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: WILLIAM D. COOKE, J
pnnPElETOB. )
AN INDEPENDENT FAMILY NEWSPAPER.
TWO DOLtABS FEK ISNUI
1 : . ;?r
Befcotetr to all tfje 5n imst0 of Wtyt Souti), Cttcrattti, &fcuc ation, ticulte, Stebft, fyc ;at&et0, &c.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1855.
VOL. IV NO. 18.
WHOLE NO;? 173
rt 1
SELECT POETRY
From the Vermont Republican.
MEDICAL SYSTEM.
HOMEOPATHIC DRACHM.
. Take a little Rum
The less you take the better
Mix it with the Lakes
'.: orWcouer Jirhl fetter. ;
. Dip a spoonful out -.
' Mind you don't get groggy
; pour it in the Lake
Winnepiseogee.
Stir the mixture well,
Lest it prove inferior ;
Then put a half a drop
Into Lake Superior.
Every other day
- Take a drop in water;
You'll be better soon,
Or at least you ouahter.
ALLOPATHY
. Take some Calomel
The more you take the better
Mix it with a drop
Or two of cistern water.
Feed some to your dog;
It will make him vomit,
And, may be, see stars,
Or, perhaps a Comet.
Once in each half hour
Take $ musing portion ;
Say a tumbler full
If that suits your notion.
If you chance to die
: As you're almost sure to;
You may safely swear
That it don't cure you.
HYDROPATHY.
Take a linen sheet,
The larger 'tis the better
Wrap yourself up well,
And plunge into the water.
Any water 'II do
Croton, sea, or eistern
Each should make his choice
As may best suit his turn.
VhVny ou W fal HyhmSr'm
Jf you don't feel better,
Take a generous shower-hath,
And get a little wetter.
-; Touch no wine or gin,
, Drink gallons of cold water;
You'll be better soon
- If you ain't you oughter.
SEXSE-OPATHT.
Take the open air,
The more you take the better
FbJIow Nature's laws
To the very letter.
Let the doctors go
" To the Bay of Biscay. -Let
alone the gin,
, The brandy and the whiskey.
Freely exercise :
Keep your spirits cheerful ;
V Let no dread of sicknes
'" Ever make you fearful.
. Eat the simple food,
Drink the pure cold water,
Then you wilt be well
Or at least you oughter.
From Arthur's Home Magazine.
THE CAVE AT MILLS' FALLS.
BY MUS. H. E. G. AREY.
I was seated by a comfortable fire in the par
lor of ioh&. of tie hotels in a flourishing vil age
at the' twest the west of twenty years ago
' not Kansas or Nebraska.
The night without was clear and cold, and
tha crackling: of the snow under the feet of the
pissers-by, had a biting sound, that made me
draw closer to the ruddy blaze that was roaring
up the chimney. There seemed to be no other
guests present to enjoy the favors of mine host,
or to distu b the tranquility of my rest after a
lonj, cold'day of travel and, having done chiv
alrous duty to a hot supper, I had drawn a rock-mg-chair
andj. a small table to a corner of the
fire place, and sat dividing my time between a
Wpy reverie of 'somebody, or something, and
a sleepier book that had been written by some
body som ew h e re.
I felj, exceedingly comfortable, and quite in a
humor to be satisfied with the world in general,
and myself iuj particular, and, indulging in the
humane opinion that my own convenience was
. the thing of prince importance in the universe, I
as faito congratulate myself from time to
.- time o4he undisturbed possession of my quar
ters, and the probability that the coldness of the
nght would prevent the appearance of other
travellers. In these congratulations, however, I
as suddenly interrupted by a triumphant rat
tling of 6leigh bells up to the door, and a sound
f boisterous merriment bursting unceremoni
ously into the hall, and quite as unceremoniously
nto the parlor which I had considered so ex
clusively my own. They were a party of young
People, numbering some ten or twelve, and evi
dently belonging to the country near, for they
kerned quite as much at home under the roof,
I could claim to be nmelf, the grentlemen
SELECTED STORIES.
calling about them lustily for such good things
as the house afforded, and the ladies helping
themselves unhesitatingly to the comforts of the
parlor.
