Madeline Leslie

“ Upon her recovery, she it was who arranged the small cottage to which the widow had decided to remove; who prepared the elegant furniture for sale; who bent her own shoulders to bear the burden which would have fallen too heavily upon the new-made widow. Nor was it until every arrangement had been satisfactorily completed that she would leave one who confessed, with tears, that she owed her more than her life; and this was the blessed hope of once more meeting her husband, in that world where there is no sorrow nor parting. ”

“ It is evident that company is expected. In a spacious parlor on the right of the hall stands a fine, noble-looking man, in whom it would be difficult to recognize our young favorite, Harrison Danforth. Yet, when he turns to the lady on his left, with a smile, we see that his mouth has lost none of its sweetness, though the predominent expression is firmness. In his whole character and bearing, he exemplifies the text which so animated him in his youth, "Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men." ”

“ But Hannah, who had always supposed Ella to be the only child, absolutely refused. "It's imposing upon, ma'am, he is. Sure and the likes of ye could never have so awful a cratur to call ye kin, let alone saying he's your son." Mrs. Haven arose from the couch upon which she had helplessly sunk, and walking feebly to the door, drew the bolt, and admitted her wayward boy. Ella covered her face with her hands and sobbed aloud.
"Pretty welcome for a fellow who has been gone two years, I'm thinking," muttered Alfred. "Ella, do hold your tongue; what are you making such a great baby of yourself for?" ”

“ Ella tried her utmost to persuade him to confide his griefs to her, but in vain; he smiled sadly, but shook his head.
It was indeed true that sorrow and anxiety had entered the abode of Mr. Danforth. Since his employment in the saloon he was often out a great part of the night; sometimes not returning home for days together. When he did so, his whole character seemed so much changed for the worse that his poor wife could take no comfort in his society. ”

“ MRS. HAVEN'S entreaties prevailed so far that her humble friend remained at the cottage a week longer, while Harrison ran all over the city, answering advertisements and looking about for a place. Every morning he arose sanguine of success; and every evening he reached the cottage, to report his entire failure.
Poor fellow! his faith almost failed. At the week's end he was quite discouraged, because there seemed nothing further for him to do.
"Never despair!" said his mother. "If you cannot do one thing you can do another." ”

“ Oh! how many times my good father repeated to me the words of Solomon, 'The slothful shall be under tribute': 'The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat': 'But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel': 'This we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat': 'Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger': 'He that is slothful in his work, is brother to him that is a great waster.' ”

“ Many times in the course of the next week did the words of Harrison, so long forgotten, come to his mind, "the wages of sin is death." Many times he thought he should starve, and probably would have done so had it not been for the kindness of sailors whom he accidentally met.
One day when he was so extremely reduced by want that he could scarcely stand, he tried to crawl along toward the port of Calcutta, and endeavor to find a vessel ready to sail for America. "I may as well die in one place as another," he said to himself, "and I shall certainly die if I remain here." ”

“ Danforth wore in his presence a cheerful face, though it often concealed an aching heart, sore with its secret griefs.
"I wish we lived in the country, mother," exclaimed Harrison one evening.
"Why! my dear, those were just my thoughts at that moment; but perhaps sorrow would follow us even there."
"We might have a little farm. Wouldn't that be nice? I don't think there are any oyster saloons in the country, mother."
"Perhaps not, dear; but those who are disposed to run into temptation, will find danger lurking everywhere." ”

“ You will see now, my dear son, why I have been so earnest to have you establish in early life a habit of industry, and to cultivate a taste for daily, honest labor. No matter what employment you have, if it is honorable employment. ”

“ The young clerk gave a scream of joy, exclaiming, "Just what I have always longed for!" Ella jumped up and down and clapped her hands. Mrs. Haven smiled complacently: it was what she had fancied; while the happy mother gazed in unaffected surprise.
On the back of the watch, in the small circlet forming the centre, were the initials, L. F. K. to H. D.
The beautiful trinket was then passed around the group, and commented upon according to the different views of each. ”

“ Harrison held up his head, and gave one lightning glance of indignation into the face of the ill-natured boy. There was truth, honesty, and wounded feeling in the expressive countenance; and both Mr. and Mrs. Haven grew every moment more interested in the young lad.
"You have a good mother, I know," added the gentleman, in whose mind arose a suspicion of the truth. "Ella has told us about her, and so Mrs. Haven has prepared a present for her."
The little girl brought carefully on her outstretched hand, from the next room, a neat bonnet, tastefully trimmed.
"Thank you, oh, thank you, ma'am!" ”

