Newspapers / Siler City Leader (Siler … / Jan. 15, 1887, edition 1 / Page 6
Part of Siler City Leader (Siler City, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
TWO POOR OLD SOULS. Tis Christmas night ; the streets are bright, And many w indows are alight, v And mirth seems monarch everywhere, i For sounds of laughter fill the air. But in a little room which knows No gleam, save what the fire shows Sit gazing :at the glowing coals, Two poor old souls. Round them no' happy children press With woifds and smiles of tenderness; To them no f riehds bring greetings gay Their friends are dead or far away Or else forgetful. At their gate, Toot-deep in snowj no singers wait To cheer with quaint and jolly trolls These poor old souls. r And yet two ;core of years did ha Do much to add to Christmas glee With pictures drawn with cunning art By s'iilful hand from gentle heart, And she has told of Christmas time A hundred tales in prose and rhyme. Ifow recompense no creature doles The e poor old souls. And many a feast, in days gone by, , They've spread, when fortune lingered nigh; And they but little knew of care, And bade their comrades come and share; And there how joyous was the scene, : The walls all hung with Christmas green! Their healths were drunk in brimming bowls, These poor old souls. But, ah! they faltered in tha ra?e, And newer life sprung to each place, . And seized the wreaths they'd not resigned; And thus, discrowned and left behind, s In time too brief thay were forgot. i Alas! it is the common lot, i And wilt be while earth onward rolls, i For poor old sou!3. . Loft and forgot, until onco more ! Their names are brought the world before, And then, perchance, someone will tell How such a picture pleased him well, Or such a story gla lnoss shed Upon his children as they read; ''But this will be whan death's bell tolls For two old soul. Mar Qar:t Eltinge, in r Harrier s Weekly, ON CHKISTMAS EVE. All day long tli3 steel-colored . clouds Tiad hung heavily over the snow mantled Mils; all day long the old farmers had nodded the'r Jicadssagely at each other, and; said : j ' . , . j '-: "There's more1 snow in the air ;V or, -"We're goih' to hev. a spell' o' weather." But it seemed; that the old farmers Avcre wrong, after all; for ju.3t at sunset the clouds parted away, the sun, all gar landed with goiden beams, laughed over the frozen landscape, and the beautiful evening star, frame to keep his sacred vigil above the Christina Kvc. 1 "An ideal view," said Mr. Mackenzie, stopping on the cred of the hill to ob serve the sweetcrcnity of the old church; garrisoned w th lea'iess poplar trees, and the frozen river which reflects the- red sunset in front ; the solemn majesty of the White Mountain range beyond. "Upon my word, we sojourners in the emi-tropical valleys of Fanta Barbara haven't any conception what the word 'Christmas' rcal'y means ! I should like to h?. artist enough tp paint this scene. Let me see. 'The first douse after! you pas the toll-gate; painted red, with -white trimmings; gable toward the road; old well-sweep to, the rear. Yes," with a nod of the head, "this is it!" Mr. Rolf Mackenzie was coming East ; aflc; ten yea-s' residence on the fair Pa--citlc i'oa t. He had gone thither to make his fortune. T He iad made-"it, and now ha w-i; bh the way to fulfill ah old love ' Cnucrncnt with Marr Brown. They h;idi b.-conic aiFanrcd tea years go. I nuke the generality of men, Rolf jMacKc:;:e was tea Jiast ana true, even though all the-o converging years.; he had gradually became aware of an ever growing uneonger.iality between himself and Mary lhown. i "it would have been. b:tter for both of j us ii l had left myself unfettered.?' he r thought, "in tho c days I did not know I whit i wait el,, and I suppose shedidn t, cither. Rut a promise is a promise, and I dare ay Mary will 'make a good wile to me. I suppese I shall find her changed. I'm changed myself "When a man has tided over his thirtieth year, !:u c?. t expect Time to deal gently with r.ira I And wi.h these rather unlover-iikc meditations, Mr. Mackenzie rapped .