Beulah - Page 24/348

"If I am ugly, God made me so, and I know 'He doeth all things

well.' I will not let it bother me; I will try not to think of it.

But, oh! I am so glad, I thank God that he made my Lilly beautiful.

She will never have to suffer as I do now. My own darling Lilly!"

Large drops glistened in her eyes; she rarely wept; but though the

tears did not fall, they gathered often in the gray depths. The

evening passed very quietly; Mr. Martin was absent in a distant

State, whither, as traveling agent for a mercantile house, he was

often called. After tea, when little Johnny had been put to sleep in

his crib, Mrs. Martin directed Annie to show the nurse her own room.

Taking a candle, the child complied, and her mother ordered one of

the servants to carry up the trunk containing Beulah's clothes. Up,

up two weary, winding flights of steps, the little Annie toiled,

and, pausing at the landing of the second, pointed to a low attic

chamber, lighted by dormer windows on the east and west. The floor

was uncovered; the furniture consisted of a narrow trundle-bed, a

washstand, a cracked looking-glass suspended from a nail, a small

deal table, and a couple of chairs. There were, also, some hooks

driven into the wall, to hang clothes upon.

"You need not be afraid to sleep here, because the boarders occupy

the rooms on the floor below this; and besides, you know robbers

never get up to the garret," said Annie, glancing around the

apartment, and shivering with an undefined dread, rather than with

cold, though her nose and fingers were purple, and this garret

chamber possessed neither stove nor chimney.

"I am not afraid; but this is only one garret room. Are the others

occupied?"

"Yes--by carpets in summer and rats in winter," laughed Annie.

"I suppose I may have a candle?" said Beulah, as the porter

deposited her trunk and withdrew.

"Yes, this one is for you. Ma is always uneasy about fire, so don't

set anything in a blaze to keep yourself warm. Here, hold the light

at the top of the steps till I get down to the next floor, then

there is a hall-lamp. Good-night."

"Good-night." Beulah bolted the door, and surveyed her new

apartment. Certainly it was sufficiently cheerless, but its isolated

position presented to her a redeeming feature. Thought she, "I can

sit up here, and read just as late as I please. Oh! I shall have so

much time to myself these long, long nights." Unpacking her trunk,

she hung her dresses on the hooks, placed the books Mrs. Mason and

Eugene had given her on the table, and, setting the candle beside

them, smiled in anticipation of the many treats in store for her.

She read several chapters in her Bible, and then, as her head ached

and her eyes grew heavy, she sank upon her knees. Ah! what an

earnest, touching petition ascended to the throne of the Father;

prayers, first for Lilly and Claudia, and lastly for herself.