Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, December 29, 1872, Page 8

THE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1872 THEY SAW A GREAT LIGHT. A Christmas Story, by E. E. Hale. CHAPTER I, ANOTIER GENERATION. “ Horo he comes ! horo o comes !” «He" was tho “post-rider,” an inalitution ~Now almost of the past. Ho rodo by the house “and threw off a copy of tho Boston Gazeffe. Now tho Boston Gazelte, of this particular issue gave the results of the drawing of the great Mnusachusette Stato Lottery of tho Esstern Lands in the Waldo Patont. Mr. Cutts, tho clder, took tho Gaze, and apened it with a smilo that protended to bo care- less; but even ho ehowed tho eager auxiels which thoy all felt, a8 ho toro off the wrapper an unfolded the fatal sheet. * Lettor from London,” “Letter from Philadelpbia,” “ Child with Two Heads,"—thus he ran down tho columns of "the little page, uneasily. “Ilero it is! hero it is! Drawing of tho Great State Lottary. ‘In tho resence of the Honorablo Treasurer of tho ommonvwealth, and of their Honors tho Com- missioners of tho Honorablo Council, was drawn sesterday, at tho State House, the first distribu- tion of bumbers’ Hero sre the numbors: ‘First combination, 375-1. Second, 4217, Third, G016, Fourth, 8951~ Fith'—sad here Mr. Cuite started off Lis foot—¢“Fifth, 91877 Sybil, my darling! it is so! 219-7} Omy God! to See, dear child! 219-7! 219-7! think it should come go! And he fairly sat down, and buried his head in ki hands, and cried. Tha others for a full minute did not daro break in on excitement 8o inteneo, and wero gilent; but in & minuto more, ¢ courso, little Sinoon, the youngest of the tribes who wero represented thore, gained courago to pick up tho yaper, and to spell out again tho samo words which his father bad reed with 80 much omo- tion; end, with his sister Sally, who came to help him, to add to the storo of information, as to what prizo number 5—219-7—might bring. For this was s lottery in which thero were no Blanks. The old Commonvwealth of Massachu- ¢atts, baviog torrible war debts to pay after tho evolation, hed nothing but lands in Maine to Fay them with. Now lauds in Maino were not ~ery salablo, and if tho simple and ordinary rrocess of gole had been followed, the lands piight not bave beeu sold till this day. _BSothey wera distributed by these lotteries, which in that time secmed gigantic. Every ticket-holder had somo pieco of Jand awarded to_him, I think— tut tho most, T fear, the lands wero hardly warth the hunting up, to settle upon. But, to induce a8 many to quy as might, there ‘wero prizes. No. 1, I think, even hada * statoly man- &ion” on the Jind,—according to tho advortiso- ment. No. 2 had some special water-power fa- cilities. No. 5, which Mr. Cuits' ticket Liad drawn, was two thousand acres on Tripp's Cove, —described in the programme as that * wellt Lnown harbor of refuge, where Fifty Linc-of- Battle Ship could lie in safety.” To this covo the two thousand acres so adjoined that the programmo reprosented them s the sito of th great Morcantilo Metropolis of the Fu~ ure.” Samuel Cutts was too old a man, and bLad al- ready tested too critically Lisown powers in what the world calls “business,” by & ead satire, to give a great deal of faith to the promises of tho prospectun sa to_ the commercial prosperity of ipp's Cove. He had come out of tho Rovolu- tion a Brigadier Goneral, with sn honor- able record of servico; with rbeumatism which would nover bo cured, with a good deal of paper money which would never be redcemed, which the Continent and the Commonwealth had paid him for his sovon years, and without that place in the world of peaco’ which he had had when these_years began. The very severest trial of tho Revolution was to be found in thoe condition in which the_officers of the army was leftaftoritwas over. There wero men who had distinguished_thomselves in their profassion, and wio had done thoir vory bestto make that Jrofession unnecsssary in the fature. To go ack to their old callings was bard, Other men were in their places, and thero did not scem to be room for two. Under the wretched political eystem of the old Confederation, thero wes no_such rapid spring of tho material presperity of " the * cotntry s shonld d for them mnow fields in now _enter- rise. Peaco did anything-but lead in Plenty. ften indeed in Listory has Plenty been a littlo coy before she could be tempted, with her protty tender foot, to press tho stubble and tho nshes left by the havoc of War. And thus it was that General Cutts had roturned to his old Jove whom e had married in & leave of absence just befors Buoker Hill, and had bogun his new life with her in 0ld Newbury, in Messschusotts, at a time When there was litilo opening for him,—or for any man who had spezt teven years in learning how to do well what was never to be done again, And in doing what there was to do ho had not suggeeded. He had just squeezed pork and po- tafoes and Indian meal enough oat of s worn- out farm to keep Sybil, hin wife, end their growing _ family of clildren alivo. _ Ho onco or twice, gome up to Beston to find what chances might be open for him there. Bat, rlas! Boston was in a bad way, too, as well a8 Ssmuel Cutte. Onco he had joined some old boon companions, who Lad gore out to the Western Reservoin Northern Olio, to see what opening might be there. Buk the outlook scemo: favorable for carry- ing so far” overland, & delicato woman aad six lttle children into a wilder- uess, If he conld have scraped: together a little money, he eaid, he would buy = share in one of the ships he saw rotting in Toston or Salem, and try some foreign adven- ture. But, alas! the ships would not have been rotting had it been easy for any man to scrape 1ogether a littlo money to buy them. And so, yeur in and year out, Samuel Cutts and his wifo Greseed the childrén more and moro plainly, bought less sugar and ynoro_ molasses, brought down _ the family diet moro eirictly to pork and _beans, pea-soup, basty-pudding, and rye-and-Indian; and Sam- nel Cutts looked more and more sadly on tho PEgspect, beforo thoso bosa and girl, end the ife for which bo was training them. Do not think he was a p:ofligato, my dear couein Eunice, because ho had bought & lottery- ticket. DIlease to observe that to buy lottery- tickets was roproscnted to bo as much the duty _of gl good citizens, as it was proved to be, cleven years ago, your duty to mske Havelocks and to kuit stockings. Eamuel C““:} in the outset, had bought his lot- tery-tickot only “ to encournge tho others,” and 2o do his honorable sbare in paying tho war debt. Then, I must confess, he had thonght moro of the ticket than he had supposed bo would. The children had made a romance about it,—what they would do, and what they would mot_ do, if they drew_tho first rize. Samuel Cutts’ and Sybil Cutts themeelvos had got drawn into tho inter- est of the children, and many was the night when they had sat up, without any light but that of s pinc-torch, platning ont tho details of tho little colony they would form at the Enstward,—if—if only one of the ten great prizes should, by any marvel, fall to him. And now Tripp's Covo —which perhaps Lo had thought of ea much as ho bad thought of any of the tcn—had fallen to him. This was the_teason why ho showed £o much emo- tion, and why ho could hardly spesk, when ho re: the numbers. It was because that had come to him which represonted so complotely what he wanted, and yet which ho had not cven dared to pray for. If was so much moro than he expected,—it wes 4 dream of years, indcod, made truo. For Samuel Cutts had proved to him- eelf that Lo was & good eleader of men. He knew ho was, and many men know it ‘who had followed him under Carolina suns, and In the enows of Valley Forge. Samucl Cutts knew, cqually well, that ho was not & good makek of monoy, nor creator of pork nd pota- toes. Bix years of farming in the Valloy of tho Morrimao had proved that to him, if ho had pever learned that beforo. Ssmuel Cutte' dream had _been, when ho went sway to oxploro 'tho Western