One of the latter showed herself at once to
be a beauty and a pet, from the peremptory
manner in which she treated her companions,
and when a devoted admirer had provided her
a warm seat by the fire, she tossed her head.
on tempt uously, and throwing down her tUSOO.
upon the table, and shaking free a mass of shi
ning ringlets over her mantle, commenced a
graceful pirouette around the room. She was
petite, and pert, with a foot like a gazelle, a laugh
like the sound of a mimic waterfall, and a skin
like the leaf of the water lily in its first bloom.
She paid not the least attention to the'questions
or remarks of the party until, breathless with
her waltzing, she danced up .to a tall, dark-eyed
girl who occupied the only other rocking-chajr,
besides my own, which the parlor afforded, and
with a series of bows and curtsies, exclaimed,
" I'm tired, Lucy Ghellis if you please ma'm,
I'm tired."
"I presume so," replied the' person addressed
settling back signigcantly, into her rocking-chair.
" I think any one would have a right to be tired
after the performance you have just finished."
" Yes, ma'm," continued Alice, for so they
called the little maiden, "and it was all for your
particular benefit, 'ma'm, and I would like to
rest, ma'm."
f " Ah !" said Lucy, laughing, " then I beg you
wid proceed to rest."
Alice turned rounc?, as if despairing of suc
cess in tLat quarter, and folding her little round
arms upon her bosom, exclaimed, with her mouth
drawn quaintly up, " I'll be so good as to ride
home with any gentleman as will procure me
the possession of that same rocking-chair that
Miss Ghellis monopolizes."
This brought several at once to their feet, and
various and laughable were the expedients resor
ted to, to drive-Miss Luov from her seat.
She retainedJit, however, with decided com
posure, and a pretended ignorance of wJiat was
detted of -5er7 until, ni ftftniidst of-their
merriment on the subject, supper was aimoriafed.
I had been sufficiently amused by the party''
to wait with some interest for their return, but
before the rattling of the knives had ceased
acros the ball, the parlof door opened, and
Alice Lyn slid quietly iuto the rocking-chair.
When the party returned, however, the former,
occupautjtook no notice of her presence, some
what to the chagrin of Alice, as 1 fancied, but,
after a few moments, when the restless beauty
had darted from her seat, Miss Ghellis resumed
her former position with the utmost noncha
lance, and the contest for the disputed chair was
commenced with renewed vigor, very much in
the manner of noiy child's plav.
I now rose from the comfortable seat in which
I had hitherto indulged, and passing it over to
the party, offered it to Miss Lyn. She turned
hpon me with a frighti-neJ look, exclaiming,
"Oh no, sir, thank you, thank you, I don't
want a rocking chair," and perching herseif with
astute dignity on the corner of a little lounge,
she seemed to strive' assid uously for the space of
five minutes to look grave.
Miss Ghellis, however, with a dignity and
poliieness I had by no means expected in a par
ty of hoydonish school girls, as I had decided
them to be, apologized for having disturbed me
with their noisy child's play; and I was just
debating in my own mind whether I could take
advantage of the opening, and continue the con
versation for there was something in her looks
and manner that pleased me when Alice Lyn
once more started to heir f -et, and declared that
she was going to Mills' Falls. Some of the par
ty remonstrated that it was quite too cold for
such an expedition, but Miss Lyn, with native
pertinacity, asserted that it was not cold at all,
but, on the contrary, we were going to have a
thaw she had no doubt it would rain before
morning. The assertion drew forth much mer
riment, and various proofs of the severity of the
weather were adduced, but to all this Alice re
plied very positively
" I don't care" for that, I know it is going to
thaw, for our yellow hen crowed to-night, and
she never crows except it's going to thaw."
In the midst of the laughter which this occa
sioned, a young man, who had that day travel
led some twenty miles from the southward, as
serted that it was raining in B- that morn
ing, when he left, ,
" I told you so!" exclaimed Alice. "This is
the last snow we shall have this winter, and I
wish to see Mills' Falls in the ice, before I die.
Who knows but I shall be under the snow my
self before another winter ?'
Alice Lyn's plea prevailed, and the party
were soon equipped, and s-et off gayly to the
Falls. For myself, I sat listening till the sound
of their voices died away, and then, possessed
by a singular curiosity to know more of the
party, and the place they were so anxious to
visit, I looked for the landlord, that I might in
quire the direction, and follow them.
