JULIA'S SUNSET WALK.
It was a beautiful June day, just at the sun's setting, when Julia
Eastworth went to visit the resting place of a dear grandmother. While
she was in the grave-yard, meditating on the loss of one of her best
earthly friends, she saw a lady dressed in mourning busily engaged in
doing something near a rose bush that grew at the foot of a little
mound, at a short distance from where she stood. Julia walked along
and came n
ar where she was, and laid her hand gently upon the woman
and said, "Madam, is this your little mound?"
"Oh, no, my child; it is my dear Elise's grave."
"And is it long since you laid her here ma'am?" said Julia.
"Only a few weeks," was the reply; "there were buds on this rose bush
when I brought it here."
"And was it her's?" asked Julia, as she stooped down to inhale the
rich fragrance of the beautiful flower.
"Yes, my child, it was a dear treasure to her. My Elise was a good
child, she was my Idol, but my Heavenly Father has seen best to remove
her from me. I only cared to live that I might be useful to her in
giving her such instructions as might be a blessing to her. I almost
adored her, but she is gone from me, and I am alone. I know she is
happy, because she was good."
"And have you always lived here in our town?" asked Julia.
"Oh, no! I am from Italy. When my child was but two years old, I left
my native shores, and with my only relative, my father, followed my
young husband, who is an American, to his own land. We settled in the
State of Virginia, and a short time ago he died and left me with a
charge to take care of our dear Elsie. She had her father's hair and
complexion, and inherited his delicate constitution, We were poor, and
I labored hard, but I cared not, if I could only make my child
comfortable and happy. She was not like me; her mind was full of
thoughts of beauty; she would often talk of things with which I could
not sympathize; the world seemed to her to be full of voices, and she
would often say, 'How beautiful _heaven_ must be.' Her nature was
purer and gentler than mine, and I felt that she was a fit companion
of the angels. But she is now gone to be with them, and I hope soon to
meet her."
Julia bid the lady good bye, and went towards her home. As she walked
slowly along, she thought to herself, "Elsie with the angels!" and she
dwelt upon the theme till her mother, seeing her rather different in
her conduct, asked her the cause, when she replied, "Oh, mother! I
want to dwell with the angels."