-tt the door of th red house with the I om - bardy poplars la fronit of it and the well vtcp behind. ... I It wa3 all new to ; him. He had been only in the second year of his sojourn in California, when Mary's father, Bela Brown, had sold out the old Vermont homestead and moved up into the Maine forests. But what were a few score of miles, more or less, to a man who has Nevada and eaten crossed the sandwiches Horn? Sierra on i the precipices of Cape He rayped again. There was no an- wer, and he did what he would have done at a Los Angeles ranch opened the door and walked in. The room was bright with blazing logs and candle thine. The mantle was decorated with clusters of holly ; wreaths of laurel leaves glistened overhead,- and festoons of theh beautiful princess pine were fastened over the cheip engravings and the "Map of the. United States'' on the walls. : ;. f , The kettle sang ; the cushioned rock ing-chair was drawn up in front of the hearth, and a volume ojf Jean Ingelow's poems lay open on the round work- table. ' ! V "As pretty ah interior as" ever I saw in my life," said lMr:.MacXeuzie, looking complacently round. "Geraniums in tho window; holly and laurel leaves; Jean Ingclow 1 I begin to have new hopes of Maiy, after all.) j She has kept pace with the times a little." At this moment there was a little shriek. The door leading into the back kitchen had opened ; a lovely young woman, in a deep-blue merino dress, with loops of paler b'uo ribbon in her hair, stood in the portal, with a glass dish of apple-sauce in her hand. "Mary !"-: j'j. . ' Rolf Mackenzie held out both hands. lie meant to have advanced boldry and kissed her, ja3 a man should salute his fiancee, but a certain sense of pro priety, prevented any such demonstra tion. ; . .'.j I ; ."You are not frightened, are you? It's only I." r - j j - "Only you;' U " - ' I lie bLue eyesjT31ary Brown's eye3 had . deepened . and !grown larger and more liquid, U jseemcd were fixed wistfully upon ois i lace,: as if she did not quite understand. -. 1 1 .'.-. ;"Didn'tfyou get my letter?" "No., What letter?" "Upon my word," said Mr. Mackenzie "anything like j the .stupidity of our postal arrangements, I never knew. I mailed that letter just one freek before I started. So I've taken you by surprise eh?": ) .. .-il - 'Y yes," murmured Mary, blushing delightfully. "Well, well,! Father Tkne had not been so rough with Mary Brown after For a girl of thirty, she really had a wonderful complexion and that way of crimping her red-gold tresses all over her head was extremely 'becoming. It made her look fiill ten years younger than her actual age. ' 'But you arciglad tis'ce me, Mary?" Something of the old romautic tender ness a sensation that he had deemed dead and buried lorrg ago had risen up into h s heart, and quivered in hi3 voice. Itjwns all right, He was as much in love as ever! . "Father ; will be glad to see you, I dare say," demurely janswered Mary. "Please to sit down, Mi?. Mr. " "Xo 'Mr.' at all,'' said Mackenzie, half vexed, half amtsed, at thi3 very evident coquetry. "Call me Rolf, why don't vou ;. The large lashes fell over the blue eyes. "Rolf sounds so very familiar," she murmured. But I call you Mary, don't I?" "Oh, yes, but you are so much older than I am. He bit his lip.; So far. as he emild re nicinber there as just eighteen months' dilterence in, their ages.: But upon these subjects one couldn't very we'd contra dict a lady. 1 V Is yotir "father Wcl!?"he esked, by way of starting upon a new and entirely safe tonic, as he watched Mary's nimble fingers how piump and dimple the j wero, to-be-sure. arrange tne drapery ; and set the roiind table for the coming i meal. ' ! ; "Quite well," answered Mary. 