I had recently finished my medical studies at
an eastern university, and had Wen, for two or
three months, travelling through the Western
States in search of a location where I might
win a comfortable way In the world. This was
the first party1 of sociable young people I had
seen during the winter, and, as they were the
kind of people with whom I expected to pass
my future life, I felt an unusual degree of inter
estn them.
"They have gone round by the road,"said
the clerk at the bar, in answer to my enquiries.
" But if you don't mind the sBow, you will find
it much shorter to strike .off right through the
woods east from the village. The noise of the
Falls will direct you it is not far, in that direc
tion." I hesitated a moment about taking this advice,
as I saw it would bring me on the opposite side
of the river from, the party whose steps I was
following, bjit, a second thought convinced me
that tLis"wvuia'rgheTne airing a right to de
sirea good view of the Falls, and would lay
me open to no charge of intrusion ; so I took
the path which had been recommended.
Once out of doors I perceived that the snow
no longer crackled under the feet as it had done
at nightfall, and other signs of a sudden and
decisive chancre in the weather were so evident
as to surprise me. " I should not wonder if it
rained here before morning," I said to myself, as.
I wended my way among the tall trees that stand
so grimly in a Western forest.
The black branches were now laden with their
picturesque foliage of snow, and the moon, wa
ding through thick masses of floating clouds
that were gathering in the sky, left the night
just dark enough to give free scope to the fancy,
in the images with which it peopled the dim
wood. Occasionally an owl, from some quaint
niche amid the branches, would send out its
shrill " tu whoo" in acknowledgment of my ap
proach ; but there was nothing else to break in
upon the monotonous sound with which the
rumbling Falls filled the air. The wood through
which I was passing, skirted the village at no
great distance from the hotel I had left ; and I
had not gone ovr three quarters of a mile,
when 1 found myself standing on the banks of
the river, at the foot of a water-fall of unusual
beautv. The river leaped suddenly over a pre
cipice of some thirty feet, and the volume of
water had worn its way in the centre, so as to
give a crescent shape to the fall, while the rag
ged points of the rocks jutted tar out on either
side, fringed with dropping cedars heaped with
snow, and adorned with icicles of such various
and beautiful forms, that a less enthusiastic per
son than Alice Lyn might well have wished to
see Mills' Falls in the ice before he'died. The
f-ri'ance and turmoil of the water was sufficient
to keep ille river clear from ice for some little
distance below' ixMs- and tempted by the
white spray that was rolling at my feet, I stooped
and dipped my hand in the water, and was sur
prised to find how much warmer it was than the
atmosphere. The stream was one of those that
take their rise on the high ridge between the
lakes and the Ohio, so that its source was many
miles away to the south. While I was still
woudering about the warmth of the water, my
attention was arrested by the appearance of the
party. that I had followed from the hotel, but
who, having taken a longer road than I, had
only just arrived. I could hear their voices call
ing gaily to each other, and could distinguish
the form of Alice Lyn as she danced about, and
clapped her hands with buists of unbounded
admiration. Presently, a tall, dark figure ad
vanced to the very verge of the rocks, and stood
with folded arms, gazing with silent and absorb
ing interest on the scene.
"Don't stand there, Lucy Ghellis don't
stand there," shouted a voice behind her, but the
warning came too late. There was a crackling
of the ice a sudden shriek and the poor girl
was struggling in the mad waves below. It was
no time for thought. 1 knew no more, until
plunging myself in the stream, I had rescued
her from the tumuil of the water, and was
bearing her insensible fufm up the bank to a
naked ledge of rock that attracted my attention.
On on I bore my fainting burden. I did not
notice how or where, until I laid her down upon
some withered hemlock wreaihs thatjay heaped
up in a sheltered place among the rocks.
I set myself at once about the task of resus
citation, but it was long ere I succeeded in rous
ing the feeble signs of life which she exhibited,
and when, at last, she opened her eyes, it was
only to fall into a succession cf fainting fits
which must have lasted for two or three hours.
I threw -together some of the broken branches
about me, and kindled a fire, both for the pur
pose of imparting warmth to the figure of my
charge, and of relieving the increased darkness
of the night. I was too much confused by what
had occurred, to think clearly on any subjectt
but still I did not forget occasionally to send
out my voice in a prolonged shout, in hopes of
attracting the party, who, I thought, must be
searching for their companion. I did not then
observe, though I afterwards remembered dis
tinctly, that the rumbling of the Falls had so
much increased as to render it impossible for
any human voice to be heard above the tumult.
