OCR Text |
Show WOMAN'S For the Exponent: . sea-sid- by-gon- bud-Perha- uum uuiauiueu; bun evidence remained to show how bright those deep black eyes would be did happiness shine in them, how radiantly lustrous that finely chiseled- countenance if lit up with gaiety and joy. She was clad in rusty mourning, and her stocH? of clothing was of the scantiest. "This poor girl and I" said Mary, "through disappointed effort became associated, iu life, iia - - . ; " . , L. M. ana inendship. -- rjuuid tfansfigurehreu?ivTleures. was one have found." : "We at once rented a small room,"in a decent house near the factory, and after two or three weeks practise, we could earn, by working early and late, about lo shillings per week between us; this sufficed for our actual wants, and by and by after a long and trying interval the pressure upon the springs of industry were loosened, and Ellen and I, were offered more work than wo could do, at advanced prices; and but for some secret drain upon her purse, Ellen's savings would have exceeded 1 Hewlixgs. . I was for many years connected with various societies, mthe minetbr ,aWWcielies were organized for the protec-- ' assistance and of young women, strangers tion, who had left their homes in; the country to work we were supplied with than I was. "Yet she was always short of coin, anoVshe . rka(uxrjm ;Seimployentriir what terrible phere of reserve that I found it impossible to question her upou the evidently painful temptations, and privations, many of these girls were subjected, and to what : straits some of them were reduced, no tongue can tell, or pen describe. Ladies and gentlemen who spent much of their time and means, in the"' good work of providing respectable homes for them at a cost low. enough to be paid out of the small wages many were able to earn, did a noble work, but their utmost efforts could reach but a comparative few of the vast numbers who flocked to the city, every j'ear. Yet among those few these Samaritans often saw or heard of extraordinary, and touching incidents of unselfish suffering and .topic" Several times I had seen her, and always when it was dark, in hurried conversation with a showy but shabbily dressed young man, whose features I had never been near enough to get a distinct view of. After these inter views Ellen wa3 always excited and distressed, so I concluded that the stranger "was in some way connected with the absorption of her earnings "and the growing melancholy which oppressed her naturally, buoyant spirits. . Oncol asked her, had she veY had a lover'?" "I have loved and been beloved, Jy jong since,: - - 'deafa : Adiranc(v been to the 1879 I here," was her reply." my journal of deferring year j 'Have ypu no relations, I ventured to ask. find recorded the death of a young woman, whose life had been wrecked, and "shortened, fearlul as ' I always was, of giving her pain, through her devotions to an unscrupulous, and by striking upon some hidden chord of worthless brother. anguish?" "Yes," she said, "one, a brother", I had taken a strong interest in her and her "adding as she left the room, "he is a sailor." room-matfor they were both honest,virtuous, "The following year was a prosperous one, and induslrous girls,,who had suffered many trade was good, and I obtained an excellent privations patiently. One day I received a situation in JBond Street. Ellen might haye JDLOteJrom-ne-othem gone with"me,but"ihe preferred taking an en panion was ill, she feared dying, and begging gagement in the City where she could have me to visit them as soon as passible. piece work, and be able to earn more money, I at once did so, taking with me a good by working more hoursthan at the West physician. As soon as the medical man saw End., She would take home so much that she her, he whispered to me "too late." She died could only get through it by sitting up three that evening, calmly, peacefully a3 a child parts ot the night. She was killing herself, that falls to sleep from sheer weariness. We laid was evident, in spite of the remonstrance of her a way tenderly for we knew "nothing of her family;if therewere anyietOheyrdid:oX erate her suicidal toil. trouble about her. I took her companion "I have never teen a cleverer, or more tastehome with me for a lew days so that she might ful hand than Ellen and for that reason she rest and recuperate, after the care andfatuige could command the highest remuneration her ehe had experienced while nursing her sick employers could afford to give; and with her ' -'"- e, stating-that-hereo- l young was perfectly astounding, and inexplic- - ' ablef still we could do nothing but remonstrate with the insatiate worker. .Mrs. Wilson her employer, and myself were one evening debating- upou what course - to pursue - toward this ootn lovfu, wnen sne entered the room, with a determined look and air. At sight of me she appeared surprised and somewhat confused, though her greeting was kind and cordial. Poor, wan, haggard girl, what inadutTS can make her thus sacrifice herself, was my thought as I held her thin