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b'or Won wi n ’ss Work.
—AGNES.
UK autumn of 1873 was unu
,i, i; o ,auu ul. Wi t er, with his
cold arms, had not yet folded her to
T
his icy bosom, nor breathed his chilly
breath upon her blushing cheek. Her
golden tresses were still gently waved by
the autumn breezes, and in the warm sun
shine she greeted earth’s pilgrims with a
glad and happy smile.
One lovely after io >n, just at sunset,when
all things seemed to h.d their breath as
the great King of day stepped slowly and
silently i -o his unseen chamber, leaving
the earth, as it were, to mourn his depart
ure and wrap herself in nightly gloom,
Agnes Fletcher stood alone upon a large
reck, contemplating the beauty and
grandeur of her surroundings. As she
gazed upon the wonderful panorama spread
out before her by nature’s own hand—the
placid waters of the river as they moved
smoothly along, with scarcely a sound save
the dashing of the distant water-fall; the
lofty trees that seemed to bow their majes
tic tops in humble reverence; and more
than all, the golden sunset, ui obscured by
a single cloud, but shedding its soft,mellow
light through the branches of the trees,
and lending to the scene a solemn yet inex
pressible beauty —amid all this her thoughts
soared far above all common things and
penetrated a sphere of mblime conception
impossible to the soul not inspired by a
knowledge and appr ciation of the beau
ties of nature and of nature’s God.
S > lost was she in meditation upon the
magnificent view before her that she had
not heard the rattling of a boat chain at the
water below, nor had she observed two
young men who had left the b >at and were
slowly ascending the bank which sloped
gently to the water’s edge.
“Agnes!”
“Oh, Johr! how you startled mr I I had
alm-st torg-tten myself; this seine is so
beautifu’! .lust look! Isn’t it grand?”
“Wha'., Agnesi* what strikes you as so
beautiful, so grand?” inquired John, for
the moment forgetful < da surroundings,
as he looked with prjdn |ntcthe sparkling
EVERY LIFE HATH ITS OWN HARDSHIPS AND ITS OWN PECULIAR BLESSINGS.
brown eyes of the one dearest to him on
all the earth, his sister.
“Why, John, the sunset!’’ said she,
pointing t< the west; “the lovely autumi
sunset! See how the light dances on the
water; look, what a beautiful glow the
great golden sun sheds < .er everything!
I have been hereeverso long— ’’ but here her
exclamations suddenly ceased, she had not
seen the young stranger standing just be
hind her brother, and, blushing slightly,
she glanced hurriedly at John.
‘Agnes you have o te < heard me speak
of my friend, Jasper Willingham.”
“Indeed,” replied Agnes, extending her
baud, “I am very glad to form the ac
quaintance of John’s most valued friend;
and, really, I don’t feel that we are alto
gether strangers; John has spoken of you
so often; I’m quite sure we shall be good
friends.”
Something in the grasp of that little
hand, something in those large, lustrous
eyes, something in Agnes’ kind and friend
ly greeting, at once opened for her the
way into Jaspei’s heart; and giving her
hand a warm, but gentle pressure, he ex
pressed his high gratification on being ad
mitted into the circle of her friendship.
John and Jasper were school-mates.
Neither had returned to college this fall,
and through John’s influence and that of
his father, Jasper had been employed as in
structor of the little village school, some
thing more than a mile distant.
Jasper made his home with John, and as
the school held only o e sessio i a day, they
had much leisure time to spend reading
and studying together at the quiet country
residence owned by John’s fa.her.
It is not necessary to describe this beau
tiful rural home, situated some distance
from the public highway, and looking out
from a largo grove of stately oaks. Here
the two boys would roam about tho woods,
or sit for hours together, with their books,
jn the warm sunshine. And as time passed
by it happened that John was not always
Jasper’s companion on thesq pleasant
otrolls ♦
ATHENS, GEORGIA, JUNE, 1896.
Oil </Oi<>, r<*l S 111-J iUUdL A.i •
place in a’l that country was Mr. Fletcher’s
large and comfortable library, where all
the day long burned one of those blazing,
cracking, oakwood fires, around which the
family crowded to engage in happy con
versation, reading, or games.
The friendship between these two young
college boys grow stronger and stronger as
from day to day they performed the tasks
which they had assigned for themselves;
and their devotion gradually deepened into
something like the bond which knit to
gether as one the souls of Jonathan and
David. But possibly the reader has al
ready guessed that there was a connecting
link, a goiden clasp, in the chain that
bound these two young hearts so firmly
together.
The brightest star in that truly happy
circle was Agnes Fletcher. Agnes was, so
to speak, the wa ch word oi the home.
The sunshine of her presence fell equally
upon every member of the family, and
upon all who knew her. She possessed
extraordinary intelligence, education, and
refinement; but in addition to, and tran
scend oig all else, there was within,
a heart pulsating with love for humanity;
a soul inspired and educated by nature’s
own object lessons, and by a Divine In
structor. There emanated from her life a
softness and tenderness that would touch
the coldest heart; yet there was a dignity,
a self-reliance, a peculiar individuality in
her nature that added force and strength
to her character.
Theseexcellent characteristics were by no
one more quickly detected or more keenly
appreciated than by Jasper Willingham.
Iler influence upon him was wonderful.