“ Cowles, one daughter, and two sons. They were members of the same church as Mrs. Danforth, and their children, though brought up in the city and surrounded by all the temptations to vice which proved so fatal to many of their companions, still retained the purity and freshness commonly considered the characteristics of rural life. It had been the great desire of Mr. and Mrs. Cowles to render their home so attractive that their children would prefer it, after the labors of the day had ended, to a stroll through the brilliantly-lighted streets, or a lounge in some popular saloon. ”

“ The captain encouraged him to learn all that he could from the helmsman, and notice particularly the seamen in their work of mending the rigging, with the hope of promotion if he did well.
But all this time the wicked boy did not for a moment intend to return with the Dolphin, or even to go another voyage in any vessel. He fancied if he could but once be on shore, he should be able to find some employment far more congenial to his tastes; or rather that, in some unexplained way, he should be able to live without working at all. ”

“ Before the close of the day, she found a sympathizing friend and adviser in Mr. Cowles, who readily accompanied her to the prisoner, to make one more appeal to him to abandon his evil ways.
This effort, like the preceding ones of Mr. Greyson and Captain Monroe, proved wholly unavailing. Indeed, he seemed determined to render himself as loathsome to his mother as possible. She plead with him by the memory of his father, by the compassionate love of the Saviour, who (vile as he was) would pardon and sanctify him. But he laughed her to scorn. ”

“ They then proceeded to the store of a merchant tailor, where Ella gravely gave her opinion as to the fit of coats, and also as to the comparative beauty of different patterns of cravats,—the young clerk being delighted to see that, with additional experience and advance in age, her taste had improved, so that no longer as formerly did she choose the most showy colors. ”

“ We had been attached to each other about a year, I thinking of nothing but the easy good nature and the handsome appearance of my lover; but my parents had always opposed our being engaged. They said, again and again, that a man who had never learned to work, who had no habits of steady, daily toil, could not expect the blessing of heaven; that he lived in constant violation of one of God's first commands to man, 'By the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread'; that the Bible was full of denunciations against the slothful and the sluggard. ”

“ Lately," he added, sinking his voice to a deeper tone, "I have begun in earnest to pray for myself. I have often asked myself, What have I in my own heart to keep me from being such a villain as Mr. Grant? O, mother! I wish that I were really good. I want to feel, as you do, that God is my friend."
Mrs. Danforth could not answer for her tears. At length, by a great effort calming herself, she said, "He is ready, my son. The Saviour waits to be gracious. Open your heart to the influences of the Spirit. Give up trying to win heaven by your own merits ”

“ Many and many a time did she split and pile the wood her husband supposed had been done by his son, while he passed the hours in idleness or in play. As he grew up, and this could no longer be concealed from his father, he complained of want of strength to do hard work, and begged to be placed in a store in the village. Here he prided himself upon being dressed better than any boy in town; and his frank, handsome face and funny jokes caused him to be liked by all. In this business he might have succeeded, for he was acknowledged to be a good salesman; but soon he grew tired of the confinement ”

“ Danforth should retain her room at Mr. Cowles's, together with a small one in the rear, which they had kindly agreed to give her, and that Harrison should endeavor to find a place in a store. Mrs. Haven really urged the widow to remain with her until her health rendered her able to work at her old employment, and Ella added her earnest entreaties; but she was firm. If it was absolutely necessary, she said, she would not resist their kindness; but she still had a small sum left untouched; and while it was in her power she preferred to be independent. ”

“ CHAPTER III. THE NEW BONNET. "He that loveth pleasure, shall be a poor man."
"MAMMA," asked Ella Haven, after breakfast the next morning, "will you please let me work. I want to help Bridget make the beds, or do something."
"Nonsense, child! play with your baby-house, and make the beds in that if you please." Turning to her husband, she asked, with a laugh, "What idea do you suppose the child has now?"
"Do please let me, mamma! The boy down stairs told me his sister worked, and that the Bible says we all must work. So I do want to."
"That is good preaching," remarked Mr. Haven. ”

“ Father took down the Bible, and picked out a great many texts similar to those I have repeated, and gave them to me to commit to memory. The next day he met me walking sadly behind the house, and asked me, 'Dare you, Julia, unite yourself with one who lives in constant violation of God's command, "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work."'?"
"I, of course, made many excuses for my absent friend, and said that I knew he wanted to find some steady employment; that he disliked to be out of work as much as any one, but circumstances had not favored him. ”

