Roe_Jest_to_Earnest.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
" he exclaimed; and, springing up, he
exercised them to a degree that almost took away her breath.
", behave yourself," she said. " idea of one who had plumed
himself on his heroic self-sacrifice acting so like an ordinary
mortal! have had more kisses now than you ought in a week.
we are to be so poor, we ought to begin practising economy at once."
" are the most beautiful and spicy compound that nature ever
fashioned," he exultingly replied, holding her off, devouring her
with his eyes. " plainly foresee that you can fill the poorest
little home with light and music."
", warn you, before it's too late, that can never become a
solemn, ghostly sort of a missionary."
", it's too late now, assure you," he said: "my mind is made
up."
" is mine,--that you shall take a long nap, while mount guard."
", indeed!" he said, indignantly. " the gates of pearl bang
after one with their musical clangor, and shut out forever the misery
of earth, will one's first impulse on the threshold of heaven be
to take a nap?"
" extravagant language! ministers talk much too familiarly
of heaven, and such things."
", indeed, , dear! the more familiar the thought of heaven
is to us, the better. shall have a good home there, if a very
humble one here. do you realize how much you are giving up?"
"," she said, ruefully, "the worst heartache ever had.
don't believe you felt half so badly as did."
" when the hard and prosaic life comes, with its daily cares
and weary burdens, are you sure that you will not regret your
action?--are you sure that you will not wish yourself again the
queenly belle, with the world at your feet?"
" with right claims the higher rank," answered, her
lovely face growing noble with her thought,--"a queenly belle with
a false, selfish heart, or a woman? what is that
world which you say is at my feet? is it to-night? was
it when the tempest made it doubtful whether we should ever see this
new year? am in the solemn midnight, and upon this desolate
mountain. is not the softness of a summer night to which we are
exposed; it is midwinter. yet am certain that there is not a
queen on the earth as happy as am. what part has that world
to which you refer had in making me happy? knew there was danger
last night. had read of people perishing in the snow almost at
their own doors. think realized that death might be near, but
my heart was so light and happy in the consciousness of your love
and 's love, that could look at the grim old fellow, and
laugh in his face. suppose that had had nothing better then
to think of than this vague world, about which you are making so
much ado? before, when the world was at my feet, as you term
it, faced a sudden danger in your company. to 's mercy
and your skill and strength, we were not dashed down into that ravine
when the horses ran away. did the world do for me then?
it throw a ray of light into that black gulf of death, which yawned
on every side? , thank ," she said with passionate earnestness,
"that was not sent out of life that night, a shivering ghost, a
homeless wanderer forever! what could the world do to prevent
it? know all about that glittering world, , to gain which
so many are staking their all, and know it's more of a phantom
than a reality. flattered me, excited and intoxicated me, but
it never made me one-hundredth part as happy as am tonight.
when thought had lost your respect and your love, no more
thought of turning to the world for solace and happiness, than
would look in a coal-bin for diamonds. knew all about the world,
and in the depths of my soul realized that it was a sham. far
away it is to-night, with these solemn mountains rising all around
us; and yet how near seem and heaven, and how sweet and satisfying
the hopes they impart! have thought it all out, . time
is coming when illness or age, mortal pain and weakness, will shut
me away, like these dark, wintry hills, even from your love,--much
more from the uncaring, heartless world; but something in my heart
tells me that my , who wept for sympathy when no one else
would weep, will be my strong, faithful friend through it all, and
not for all the worlds glittering there in yonder sky, much less
for ray poor little gilt and tinsel world in , will give
up this assurance."
" am satisfied," said , in a tone of deep content; "
wills it."
sat for a long time without speaking, in the unison of feeling
that needed no words.
last, in sudden transition to one of her mirthful, piquant
expressions, turned to her companion and said: ", you
are on the mountain-top of exalted thought and sentiment: face
is as rapt as if you saw a vision."
" you wonder?"
", 'm going to give you an awful tumble,--worse than the one
you feared last night when the sleigh tipped. 'm hungry as any
wolf that ever howled in these mountains."
" a comparison!" said the student, laughing heartily. ,
his face becoming all solicitude, he queried, " shall do?"
and he was about to rise with the impression that he ought to do
something.
" as bid you, of course; sit still while tell you what shall
do. shall patiently endure this aching void, as trust shall
the other inevitable ills of our lot. could be more appropriate
than this prelude of hunger in one proposing to marry a home
missionary?"
an odd blending of delight and sympathy in his face,
exclaimed: "! have received more compliments than you
could count in a year, but am going to give you one different
from any that you ever had before. 's not even a trace of
morbidness in your nature."