Resorve, that he would like to bring togother ome of the best lino oflicers_and some of the best privates of tho old ‘*Fighting Twonts- soventh,” and tako them, with his old provident skill, which had served them go well upon o many camping-grounds, to some region' where they could stapd by each other agsin, Bs ~they had stood by each other be- fore, snd where sky and earth would sield them moro than eky and heart have et vielded auy man in eastern Maseachusetts. Vel ! a8 I said, tho Western Reserve did not seem to be tho place. Afterall, “tho Fighting Twenty-seventh " wera not skilled in the tilling of tholand. Thoy furnished their quota when the boats wero to be drawn through the ice of tho Delaware, to sssist in Rall's Christmas party ot Trenton; and for many an embarkation at the ‘“head of EIk” bad tho * Fighting Twenty-seventh” provided half tho secamen for the transport. Itwas the “ Fighting Twenty- seventh” who cut out the * Princass Charlotte” catter in Edisto Bay. But the “Fighting Twendy-seventh had never, so faras any ono inow, beaten one sword into one plow-share, nor one spear into one pruning-hook. But Tripp's Cove secmed to offer adifferent prosyoct. Why not, with a doz.n or two of the oid set, eatablish there, not tho New Jerusalem, in- dead, but somothing s little more elustic, a litt'e jaore helpful, a Listlo more alive, than theso kiln- dried, sun-dried, and time-dried old towns of the seaboard of Makeachusotts? At any rate, they could live together in Tripp’s Covo, a8 thoy win- tered together at Valley Forgo, at Bennott’s Hollow, by tho Greon Licks, and in the Lykons Intorvale. This was the question which Samuel Cutis wanted to solvo, and which tho fatal figures 219-7 put him in tho way of colving. “Tripp's Covo is our Christmas present,” snid Sybil Cutts to her hueband, a8 they went to bed. But 60 far removed wero the habits of New England then from tho obsorvance of ec- clesiastical nnpiversarics, that no ono clse had remsmberad that day that it was Christmas which Was passing. CHAPTER 11, TRIFP'S COVE. Call this a long prefaco, if you please, but it scems to me best to tell this story 8o that I may explain what manner of Xuop'le those were and are who lived, live, and will live at Tripp's Cove,—and why they have been, are, and will bo linked togelher, with a sort of family tie and relationship which one does not often seo in the villages self-formed or formed at hap-hazard on tho sea-side, on the hill-side, or in tho prai- ries of America. Tripp's Cove mever became **tho Grest Mercantilo City of the Future," nor do I believe it ever will. But there Samuel Cutts lived in & happylife for fifty years,—and thero he died, houored, blessed, and loved. By and Dy thero camethe second war with England.—tho +“Endymion” came cruising along upon the const, and picking up iho fsbing-boats and the coastors, burning the ehips on tho stocks, or compelling tho owners to ransom them. Old General Cutts was 70 years old then; but ho was, a8 ho Lad always been, the bead of the sot- tlement at Tripp's,—and there was no lsck of men younger than he, the sorgeants or the high privates o% the ** Fighting Twenty-seventh,” who drilled tho boys of the villago for whatever ser- vice might impend. When tho boys went down to Runkin's and sent tho *‘Endymion’s” boats back to her with half their crews dead or dying, fastor than thoy camo, old General Cutts was with them, and took sight over his rifloas quick- ly and as bravely asthe best of them. And 60 twenty yours more passed on,—and, when he was well migh minety, the old man died full of years and full of blessings, all becauso be had Jaunched out for himself, loft the life ho was not fit for, and undertaken lifo in which he was at honte. Yes! and becauso of this also, whon 1861 camo with its terrible alarm to the whole country, and its call to duty, all Tripp's Cove was all Tight. Tho girls were eager for service, and the boys Sere cager for service. Tho girls stood by the boys, and the boys stood by the_girls, Tho husbands stood by tho wives, and the wives stood by the husbands. I do not mean that thero was not another community in which everybody was steadfast and true. But I do ‘mean that here was one_great family, althongh the census rated it as five-and-twenty families which had one heart and one 50 in the contest, and which went into it with one hoart and one &oul —overy man and cvery woman of thom all Dearing each other's burdens. Littlo Sim Cutts, who broko the silenco that night when tho postman threw dowa the Boston Gazette, was an old man of 85 when_they all_gob tho nows of the ehots at Fort Sumter, Tho old man was ss halo and hearty ss half tho men of 60 in this land_are lo-dsy. With all his hoart Le cncouraged the boys who volun- tocred in answer to the first call for rogiments from Maine. Then, with full relianco on the t:aditions of tho ! Fighting Twenty-soventh,” Lo explained to tho fishermen and the cosstors that uncle_Abraham would need them for his wob-footed service, us well as for his legions on the land. Aud they found out their wass to Portsmonth and to Chorleston, 80 that thoy might onter tho navy as their bLrothers entered tho army. And so it wes ihat, when Clristmes camo in 2861, thiore vas at Teipp's Cove only ono of that moblo set of soung follows who bitt 3 yoar be- foro was hauling bemlock, and spruce, and fir, ang pino, ot Christmas, st tho girls' ordor, and worked in tho meeling-house for two days as the gisls bade thom work, So tha, when Parson Spaulding came in to preach his Christmas sermon, ke thought the house was a Dbit of the woods them- solves. Only one! And who was he ? How did he dare stay among all those girls who were crying out their eyes, and sewing their fingers to tho bones,—meoting overy afternoon in one sitting-room or another, and devourin, every word that camo from the army ? Theyread tho worst-epelled letter that camoé home from Miko Sawin, and prized it, ond blessed it, and cried over it, s heartily es tlie noblest deacription of Lattlo that came from tho pen of Carleton or Swinton. Who was Lo ? Ah! Ihavo caught you, have I? That was Tom Cutts,—tho old General's great-grandson,— the very noblest and bravest of them all. He got ol first of all. Ho had the luck to be in Bull Run,—and to be cut off from his regiment. Ho had the luck to hide under s corn crib, and to come into Wash- ington whole, & week after tho regiment. He was tho first Map iu Maine, they ‘said, to enlist for the throc-years’ sorvice. Perhaps tho samo thing is said 0f many others. He Lad como home and raised & new company,—and he waa making thom fast into good soldiers, out bo- youd Fairfax Court House, so that the Briga- dier would do onytning Tom Cutts wanted. And when, on tho first of Decomber, there came up to the Major General command a request for leave of absonce from Tom Cutts, respectfully roferred to Colonel TThis, who had respectfully reforred it to General That, who had respectfully referred it to Adju- tant General T'other,—all theso dignitaries had respectfully recommended that the roquest be granted. For, oven in tho sncred purlieus of the top Msjor Genoral's headquarters, it was un- derstood that Cutts was going home for no less o purposo than tho being married to the prot- tiest and sweotest and best girl in Eastern Maine. Welll for my part I do not think that tho mds and their informants were in_the wrong about tis. Burely that Christmas Eve, as Laura Mar- ol stood up with Tom Cutts in front of Parson Sprulding, 1n presence of what there was left of tho Tripp's Cove community, I would have said that Laura was tho loveliost bride I over saw. She is tall; she isgraceful; sho has rather & startled look when you spesk to her, suddenly or ently, but tho startiod lonk just bewitches you, lack hair,—she got that from the Italian blood in her grandmothers family; oxquisite bluo eyes,—tliat i8 & charming _combinution with black hair; perfect tectlr, and matchless color; and sho had it il when sho was mar- ried ; sho was a blushing bride and not a faint~ ing one. But, thon, what