are
thusa" addressed was a girl not over 20,
of that delicate type of prettlness known
as " American" which fades so early,
but is charming in its brief flower time.
Her new grey suit, with crepe lisse
ruffles at throat and wrist, the crisp
feather in her hat, even the shining red
leather of her traveling bag, and the
perfectly fresh, carefully put on gloves,
bespoke the bride, but there was some
thing very unbridai in the face which
these fineries surrounded. The eyes,
blue in tint and beautifully shaped and
set, were swollen with crying, and quiv
ered nervously, every vestige of color
had fled from the round childish cheeks,
and the hands in new gloves were pinch
ed together with a tightness like terror.
Once or twice, as MIbs Mallows watch
ed, she fought with emotion, and called
up a wan little smile in answer to some
thing said to her, but she neyer spoke.
Her companion, on the contrary, talk
ed Incessantly in a low-voiced steady
strain.
Miss Mallows could only catch a word
now and then, and her curiosity about
the couple grew so strong that she felt
that she would pay any price to know
their story.
There could be no doubt as to their
relations, she thought ; they were hus
band and wife, and just married. The
little man evidently had no thought
except for his bride. Mile after mile he
talked and talked, devouring her with
his eyes the while, and Bhe Bat with
half-averted head, never meeting his
gaze or replying by a word to anything
he said. Once she turned and looked
at Miss Mallows with a wild Appeal in
her face which was startling, but she
instantly looked away, and presently
laid her arm on the window Bill and her
head on her arm, and began to cry in a
still, dreadful manner, not sobbing aloud,
but trembling all over with a pent-up feel
ing which was worse than an out-break.
The man tried in vain to soothe her ; she
repelled him gently but decidedly, and
at last he finally gave up the attempt,
and silently sat beside her with a grave,
troubled face.
" I shall die if I can't find out about
those people," though the excited ob
server on the other side of the car. But
she did not die, neither could she find
out. One cannot walk up to perfect
strangers and demand, " Your story or
your life 1" it is impossible. So Miss
Mallows sat still, her conjectures aflame
and her fingers fairly twitching with
impatience, till at last the train stopped
at a small way-Btation, and the little
man, rising from his seat and, alas I
looking even shorter than when he Bat,
said, in a gentle, deprecatory tone,
"Now, Arethusa."
With that they vanished. Miss Mal
lows had one more glimpse of them,
getting into a brand new carryall, which
looked as though it might be a part of
the wedding outfit, and then the train
bore her away. Her thoughts remained
behind with the people in whom she
had taken so sudden and violent an In
teres t.
" I wonder who they are, and why on
earth she married him ?" ran her reflec
tions. "So young and pretty, and so
evidently unhappy I And for all her
prettlness, it was not an educated face,
or a lady's he looked far nicer thpn she.
I feel exactly as though I had dipped
Into tbo middle chapter of an exciting
novel, and then somebody bad taken
away the book. What would I give to
read the beginning and the end of It I
"That huBband of Mine," indeed I
Stupid wretch!" And she gave the
volume a vicious little knock. "How
is one to endure such . twaddle, when
really Interesting things like this' are
happening In real life all the time V Let
me see where was It that those people
got out V" consulting her ticket. " Up
born Corners that Is only- ten, eleven,
thirteen miles from Patunxet. Perhaps
Margaret Lenox may know something
of them. I'll ask her."
Felicia I am tired of calling her Miss
Mallows, which name, besides, seems to
belle her frank, Impulsive nature had
her desire gratified sooner than she had
dared to hope.
Mr. Lenox was late to tea that night,
and explained the fact by saying, " I
went four miles out of my road to see
David Dalrymple's new steam-thresher,
and, behold, when I got there, it was
locked up, and he away with the key in
his pocket. And what do you think,
Margaret V he had gone to be mar
ried?" " Not really ?"