It must have been near midnight before she
was sufficiently recovered for me to attempt to
leave her in search of help, and when I did so,
I had proceeded but a few steps, when, horror
of horrors ! my feet plunged suddenly in the
water of the river, and, glancing about, I saw
the arch of rock that spread above us stooping
darkly down unto within a few inches of the
water. I had not before observed that the spot
w e occupied, formed a wide-mouthed cave, some
what in the form of a horse-shoe, except that the
floor was an indi ted plane, the upper part of
which was higher than the roof of the arch that
formed its mouth. This mouth was now almost
concealed by water which was rapidly approach
ing us, and from which I could see no way of
escape.
"Do youTknow where we are !" I cried, rush
ing hastily back to the spot where I had left my
companion. '
She half rose from her seat, and with a rapid
glance about her, replied : J 'r'"'
" Certainly; we are in the cave at Mills' Falls.
I know the way perfectly welL' Shall we go !"
"And is this the whole of th&cave V I asked
breathlessly, casting my eyes back at the water
upon which the .fire was now,.hrowing a fearful
glare of light. 3 ' " i . .
Lncj sprang Jto Jbs.a sharp cry. cf
alarm.
" Overtaken by a frehet in the cave," 6he
shrieked. "The Grotto--quick ! we have scarcely
time to reach it ;" and,i;ather!ng her shawl about
her, she rushed towams a distant corner of the
cave. Seizing a blaang pine-knot from the fire,
I followed her stepsiand leaping over the water
where it crossed mr path, ascended a few steps
cut in the stone, aed entered, through a small
aperature, into the apartment she had designa
ted as the Grotto. The floor of this room was
several feet higher than that from which we had
come it was indeed, a lofty, spacious apart
ment, with raggfd. arches of rock hanging dis
mally from the thick gloom over head. Uncon
scious as I had hitherto been, I became, in a mo
ment, painfully alive to the horrors of our situ
ation. I could hear the crackling and crashing
of the ice abov3 us, and the swelling and roar
ing of the infuriated waters, as they howled
madly through the cavern we had left.
" Is there no escape from this I" I asked of
my companion, after holding my torch aloft,
and ascertaining the capabilities of the apart
ment. 'Lucy shook her head hopelessly, with her
white lips pressed tiglitly together.
" I must go back for wood," I said, "we must
have a fire ;" and I was about to return for some
of the drift wood with which the lower cavern
was thickly strewn, but a quick motion of her
hand arrested me.
"Here is wood," she said, pointing to a place
well stocked with broken branches; "we always
have an illumination when we come here, and
we were ready for a pic-nic last fall when Emma
Martin died.'' She spoke with an effort, as if
her faculties were becoming more and more be
numbed with a consciousness of her situation.
" Does the water ever rise to this apartment ?" I
asked anxiously
"Yes no. I don't know," answe-?d she
tr,trw l urn oi int sreuve ortnvf;, ana
confusedly, " I beg pardon ; yes," I remember
they were talking about the water-marks here
but Ibe gallery yonder is higher than the sum
mit of the Falls."
I went with my torch, and examined the place
she designated. It was somewhat in the shape
of a huge, old-fashioned pulpit, very high, hut
perfectly accessible, and could hardly fail to form
a safe retreat in case the water should rise to
the apartment we occupied.
" We are secure from the water at least," said
I, returning, while my hands instinctively sought
the pockets of my hunting coat, for I had made
a pleasure as well as a busine s of this toui of
discovery, and had frequently carried to the
primitive taverns where I lodged a sufficient
supply of game to furnish my supper and break
fast. On the evening in question, however, I
had been more fortunate in the choice of a land
lord, and my little stock of game remained un
touched. Little enough it was, but it was all
we had, dear reader, to sustain life during those
long days that we remained water-boun J in the
cave at Mills' Falls.
