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Show WOMAN'S EXPONENT. 100" What precious fruit have we garnered for the nobjtcs and .beautifies life. The homes of the soul s heritage? What evil have Tve overcome people are sure indications of their capabilities. in our own erring natures, and what sacrifices Buildup the home, fortify "ir with . walls of have we made of self? If we have not been affection, hedge it round with delicate germs be ever curtained seeking wisdom from the living fountain of of tenderness, and let it with gentle charity. Like fragrant flowers knowledge, itjs a good time now to commence. The year is slipping fast away, soon the New along our pathway, whose perfume lingers Year will be upon us; it seems almost a3 with us, long after passing, are the blessed the though we were parting with an old friend, so holidays, scattered here and there along road of life, helping to brighten the dreary strong is the imagination. It is an eve of sad nes3 and yet of joy; thereare many pleasant, way; and oneoftbe bestof these is New Year's tho lin nf life with' hle3- - Day. ' rrnltsma wluK Aunt Em. infra. arA if f tiora rA eamp anrrnn's. snmfl re- grets, some human pain, let U3 acknowledge God in all things, and, trustful in His proviSOME OLD LOVE LETTERS. dence, look into the bright new year with hopeful glance, never doubting His kind care and The romance of life h.elp3 one to bear its protection. burdens; matter of fact people, to the contrary, : The New Year! Yes, I hear the bells ringAnd perhaps one of the ing, and their echo is answering back, telling " notwithstanding. most interesting things that inyariably lends such tales! 0, those wondrous bells! I linger cbarm to real life"iral pen in hand,tor catch TTTew written, or an lueir epcii is upuu iut; art; uitru uu uciia nug- What was it then? I heard epistle filled with the choicest language; it ing here the rich tones floating in the air. Ah mel matters not if the person by whom the words were penned is capable of pouring into the the bells of memory! Is fancy then so powercomposition the true eloquence of the soul, it ful? 0 those merry, merry bells! what a vision finds its counterpart in the heart of the receiver, they have presented to my view. I am a child and is forever cherished among the most valuagain for one brief moment; in an old fashioned able treasures. I am aware of the old saying, house I see familiar faces, I hear them sing it is easy to put things on paper, bdt it is also tney open mo uoors, anu a iioou ot music nils tolerably easy to discern whether the heart is the whole house, echoing from room to room; it js the musiejof Jhe midnight bells; and all at in it or not. There may be exceptions to this . " 7jj'sb"und2I'll to-nigh- t? once,arichLburat.th3 Jnelody-of-huma- n in joyous chorus, shouting year?" rul'e.asL.there.-Are-to-all--other5.bat---m'anr--- voices "A happy new a- happy union has been consummated because of some outpouring ot tne Human neartou paper; and many a reconciliation has been effected through a love letter where a misunderstanding or a lover's quarrel had existed. Some strange things have happened too, worth relating for the amusement of a winter evening, for though we speak' of Spring as the lover's season, and there is not a month in all the year more appropriate for weddings lor n'lnorTunionsi are consummated than "June the month of roses and of love " but the courting has been Tenderly we - take leave of the old; reluctantly we reach out to the future, knowing not what it may bring in its train. We are blest friends, loving, warm and true are round about us. How grateful all should be who are surroiinded , with the blessed luxuries of home and friends. The new year is a fitting time for sweet interof the affection, changes precious endearments that sweeten the cup of life, the graces that embellish the sanctuary of the heart. There should be no deceit, no Jiffectetionat, jBuch. " to-da- y re-union- s, evu.wwo, wuv uvutb 5v,utkiU IU IWiXIl donehefbranii:in:inelong--winteF-eveiibg- 1 deathslet uuuuiug 1 . rt us not forget the living, who are un biuuuu u lor xove ana their- old-fashion- ' M illiu W CueriSQ uwnujtui " . tttwayi it uartittucu oeautitul past, and our hearts leyerenuyine for the tender tones that have Ion c yearn been forever hushed in the stillness of since and finished off possibly in the lovely Spring time, with the perfume of violets in the air and.the sweet songs of-ecstacy, nest buiUing; by the brink of some mossy brook or flowing fountain, or under the apple boughs when the pink and --white blossoms were fluttering to the ground. But apropos of old love letters we have a most enchanting tale to tell. In the nouses of the last century there was generally a garret and these places were the repository of everything that the family wanted to put out of sight, and occasionally some treasure would be lost among tne-wiidirdriir- WHUUUb flattery or empty compliment. Let it he one of the fresh, green places in our lives towards which, in after years, .we may turn with a sense of infinite restfulness, a refuge of peace in moments of pain. That which ye sow, ye shall also reap if we sow the seeds of love and kindness- In n au ... vmitli vuwU morj wav ua.it: j a ncn narvest ot blessed love in return, when the winter of age has silvered over the shin- JnairianoLoneby one, bright- - hopes, fondly s' -- thehcapsfrobbishrried the clearing up, or