" Really. I tried to pump old Bally
as to the age and antecedents of the
bride, but she was deaf at once, and not
a word could I extract. Master David
had told her to have a good fire and boll
the ham that was all ; and she wasn't
one to ask questions about things as
didn't consarn her. Then she pinched
her lips tight and began to poke the
fire, and as it Btruck me that the remark
things which did not 'consarn' people
was meant to be personal, I gave it up
and came away."
Oh dear I What dreadful woman do
you suppose has pounced on that poor
little David ? An old maid, of course,
or some harpy of a widow."
" I can't say as to that, but I imagine
she's good looking, and that David is in
love with her."
" Dear, what makes you think that?"
"Oh, because of the pains he has
taken about the house. Lots of new
furniture, and everything redded up.
He's bought a carryall, Sally says."
" Who is this person that you are
talking about V" asked Felicia.
" A neighbor of ours seven miles off,
to be sure, but that counts as neighbor
hood in the country. Such a nice,
clever man, Felicia; a good farmer, too,
and thoroughly respectable In every
way ; but poor fellow I so unfortunate in
his appearance a dwarf almost, with
the head and shoulders of a grown per
son, and stunted legs no bigger than a
child's."
" Oh I" almost shrieked Miss Mallows,
" that must be my little man in the car.
I came all the way from New Haven
with him and hiB bride ;" and she went
into a description which left Mrs. Lenox
as much excited as her friend.
" I must see her 1" she cried. "We'll
drive over in a day or two."
Weather was unpropltlous, however,
and the day or two proved nearly a
fortnight. Mrs. Lenox had a double
errand, being provided with a basketful
of Zonale geraniums to be exchanged
for cuttings from old Sally's famous
chrysanthemums; but when, after
knocking a long time at the seldom
used front door of the farmhouse, they
made their way round to the kitchen,
and from thence to the family sitting
room, no one was visible, and the tireless
hearth and neatly plied books and
papers on the table made it evident that
the apartment had not been used of
late. While they lingered and wonder
ed, a creaking step came down the stairs,
and old Sally, with a teacup In her
hand, entered the room. She saluted
the ladles grimly.
" Thank ye, Miss Lenox. I'd like the
geraniums well enough if I'd time to
tew round with 'em, but jest now my
hands Is full, without taking care of
plants, a-nussing Miss Dalrymple."
" Mrs. Dalrymple's V" is she ill V"
"Yes, she is and she ain't. 'Taln't
no particular kind of sickness as I can
see ; but she's weak as water, and looks
bad. I gave her pennyroyal when she
fust come, thinkln' it might be she'd
ketched an inside cold on the Journey;
but it didn't do no good, and she kep'
on not eatln' uothin' and gettln' more
and more peakin', till finally she took
to bed, and to-day Mr. David's gone over
for the doctor. He set up with her last
night. She didn't want him to, but he
said he shouldn't Bleep any how, and
he'd rather. It don't seem as if it need
take up any time awaitln' on her, for
Bhe don't ask for anything from morn
ing till day's end : but sickness takes
steps any way you fix it, and I hain't
done much except go up Btairs and down
again these four days."
" Dear me 1" began Mrs. Lenox. But
Felecla moved by an impulse, broke
In:
" I think I must have come on in
the same train with Mrs. Dalrymple.
I wonder if I might go up and see
her V"
Bather to her surprise, Sally made no
objection.
" She hain't said she wouldn't see no
body, and mebbe it'll rouse her up a bit,"
was her ultimatum, and Miss Mallows
ran lightly up. A door stood half open;
she tapped, and in answer to a faint
"Come In," entered the bed-room,
where, covered with a resplendent star
patterned patchwork quilt, lay her late
fellow-traveler.
The pale cheeks, from which much of
the childish roundness bad wasted,
flushed at sight of her.
" I hope you will forgive' me for com
ing up so unceremoniously," began Fe
licia, to hide her own nervousness.
" Your old housekeeper gave me leave,
and well, I felt so sorry for you, sick
and alone in a strange place, that I
wanted to come. If it tires you, you
must send me away.
