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/ j zg- y yillMMWagl I 1 ■ "'' _wl A WmKWMIW MiII axs |h Ife-L .■ .'jftFw.?. Jf/O=!r X *— i~~ —“ "• ’tf=i [□! fni = siSSsaM T. L. MITCHELL, Publisher. •>■■ 9. —Nu, 6. / ■ /■., . ■ <•■/ ••33gjMpBi?A /-.-.■ ■ ■ •'■■•A’ /■■ ' '■ /ft ■, .- </% ’-z- ■ o' ■ yz^SO^^h^"? £ W3.S^F33OL ; fW'> a-uw® < \- \ - rW \ . A'"' • ■V, ' 4 ■ » - • - ■ U MKU - : .v ~lf AAU>U ? ' <; ” ;• ' 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.