“ Tears of disappointment filled the swollen eyes of the poor boy, though a moment before he had hoped that he should not see Ella that morning. How could he account to her for his altered appearance. He could never expose the shame of his father.
Through the day Mrs. Danforth waited and watched for the coming of her husband. She hoped he would return during the absence of Harrison. But she waited and watched in vain. Many times during the morning her heart beat fast, and then almost ceased to beat, as she fancied she recognized his footstep upon the stairs ”

“ Fortunately for him, Mr. Grant and his clerk were shut close in their office, concerting measures to insure themselves against exposure, if, as they feared, the secret partner should present himself or send an agent to investigate the state of the firm. How little they thought that a net had been woven around them which, in a few moments, would enclose them in its folds.
Just as Harrison reached the door, he saw Mr. Kilby and two policemen, standing in close counsel just at the corner of the street. ”

“ God had rewarded the honest exertions of the poor youth, and he was rich and esteemed among men; while the idle, slothful boy had become a contemner of God, and had been cast away among the very lowest dregs of society.
The Monday following Christmas, Mrs. Danforth, wholly unconscious that her only brother was that day to be brought to trial for his life, proposed to her husband to improve the first sleighing by a ride. "Only think!" she exclaimed, with something of the enthusiasm of her girlhood, "How funny it will be for Harry! ”

“ IT is painful to turn from so pleasing a picture to one widely different. We must now go back, in imagination, two years, to the time when Alfred Haven turned from his mother's door and fled to a vessel which was lying in the harbor, where he shipped for a long voyage, under the name of Amos Harding. ”

“ Before him, on the stone pavement, stood a bushel-basket of peas in the pod. From this basket he transferred them to a pan in his lap, and from thence, when shelled, to a larger one which stood within the door. He had just commenced his task, but seemed not at all discouraged by it. He went on merrily, whistling "Dan Tucker," occasionally glancing up toward a platform which was used for drying clothes. This had a light railing around it; and presently he was rewarded by the glimpse of a bright face, surrounded with golden curls, peeping shyly at him. ”

“ Still Ella shook back her curls, and could not be persuaded to say that she was not sorry.
"But," said her mother, "when Harrison is a man you will be a young lady."
"And perhaps," suggested Mrs. Danforth, "you will not care to see him then as you do now. He is just about to enter upon his great struggle with life. He will have to work hard. ”

“ Mrs. Haven, in her turn, opened to the mechanism, to explain to him the parts and their action. It was a lever, and had thirteen jewels.
Ella then expressed a desire to see how Harrison would look wearing a watch. She had entirely forgotten her fatigue in the joy of the present occasion. He passed the ribbon around his neck, saying, with a laugh, "What should I have done, if I had not begun to wear vests?"
"Such a tall man as you," exclaimed Ella, "would look too funny in jackets. ”

“ He seems quite sure that he once returned from Calcutta in a ship with the prisoner, and that he is not a Spaniard, as he pretends. He also is to be one of the jury men."
"Well, whoever he is," sighed the lady, "I'm sure I pity him with all my heart. I wonder whether he has any friends. When I hear of a very bad man, I always think what mamma and I suffered about poor Alfred. Husband," she added, after a moment's pause, "you needn't send Robert out; I don't think I could enjoy riding when I thought of you in the jury-box."
"Nonsense, dear!" ”

“ The experiment was attended with perfect success; and the grateful parents could not sufficiently express their thanks. From this time the emaciated form began to resume some faint resemblance to its former self. In three weeks from Mrs. Danforth's entrance to the sick-chamber, the doctor said they had no more need of him; adding, as he gave his hand, at parting, to the faithful nurse, "Under God, the child owes her life to your watchful care. If there were more nurses like you, fewer doctors would be required."
"It is pleasant to cooperate with a true man," was her smiling reply. ”

“ After he had partaken it, he was sitting with his head concealed by Harry's curls, trying to evade the inquiries of his wife, when the door was opened, and the servant announced Captain Greyson.
"I tried to overtake you as we came out of court," said the gentleman, frankly, "for I intended to impose myself upon your hospitality, but you were too quick for me. I don't wonder at it," he added, gayly casting his eye around the happy group.
"I will order some supper for you at once," said Mrs. Danforth, rising. ”