The girl looked at her a moment . in
silence. Then she said, ' Won't you
sit down V "There's a chair."
Miss Mallows sat down. She was a
pleasant object to look at in her qjl ve
greens and pheasant browns,wlth cheeks
and eyes brightened by froBty air, and
the Invalid felt It.
" You was in the car the day I came,
wasn't you f" she said. " I recollect
your hat. " I've been i lck 'most ever
since. It seems a long lime."
" The flKt few weeks in a new place
are apt to seemi long," replied Felicia,
kindly ; " and I dare say you miss your
home."
"I haven't any home to miss"
sadly.
"Indeed."
"No. I don't remember my folks at
all, or scarcely. My father he died when
I was born, and mother when I wasn't
but two. I hadn't any body else, so
they sent me to the orphan asylum, and
I lived there fifteen years."
" Poor child I Did you 1 And what
then V"
" Then I was took, by Mr. Parker over
to Cheshire. I was their help, but they
were very good to me, and it was most
of a home I'd ever had. Miss Parker
she liked to have me call her " ma,"
and I did."
" And then you married Mr. Dalrym
pie." " Yes." ' The blue eyes clouded over,
and the lips cjosed tightly over the one
word."
" And now I hope you'll have a real
home of your own at last. What a
pleasant old home this is 1 Even at this
season one can see that. And my friends
tell me that Mr. Dalrymple is So kind,
and good, and clever, and so much re
spected in the neighborhood. I am sure
you cannot fail to be happy with him,
though just at first the farm may seem a
little lonely and strange."
The reply to these well-meant remarks
was unexpected, for the bride burst into
a violent fit of crying, which no sooth
ing on the part of her dismayed guest
availed to check. '
" I'll tell you about it," she sobbed at
last, quieting a little, and won to confi
dence, as it were, by the tears in Feli
cia's own eyes. I haven't had any one
to tell before, and I'm so unhappy. I
didn't think I should feel so when I got
married. They all said I should be a
fool if I didn't take Mr. Dalrymple, be
cause he was so well off, and he wanted
me bo much ; even Miss Parker she said
she couldn't countenance no such a
thing as my saying no, and I'd never
have such another chance the longest
day I lived. Then I never had no
one to do for me before, and he gave me
such a lot of things, and I did so like to
look nice and pretty like ladles do, and
so I did. And then, somehow, when
it was all over, and I had to go off with
bim, it come to me all of a sudden what
I'd done, and how my whole life was a
going to be just the same thing always,
and he was always a going to be there,
and I know the girls laughed at us be
hind our backs, and Louisa Brooks call
ed him 'spindle-toes,' and yet I'd got to
stay by bim and never go anywhere
else, or be anything else. And it all
come over me, and it was awful I I
hadn't ever realized it before." And
she looked with piteous anxiety into
Miss Mallows face, who stroked her
hand gently, but wisely made no answer
as yet.
" I s'pose folks do call this a pleasant
place," she went on, after a little pause,
"but it don't look pleasant to me. I
ain't used to the country, or to being
alone all day. There was two hundred
of us at the asylum,and at Miss Parker's
I was close to the town, and I could Bee
folks a-passlng, and hear wagons. It's
bo still here I can hear myself think al
most, and the wind makes noises in the
chimney, and I lie awake at night and
listen. It's like a voice, and it says,
'Alone 1 alone I alone I and groans, and
frightens me awfully."
" I don't think it says that," exclaim
ed Miss Mallows, with a sudden inspira
tion. "It says, 'a home I a home! a
home I' That is what the wind always
seems to say to me in homely old chim
neys like these." Then she thought to
herself, " shall I? or shan't 1 1 I hate
preaching, and I hate meddling; but
there's a chance to do a bit of good,may
be, and yes, I'll risk it."
" Now listen to me, dear," she went
on, aloud, softening her voice as if to a
child. " This is what I think about
your position. It seems to me that you
are just at the point when you must de
cide for yourself whether you'll be a
happy woman or an unhappy one for
the rest of your life."
