Ballou's Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXVII, No. 1 — page 32: what you’re looking at

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06 dismay. Never had he seen such a look of despair as that dead man’s face wore. So still, so terrible was it, that it seemed to be something supernatural. The merchant shrank back with a groan; for the face upon which he leoked was his own. “Ts this to be the end?” he moaned. “This will be the end,” said the figure, solemnly. “To die alone, neglected and un- loved, and without hope hereafter. God help you, unhappy man!” The figure slowly faded away, and Gideon Grindem looked up with a start. He was sitting in his library, with the untasted re- freshments on the stand by his side, and the embers cold and lifeless in the grate before him. The gas was burning in the chandelier with a sickly glare, and through the curtained windows streamed the broad, full light of the Christmas sun. The merchant rubbed his eyes and stared around vacantly. Then his gaze rested on the portrait of his dead wife, over the mantel-piece. The golden sunshine fell lovingly upon her. face, and the eyes of the woman who had been so dear to him, seemed full of sweetness and tenderness as they shone down upon him, carrying light straight into his heart that had been so dark. Involuntarily he placed his hand on his heart, and remembered how he had seen it, then a great sob burst from him, and he cried: “O, God be thanked! it was but a dream.” Another look into the dear eyes of the woman who had loved him, and he sank down on his knees and bowed his head lowly and reverently. Gideon Grindem_ was praying. It was still early morning when the hand- some carriage of the merchant drove by the Park on its. way to East River. The old apple woman, rejoicing in the sunlight that had followed the storm, was spreading her wares on her table, when she was startled to see the handsome equipage pause before her stand, and to hear the same voice that had repulsed her so rudely the night before, call to her to approach. She did so tremblingly, and when the merchant: bade her cheerily, hold owt her hand, she obeyed because she Gideon Grindem’s Christmas. feared to refuse. But her surprise was re- doubled when she saw lying in her withered palm a bright golden eagle, which sparkled joyously in the Christmas sunlight. “ What is this for, sir?” she faltered. “To keep Christmas with, old lady,” said the merchant, cheerily. He signed to the driver to move on, but as the carriage set off again, he caught a faint “ God bléss you, sir!” in the tearful tones of the old woman. Down through the vile streets, reeking with filth, and crime, and misery, that mark the worst quarter of the great city, the splendid equipage passed, amid the wondering glances and remarks of the denizens who marvelled to see it in such a place. It paused before a miserable dwelling, and the merchant sprang out with a flushed, excited face, and hurried up the rickety stairs, fearing that one part of his dream might be true, after all. He pushed open a door and entered a miserable room. A glance satisfied him that the blessed day had brought no joy to the inmates of this sad abode. A woman, pale and careworn, sat by an empty grate, with a look of hopelessness on her sweet, young face, while a man, wan and sickly, lay on the bed with closed eyes, and two children rested on a rude pallet, still happy in their innocent slumbers. Startled by the noise, the woman looked up. Gideon Grindem’s eyes clouded, and he held out his arms and faltered: “My daughter, forgive me!” With a glad cry she sprang into his arms, and the penitent father felt that he was forgiven. In half an hour, the carriage returned to the mansion in Twenty Fifth street, but this time it was full of happy hearts, who left the scene of their misery never to return to it again. The princely mansion had never seemed so gay before as on this blessed Christmas when it rang with the merry shouts of the children, and echoed the soft laughter of the elder ones; and as Gideon Grindem listened he lifted up his heart and: blessed God for the dream he had sent him to bring back so much happiness. comicbooolks.corm