stuff this is,—nobody Imew ho cared o straw for Laura's hair or her choek ; it was that she looked ** just lovely,” aud that she was ** just lovely,”—so self-forget- full in all bor ways, after that firat start,—so eager to know just whero sho could belp, and so dotormined to help just thero. Whyl she led all the girls in_tho vil- lagg when she was only 14, be- cauge they loved her 60, She was the ono who mado the rafts when thero was s freshet, and took them all out togother on the mill-pond. And, when the war came, she was, of courso, captain of tho girls' sewing,—sho packed tho cans of pickles and fruit for the Sanitary,—she corresponded with tho State Adjutant— Hesvens! from morning to night every- body in the village ran to Laura,— Dot becauso sho was the prottiest cresturo you ever looked upon, but because eho was the kindest, truest, most loyal, and most helpful creature that ever lived,—be tho same man or woman. Now had you rsther be named Laura Cutts or Lours Marvel? Marvel is 8 good name,—a weird, miraculous sort of name. Cutts is not much'of & name. But Laura had made up her mind to be Laura Cutts pafter Tom had asked her about _it,— and hero thoy are standing before dear old Par- son Speulding, to receivo his exhortation,—aud to bo mado ouo before God and man. Doar Laura! How sho had langhed with tho other girls. all in s good-natured way, at the 0od Parson’s exhortation to the young couples, nura hiod heard it twenty (imos,—for sho had “stood up” with twenty of tho girls who had dared the Enterprise of Life before her! Nay, Laura could repeat, with all the emphasis, the most pathetic psssago of the whole,—'* And abovo_all, my beloved young friends,—first of all and last of all,—lot ine_bescach_you, as you climb the hill of life together, hand with hand, and step with stop,—that you will look beyond tho crosts upon its summit to the eternal lights which blaze in tho infinito hesven of the Botter Land beyond.” Trwen- ty timos had Lsura heard this sassage,—noy, ten times, I am afraid, had she, in an honest and friondiy way, repeated it, un- der strict vows of sccrecy, to_the edification of circles of screaming girls. But now the dear child looked truly and loyally into the old man's face, a8 ho went on from word to word, and only thought of him, and how noble snd truo and pure he was—and of tho Groat Master whom ho representod thero; and it was just as real to her &nd to Tom Cutts that thoy must look into the Heaven of Heavens for life and strength, as Parson Spaulding wanted it to bo, When he Emyer] with all his heart, she prayed; what he oped, sho Loped; what he promised for her, she romised to the Father in Hoaven; and what he sskod her to promiso by word aloud, she promised loyally and eternally. An" Tom Cutts? He looked o Dandsomo in his uniforre, snd ho looked like tho man ho was. Aud in'thoso days, the uni- form, if it wore only a flannel fatigue-jack on 5 private’s back, was 88 beautiful as tho flag,— nothing more beantiful than either for eyes to look upon ; and when Parson Spaulding had eaid the benediction and the amen, and had kissed Lours, with her oyes full of tears, and 'when he had given Tom Cutts joy, when sl the people _camo up, in & double line, and they all Lissed Laura, and they shook hands with Tom 86 if they would shake his handa off, and, in the half-reticent methods of Tripp's Covo, overy lord and lady bright that wero in Moses Marvel's parlor, said + Honorod be the bravest knight, beloved tho fairest fair,” And thers was & bunch of Ilaurel hanging in the middlo of the the room, as make-beliove ‘mistletoe. And tho boys who could not mako believe even that they werg 18, 8o that thoy Lad been left at home would catch Phebe, and Sarali, and Mattie, snd Helen, when by accident thoy croseed under- neath ‘tho laurel, snd would kiss them, for all their ecreaming. And soon Moses Marvel brought in a waiter with wedding-cake, and Na- than Philbrick brought in & waiter with bride- cake, and_protty Mauttio Marvel brought in o waiter with carrant wise. _ And Tom Cutts gave every girl o piece of wedding-cake himself, and mads ber promise to sloep_on it. And, béfore they wero all gone, he end Laurs had becn mado to write names for the girls to_dresm upon, that the might draw their fortunes tho nest morning. _ And, before long, Moses Cutts Jed Mrs. BSpsulding out into the great family-room, and there was the real wedding-suppor. And, after _thoy Lad eaton the supper, Bengel's fiddle soundod in the parlor ; and they danced, and they waltzed ond they pollied, to their hearts’ content. And 60 they spent tho Christmas of 1861. Too bad, was notit? Tom's leave was only twenty days. It took him five to come ; it took five togo. After the wedding there wes but geven little days. And then he kissed doar Laura good-by, with tears run- ning from hiy eyes and hers; and ehe bogged him to be sure he should be all right ; and ho begged her to bo certain nothing “would Bappen to bim. And for mear two years they did not sce cach other’s facos again. CHAPTER ITL =) ANOTJIER CHRISTYAS, Christmas Eve again! Mosos Marvel has driven out his own bays, in his_own double _cutter, to mect the stage st Fordyce's. On tho back seat s Mattio Marvel with a rosy little baby all wrapped up in flannols nd in furs, who is the Little Tom Cutts _who hos never cen his own father. Whero is Laura ? “Hore sho comes| Lere the comes!” Sure enough; bero is the stage atlast, Job Stilea never Gwept around with & more kmowing sweep than this afterncon. And the cur- tains were up slready; snd there s Laura ; and therois Tom!|” Heis a pale, poor Tollow. But how pleasedhe is! Laura is our first, of course. And then she givos him her hand s0 tguntlv, and tho others all help., And hero i tho hero at Marvel's side; and ho is Dending over his baby, whom he dares not try to Lift with his one arm ; snd Mattic and old Moses Mervel are crying ; but everybody is s happy s a king, and everybody 6 talking at one fimo, and ail the combination has turned out well. Tom Cutts hadhad a hole made through his left thigh, o that they despaired of bis lifo, And, asho 1ay on tho ground, & bit of & shell had struck his left forearm, and knocked that to pieces. Tom Cutta had beon sent back to hospital at Wash- ington, and rcported by telegraph as mortally wounded. But, 2lmost a5 soon as Tom Cattsgot to the Lincoln Hospital himsclf, Laura Cutts_got there too, and then Tom did not moan to die if “he could help it, 2and Laura did not mean to have him. And the honest fellow held to his 050 in thst steadfast Cutts way. The blood tells, I ‘beliove; and love tells and will tells. How much love has to do with will! ‘“Ibelieve you are a witch, Mrs. Cutts,” the doctor used to eay to her. “Nothing but good happens to this good man of yours.” Bits of boue camo out just s they wero wanted to. Inflammation kept away just as it was told to do. And the two wounds Tan a race with each other in bealing after their fashion. *It will be a beautiful stump after all,” said the doctor, where poor Laura saw little beauty. But everything was beautiful to her when 8t last he told her that sho might wrap up her husband as well as_she knew how, and take him home and nurse him there. So she had tel- ograpled that thoy wero coming, snd._ that was the way in which it happened that her father and Ler sister bad brought out tho baby to meet them both at Fordyce's. Mattio’s surprise had worked perfectly. And now it was time for Laura’s surprise. Af- ter sho had Lier baby in ber own arms, and was on tho back seat of the sleigh; after Tom ,was well wrapped up by her side, with his well ‘arm just supporting iho littls fellow's head ; after Mattie was all tucked in by ber father, and Mr. Marvel himself had Jooked round to eay. *‘ All ready !” then was it that Jem Marvel first stopped out from the stage, and said, ‘‘Havn't you one word for me, Mattie?” ‘Thea Low they screamed again ; for overybody thought Jem was in tho West Indies. He was cruising there, on board the ** Gray-Wing," looking after block- aders who took tho Southern routo. Nobody dreamed of Jem’s being at Christmas. And here he had stumbled on Tom and Laura in the New Haven train a8 they came on! Jem had been sent to New York with a prize. He had got leave, and was on tho way to sce tho rest of them. He had bidden Lauranottosayone word; and 6o he had watched one greeting from tho _stage boforehe brokein to tako his part for another. 