'I ex-! pect him in every minute. He went , over to Bcrksdale to a funeral' this after noon, end people have, no sort ofcon- 1 science about letting him come home, in ; ' decent time. !l suppose ho is a comfort i r'.wlicre there is sin illness or icath." ; Mackenzie lifted his evebrows inter- , r ogatively. Belas Brown was a very i j worthy mar?, ai he remembered him, but j short of speech, and entirely devoid of ; imiginative qualities. ; If he was a comfort to bereaved souls, 1 ' it must have been a ta'cnt which he had developed very recently. But he made no comment on the fact. "Fine wintry weather," he remarked "Quite so," saidiMary. "A decided contrast to have left." ; T "Yes?" iqucstioningly. the climati I 'May I ask where 17 ' "The little coquette! What will she pretend to be ignorant cf next!" thought Mackenzie. I But he only answered, pleasantly: "anta Barbara, you know. Under the Coast Range." ' . "Oh, fcranta Barbara!" Her pretty, oval face brightened. "I've heard so much about Santa Barbara vt late, from - i 1 llIUUUl Ul ours!" "Ah!" said Rolf. Mary sat down how, and folded her hands on her lap; with her sweet face turned away from the fire, and her large. blue black eyes s )arklin;r with anima tion. "I wonder," said she,1 musingly, ;'if you have ever met a Mr Mackenzie there?" V- , -.- "A Mr. Mackenzie!" he repeated, Wondering what the meaning of all this was. .v . . v ' "It isn't a greatj place, like New York or Boston, you know,' reasoned Mary. "People do meet each other there?" "Oh, yes; certainly.'' "And this Mr. j Mackenzie? He was tall and good-looking, with dark eye3 and a heavy beard, " "Well, yes, it dbe3 seem to me a? if I had met him once or twice,'.' said Mac kenzie, grimly determined to let Mary carry the joke as far as she pleased. "Well," siid Mary, smiling roguishly, "it seems that MrJ, Mackenzie, cf Santa Barbara, is Engaged to our nearest neigh bor a young woman up toward Cedar River only about jhalf a mile from here, if one goes through the woods; and j what is very funny, her name is just the same as mine Mary Brown . "Eh? ' gasped Mr. Mackenzie. isn't so s very iirettv," added Mary. "She's notj young, you know,aad her hair is thin, and she wejrs a frisette. and somehow it sejtms to alter the whole expression of her face.' ind her sijrht has failed, doing fine sewing, and she has been obliged to take to spectacles.' And she's oh, sb slim, and spare, and sharp-elbowed I" j Mr. Mackenzie sat holding tight on to the arm oi his c.isy chair, while a sensa- tion akin the trickling of icc-co'd water down his back took possession of him. He comprehended lit all now. lie had found the wrong Marv Brown this Christmas Eve. 'i he right Mary Brown was still waiting,) Gorgon-like, to turn him to stone. j "But for all that," chirped on this sweet voiced sircn.' "Mr. Thomas Briggs he keeps the toll-gate just below has fallen in love with her. And they arc married. Father married them, and he i got his fee in cider, applp jauce and J pumpkins," she added, with a laugh, "And since the wadding she has got a letter from this vfcry Mr. Mackenzie Ralph Mackenzie, j of iuicben, or some ! such name that he is coming home this j Christmas to marry! her. It Was an old engagement, she '"says; but he hadn't written very regularly, and she didn't think he intended to keep his word. And Briggs w s here on the spot." "Yes exact yf said Mr. Mackenzie, with.some difficulty curbing his extreme desire to jump up hnd liing his hat into the air. "Iriggs was on the spot!1' "But," resumcdlMarv, "what will the j poor man say when he gets home and nnas nis swceiaeart married to some one else?" i ' ' "Ishou'd thiak" answcrel Macken- ( zie, "tnat lie would say it was the lucki ; est escape he had qver had in his life I" j "But he was h:r lover once !' j: "Y-ycs; but that was ten years ago. : These long engagements take all the life out of a love aitfair. Mackenzie was : "Oh V cried Mary, with a little rising inflection, we'd." then jvou did know him - liivv; ;i uuorv. pit-u.ihc visnor, g:ec- fully. "In fact, I'm Mackenzie myself i;ou lacKenzi'.: .vna l bog a thousand pardons, I am sure, but I. fancied you were Mary Bnr.vn.gvowu younger instead of older. I mihtjhave known that time never went backward."' "Oh!" cried Marv. "And I -M "Ycu've told the truth,' said Macken zie. "It's always jh? best thing to do. "Was it a dreadful blow?" sympathet ically murmured Mary. "Did it take vou by surprise?" a "!ot a blow, at all! Don't I tell you it's a relicl? But; now, 31is3 Mary) I suppose I must go right on." " t "It's very cold," said Mary, "and thi road is frightfully.! solitary. And they even talk of some one's having seen a bear somewhere on that mountain ledge last week. You