My examination of the cave had lasted but a
moment, and I sat hastily about kindling a fire,
for I was young and active then, besides being
prompted to activity by the wet and cold state
in which we were. The dense smoke, which at
first rewarded my efforts, was quickly succeeded
by a rapid, crackling blaze, which threw its light
over the centre of the grotto, and brought out in
strong relief the marble figure of my compan
ion, who still stood where she had first paused,
watching my movements with a wistful, frozen
look. A cloth pelisse fitted clossly to her slight,
graceful figure, and the unbound masses of her
raven hair fell dripping over her bloodless cheeks,
and swept like a mantle of night about her
shoulders.
That statue-like figure has remained faithfully
daguerreotyped upon my memory ever siuce. I
think I made some drawings of it subsequently,
but when Lucy came at last to be " endowed
with all my worldly goods,' I suspect she des
troyed this portion of them. Would you believe
dear reader, that, amid the many causes of ter
ror around, us of that moment, she was most
afraid of me ? of me ! who would not only
then, but at any, and every subsequent moment
of my life, have sacrificed everything for her
comfort !
I have never fully believed it myself, though
she continues to assert it, as a fact, to this day
Her raven hair is streaked with silver now, and
its heavy folds combed soberly away beneath a
matron's cap. I see her, as I raise my eyes from
my paper, and peer at her through my specta
cles. She sits there knitting warm stockings for
our youngest pet our Alice asleep in her cot.
Years have passed away since then, but she is
still to me the same Lucy, that I have loved from
that moment until now.
Reader, do you wish to know how we escaped f
how we appeared at last among the startled vil
lagers, who had worn themselves out ia a vain
search for our remains?
For me it is enough to know that we did es
cape, and have been blessed with a long life of
happiness since as a reward for our frozen court
ship in the Cave at Mills' Falls.
-Buffalo, Sept. 1854.
From the Pictorial Time.
I A WINTER STORY.
A cold night ! The wind, sharp as a Damas
cus scimetar, cut through the fine chinks in the
windows, causing my mother to continually
change her seat, to avoid what she calls the
draught ; but as the draught comes everywhere
she is at length fain to come to a settlement
close t the mantle-piece, whre flyipji. cut
ting out mysterious hexagons and rhomboids
from out some linen stuff, hereafter to be united
by cunning fingers into some wonderful article
of female apparel. My two sisters are playing
chess. Fanny, triumphant over a check mate,
leans back on her chair, and watches with an
air of proud pity, the cogitative countenance
of Lizzie, whose little brain is throbbing with a
thousand stratagems by which to extricate her
unhappy queen from the impending disaster.
I, wrapped in all the dignity of nineteen years,
am absolutely smoking a cigar in the sacred
chamber, (a privilege awarded to me on rare
occasions by my mother, who would generally
dismiss me to my room the moment I displayed
a Havanna) and reading Sir Thomas Brown's
poetic essay on Urn Burial. There is a solemn
quiet reigning through the room. The pine
logs on the hearth, fling out spasmodic jets of
fire, and hiss like wounded snakes, as the bub
bling, resinous juice oozes out from each gaping
split. The click of my mother's scissors snaps
monotonously, and at regular intervals. The
wind screams wildly outside, and clatters at the
window pane, as if it was cold and wanted to
come in. Through the dusty panes themselves,
half revealed by the partially drawn curtains,
glimmer whitely the snowy uplands, and on
the crest of the ghastly hills a bare old oak lifts
up its naked arms, like an aged Jsiobe frozen in
an attitude of sorrow. . The smoke of my cigar
goes curling ceiling-ward in concentric rings of
evanescent valor, and I am whispering to my
self one of those sonorous and solemn senten
ces with which the old night of Norwich ter
minates his chapters and which, after one has
read them, reverberate and echo in the brain,
when rat-tat there comes a faint irresolute
knock at the door. My mother shuts her scis
sors, and looks up inquiringly, as much as to
say, " Who, in Heaven's name, is out on a night
like this T The chess
plavers jat immovable.
f kl 'arjou nasainno -
i v . ii, .
wiro passages Musirr
auJ seems as if an earthquaie would be a mat
ter of perfect indifference to. them. I lay dowp
my book, and go to the door. I open it with a
shiver, and a resolution to be cross and uncivil ;
the wind rushes triumphan'lv in with a great
sigh of relief, the monutit the first chink ap
pears,! and I look out into the bitter, ghastlj
nijrht. What a strange grup stands on the piazza!