0! what an uproarious Christmas that was when they all camo home! No!—Tom Cutts ‘would not let one of them be said! Ho wasthe cheeriest of them all. He monopolized the baby, and showed immense pover in tho way of babyitalk and of touding. Lsura bhad oply to sit on the side of the room and be perfectly happy. It was very soon known what the arrivals wore. And Parson Spaulding came in and his wife., Of course, the Cuttses had been there already. Then every- body came, That is tbe simplest way of putting it. They sl would have beon wanted to com, because in that community there was not one erson who did not love Laura, and Tom, and om. But whether they would hayve como on the very first night, I am not sure. But this was Christmas Eve, and the girls were finiehing oft the meeting-house just s tho stago and the sleigh came in. And, in a minute, the nows was everywhere. And, of course, everybody felt ho might just_go in to get news from the fleot or thoarmy. Nor was thero one homestesd in Tripp's Cove which_was not more or less closcly represented in the fleet or army. So there was, really, as the eveming parted, a town-meet- ing in Moses Marvel's sitting-room and Tmor; and whether Moses Marvel were most pleased, or Mre, Marval, or Laura,—wko sat and beamed, —or old General Simeon Cutts, I am sure I do not know. That was indeed a merry Christmas! But after that I must own it was hard sled- ding for Tom Cutts and for pretty Laura. Ahero with one bluesleeve pinned neatly together, who, at the best, limps as he walks, quickens all your compatsion and gratitude,—yes. But Whon yon are selected & director of your lum- ber-works, or when you are sending to New York to buy goods, or when you are driving & line of railway through the wilderness, I am afraid you donot choose that heroto do your work for you. Or, if you do, you were not standing by when Tom Cutts was looking right and left for something to do, eo that hi wight ksep o wolf from the door. It was sadly like the life that his great-grandfather, Samuel Cutts, led at_the old farm in old Newbury after the old war. Tom Jost his place when he went to the front, and ho could pot find it again. Laura, sweot girl, nover complained,—no, nor Moses Marvel—he never complained, nor would he complain if Tom and lus wife and chil- dren has lived with him till doomsday. ‘‘ Good luck for us,” gaid Moses Mar.cl; and thoso wore many words for him to say in one sentence. But Tom was _proud, and it ground him tothe dust to bo cating Mones Marvel's bread when ho bad not earned it, and to have nothing but his Major's pension_to buy Laurs and the babies their clothes with, and to keop the pot a-boiling. Of course Jem joined the fleet again till the war was over. Then he came, snd came with prize-money. Ho and Tom had man: talks of going into business together \rizfi Tom’s brains and Jem's money. Lut nothing came of this. The land was no place for Jem. He was a regular Norseman, 88 are almost all of the Tripp's Cove boys, who have como from the loins of the fighting i'wenty-Soventh. Thoy sniff the tempest afar off; and whon they hear of Pucgec Sound, or of Alaska, or or Wilkes' Autarctic Continent, they fancy that they hear a vyoico from some long-lost Lome, from which they have strayed away. And so Laura knew, and Tom know, that any plans which rested on. Jem's staying ashore wero plaus which had_one false elemont in them. Tho raven would be calling him, and it might be best, onco for all, to: let him follow the raven till the raven called no more. ~ Bo Jem put his prize-monoy into & new bark which he found building at Bath; and they called the bark the Laurs; and Tom and Laura Cutts went to the launching; and Jom superin- ~ tended tho rigging bimself; and then ho took Tom a#d Laura and tho bbics with him to Now York, and s high time they had togother there. Tom ~ ssw many of the old army boys, and Laurs hunted up one or two old school trienda ; snd they saw Booth in Ingo, and screamed themselves hoarso at Niblo's, and henrd Formes in the German Opera; and they rode in the park, they browsed in the Astor, and went shopping at Stowart’s, and saw tho'pooplo paint porcelain ot Haugh~ wout's, and, by ©Mr, - Alden's kindnees, went through the wonders st Harper's; in short, for three weeks, all of which time they lived on board ship, thoy saw the lons of Now York as children ot tho publio do,—tor whom that great city decks itself and preparcs its wonders, albeit thoir existence is hardly known to its inhabitants. A Meanwhile, Jom had chartered the “Laura” for a voyago to San Francisco. And 8o, before long, her cargo began tocome op board, and she, and Tom, and the babies took a mouwrm- ful’ farowell, = and come back to Tripp's Cove_sgain, to_ Moses Marvel's house. And poor Tomn thonght it looked emaller than ever, and that he should find it harder than ever to sottle down to being of no use to anybody, and to eat Moses Marvel's bread,—without house, or barn, or bin, o oven, of board, or bed—oven the meatiest—of his own. Poor Tom! and this was the reward of being the first man in Maine to enter for ihree years ‘And then things went worse and worse. Moses Marvel was 25 good and ag taciturn 2 ever, But DMoses Marvel's affairs did not run sa smoothly ashe liked. Moses held on, upon ome year's cutting of lumber, perfectly détermined that lum- ber ghould rise because it ought to, and Moses id vory bigh ugury on the money ho borrowed, Bocanac o would hold o, Moses was set in his way, lize other persons whom you and I know ; and to this lumber ho held and held, till finally the bank would not renew his notes,—no, and they would not disconnt a cent for him at Ban- gor, and Moses came back from & long taciturn Journey ho had started on in search of money, and with only the certainty that he did mot mean to have the BSheriff sell his lum- ber, ho must eell it for himself, Nay! he 'must sell it before the fourth of the next month _and for cash, and ‘must sell at the very bottom of & long falling market! Poor Mosos Marvel ! That operation served to show that he joined all the Cutts’ want of luck with the Marvel obstinacy. Itwasa wretched twelve-month_the whole of it, and it ‘mado that household and made Tom Catts more migerable and more. Then they became snxious sbomt tho “Igura” snd Jem. She made almost a clipper voysge to California. She discharged her cargo in perfect order. Jem made a capital charter for Austrelia and England, and Imew that from England it would be easy to get 5 voyago home. Ho sailed from_California, and then the lottorsstopped. No! Laura dear, no need of reading s word of the ship-news in the Semi- Weekly Advertiser ; tho name of your namesakois not there, Eight, nine, ten_months havo gono by, and there is no part in Christen- dom which hss seen Jom's faco, or the * Lau- ra's"” private signal. Do not strain your cyes on the Semi- Weekly any more. No! dear Laura's eyes will be dimmed by oth- er cares than the ship news. Tom’s father, who had ehared Tom’s wretchedness, and would glad- Iy have had them at his house, but Moses Mar- vel's was the larger and tho less peopled of the two.