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ILJBa»WiiiM!Ufei IlJiiipiiiwiiMUl H r =Tr======r = B I' IEfJ u Ifo 11 IfAbI FJ> riw I® IJL < u wUhwM imii ai !ii tea^ji 1 == IL i i=BTT" j TT~" r *—-*■ "~YFA Fo) ll~szr—z~~ j H rFT 1 = H!mhM T. L. MITCHELL, Proprietor. Vol. 3.—No. 5.] For Woman’s Work. “A NEW BIRTH TO POESY ’.” BY M. M. E. M. Oh Milton! England’s bard! thou Heav’n in spired king! How much we need thy stirring voice to day! Men have grown cold and hard; ’twould be a glorious thing For thee to rouse them from their slow decay. No more, no more, alas! doth Poesy’s flame inspire— The fire of Genius on our hearth burns low, Thro’ feeble sparks of light from some reflected fire, The leaden ashes wake to seeming glow. The poets of to-day sing with their eyes down cast Where only things of earth can meet their gaze; Or, lost in idle dreams and visions of the past, To useless repetitions tune their lays. Oh poets, lift thine eyes! look up! the dawn is clear! The shadows that o’er gloomed thee, passed away. Leave clogging earth behind, the pearly gates draw near! And revel in the glorious light of day ! For Woman’s Work. A LIFE STORY. BY SHKLAH. T N AN upper chamber of a house, (®) lookingtoward the ruins of Holyrood X Abbey, could be seen three persons. A white-haired man lying on abed; at his head a young girl smoothing bis hair with her delicate hand; and at his s'de, a young man was sitting, clasping the old man’s hand. The face lying among the pillows, though crowned with snow-white hair, and furrow ed with deep lines, was that of a man in the prime of life—as the piercing blue eyes showed. A man, who had not lived his three score and ten years; but was fast nearing the other shore, and who knew it, and was glad. There had been an accident, in which he had received internal injuries; and his place would soon know him no more. It was a warm June afternoon; the windows were opened wide, and the cur tains looped back, to let in as much of the sweet scented air as could find entrance. A bird flew in at the window, and light ing on an easel, which held a picture of a dark-eyed girl, it trilled its song of love; then flew out into the air, and soaring upward, was soon lost to sight in the bright blue of the heavens. “Elsie, Rob, see! that is my summons to join her in the spirit land.” “No, no, uncle! we can’t spare you from us.” “Listen to me for a little while, my dear children, and I will tell you the story of my life, and of the dark-eyed girl, over whom the bird trilled its lay of love. Aly father and her’s attended the same college, and were great chums; when they gradu ated, my father settled hero, while her father, James Graham, sailed across the ocean to America, and settled in Pennsyl vania. “The lady e afterward married, was of French desee and their one child, Elsie, inherited, froi ner mother, great beauty. “She had L.ge black eyes, which were full of laughter when I saw them first; but when I saw them last, were closing in death. “Mother died when I was a, child, and father and I were more like two loving brothers, than father and son. “When I was twenty-four, father propos ed that we go over to America and visit the Grahams. “Mr. Graham met us with his carriage—as he lived some six miles from the station. We drove through some beautiful country, and then up an avenue which led to the front of the mansion. “Just as I sprang from the carriage, I heard a girl’s laugh; and looking up to see where it came from, I saw a picture framed ATHENS, GEORGIA, MAY, 1890. in by the window, which has never grown dim. It was a warm September day, and she was dressed in some thin black goods with scarlet and white flowers fastened in the bosom of her dress; and above them was the loveliest face I ever saw. Aly heart went out from me, that minute, never to return again.” Then the blue eyes gazed straight out of the window for the space of a few minutes— with the look in them of one who is trav eling backward over life’s pathway toward some distant oasis-while the lips murmured, “Out of the window she leaned and laughed, A girl’s laugh, idle, and foolish, and sweet — Foolish, and idle, it dropped like a call, Into the crowded, noisy street. Up he glanced, at the laughing face. Who had caught the laugh as it fluttered and fell. And eye to eye for a moment there They held each other, as by a spell.” And in the silence that followed, the one at the head and the one at the side, stole their hands into each other’s, and sat wait- ■ jf \F v-' jSSm i. y “ r a* - A A .