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Entered according to Act of Congress, in June, 1868, by J. W. Burke & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the So. District oi G eorgia.
VOL. 11.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
GRANDFATHER GRAY;
Or, The Child Comforter.
HERE was not, in
tage just in the
edge of the village.
When 1 was a little girl, there was no
thing I loved so much as paying the
good old man a visit, and many a half
holiday have I spent with him.
Grandfather had been very comfort
able in his day. My mother told me
that she remembered the time when he
was a rich and prosperous merchant,
and the most influential man in the
county. Then he had a happy family
around him—a wife, and three beautiful
children—two girls and a boy. But
when I first remember him, he was a
lone old man, living in this little cottage,
with no companion except his old house
keeper and servant, Mauma Philis, who
had been his servant for many years,
and his housekeeper ever since his wife
died.
Though living this lone life, Grand
father did not generally seem to be un
happy. He dearly loved us children,
and always had a kind word, and nearly
always a bright smile for us. But there
were times when he looked sad and care
worn, and at such times, we children
had learned to repress our merriment,
until the smile came back to his aged
features and told us that the sun w r as
shining once more.,
I remember one bright Saturday mor
ning, that T took a pitcher of nice, fresh
buttermilk, with a message from my
mother, and made my way to the old
old man’s cottage. Everything around
it was quiet, as usual. Mauma Phillis
was busy in her neat little kitchen, and
saw me enter the gate. She beckoned
MACON, GEORGIA, JULY 4, 1868.
me towards her, and said in a low voice :
“Old maussa in de house, little mis
sie. He be berry bad dis mornin’. He
bin readin’ some letters, and dey make
him sorry for true.”
As I entered the open door, I saw
Grandfather sitting near a window, his
head bowed down on one band, while in
the other he held a miniature upon
which he was gazing intently. He did
not hear me, and I went up to him and
put my hand genlly on his head. He
then looked up, and said :
“ My dear child, you see me in trou
ble. A package of letters, discovered
this morning in an old trunk, and this
picture, have brought back the past and
its memories, and for a time they almost
overpowered me. But the Lord is good,
and has sent you, like an angel, to bring
me back to reason once more.”
“ Dear Grandfather,” 1 replied, “I
have never seen you so bowed down be
fore. Will you not confide j'our griefs
to me, and let me share them with you?”
“My darling child, it is a long and
sad story, and it would pain you to hear
it and me to relate it. It must remain
pent up in my own bosom.”
But I plead with the old man, and at
last overcame his objections. His story
was a long one, too long for me to give
in his words. But I will relate the sub
stance in as few words as possible.
Grandfather Gray at the death of his
father had a very handsome property.
He married, at an early age, a young
lady whom he loved very dearly, and
who loved him in return. Soon after
his marriage he removed to Springdale,
and became a merchant. His business
prospered, and he became a rich man.
In the meantime, three children were
born to him —first two girls and then a
! boy. When Harold, the boy, was about
! ten years old, his mother died very sud-
I denlv, during his father’s absence from
I " 7
home. There were no telegraphs in
those days, and Mr. Gray knew nothing
of his wife’s death until he arrived at
home.
This sudden and unlooked-for misfor
tune very nearly unsettled Mr. Gray’s
mind. He had been a devoted husband,
and he felt his loss the more keenly, be
cause he was not a Christian, and was
denied the privilege of casting his care
on One who has promised to “ comfort
those who weep.”
At the death of their mother, Ella, the
eldest girl, was sixteen years old, and
Anna nearly fourteen. They were pret
ty girls, but Ella was headstrong and
wayward. She had caused her mother
no little pain, and now that no mother’s
eye was present to look after her, she
soon became noted for her vain and
giddy ways. Her father’s business em
ployed most of his time, so that he was
scarcely aware of her ways until they
were so confirmed upon her that she re
fused to listen to him when he remon
strated with her.
Anna had always been delicate, and
after her mother’s death, she seemed to
droop without apparent cause. Medi
cal aid was called in, but in vain, and
about a year after her mothers death
she quietly and peacefully passed away,
leaving her afflicted father almost dis
consolate. To add to his misfortunes,
Ella, soon after the death of her sister,
eloped with a wild and worthless young
man, against whom she had been ten
derly warned by her father.
For several years, the almost heart
broken father heard nothing of his weak
and misguided child, when he one day
received a letter from a distant Western
town, informing him that his daughter,
in great want and destitution, was lying
there dangerously ill. He went to her
as quickly as possible, but too late to be
of service to her, as she was dead and
buried before he reached his destina
tion. Her husband had led a life of
wickedness and crime, but had managed
to keep himself and wife above want,
until a month or two before his wife’s
death, when he had been killed in a
drunken brawl, and had left his wife to
die among strangers, of a broken heart.
NO. 1.