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    170 A DREAM OF STABONASSAR:

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    E Across The Breezy Channel, Across The ...

    A little room at _tlie back of the gayest house , close upon tlie great mountains whose iant shadows loom over itand a dying

    girl resting in an arm-chair g by the window . "With stead , y mournful gaze she fixes her eyes for the last time on the beauties of earth

    and sky . u Aunty , " she says to the faded old lady by her side , " wheel me

    back to the fire , the evening air is cold , I must look no longer on those lorious peaks . When you go back to EnglandAunty , tell

    them all g how I loved the mountains . I would have taken , sketches for little lame Charlie if I could . _"

    " poor My dear / ' said the old lady , " you'll be strong enough to sketch soonand when go home you shall tell them all about

    , you the mountains yourself . " " Aunty , my home is far away , and I shall not see them there

    yet The . " kind old ladtries to ive a cheerful answerbut her voice

    will not come at her y command g and tears are in her , eyes as she , turns away her head to hide them .

    She was ever kind and good . I knew her well . As a child we had played _, side hy side , and as a joyous girl it was I who gave her

    to her husband . She is grey and worn now , and her years are drawing to a close ; sister and brother will soon meet again . Here is the little French doctor bustling inkind and cheerful ,

    , chatty and full of news . But the thoughts of the beautiful English irl are far though she smiles and seems to listen .

    Perhaps g she is thinkin away g of , _ihe kind old father dead and gone , that nursed her on his knee—for was I not father and mother both to

    that one ? Or her thoughts may be with the early grave of the mother she can but just remember .

    Her torturing cough disturbs her reverie , and I watch her sufferings with all the agony spirits alone can feel . In vain with

    kind hand the doctor offers sweet and soothing medicines , she only shakes her head sorrowfully . At last , as the paroxysm passes

    away she beckons the doctor to sit by her side , and I hear her clear low voiceweakened by ainbut full of sweetness still .

    " Doctor , , you life are very and p there good , , is but no hope it is all for useless me now , . I have Ah , doctor thrown ! away my young ,

    if I had only had a little of your knowledge j if I had known how ' -fearfully and wonderfully we are made , ' I should not with suicidal

    hands have destroyed this poor frail building . " The kind old aunt tried to stop her , but she went on feverishly ,

    • with a tinge of bitterness in her tone . " I was taught nothing either about my body or my soul ; one I

    suppose was not a proper study for a young lady , and going to church on a Sunday was enough for the other . Oh , Aunty ! with

    my own hand I have pulled down the pillars of health on which my life rested . And all in my ignorance . Ah , what will not ignorance

    do when vanity leads it on ! "

    170 A Dream Of Stabonassar:

    170 A DREAM OF _STABONASSAR :

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Nov. 1, 1862, page 170, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01111862/page/26/