you'd better stay with father until morning. I am sure he would ))2 hapnv to entertain you." "AndVou. Mi-s MarV?' pleadingly "Why" she said, with the same arch srarkle'undcr her eyelashes, "I should like to hear all about Mr. Mackenzie, of Santa Barbara. It gives one such a new idea of Ire. you see:" "Yerv wcl1, thin," said Mackenzie; "I'll stay." Presently 'the old cl rgyman, Mary Brown's father, cam2 in, "and renewed his daughters hospitable entreaties. Mr. Mackenzie spent Christmas Eve at the pars mane. On Christmas Day he walked over to Bela Brown's: where he congratulated the bride a faded, washed-out lo king woman now and shook hands with the groom most cordially. "I hope you don't lay up nothin' agin me, ' said Mr. Tho r.as Brigg?, rolling his light eyc3 so'.icitously around in the:r sockets. "Not in the least. I wish you a merry Christmas!" cried Mackenzie. "And I ; dare say Mary will mike you the best wife in the world!". '. "But I'm sorry you sot so far outcn the road last ni-jht," said. Briggs. "When I said the first house beyon i the toll-gatej I tneint on the left-hand side, not the right." "Oh, it does not in the least signify!" said Mackenzie, genially. "The Rev. Mr. Brown entertained me most cordi ally." ! And thus basely did he conceal tho secret of; his kind apprehension. Men' a;e, morally speaking, rank cowards. Perhaps ;t is unnecessary to add that' Mr. Macken ie married Mhs Mary Brown, after all. "And its :c?t as wel',".said the toll keeper's! bride. "I cjuld never hev brung my .-elf to go so fur West. And they do say the climate 'il : gree fust-rate with old Parson Brown's bronical tubes. Mary she's young and flighty, but of course my Cousin Rolf has a right to marry as he please." And the next Christmis Eve was spent ,by Mr." and Mrs. I'olf Mackenzie under, the shadow of the palms and mananito tne3 ofi sweet Santa Barbara. llclei For res' 'Untie. A Spanish Mather in 1GSG. His hair was mrted in the middle and tied behind with a bine ribbon, three inches wide and a yard long, whuhhuug down his back. His corduroys, were buttons; and this was necessary to get them on, as they fitted so t'ghtly. ' He , wore a short waiscoat of white satin,, a long frock-coat of black velvet with wide sleeves, sla-hedso as to exhibit the wnitc siiK wa.scoat sleeves. His shirt j was of black taffetas with colored cutis or manchettes. He wore his green cloth mantle in dauay fashion slung over his "arm. He carried in his hand a lo.tg sword, tnc tua:d or wnicii was iarge enough to make at least half a cuirass. Thee swords we:e so long that none but their sheaths; the litter were therefore provided with a spring, which opened at the slightest touch. An elegantly-shaped poniard was stuck behind in his belt. His gutille or stiff -starched collar forced him to hold his head so" high that he could neither bend nor turn his head. I S is hat was of extraordinary size, with low crown surrounded with colored crape. This crape betoknc 1 the extreme height of fashion. His shoes were of the tinest Cordovan lentlur, like glave kid, ar.d fitted as closely as jf they were glued on. .On entering a room he made an- t.uuvi .lit s.m.-.j iJJ 'J'.kii ill' v.3 one over the other, and bowing slowly and dseplv. Moreover, he was redolent j with perfumes. C.'-rj.tik :.cr Zeii. The Stamp Collecting 3Iania. l The mania for collecting postage j &iamp3 seems io U3 gaining more ground j than ever in France. Anion" the most i.ama is couectors m rranco is a man 1, 1 ! . . uj over a munon po-nge szampi preserved in V ) -richly-b und volumes, and another who- keeps two cl rks em ployed in cla3ifying and arranging his enormous collcctlonT Added to "this, there are in Paris about l-"0 wi.o!e-al firms employed in th-i trade, and one of the l.eit known of these has l itc'y ofTered from il'Jj to for ce:a.n stamps of th-3 year. Tu-can o:ae stamps dated before IS .0 will b piid for tt the rate of i each, while stamps from Mauritius for . the year 1347 fetch 1"0. j and French stamps of 1840 ere quoted at
Siler City Leader (Siler City, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 15, 1887, edition 1
6
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75