" How ? What do you mean V"
" Why, you were a lonely girl, you
know, with no real home of your own,
and here a good man has come along and
taken you into his. He loves you dear
ly now, and you have a great deal of In
fluence over bim, and can do pretty
much as you like now; . but how long
will that last if you go on crying and
being unhappy and showing how little
you care for him y"
" I don't know," whispered the bride,
faintly.
" Then you are married, you know.
You have given a promise, and must
keep it, even if it makes you sorry.
Promises are solemn things. But I
think you can keep it and be happy too.
And it strikes me you.have a chance to
do a most beautiful thing."
" What is that ?" wonderlngly.
"To make up to a good man who loves
you for a hard, hard thing in his life.
Think how dreadful It mustal ways have
been for your husband, with his clever
mind and fine face, to feel himself in
one respect inferior to the stupidest
laborer who works in bis field. It must
have hurt him cruelly always, and if
he were not a sweet-hearted person by
nature, it must have made him hard
and sour. Now, for the first time,
something delightful has come into his
life. He has married you, and it seems
to me such a chance as few women have
to be able to be so much to any one as
you can be to him. And don't you
think I want to preach; but Ood al
ways blesses those who try to do right,
and if you make your husband happy, I
think he will bless you and make you
happy too."
Her eyes ran over her as she made her
little speech.
"Felicial" sounded from below "Fe
licia, we ought to be going."
" Must you go ?" cried Mrs. Dalrym
ple, sitting up in bed, "Thank you ever
so much. You have done me a heap of
good. I'll never forget you never. Oh
what's your name?"
"Felicia Felicia Mallows. Good-bye,
dear; and do not forget that the wind in
the chimney never Bays 'alone,' when
two people who care for each other are
together." Then they said good-bye.
" I shall come again If I can before I
leave," declared Felicia. Old Sally,
coming up to hasten her movements,
was astonished to see the two exchange
a kiss.
"Why, what ever has she done to the
cretury" she muttered, as the pony
wagon rolled away. "She looks twice
as alive as she did afore they came."
We drop a tiny seed into the ground,
or we watch a winged messenger detach
itself from the parent plant and float
away on its separate errand, and we are
scarcely conscious that with the act a
new sequence of energies and possibili
ties began, and the world Is richer for a
fresh point of growth. Felicia had no
chance for another visit to the Dalrym
ple farm that autumn, and it was two
years before shesawitagaln,during which
the Image of the oddly circumstanced
little bride faded into dim distance,
as images will in this overcrowded
world. Another visit to Patunxet re
vived it Into sudden life.
" What ever became of that little
neighbor of yours who married a young
girl y" she asked Mrs. Lenox. "It was
when I was last here. Do you recollect
our going there ?"
" Yes, now that you recall it, I do;
and the unconscionable time you staid
up stairs in her bed-room. I believe she
is well. Her baby was baptised a few
Sundays ago."
" Have they a baby V"
"Yes; a little girl. By-the-way "
Mrs. Lenox was called off, and did not
finish her sentence. Next day Miss
Mallows borrowed the pony-wagon for a
solitary drive.
" I want to see my little friend Mrs.
Dalrymple," she explained ; " and sup
posing her to be up stairs, you might
get tired of old Sally."
'f Thank you, my dear, I should. You
are welcome to the pony."
It was a September day, as mild as
June ; and when Miss Mallows drove
through the farm-gate, she Baw it mis
tress sitting in the porch, her sleeping
baby In its wagon beside her, and her
sewing in her hands. She dropped it
with a start of Joy when she caught
sight of her guest.
"It is you I" she cried. "Oh, I am so
glad!"
Is there any flattery equal to that
"youy
" You haven't forgotten me, then?""
said Felicia.
"Oh, no; how could I forget? You
came when I was all sick and miserable,
and lifted me right out of it. There's
never been a day since then I haven't
thought of you."
" Then you are sick and miserable no
longer?" said Miss Mallows, with a
second kiss. " That is happy news."