Winter seems to have become incarnate in hu
man form, and with the four winds as his com
panions come to piy us a visit.
There is a tall, old man, with a long gray
moustache, which, as it hangs down his jaws,
the rude breezes snatches up, and swings about
and pulls insolently, as if he kuew he was poor
and could be iasulted with impunity. He looks
bitterly cold! His long, arched nose is as blue
as the blue sky above him, in which the stars
twinkle so clearly, and he has on a scanty little
coat, on which a few remnants of braid flutter
sadly, like the shreds of vine that bang on walls
in winter time, which they, in the golden sum
mer had wreathed with glossy leaves so splen
didly. He holds a httie chjld in his arms a
little shivering child that trembles most inces
santly, and tries, poor thing, to put its head in
the scanty thread-bare folds of the insufficient
coat. By the side of this pair is another effigy
of poverty and winter. A small, pale, delicate
woman, with great blue eyes profuse hair,
which, matted in frozen intricacies, burst out
from a most remarkably shapeless bonnet, a
shawl so thin that.it must have been woven by
spiders ; another little shivering child clasped
in her arms and carefully enveloped in the poor
old shawl ; though one can see by her blue
neck and thin dress, that she is sacrificing her
self to keep the little one Vafm. A huge um
brella dangling from one of her hands, and
which she leans on occasionally with great dig
nity, and "the ice picture is complete. But the
main picture is not yet finished. A girl about
ten years old, standing a little back, clings to
her mother's skirt with one hand, while with
the other she tries to keep something that looks
like a pair of trousers wrapped round her neck.
She is shadowy and pale, and seems like nor
thern mirage, ready to dissolve into cold air at
a moment's notice.
" Who are you, and what do you want?" I
said, in a gruff tone ; for the wind blew bitter
ly on my cheek, and I made up my mind to be
cross.
The old man inclined his head slightly, and
spoke.
" We are Poles," said he, in excellent English,
with a slight foreign accent ; " we wish to go to
Boston, wh;ch we hear is but one day's journey
from this, but we do not know where to lodge
to-night. We are here to ask you for a night's
shelter."
" Pooh !" said I, swinging the door almost to ;
" we know nothing about you, and never admit
beggars. We cannot do it"
The man fell back a pace or two, and looked
at the little woman with the great eyes. Hea
vens ! bow full of despair these great eyes seem
ed just at that moment! I saw his arm tighten
ed convulsively round the little shivering child
in- his arms. A sluggish, half-frozen tear rolled
lowly down that blue nose of his. He trashed
it away with the cold, shriveled hand and nod-
ded mournfully to the little woman, who clutch
ed her umbrella firmly, and then turned to de
part without a word. As the door was being
slowly closed, he shook his head once or twice,
and said in a very low voice, " God help me!"
These words had scarce been spoken, when I
felt a slight touch on my shoulder.
"John," said my mother, "call those people
back." ' ' - ' i
I never felt so relieved in all my life. When
that old man turned away in silence at my sud
den refusal of his prayer, disdaining to address
himself to me, but whispering his mercy to God,
a pang of remorse shot through my heart : I
arould have given worlds to have called him
back, but the hideous, sullen pride, which has
through life chained up my nature, until it has
become like a cooped bear, put a padlock on my
lips. IIow glad I was when my mother came
and dissolved the bonds with a touch.
" Come back," said I, " my friends ; we wish
to speak with you."
I am sure my voice must have really been
very gentle, for as the old Pole turned, his rug
ged cheek seemed to soften, arid the great eyes
of his pale wife actually flashed through the
dim night, with the fire of hope. They had
landed from an emigrant ship in New York, with
only a few dollars in their possession, which was
dwindled away to a few shillings. They could
get no employment. The old man was a mod
eller of medallions, and said bitterly "They
don't care about art in New York." So they
made up their minds to go to Boston ;fthere
they heard that such things find encouragement.
With a few remaining shillings, and what mo
ney they could obtain by pawning their little
wardrobe, they struggled thus far on their jour
ney. They were now penniless, and scarce
know what to do ; but the old man said proudly,
"If we can only get through to Boston to-morrow
we have nothing to fear."