—Tom's fathier was brought home speechless one day, by the men who had found him whete he had fallen on theosd, his yoke of oxen not far away, waiting for the voice which they were never to hear again. Whether ho had fallen from the cart in some lurch it made, and broken his spine, or whethor all this distress had brought on all of a sudden s stroke of paralysis, 80 that ho lost his consciousness before ho fell, I domotknow. Nor do I seo that it matters much, though the chimney corners of Tripp's Cove discuss the question quiet esgerly to this hour. Holsy there month after month, really unconscious. He smiled gently when the brougit him food. ~_Ho tried tossy * Th you,” they tbought, but he did not speak to the wife of his bosom, who had been tho Laura Marvel . of her, dsy, in any different way from tnat in which he tried to speak to any stranger of them all. Tiv- ing death he lay in, a3 those tedious months went by. Yot my dear Laura was as choorful, and hope- ful, and buosant as ever. Tom Cutts himself wab eshamed to brood when he got a sight of her. Mother Cutte herself would lie down and rost when Loura came down with the two chil- dren, a8 dho did every afternoon. Moses Mar- ol Mimselt wos less taciturn when Laurs put tho children, one &t one side, one - af ths other, of hia chair, at the tee-table. And in both of those broken households, from one cnd to the other, thew knew the magic of dear Luurs's spells. ~So that when this Caristmas came, after poor Mr, Cutts had been Iying useless g0 long, when dear Laura bade o ol tako hold aid £t up for the little onos, eud for tho Spuwulding children, and tho Marvel consins, and tho Hopkinses, and the Thips and Newmarch children, the first Christ- Tas tree that Lad ever beon gcen in tho Cove, obeyed her loyally, and without wendering. Thoy oboyed ber with her own_determination that they would have one merry Christmasmore. It scems strange to say that this wes suche novelty for all tho little oncs of the neighbor- hood. But 50 it was, & novelty toall the home- stayors, for all such fostivities are of recent importation in such regions. But there was something for every child. ‘Thoy heaped on moro wood, - and thoy kept & merry Christmas despite the storm without. This was Laurs's will, and Laura had her way. y And she had her roward. Job Stiles came round to the door when he had put up his horees, and called Tom out snd geve him o lettor which he bad brought from Ellsworth, And Tom read the letter, and he callod Laura to read it. And Laura left the children and sat at the kitchon (able with him and reed it, and said, “Thank God! this is o Christmas prasent in® ‘deod. Could anything in this world be batter 2” . Thie is the letter: Joux Wipame 1o Toxr CoTts. Dear Tox: I am just back from Waehington. I hove seen them all, and havo done my best, and have failed. They say, 2nd I believe, that tho Collectorship was promisedto Waters before the old man's death ; that Waters had honest claims,—bhe has but one leg, you know; and that it must gotohim. Asfor tho Surveyorsbip, the gift of that is with Plump- tre. And you know that I might as woll ask the Popo to give mo anything, 28 him. And, if ho hates snybody woree than me, why, it is your wifo's father. So I could do nothing there. Lot mo eay this, though it seoms nothing: If, while we are waiting to look around, you like to take tho Bell and Hammor Lighthouse, you may havo the place to-morrow. OF course I know it is exile in winter, but in summer it is lovely. You have your house, _your stores, two men under you §they are doublo lights), and a thousand doliars. 1have made them promise to give it to no one till thnfi hear from me. And, though Iknew you ought not take any suchplace, Icouldnof refuseit tillIlet you know. I eend this to Ellsworth for tho stage-driver to take, sud you must send your snawor by special messcnger, that I moy tele- graph to Washington at once. B T am very sorry, dear Tom, to have failed you 0. But I did my best, you know. Merry Chirist- mas to Laara and tho babies. Truly yours, “ Jomy WILDATE. “ PoRTLAND, Dec. 2, 1867.” v That was Lawa and Tom's Christmas An appointment as light-koeper, with & ayear! resent. ousand CHAPTER IV. THE BELL AND HAMMER. But, even if they had made Tom s turnpike- Xkoeper, thoy would not have made Laura a mis- snthrope. Ho, poor fellow, gladly accepted the appomtment. She, sweet creaturs, as gladly ac- copted her part of it. Early March saw them on tho Belland Hammer, April saw tho early flowers come, and May saw Lsura with hoth tho 'babics on the boach, laughing at them ps they wet their foct, digging holes in tho sand for them, and send- ing tho bigger boy to run and put salt upon the tails of tho poops as they ran along the shore. And Tom Cutts, when bus glass was cloan to Lia mind, and the rofloctors polished to meet even his criticism, would come down and hunt up Laurs and tho children. And, when sho bad put tho babies to slecp, 0ld Mipples—who was another of tho descondonts of the Fighting Twenty-sevouth "—would sy, ' Just you go out with tho Major, mum, and if they wake up, and I can't still them, I'll blow the horn.” Not that he evor did blow the horn. Al the more certain was Laura that she could tramp over the whole island with Tom Cutts, or she could sit and knit or sow, and Tom would read to her, and the days woro the happicst dsys of her married life, and brought back the old sunny days of the times bofors Fort Sumter again. Ah, mo! if such days of summer and such days of automa would 1ast forever. But they will not last forever. Novembor came, and the littlo colony went into winter- quartors. Decomber came, aud we woro all louble-banked with sea-weod. The stoves were got up in-doors. The double doors were put on outside, gnd we wero all ready for the Osprey. Tho Osprey was the Government etesmer vhich ‘was o bring up our supplies for the winter,—chiefly of colza oil,—and per- haps some coal. car. But the Osprey does not ap- Decomber is half gone, and no Oeprey. \o can put the stoves on shory allowance, bui | not our two lanterns. They will only run to the 818t of January, the nights are so lnrag. That is our condition when old Mipples, bringing back the mail, brings a letter from Doamn%o say that the Osprey has broken her main-shaft sud may not_be repaired before the 15th of January; that Mr. Catts will therefore, it he need ofl, tako an early o;?ox‘tnmty to sup- ply himsolt from tho light at Squires’, and that an order on the keeper at Squires’ ia euclosed. To biing & cask of oil from Squires’ is no diffi- onlt task to & Tripp's Cove man. It would be no easy one, dear reader, to you and me. Squires’ is on _the main-and, our nearest neighbor at the Ball and Hammer. Tom, waited day by day for a fino day,—wonld not have gone for his oil, indeed, the New Yoar came in, but that Jotham Fields, the othor assistant, came down with s fever turn wholly Dbeyond Laura's mnnai;ment, and she_begged Tom to take the first fine dsy to carry him to & doctor. To bring a doctor to him was out of the question. i ¢ And what will yo do? " eaid Tom. “Do? my dear boy, I will wait till you come home. Start any fine day after you have wound up the lights on the last beat, take poor Jotham to his mother's house, and, if you want, youmay bring back your oil. 1shall get along with the r_h:'.lds.ren very well, and I will have your dinmer hot when you come home." Tom doubted. But the mext day was worse. Mipples voted for carrying him sshore, and Laura had her way. The easier did sho have it, because the south wind blew softly, and it was clear to all men that the run could be made to Bquires’ in a short two hours. Tom finally agreed to start early the next morniog. He would not leave his sick man at his mothers, but &t Squires, and the peoplo thero could ~put him ‘home. The weather was perfect, and an hour beforo daylight they wero gono. They wero one,—all three had to go. Mipples could mot Banalo the bont alone, nor could Tom ; far less could one of them manage the boat, take the oil, and see to poor Jothsm also. Wise or not, this was the plan. An hour before daylight they were gone, half an hour after sunrise they Were' at the Squires’, But the sun hed risen red, and had plumped into a cloud. Beforo Jotham was carriod up the cliff, the wind was_northwest, and the air was white with snow. Yon could not sce the fore- mast of the boat from your sest in the stern sheets, the air was go white with snow. They carried Jotham wup. But they told John Wilkes, the keeper at Squires’, that thoy would come for tho oil another day. They hur- ried dovn the path to the bost again; pushod her off, and headed her to the