*A y - ywW ■ - - ing, with tears in their eyes, till he should commence again. “Rob, set the picture where I can see it. and then it will seem as though she is with us.” Rob did as he was requested, and then seated himself again. How lovingly the dim eyes rested on the picture of fresh, young loveliness. “We loved each other from the first; and you could as soon stop the wind blowing, as our showing that love in every action. Each of our parents was overjoyed at the turn events had taken, and no happier mortals eter lived than we two were for the next three months. Nevcrany thought of trouble came to us, and so we made no preparations for storms—simply lived in WE LIVE BY ADMIRATION, HOPE AND LOVE. “WHEN ALL NAT our love for each other. And when the storm burst, it fairly swept us before it.” And the weak hands were flung up, and clinched above the head, as a wave of the old agony swept over him again. “We were making big preparations for this, Elsie’s last Christmas at home; as I was to take my bride back to bonny Scot land’s shores the next June. Elsie had as great a love for Wallace’s land as I, and A’e would plan, by the hour, what we would do when we reached there, and the places we would visit. This old house I described so often that she knew every nook; and this room she loved as well as I did, because my mother died in it. “Just a week before Christmas I ran up to New York, to attend to some business for father, as he was not well. “While I was gone, I received my one love letter from Elsie. I keep it always with me, and I want it buried with me, I over my heart. I did not think I could URE REJOICES.” get back till Christmas morning; but fin ished my business, and started back in time to reach home the evening before. Owing to a snow-storm, our train was delayed, and it was midnight ere I turned up the avenue leading to the house. “As I raised the old knocker, I heard a shriek from inside, and without any further ceremony I opened the door and walked in. Some instinct led me straight to the library, and as I opened the door, one glance photo graphed the scene indelibly on my brain. “There lay ray bonny Elsie, on the floor, in a dead faint; her father with his clinched hand raised toward a man; behind him stood a tall, dark, clerical looking man; while grouped Ground, were father, Elsie’s KATE GARLAND, Editress. [SO Cts. per Year. mother, and several guests, all wearing a surprised, horrified look on their faces. “I flew to Elsie, and raising her in my arms, fell to kissing her, and calling her by endearing names. She opened her eyes, and seeing me, raised her arms as though to clasp them around my neck, then, with a look of terror on her face, she moaned. “ ‘Oh Rob, my lover, too late, too late!’ “Raising her to her feet, and standing beside her, with my arm around her, I turned on them, and demanded what it meant ? Mr. Graham, with a white, drawn face, turned away; while the man, who was the cause of all the trouble, strode for ward and demanded that I should hand over to him his bride. “His bride! the room swam roundme; I saw nothing clearly, but Elsie clinging to me, and crying: ‘No, I do not belong to you; I am Rob’s and you cannot tear me from him.’ “ ‘l’ll show you yet to whom you belong.’ “•Rob save me from him.’ “Be calm Elsie; and tell mewhat he means?’ “Then Mr. Graham stepped forward, and throwing the mantoone side as though he had been a child, he said: “‘Rob, this is my nephew, a man whom I have loved; but when he leaves this house to-night, there goes with him, resting for ever on his head, a father’s curse for ruin ing the happiness of an only child. fa, “•Elsie wrote and invited him spend Christmas with us him of her approaching x.' “ w/e came, and brought with him whom he now claims is a preacher. “‘This evening, during the charades, ne suggested a mock wedding; he and Elsie acting as bride and groom—to get her in trim for the grand occasion, he said. “‘When we met to say good night, know ing that you would be here in the morning, he claimed her as his wife ; saying he had come with that intention. “‘By the laws of this state,a license is not needed, and he claims that his friend is a preacher, and that the marriage is legal. But she shall never go to him. “‘Hugh Kinnie,there is the door, you and your friend go out of it now', and never darken its portals again with your shadows. You shall never have Elsie. “ -Goodbye my dear uncle, and still dearer wife. If I can’t have you, neither shall our friend.’ “With abow to all, he left the room; and though I never saw his face again' he in fluenced my whole after life. “The events of the evening proved such a shock to Elsie, it was only with the best of nursing and care that brain fever was averted. When she had recovered I announced my intention to consult a Phil adelphia lawyer. “Elsie insisted on all going, and if we succeeded, we would be married there, and not come back at all. So, as they would have said in Bible times, we journeyed up to the city of brotherly love. Father and I stopped at a hotel, while the Gra hams stopped with friends. “We had been there two days, and I had seen the lawyer, who had told me that un doubtedly the marriage could be set aside. “Making an appointment for the next day, I rushed away to tell Elsie the good news. I sent up my card, and in a few minutes she came down. “The room was darkened, but, it seemed to me, she was very much agitated, and that there were traces of tears on her face. I asked her the cause of this, but she put me off. “She acted queerly all through the inter view, and when I took my leave, clung to me with sobs and kisses; begging me, what ever happened, to always believe in her love. “At the time, I thought nothing more of • it than that she was not well. “1 called the next day to see her for a few minutes, and,to go with Mr. Graham to the lawyer’s. When I entered the parlor, their hostess came to meet me; from the (Concluded on Fourth Page.)