My mother shut the door ; by this time the
old man, and the little pale woman and three
shivering children, were on the inside, and Fan
ny and Lizzie had left their game of chess, with
their poor queen still in prison, and were pass
ing round the pale little woman, whose eyes
were now larger than ever, and shining with
tears of joy ; and they somehow had got hold
Lf tlie t wo youngest childen, and they were pe.S
f . i .: , , :t'
y i.i iv
ting them and talking to them in that wonder
ful language, supposed to be the tongue com
monly spoken by infants, the foundation of
which is substituting the letter d, for the letter
t, and smooling all the l's and h's in a remorse
less manner. The little foreigners were there
fore informed, confidently, by the young ladies
that "dey was dood little tings, and dey musn't
gry zo, for zey would ave a uize vorm zupper."
And whether they understood it or not, the
" little tings " ceased to shiver or cry and look
ed wonderingly about with small editions of
their mother's great eyes ; and the old man
twirled his moustache as it thawed in the heat
of the pine fire and made many bows and look
ed that worldless gratitude which cannot be in
terpreted. But the little wife said nothing ; only she
leaned on her umbrella, and gazed at my moth
er as she gave her orders to the servants for the
preparation of a sleeping-room and a liberal
meal for the wayfarers ; and she gazed at me,
as I stirred up the fire with immense energy,
(between ourselves, I tried to bustle off the re
collection of that cruel speech with which I first
met their appeal,) and jnade her husband sit
down so close to it, that his legs were nearly
scorched through his threadbare trousers; and
so continually gazing at every one, until at last
she could stand it no longer, and flinging away
for the first time that ponderous umbrella of
hers, she cast herself on my astonished mother's
neck, and sdbbed out a heap of Polish blessings,
that, if there is any virtue in benedictions, will
certainly canonize her when she dies.
I swear to you, that when all was over, and
they were sleeping soundly, I went into a re
mote corner and wept bitterly for the wrong I
had so nearly done.
Well, they staid with us that night, and
the next; and my mother got up a little
subscription among the neighbors. And we
rigged them ' all out in good warm clothing,
bought them tickets on the cars to Boston, and
one fine, frosty morning, we all sallied down to
the depot, and saw them off on their journey,
and I tell you there was a waving of hands, and
Polish gesticulations, and far, far away in the
distance, we could catch a glimpse of that great
umbrella, with the little woman still flourishing
it by way of farewell.
We heard nothing of our Polwh friends for a
whole year. Often, over the fireside, we would
talk about them, and our neighbors sneered at
us and wondered if our spoons were safe, and
moralized upon foreign imposture and ingrati
tude. My mother got much for her charity ;
but none of us minded, for there was something
so true in the ways and manners of these poor
wanderers, that it would be impossible to dis
trust tbem.
Well, Christmas came. Winter again, snow,
yule logs glowing fiercely on the hearth, and
misletoe and ivy swinging mfcrrily in the hall.
Again the uplands were sheeted in white ; again
the old oak was naked and sorrowing : again we
were all seated round the fire, listining to the
snorting of the wind as it tore over the hills like
a mad steed. In the midst of a deep silence
that fell upon ns all, there came a rat-tat-tat.
It was strong, determined and eager. I went to
the door. ' I had scarcely unbarred it, or took a
peep at the new comer, when it seemed as if a
whirlwind with a bonnet on bis head spoured !
past me and swept into the parlor. TKe next
moment I beard a great commotion. " Sobbing
and laughing, and broken English, aD swept -along,
as it were,; in a cataract of Polish. It
was the little pale woman with the great eyet.
No longer pale though, but with rnddf cheeks;
and the eyes,, this time, looked large, and
onguier man ever tnrougli the tear. They
had been ever since in Boston, she breathlessly
told us, and had been doing well, thanks to the
blessed lady who helped them get there. The
husband modeled medallions, shecornposed polk
as, and their only daughter taught music, and
they had saved three hundred dollars, and
bought a piano with it And she had said to
herself that on Christmas night she would come
and speak her gratitude to the blessed lady who
had sheltered her and her little ones; so she set
off in the cars, and here she was. And then
she commenced pulling things out of her pock
ets. Christmas presents for us all ! There was
a scarlet fortune-teller for Lizzie, and a curious
card case for Fanny; and a wonderfully em
broidered needle-case for my mother, and there
was a beautiful umbrella for. Mr. John, she inti
mated, producing an enormous parachute. She
knew he would like it, because when she was
here last year--tbanks to the blessed lady who
had sheltered her she had seen him looking
very much at her umbrella, and she would have
offered it to him then, but she was ashamed, it
was so old. But this was a new one, and very
large!