wasted haudin mine, and looked into her eyes jiow preternaturally bright with the consuming fire of her life blood." She that silent ouestionini? . . comprehended o .. ... . - morning when she met me with the glad tidings that she had found work for both of us in the city, and poor as the price was, I caught a,t the offer for I was reduced to my last sovereign, and Ellen, poor child, to her last sixpence. The work was necktie making, per-- M. A. Y.' GREENUALGH- - t employers most profitable patrons she had become a great favorite; they would J;ewaited on- - by nnr oneelse7aud "thought; no cap oi$ bonnet elegant that had not parsed through her transforming fingers. To her employers, and myself, this craving for money in one so i - A SISTER'S SACRIFICE. -. n povertyHejSfaira audden ; Atchison, Kan 51 friend; and from her I heard the ;ad story I am about to relate. The name of the dead girl was Ellen Morris, she had come from a e village in Suffolk, three years prior to her death: she was then a pale, thin girl of. 18 summer's growth, upon whose well turned cheeks lingered some sparkles of light, and freshness of her country home. She would have been more than pretty, had not some untimely sorrow checked her beauty in the MEMORY'S GUIDANCE. Over the moonlight, misty fields,:""; ' ' In freedom, I have roamtsd tonight, Review'd at will old e scenes, Time carried away in its flight. Night had hushed the shadowy earth, Soft fleecy clouds curtained the sky, Birds to their nests had all gone forth, And the winds breathed scarcely a sigh. With mem'rys aid I climbed the, wall. The massive wall of gather'd years- O'er leaped barriers at her call, - - And chasms, bridged with sighs and tears. I traveled back to love's young dream, Andsaunter'd 'neath its witching spell, Rehearsing o'er life's swethest theme, .Tongue hath not the power totell. ; I quenched my thirst with glad delight, : l 'W ith water from a bubbling spring, Gather'd violets fresh and bright-That thickly clustered round its brim. : a.ng o'er th'es'weet'old songs of youth- yBlushing'lo"IieaT my lover's praise, And rambled withim, nothing loth, With all the zest of love's young days, Beside a streamlet flowing near, Soft rippling o'er its pebbly bed, .We planned in hope the coming year, The gladsome year when we would wed. Mem'ry like some returning dQve, ; Wakens to life these scenes long past, ,With joy akin to that above, . We hail her guidance to the last. EXPONENT m- ; " : herjpreran is a cause Mary, irfnr . ... ere I cannot just yet slacken my exertions and it would b useless even for you to urge it. "Then turning to Mrs. Wilson, asked, "is it agreed that I undertake the whole of the order I received on Saturday from Mrs. Laird." "You cduld not possibly -accomplish ,r it," repfieTTMrs. Wilson, "this is Monday, and on Friday every article must be deli vered as you know." "I can, and will do it, unless you t give it to some one elseand if you do, I shall at. once .transfer my services to .another" house." The word a ingratitude and insolence; were" on my tongue and would have been spoken but for Ellen's deprecating look and exclamation. MThere is a cause, I tell you Mary, and you shall know afterward, why I want a particular . sum by Friday evening, I must have the money by that time at the latest." . - ... , rItWutdrllsaWr te ttmT'tirrown'awajnto try to dissuade her from her purpose, and Mrs. Wilson yielded, and gave her the work. On pleted and she held in her hand the money, her strong will gave away, ami she fainted, when restored to consciousness, she went into violent hysterics. I was at once sent for, and when I arrived my unhappy friend seized my arm, and pulling my head close down. to Jiers gasped put, "The money Mary, the money, take it to 24 Sun Street ClerkenwellLdo not delay a moment, my brother is there waiting for it, he is unworthy, but he is my brother, let him have . it." ;': "I delivered it safely to that dissolute, thoughtless man, whom; the delay of another pt Jayjft.oulday&JWnigned-i-to- ison,and who had systematically deprived his sister of her hard earned wages. . " r He sailed fyr America the tiextday neither knowing, or caring that the money he had re . ceived wa3 the price of hi? sister's lTfe.0 It was the last-shever earned, and she left herself without a sixpence, to live upon, and shewas 1 laid to rest by strange hands." "lou saw, said Mary to me, 'how peace-- ' his . fullyhe- - passed away, within- - a month-aft- er departure, and surely such a Eacrmce should be a passport to that country, where selfishness" : r - a-- , e and injustice are unknown." .Such a life as Ellen's adds another monyto demonstrataihatiimong the testi- poor bihY of the earth more of the spirit j Redeemer, and the eternal Father is lowl 1 of the found, than among the wealthy, and th se the world closer together, soften and purify the heart,- create sympathy toward, those who are fellow sufferers in poverty and distress. While wealth" and prosperity often cause us to forget that the same towns hold the poor and the afflicted.. . |