, in playful and serious talk, they passed the hours until
the snow-clad mountains were sparkling in the rising sun.
placed upon 's hand a plain seal-ring that had been his
father's, but she covered it with her glove, not wishing the fact
of her engagement to transpire until they should reach home.
last the others awoke, and what they had passed through seemed
like a grotesque, horrible dream. looked suspiciously
at and , but could gather nothing from their quiet
bearing towards each other.
in the day relief reached them, and by the middle of the
forenoon they were doing ample justice to . 's sumptuous
breakfast.
the telltale ring on 's finger revealed the secret, and
there was consternation. poor was so outrageously
hungry that he had to eat even in this most trying emergency.
yet he had a painful sense that it was not the proper thing to do
under the circumstances, and so was exceedingly awkward, for once
in his life.
. chuckled all that with "unbecoming levity,"
his sister said.
, poor woman, had lost all confidence in herself as a good manager.
her bosom indignation at her nephew and contended with
the dread of . 's reproaches.
tried to think that it was not her fault, and did not
much care.
holiday visit came to an end. months sped away. 's
purpose was severely tested. possible motive, reason, and
argument was brought to bear upon the brave girl. than all,
she had to endure the cold, averted looks of those she fondly
loved. pleaded her own cause eloquently. frequently quoted
her friend's example, who was about to marry the army officer.
" that is very different," they said.
once she lost her temper. was a sort of family conclave
of aunts and relatives, and they had beset her sorely. last she
turned upon them suddenly, and asked:
" you ? you believe there is a ?"
", certainly. you think we are heathen?"
" talk, then, like heathen, and act like infidels? it's the
thing in the fashionable world to marry a trusted servant of a human
government, how much better must it be to marry a servant of the
of ! honor my friend because she marries the man she
loves, and shall marry the one love. am of age-- have chosen
my lot. my words! you will yet be proud of the one whom you
now so despise; while the one you wish me to marry will cover his
own and the names of all connected with him with shame"; and she
left them to recover from this bombshell of truth, as best they
might.
the patient gentleness which she usually manifested at length
won even their obdurate hearts. father was the first to relent,
and was finally brought, by 's irresistible witchery, quite
over on her side. , in her mother's case, there was only partial
resignation to a great but inevitable misfortune. . was
a sincere idolater of the world for which she lived.
, had a stanch ally, and a sympathizing and
comforting helper.
the postman, who brought, with increasing frequency, letters
that were big and heavy, like the writer, was the man whom
most doted on in all the city.
the whole energy of her forceful, practical nature, she trained
herself for her work, as was training himself for his.
when, a year later, she gave him her hand at the sacred altar, it
was not a helpless hand.
have passed. . and . are the chief social,
refining, and influences of a growing town.
have the confidence and sympathy of the entire community, and
are people of such force that they make themselves felt in every
department of life. are shaping and ennobling many characters,
and few days pass in which does not lay up in memory some
good deed, though she never stops to count her hoard. , in
gladness, she will learn in 's good time that such deeds are
the riches that have no wings.
made good her warning, and never became a "solemn, ghostly sort
of a missionary." was usually as wholesome as the sunshine, or if
the occasion required, as a stiff north wind, and had a pronounced
little way of her own, when things went wrong at home or in
the church, of giving all concerned the benefit of some practical
common sense. she also, in the main, kept her pledge to endure
patiently, as she had borne her hunger on the mountain, and many
privations and trials of their lot.
she sustained her husband's hands and doubled his usefulness
abroad, he generally found at home a sunny philosopher who laughed
him out of half his troubles.
increasing frequency he said, ", you are so wholesome;
there is not a morbid, unnatural trait in you."
she inspired him to preach such a wholesome, sunny that
it won even the most prejudiced.
evening, a feeble, aged man stepped down from the train, and
was borne off in triumph by to the warmest corner of his
hearth.
gave him such a welcome that the old gentleman cried out:
" on. goodness gracious! haven't you sobered down yet?"
, while stood near, with his hand upon her shoulder,
looking as proud of her as a man could be, and with just such a
black-eyed cherub in her arms as she must have been herself twenty
odd years before, her face aglow with health, happiness, and content,
she asked, ", uncle, what do you think of your meddling now?"
. went off into one of his old-time chuckles, as he said,
" is one of the things which the world never can 'stop.'"