Often they wou’d sit for hours reading and
studying some favori e author, or stroll
together under the sighing trees and along
by the riverside, talking of nature and its
attractions, of the love and power of the
Creator; at first, not because these things
possessed any special charm for Jasper,
Put because they afforded his companion
such peculiar pleasure. In time, however,
these talks became sweet to him, and he
learned to look forward to them with
eager delight. She revealed, as it were, a
new world to him. More and more every
day she brought light and love into his
rt ill; and his heart, inde<l a nobleone,
was touched and toned by the refining in
fluences of her life. Never before, with
all his intelligence, his knowledge of books
and his great ambition, had he been made
to feel the tender touch and inspiration
of the truly noble and beautiful ia life.
At first, he had admired her superior
intelligence, and her unselfish, loving
disposition; but when constant association
had drawn them closer together, his ever
increasing admiration deepened into a
pure and sacred passion that soon mastered
his whole being, and brought him i i adora
tion to the feet of one who, in teaching
him to love God, nature, and humanity,
had unconsciously taught him to love his
teacher.
At the opening of the following year,
the. young men abandoned the quietude of
their country home to enter again into the
associations of college, life. But neither
mathematical problems, nor the classics,
nor yet the wonderful study of the sciences,
could in the least degree dim the memory
of Jasper’s recent experiences, nor satisfy
the strange—and yet not strange!—long
ings for something ho seemed not to
have.
The summer vacation found him again
at the Fletcher home. Agnes was there
to greet him with a happy smile, and to shed
about him the wonted fragrance of her
genial presence; and one beautiful after
noon, sitting near the old familiar rock by
the side of the river, whore he had seen her
for the first time as she stood so enrap
tured with the grand scenery of nature, he
revealed to her the passion of his soul. He
spoke delicately, yet beautifully of their
friendship, and of the priceless influence
of her life and character upon his own; and
taking her little hand in his he looked
tenderly into her bright brown eyesand
asked tier a simp'n question.
She W’V' silent as she goy.tly witht
KATE GARLAND. Editress.
0.1'0./
very soul began to sink within him; but
just as his hopes seemed to be vanishing,
dko the last lingering hues of the evening
at that moment fading away into the
darkness, the little secret she whispered
to him burst into his heart like a soft
morning sunbeam, and all was well.
Olin S. Dean.
For Woman’s Work.
A PICTURE.
BY IMOGENK E. JOHNSON.
LONG, level, straight road leading
from a great valley up to the mount
■ that rose above its South-
/A
ern.iu, ■ this road a solitary traveler, a
man riding a black horse It was after
sundown ; to the left rose a range of moun
tains not more than a mile away, and in
front, not farther, the range running away
to the left until it took a turn and bent
from sight. In front, the mountains stood
apart, and through the gap c >uld be dimly
seen the sides of distant m u itai is where
the pass led through. Over all the sky
above and in front of our t aveler, a great
canopy of log rolled and surged, dragging
its skirts along the mountains to the right,
completely hiding their topmost peaks in
their gray folds. It crept across the gap,
veiling all its upper ridges in blue-grey
mist, and swept along the ridge on the
other side obscuring all the tops of the
mountains there.
All this overshadowing of fog darkened
the sky and with the deepening twilight
made the hillsides appear very sombre,
leaving scarcely a hint of their contour
and color.
Away back behind the traveler there
was a space whore the fog did not reach
down to the horizon, and there the sky
held some streaks of rose-pink cloud float
ing in the amber light of the sky where the
sunset glow still lingered. Turning to
look backward the traveler saw the radi
ance of sky and tinted clouds and admired
it, but his heart was light, and he whistled
softly in a meditative way as he turned
again towards the darkening hills and
journeyed on The road b Tore him looked
bleak in the dim light, a ,d there was no
living thing i i sight but the traveler and
his h irse. A cold wind came down from
out the canon and made him shiver as u e
buttoned his coat still closer about him.
The road led straight on in front to the
opening in the mountain barrier, and the
falling night gave things a weird ligh; be
neath the foggy sky as the traveler went
on, leaving the light of the dying day
away out there across the valley, and went
up closer to the mountains, wont up and
entered the pass, a narrow defile where the
mountains reluctantly let a fretting
mountain torrent go flashing through.
Up the steep and narrow road the faith
fu horse bore bis rider, the black horse and
the man being but dimly visible in the
gathering gloom. After a time they en
tered the fog, and were lost to the last
gleam of light; still there was hoard the
sound of the horse's feet, and the low,
thoughtful whistle o the horseman ; the
traveler was thinking, thinking ot the
brightness that had lain behind him, of the
long, bleak line of dun-colored road he had
followed, up to the fog-crown<>d mountains,
up through the rock-bound pass and along
the steep and narrow way to the damp
darkness <>f the high mountainside; think
ing how like this journey was to many
lives, lives whose owners gave up the one
place in life that held light and hope for
them, and travelled a straight and narrow,
dreary and lonely road that led away from
the things that would be pleasant and con
genial to them, up to the mountain fast
nesses and over fog-bidden steeps into
darkness and a life of self-effacement, be
cause duty called, because tl ey might not
go where they wished meat to go, but
where they must though they did leave
hope, and love, and happiness sway oft
there behind them
30 Cts. per Year.