And then she kissed us all round, and produc
ed an elaborate letter from her husband to my
mother, in which she was compared to Penel
ope," and one or two classical personages, and
told U9 everything that had happened to them
since they had left us, until, having talked her
self into a state of utter exhaustion, she went off
to her bed-room, where she was heard praying
in indifferent Engiish that we might ascend into
Heaven without any of the usual difficulties.
She and her family are still in Boston, where
they: make quite a respectable income. And
every Christmas sees her arrival with presents
for the blessed lady, and her eyes and her grat
itude are as large as ever.
i
Itj is, you 6ee, a simple Winter Story J
--wag'torffleTir associatr writs
'UtOGfCENCE .CP PAiiCK H2JTBY '
His countenance, serious and almost dull
when in repose, grew, under the excitement of
speech, transfigured and almost articulate with
-the emotions that thrilled his soul." The eve
glowed or melted, was fierce in indignation, or
tender in sympathy, or commanding, in its im
perial utterances of pride and dignity. Few
men could stand unmoved the fixed gaze of that
eagle eye, turned in scorn or defiance upon
them. He did not so much possess, as he was
possessed by tho spirit of oratory, when it
moved -upon him. It transformed bis whole
port and presence. He seemed another and a
higher being ander its inspiration. The
awkward and slovenly air, the impassive coun
tenance, the listless movement disappeared, as,
rising with his theme, he soared, like a Hebrew
prophet, to sublime heights of declamation and
prose-poetry ; and glowing, inspired, irresisti
ble, he commanded, awed, subdued, fired with
passion, or melted with pity, the ductile sub
jects of his power. The specimens given of
him by Wirt, are not always characteristic.
Henry's style was pure Saxon-BibIe-Engli3h.
He spoke in no such scanned lines as 4 he
next breeze that sweeps from the North, will
bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms."
This is Wirt's rhetoric, not Henry's eloquence.
The short, vigorous, pictorial sentences, wing
ed with the fire of imagination, of the grand
old man, were altogether different from theso
holiday, Eolian tunes. The difference between
them is the difference between Homer and Tom
Moore. The Hoes of Wirt resemble the words
of Henry, about as much as the tinklings of the
guitar resemble the bugle-notes before a charge,
or as the carolling of a canary resembles tho
scream of the eagle when he stoops on his quar
ry. Baldwin's Party Leaden.
Niagara Suspension Bridge. This bridge
is completed, and has had a trial. The result -has
been, so far as we have learned, very satis
factory. The whole construction is a triumph
of the art of the civil engineer. The work is
very substantial, and the train which, crossed
sunk the bridge only three inches in the mid
dle. It is estimated that the structure is capa-
ble of sustaining a weight of 12,000 tons. Its
measurements are as follows : Length of span
from centre to centre of towers, 82? feet ; height
of tower above the rock on the American side,
88 feet ; do. on the Canada side, 78 feet ; do.
floor of railway, 60 feet; number of wire ca
bles, 4; diameter of each cable, 10 inches;
number of No. 9 wires in each cable, 3,659 ;
aggregate strength of cables, 12,400 tons;
weight of superstruction, 750 tons; do. sub
structure and maximum loads, 1,250 tons ; max
imum weight of cable and stay will support 7,
300 tons ; height of track above the water, 234
feet; height of railroad above wagon track 60
feet. The builder was John E. Robeling, of
this State.
Bachelor Oddities. The Methodist Chris-,
tian Advocate tells the following story. u
Some years ago, a rich old bachelor 'died fa
this ciiy, leaving behind him two dogs. la his
will hX bequeathed the , dogs to a particular
friend, and left $2000 . to be, appropriated to
their maintenance and burial. One of the dogs
is dead and buried." The other is stil living,
though far advanced in age; Half of the mon
ey has been drawn, the other half will bo paid
over as boob as the living dogs becomes a dead
one, and is decently buried. , The dogs were
be, and will be according to the will, buried
one al his head, the other at his feet.
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