house cleanings were in ' progress. . Thisstoryis avery bldoneTand has not been put in a book or published to the world before, so that although it is old it will nevertheless be as good as new, for it has been , memories came rushing back as she took the rsnno rrptfv ribbon in her finffers, fondling it suspected she had done some-- : that little-Helthin naugniy, uui me cuuu .was uu me uest or terms with Aunt Dorothy, and as if to make reparation said, 1 found it in the garret and washed it for my new doll, it was tied in such hard knots around a bundle of old papers with ink so faded no 'one could ever read them. ''What did ycu do with them child?" said Aunt Dorothy, excitedly, "I threw them down again in the corner with a whole lot of other things, "You didn't tear them then nor why thought grandburn them up?" like that, I only wanted the ma wouldn't pretty ribbon; such a nice pattern." "Very en -- I ''Oo, " Aunt DorothvJ in an absent - - vesw ' "J and thoughtfully winding slowly her way up the staircase, and then on again to to herself as she went, 4I the earret, talking , i i . illnave-oeeir i iniai awav wnmier wnat letters couia rvM rpnlipd - "J Vv, and was soon J . . -- all- ..upthere-fo- r thse y ea Mr-It- s 'iorty-ymtTo- f moro since I wore that ribbon, how happy I was then and what a bright future I anticipated, and then came those evil days, when a dark shadow lurked in the horizon which surrounded me. O. why have these remembrances come back, just at the sight of a faded ribbon?" Sure enough, why do those tender daj8 thataregone come back and haunt us, when we have groped blindly through the darkness and sorrow and find ourselves calmed by the distance that divides us from the dismal past. Thus musing, Miss Dorothy Vose mounted the last step and surveyed the garret searchingly; she went through pile after pile of cast off clothing, etc, and just as the last rays of the setting sun shed their pale yellow light in snmfl through a the oDen window, she discovered papers peeping from out a corner and trem blingly reached out to take the shattered work-bo- x containing them, for such it proved to be in her, hands. - She shook like aa aspen tree she lifted it, and it fell in fragments at her feet, and out from the papers rolled down among the rubbish on the floor,a ring with an 'gldwitig"8eitinr":Forna'"moment she seemed stunned, a great sob came swelling up in her fhrnat. and hpr m mi f K - ten Aw onA noriU,l andlhe sank down upon the floor a3 pathetically as if she had beeu a beautiful young girl still in her teen3, instead of an old maid of - . . . half a century. , But no one would have, guessed her age for she wa3 still strikingly handsome and exquisitely neat in her dres3, and . had that sort of delicate wav of fldinstino- pvprrtKi call stylish, the draping of her brown silk dress lay about her in soft folds and with her eyes of lllfir-i.4 u. uu itcai s, b u o - . zuuf w o u u en n giy uji.h upon the lost ring she had found after all these long years. So many times she had ransacked boxes, drawers and .closets, in possible and impossible places, and now it had come to light too late, when her hair was silvered n'er and her eyes faded with - weeping. An emerald ring, engraved D.V, shape, a rare beauty she had once thought and now what a train of recollections it brought back, how well she remembered the night he had given it to her under the great elm tree, in the yard, and pledged his faith, his honor, the devotion of a life time, and begged her to be his promised bride, and with maiden blushes, and modest downcast eve mnre. elo quent than words, she had given him his silent answerThe fe w mnn th a th s t fn! f n wpH f h e betrothal had been full of sweetness and ihe - l - t-- 1 1 i--t . i T T fmm-EJihla-pfien-- liar It-i- s weUta-be- M drama are dead long ago, but we do not even the overflowing present, for no, greater age at this late date feel justified in giving their was ever ushered in than the one in which real names. we are now living. There are grand possibilgirl prying aboutramong the old ities to engage in of sufficient importance to lumber in. the garret at her grandmother's one satisfy the most ambitious; but' nothing gives d frund raS3 a bundle of to life such complete fulness of ifi MUDtlgi as tied with a very faded and soiled domestic happiness. Without expression it the whole yellow Interring ribbon wound so "man .v. u nvmu- - uiu. xoe greatest timesrounditthatshe men who ever lived, while thought it would. oaki standing upentW and pitraacle of :fame,"have felt t hp proceeded" forthwith rpashrerdoliy knots, and scatter theJetterA sympathy, have pined for true, unselfish devo- -associationlovrs'ourd enjoy whose on. . tlierubhhTnevefllr ..u sentiments were so near akin. . Rutin iuicitcuL, yet, in moments of doing, she was their o? a weakness and doubt that come alike to divulging secret disclodn case the old adage proved true, "The course of all a treachery. But so it needing human Jove to give them courage.' proved. irue 10 ve never runs smooth" 1 did t that ribbon - But we must Everything which tends to exalt humau-S!not leave Aunt Dnmthv shiver one .Dorothy to her day 1Mb encouraged, and in the ing garret while we m over her nast life. affections and tell befell her, and why she wa3 a what assuredly en- - the drawing-room- , and tnen such a crowd of lyucij ym aiujnjinenjminer-Ciniaiioo- a s . .u.u Sli-rtn- i. a st r- - ' r rtfnt n0T$ . |