westward, deter- mined not to lose & moment in beating back to tho Bell and Hammer. Who in tlre world conld have belisved that the wind would haul back so without sign of warning? : “ Will it hold up, S8imon 2" said Tom fo Mip- ples, wishing he might say something encourag- ing. gAnd all Simon Mipples could ssy was, God grent it may!” And Laura ssw the sun rise red and lowering. And Ladra went up into the tower next to the house, and_put out the light there. Then she left the children in their cribs, and charged the little boy not to leave till she came bui, and ran down to the door to go and pus out the oth- er light, and, as she opened it, the blinding snow dashed in her face ! She had not dreamed of enow before, Bub her waterproof was on, she pulled on her boots, ran_guickly along the path to the other light,—two hundred yards, perhaps,—climbed tho _stairway and ex- tingulshed that, and was at home again before the babies missed ber. For an hour or two Laura occupied herself with her household cares, and pretended to herself tuat sho thought that this was only & snow-flurry that would soon clear away. But, by the time it was 10 o'clock, she knoew it was a stiff northwester, and thst her husband and Mipples were caught on shore. Yes, and she was caught with her babies alone on the island. Wind almost dead shead to a boat from Bguires’, too, if that made any differ- ence. That crossed Laura’s mind. Still she would not brood. Nay, she did not brood, which was much better than saying she would not brood. It crossed her mind also thatit was the day before Christmas, and that the girls at Tripp's were dressing the meeting house for dear oll Parson Spaulding. And then there crossed her mind the doar old man's speech at 21l weddings, ** As you climb the hill of life to- gethor, my dear young friends !” and poor Laura, as sho kissed the baby once again, had courage to repeat it all aloud to her and Rer brother, to the inficite amazementof them both. They opened their great eyes to the widest, ac Laura did so. Nay, Lsura had the beart to take = hatchot and work out to leeward of the house, into s little hollow behind tka hill, and cub up & savin bush from the thicket, and bring that in, and work for an hour over the leaves, so 83 to make an evergroen festoon to hang over Gen- eral Cutts’ picture. Bhe did this that Tom might ses that she was not frightened, when ho got homo. “ When he got home!™ Poor girl, at the very bottom of her heart was coming the real anxioty, if he got home,” Laura knew Tom, of course, better than he knew himsolf, and know old Mipples, too. Bo_she knew, as well as she knew thai she was rubbing black-lead on the stove, whilo sho thought these things ovor,—she knew that they would not stay st Squires’_two minntes sfter they had landed Jotham Fields. She knew they would do just what they did—put to sen, though it blew guna, Nay, she knew that, when thoy put to ses, it did not blow guns, though now ‘the surf was running its worst over the Seal's Back. Bhe lknew, too, that, if they had not missed the island, they would have been here, at the Iatest, before 11 o'clock. And by the timo it was 1 o'clock, she could rio longer doubt that thoy had lost the island, and wera tacking about looking for it in the bay, if indeod, in that gale, they dared to tack st all. No! 'Laura knew only oo well that where they wero was beyond her guessing ; that only the good God knew, for that they, most 1ik, knew as little whero they were ns sho did. «'Come here, Tom, and let me tell onsstory. Onco there was a little boy, and he Enfl two kittens. And he named one kitten Buff,—aud he named ono kitten Baft— Whang! What was that? #Tom, darling, tako care of baby,—do not let er get out of hor cradle,—while mamma goes to the door.” Down etairs to the door. The gale bas doubled its raga. How ever did it get in behind the storm-door outside? That ““whang” was the blow with which tho door, wrenched off its hinges, was flung sgainst the side of the wood-house. Nothing can bo done, but to bolt tho storm door %o the other passage and bolt the outer window shutters, and then go back to the children. “ Once theso was a littlo boy, and he had two Xittens, and ho nemed one Minns, and one Breuds.” # No, mamma—no,—one Muff,—and ono—" “0Oh'l yes, my derling. Once thero was a lit- {lo boy and he had two kittens—and he nsmed one Buff, and ono Muff. And one day he went to walk—" y ‘Heavens, tho lanterns! Who waa to trim the lamps? Strange to eay,—becsuse this was wholly out of her daily routine,—the men always caring for it of course, Laura had had not onco thonght of it till now. And now it was after 1 oclock. And mow ehe did think of it, with a will. * Come, Tommy, come and help mamma.” And she bundled him upin his thicksst storm rig. - Como up into the lantern.” Here the boy had never come be- fore. He was never frightened when he was with her. Else ho might well have beon fright- ened, and ho was amazed there in the whiteness! drifts of white snow on the lee side and the wenther side, clouds of white snow on the southwest sides and porthenst sides—snow, Bnow everywhera, Nothing but whiteness, wherever he ~looked round. Loura made short shift of those wicks, which bad burned all through the night before. But she had them ready. She wound up the Carcels for their night’s work. Again and again she arew her oil, and filled up her reservoirs. And s she did so, aod old text came over her, and she wonder- ed whether _ Father Spaulding knew how good o text it would bo for Christmas. And tho fancy tonched her, poor child, and 83 she led little Tom down into the nursery again, she cowld not help opening into the Bible Parson Spanlding gave hor, and readin, “iBut the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarriea, they all slumbered and slept.” Denr Tommy, dear Tommy, my OWR d, we wil not slecp, will we? ¢ While the bridegroom tar- ried.” O! my dear Father in Hesven, lot him come] *And at midnight there was a cry made. Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him ! And she devoured little Tommy with kisses, and eried, ““We will go, my darling, we wi g0, if he comes at the firsi hour, or the Ecc- ond, or tho third. But now Tommy must come with mamma, ond make ready for his coming,” For there were the other lamps to trim in the other tower, with that heavy reach of snow between. And she did not dare leave the active boy alone in the house. Little_ Mattie could be caged in her crib, and, even if she woke, she would at best only cry. ‘But little Tom was irzepressikle. hold the bridegroom cometh.’” Laura fatrly ro- herself to kiss the door again, and cropt xound sgain iato the siorm was mist gatherin the stairway, and looked up on the steady light was ot my peoplo Terasl: almost shouted alond.—* Galilee of the Gentiles, the peoplo who sat in darkness saw & great shadow of death, light is sprung up.’ Grant it, children.” of her friengly«tower. tarnod in iLeir bed since she left them there. down her Bible and read the Christmas chapters, It was zs if she had never known befors what darkness was, or what the Light was when it came. long ago. Then sho took Bishop Ken'a Chris- tian Year, which Tom had given her for ber last birthday present, and set herself bravely to committing his “Christmas Day " to memory : thinking even of tuio wretched der lines, thon to_her own tower, and to look 6ut upon the night. Tho sister flame was steady. The wind way all hushod. But the snow was 83 steady, right and left, bohind and before. Down agnis, 8o she unbolted the lee door, and rushed out into the smow. Thea poor Laura, with the child, crept round into the storm. Heavens! how it raged and howled. Where was her poor bridegroom now? Bhe seized up Tom, andp turned her back to the wind, and rushed along eideway. Side- ‘way, the only way sho could go; step by step,— did 1t ever seem sv far beg)re? Tommy was crying. ‘One minute more, dear boy. Tom- my shsll see the other lantern. And Tommy shall carry mamma's great scissors up the stairs. Dou't ery, my dacling, don’t ory.” Hero is the door,—just as ehe began to won- dorif she wore_drosming crazy. * Up-a-day, my darling! Tp-a-day! One, two,—what & many steps for Tommy. That's my brave boy.” And they were on the lantern deck sgein, faitly rocking'in tho gale, aud Leura was chopping away on her stiff wicks, and pumping up her oil agsin,. and filling the receivers,—as if she had ever done it till ‘this Christmas Eve before. And she kept saying over to herself : h“’.l‘h,e.n those virgins arose and trimmed their mps.’ “And I will light them,” said she alond. ¢ That will save another walk at sundown. And I know theso Carcels run at least five houra.” So she struck a match, and with some little difficulty coaxed tho threads to take fire. The yellow light fiared luridly on the ‘white senow-flakes, and yet it dazzled her and Tommy as it flashed on them from the reflec~ tors. Y7l anybody seoit, mamma ?" said the child. “VVill paps seeit 2 And ‘just then the witching devil who man- ages the fibres of memory drew from the littls crypt in dear Laura’s brain, where they had keen stored unnoticed years upon years, four lines of Leigh _ Hunt's,~an ghe saw, poor girl, that she was Hero: Then, at the flame, a torch of pine sha lit, And, 0'cr her head anxiously holding it, ‘Ascended to the roof, and, leaning there, Lifted its light into the durksomeair, ‘ If only the devil would have been satisfled witn this. Botof course she conld not remem- ber that, without remembering Schiller : In the gale her torch is blasted, Beacon of the hoped-for strand ; Horror broods above the waters, ‘Horror broods above the land. And she said aloud. to the boy, *‘Our torch ehall mot_go out, Tommy; come down, come down, darling, with mamma.” Buot sll thrcagh the day after this, when they had struggled home, horrid lines from the same poem’ come back to her. did she ever learn it? Why, but because dear Turz gave her the book himself, and this was his own versiop, as he sent it to herfrom the camp in the valley. 44 Yes, * 1 e, although he perished, Still his sacred troth Lo cherished.’ # Why did Tom write it for me ? ¢ +And they trickle, L3htly playing O'er & corpse upon the sand.’ “YWhat s foollam! Come, Tommy; come, Mattie, my darling. Mamma will tell jou both a story. Tics there, was s little boy, aad he had two kittens. And he named one Buff and one Muff.” But this could not last forever. Bundown came. And then Laura and Tommy climbed to their tower, aud she lighted her own Iantern, as she called it. Sickly and sad through the storm she could seo the gister lsntern beaming _bravely. And that was all she could see in the sullen ‘whiteness. ‘‘Now, Tommy, my darling, we will come and have some supper, ‘And while the bridgegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept.’ *Yes, ’ is he, slthough he perished, ‘S b hocand trath ho cherisbed” - Come, Tommy,—come, Tommy,—come Tommy, —Ilet me tell you a story. i J And the children had their supper,—asking terrible questions about papa. Questions which who should snswer? But she could busy herself about giving them their oatmeal, and treating them to ginger-snaps, because it was Christmas Eve. Nay, sho kept her courage when Tommy asked if Banta Claus would come in the boat with papa. _She faurly loitered over the undress- ing them. Little witches,—how protty they were in their lannel night-gowns. And Tommy kissed her, and gave her—ah me I—one more Lkiss for paps. And in two minutes they were aslecp. It would have been better if L\.\fiy could bave kept awake one minute longer! Now she was really alone. And very soon 7 o'clock has come. She does not dare leave the clock-work at the outer lantern a minute longer. Tomand Mipples wind the works every four hours, and now they have run five. One more look at her darlings Bhall we ever see them again in this world? Now to the duty next her hand ! Yes, the wind is as fierce as ever! A point more to the north, Laura notices. She has no child to carry now. She tumbles once in the drift. But Loura has rolled in enow befora. The pile at the door is three feet thick. Put she works down to the latch, and soon her poor numb hand conquersit, and it gives way. How nice and warm the tower is. _And how well tho lights burn ! Can they be of any use this night toauybody? *O, my God, grant that they be of ase to him 1" She has wound them now. Bhe basfloundered into the snow again. Two or three falla on her way home, but no dangor that she loses tho line of mmarch. The light above her own house is before her, fo she has only to aim st that. Home again. And now to wait for five hours, and then to wind that light again ‘—at midnight!! 4 And at midnight there was_ a cry made —O deul'! if he would come, I would not ask for any oo And Laurs got down her choice inlaid box, that Jem brought her from ses, and which held her tressures of {reasures. Aund the dear girl did the bost thing she could have done. 8he took these treasures out. You know what they were, do not you? They were every letter Tom Cutts ever wrote to her, from the first boy-note in print,—* Laura, theso hedgehog. ?ius are for you. I kilied him. TOM."” And Laura opened them all, and read them ome by one, each twico, and pnt them ‘back, in theirorder, without folding, into the box. At ton she stopped, and worked her way up-stairs into her own lantern, and wound its works agam. Bhe tried to persuade herself that hore was less wind,—did persuade herself so. But the snow was a8 steady as ever. Down the tower stairs again, and then & few blessed min- ates brooding over Mattie's crib, and dear little Tom, who has kicked himself right athwart her own bed, where she had lsid him. Darlings they are 8o lovely, their father must come home to see them, Back then to her kitchen fire. There are more of dear Tom's letters yet. How ‘manly they are,—and how womanly. = She will read them'all]” Will she ever dare to read them all again ? Yes, sho reads them all, each one_twice over, and his soldier diary, which Jobn Wildair saved and sent home. And as ehe lays it dowm, her clock strikes twelve. Christmas day is born! “ And at midnight thero was a cry made, *Be- peated this aloud. Bhe knew that tho ~ther Car~ cel must be wound agsin. She dresscd herself for tho fight thomn"iuhlg} Bhe ran in aud trusted 0 en. She opened the lco ar now with such adventure. Did the surf beat as fiercoly on the rocks? Surely not. But then the tide 18 now go low! Soshe came toher other tower, crept_ up and wonnd her clock-work up _again, wiped off—or trfed to wipe off—what she thought on the glasses, groped down above_her own homo, and the came back to her. “The _star went before them, and csme and stood above tho place where the young child Christmas texts “ A light tolighten the Gentiles, and the glory y the way of the sea,'—and this Laura light ; and to them who 6at in thé region and mersiful Father—grant it {0 theso pook And she slmost ran _through the heavy drifts, till she found the shelter again Her darlings had not And, after this, Laura was at rest. She took She took her hymn-book and read all the Christmss hymns. Sho took her Keblo and read every poem for Advent, snd the hymn for Christmas morning. Sko knew this by heart Colestinl harps prepare . ‘To sound your loftiest air, ¥e choral angel at the throne, Your customary hymns postpone, And thus, doar girl, sho kept herself from ; oro and Lean- till her clock struck three, Up-stairs one more look at the arlings, an on, 88 ghe walked wup and down ber little Litchen, she repcated the verses she had learned. And then gat down to You with your heavenly ray You with your heavenly ray Gild—the expanse—this day; You—with—your—hesvenly—rsy. Dear. Lmumi bless God,—she is asleep. & giveth Hin boloved sleep.” de Her head isthrown back onthe projecting wing of grandmamma’s tall easy-chair ; her arma are resting relaxed on its comfortable arms ; her lips just open with a smile, as she dresms of something “in the kingdom of God’s heaven; when, a8 the day just begins to grow gray, Tom, white with snow to his. middle, bolding the boat’s lantern before him as he steals into her kitchen, crosses