" Oh no ; I am quite contented now.
David is ever so good to me, and I think
more of hi m every day. And then there's
my baby."
" Let me see her. What a sweet little
face!"
"Isn't it?" with an exultant smile.
"And she's much prettier with her eyea
open. They are not blue they are dark
gray, like her father's, and just lovely.
And I named her after you, Felicia.
David ! that's her name. How I wish,
be was here t I've told him heaps about
you. He's over in the field yonder with
the hay-cutters. They do twice as well
if he sits by and looks after them."
"Dear Mrs. Dalrymple, how glad I
am to see you again t And to think of
naming your baby after me !"
" Oh, I wanted to. You were so good
to me that day. All you said to me
came true. I couldn't think more of,
David than I do now if he was as tall as
Oollath. He's little, but he's got the
biggest heart that's right, baby ; wake
up, and tell the lady that papa is the -best
man in the world. He is, isn't he r
Did you hear her ? She said yes."
The Noise of the Finger.
In the current number of the Medicat
Record, Dr. Hammond says that when
you poke the end of your finger in your
ear the roaring noise you hear is the
sound of the circulation in your finger
which is a fact, as any one can demon
strate fnv t.lm(,Al. Vw AM4 .... J tl 1. J
fingers in his ears, and then stopping;
them up with another substance. Trsy
u ana tninK wnat a wonderrul macMne
your body is, that even the points of
your fingers are such busy workshops
thatthey roar like a small Niagara. The
roaring is probably more than the noise
of the circulation of the blood. It is the
voice of all the vital processes together
the tearing down and building up.
processes that are always going forward
in every living body, from conception to.
death.
The Baptist Teacher catches at
one of Mr. Gough's bright sayings to
point a moral for the habitually un
punctual. Gough says that in his
travels he has met with a three-handed
race people that have a right hand, a'
left hand, and a little behind-h&nd.
And yet, three-handed though they be,
they are the most unhandy people in
the world to have around, especially in
Sunday school. " Late late so late"
not once, but always. Nobody ever
knew them to be in time. Change your
hour as much as you may put it for
ward, put it backward no changes of
season or place will make any change
in their minds or habits; they wux
always hit it exactly, and make their
appearance just fifteen minutes late.
Rough on the Doetor.
A singular case of homicide was re
cently tried at Spoletl, Italy, the accused
being a rich farmer, and his offence the
shooting of a doctor who had failed to
cure his child. When the child, a boy
of fourteen months, fell ill, the farmer
sent for the doctor, and told him that if
his treatment was successful he would
pay him 200 lire (about $400), but that
if the child died he would kill him. The
doctor undertook the case, but his med
icine seemed to aggravate the disease,
and death ensued. A few weeks after
the funeral the farmer lay in wait for
the unfortunate practitioner and shot
him. The court gave the lenient sen
tence of ten years' imprisonment and
25,000 lire fine.
3" Mr. Spurgeon, in walking a little-
way out or ixmaon to preacn, cnanceo
to get his pantaloons quite muddy. A.
good deacon met bim at the door and de
sired to get a brush and take off some of
the mud. " Oh, no," said Mr. 6., " don't
you see it Is wet, and if you try to brush
it now, you will rub the stain into the
cloth y Let it dry, when it will come off
easy enough and leave no mark." So,
when men speak evil of us falsely
throw mud at us don't be in a hurry
about brushing it off. Too great eager
ness to rub it oft. is act to rub it in. Let
it dry ; by and by, if need be, a little ef
fort will remove it.
Wicked Clergymen.
" I believe it to be all wrong and even
wicked for clergymen or other public
men to be led into giving testimonials
to quack doctors or vile stuffs called
medicines, but when a really meritori
ous article made of valuable remedies
known to all, that ail physicians use
and trust in daily, we should freely
commend it. I therefore cheerfully anii
heartily commend Hop Bitters for the
good they have done for me and my
friends, firmly believing they have no
equal for family use. I will not be with
out them."
Rev. , Washington, D. C.