the room, and looks down on her; what a shame to wake her,—bends down zud kisses her! Dear child! How she started. ‘At mid- night there was a cry made. Behold! the bride- gcmam?cameth’—why, Tom! O my darling, is it you?” “Have I been ssleep on duty:” This was ber first word when she came fairly to herself. “ Guess not,” eaid old Mipples ; ** both lights was burning when I come in. Most time to ut 'em out Major. * Keepors must be diligent Bave oil by reasonable prevision!’” ‘‘Is the north light burning " And she looked guiltily at her tell-tale clock. “* Dearest,” gaid Tom, reverently, * if it were Dot burning, we should not be here.” Laura “took her busband to seo the babiea. Bhe was not willing to let his hand leavo hers, nor he, indeed, to let hers leave his. 0ld Mipples thought himselt one too many, and went away, wiping his eyes, to_the other light. *Time to extinguish it,” he said. But before Tom and Laura had kmown he was gone,—say in half an hour, that is,—he was back again, he was hailing them from below. “3Major| Major! Major! An English steamer is at anchor in the cove,—and is eend- mfi'her boat ashore.” ‘om and Laura rushed to the window. Tha snow was all over now, and they could eee tho monster lying within balf a mile. “Whera would they be, DMiss Catts, if somebody bad not “wound up the lamps at mug- night? Guess they eaid Merry Christmas, when they eee 'em!” And Laura held her breath ‘when ghe thought what might have been. Tom and Mipples ran down tothe beach to hail them, and direct the landing. Tom and Mipples shoot the hand of each man ashe came ashore, aad then Laura could see them hurrying to the housa together. Steps on the landing, steps on tha stairway,—the door is open, and not Tom this time, bat her dear lost brother Jem,in tha flesh, and in & heavy pea-coat! Merry Christmss, Laura!” Tanra,” said Jem, as thoy sst_af their Christ- mas dinner, * what do you think I thought of firat, when I beard tho cable run out so like blazes, when I rushed np aad raw your yellow Isterns thore 2" “How should I know, Jem ?” «They that dwell in the ehadows of death, upon them the light hath shimed.” But 1 did not think it was you, Laura.” ‘Nore.—The act of solemn duty hers recorded is no matter.of imagination. I have only tried to descriva what & brave New Englsad woman really did, under the circumstances in which Laurs found herself, —0ld and New. —_— SONG OF THE MYSTIC. o following lines wero penned by Father Ryan, e thon of Sany. ehetca homms, wha Is Sfien caned “Tho Poot-Priest Soldier ™ of the South.] I walk down the Valey of Silence, Down the dim, voiceless valley—alonsT And I hear not the fall of a footstep Around me—aave God’s and my own § And the hush of my heart is as holy As hovers whers Angels have fown. Long 330 was I weary of voices Whose music my Leart could not Wiz Long ago I was weary of noises That fretted my soul with their ding Long ago was I weary of places Where I met but the Human, and Stz Qild the expanse this day; X walked thro’ the world with the worldly § I craved what the world uever gave ; AndIsaid: “In the world, each ldeal, That shines like a star on [ife's wave, s toned on the shores of the Real, 'And lecps like a dream in 3 grave.” And atill a1d I pine for the Perfect, And still found the False with the True Tsought *mid the Humen for Heaven, But caught a mere glimpse of its blue; And I wept when the clouds of the Morfal Veiled even that glimpse from my VieW. And 1 tolled on, heart-tired of the Human 3 Aud I moaned 'mid the mazes of mex; Till I knelt lon an altar oice call me ; since then I walk down the Valley of Silence Tt lies far beyond mortal ken. Do you nek what I found in the valley 2 7Tis my trysting-place with the diving ;. And I fell at the feet of the Holy, And about me a voice said : ** Be Mine!” And then rose from tho depths of my syirit Anecho: “ Ny heart shall be thige,” Do you sek how I live in the Valley ? 1 weep, and I dream, sud I pray Bitt my tears are as sweel 28 the dew-Arops ‘That fail on the roses in May ; And my prayer, like a perfunie from censer, ‘Ascendeth to Gud, night and day. In the hush of the Valley of Silence, 1 dream all the songs that Lsing 5 And the rausic floats down the dim ‘valley, Till each finds & word for a wing, Thys to men, like the doves of ths Dalnga The meseage of Peace they may bring, But far on the deep there are billows ‘That never shall break o the beach ; And I have hieard sougs in the silence ‘Tuat never shall fluat into speech 3 And T bave had dresms in the Valley ‘Too lofty for language to resch. And T have seen thoughts in the Valley— me: how my spirit was stirred ! And they wear holy veils on their faces,— Their footsteps can scarcely be heard ; Thry pass through the Valley, lito Virgizs T0o pure for the touch of 3 word. Do you ask me the place of the Valley, Ye bearts thut aro harrowed by care 2 It lioth afar between mountains, 'And God and His Angels are there ; And one 35 the dark mount of Sarrow, 4-0d one the bright mountain of Prayer. What Buried Merculancum. What was the fate of Herculancum during the eruption of A. D. 797 What special phenomeca were displayed on that sido of Vesuvias 2 What causes buried a flonrishiug city in an instant ous of sight of the inhabited world? It has been proved that Pomperi suffered an_interment so incomplate that, after s few days, its inhabitants could recognize their dwellings, could cemp’ above and clear them out. Herculaneum, on tha contrary, was buried 50 deep that the next day it was impossible to trace s vestige of it. Theready answer ¢o all thess Jquestions usually is, “Iawa worked all tho ruin. Hercolaneum was swallowed up under eighé jeet of lava. If works of art, bronzes, and pictures have bees mirsculously preserved. it was duo to the impen- Sirable shisli of lars, yielding only to o ting tool, that protected them iron: the ravas of time.” The explanation is tempting. Fa ictures waves of firo rolling upon the city, Iis- ing liko the tidal swoll. surging jn throunch doors and windows, sweeping around and_mold- ing everything, then slowly cooling, sud pre- serving for posterity treasnres that labor must g.nveél’. repaid by their recovery in ed eanty. his is really the opinion that all Enrope holds, and even at Naples almost all visitors of Horcu- laneum declare that they have touched the lava with their own hsnds ; and, in books written on the Vesuvian cities, more than one traveller affirms ac positively that the difficulty of cutticg the lava presents the chief obstacle to the dis- interment of Herculanenm. How can ons venture to meet such convictions by asserting that water, not fire, overwhelmed Herculaneum: tha it was Dot a torrent of glowing lavs, but 8 flood of mud and wet ashes that filled the city ? How uproot a prepossession so deep that works of geologists and savants have failed to shake it? Dalronoy proved that water alone ewept over Herculaueum heaps of scoria_atd umice crumbled from La Somma ; Dyer, Ov beck, Emnat Breton, and others hava il in various languages, to no other purpose, t! nothing but ashes, wet to paste and hardened by pressure, covered over Herculaneum; uo one heeded them, and the blame coutinues to be thrown on thd lava, which makes exca: tions 8o costly and laborious.—Popular Sciie? 2onthly. —_— Ten Thousand Dollars? ¥worth of Pice tures of Yale Students. From the New Haren Journal, Dr The annual photographic epidemic lege ceased with the completion of th:e hes raged foarfully this year. Few well-favored young students have e The seniors have suffered from it univ and, porbaps, unprecedentedly. What of vanity follows the statament of e [ the etudents of Yalo have purchased pivtt thomselves during tho last moath at a price t: will amount in the aggregate to S10,0007 Tha consummate skill of the artist iy tho excuss made for prodigality in this direction. At luast, one of the College papers [elass pictures are t00 good to be true this year.” —_— —4 How greedy yon are!" enid one little £int to another, who had taken the bestapple i tho digh, *“I was going to tako that,”