St. Elmo | Page 4

it is hers to
promise; all that is dark in him she must purge into purity, all that is
failing in him she must strengthen into truth; from her, through all the
world's clamor, he must win his praise; in her, through all the world's
warfare, he must find his peace."--JOHN RUSKIN.

TO
J. C. DERBY,
IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF MANY YEARS OF KIND AND
FAITHFUL FRIENDSHIP, THESE PAGES ARE
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

"Ah! the true rule is--a true wife in her husband's house is his servant; it
is in his heart that she is queen. Whatever of the best he can conceive, it
is her part to be; whatever of the highest he can hope, it is hers to
promise; all that is dark in him she must purge into purity; all that is
failing in him she must strengthen into truth; from her, through all the
world's clamor, he must win his praise; in her, through all the world's
warfare, he must find his peace." --JOHN RUSKIN.

ST. ELMO.

CHAPTER I.
"He stood and measured the earth: and the everlasting mountains were
scattered, the perpetual hills did bow."
These words of the prophet upon Shigionoth were sung by a sweet,
happy, childish voice, and to a strange, wild, anomalous tune-- solemn
as the Hebrew chant of Deborah, and fully as triumphant.
A slender girl of twelve years' growth steadied a pail of water on her
head, with both dimpled arms thrown up, in ancient classic Caryatides
attitude; and, pausing a moment beside the spring, stood fronting the
great golden dawn--watching for the first level ray of the coming sun,
and chanting the prayer of Habakkuk. Behind her in silent grandeur
towered the huge outline of Lookout Mountain, shrouded at summit in
gray mist; while centre and base showed dense masses of foliage, dim
and purplish in the distance--a stern cowled monk of the Cumberland
brotherhood. Low hills clustered on either side, but immediately in
front stretched a wooded plain, and across this the child looked at the
flushed sky, rapidly brightening into fiery and blinding radiance. Until
her wild song waked echoes among the far-off rocks, the holy hush of
early morning had rested like a benediction upon the scene, as though
nature laid her broad finger over her great lips, and waited in reverent
silence the advent of the sun. Morning among the mountains possessed
witchery and glories which filled the heart of the girl with adoration,
and called from her lips rude but exultant anthems of praise. The young
face, lifted toward the cloudless east, might have served as a model for
a pictured Syriac priestess--one of Baalbec's vestals, ministering in the
olden time in that wondrous and grand temple at Heliopolis.
The large black eyes held a singular fascination in their mild, sparkling
depths, now full of tender, loving light and childish gladness; and the
flexible red lips curled in lines of orthodox Greek perfection, showing
remarkable versatility of expression; while the broad, full, polished
forehead with its prominent, swelling brows, could not fail to recall, to
even casual observers, the calm, powerful face of Lorenzo de' Medicis,
which, if once looked on, fastens itself upon heart and brain, to be

forgotten no more. Her hair, black, straight, waveless as an Indian's,
hung around her shoulders, and glistened as the water from the dripping
bucket trickled through the wreath of purple morning-glories and
scarlet cypress, which she had twined about her head, ere lifting the
cedar pail to its resting-place. She wore a short-sleeved dress of yellow
striped homespun, which fell nearly to her ankles, and her little bare
feet gleamed pearly white on the green grass and rank dewy creepers
that clustered along the margin of the bubbling spring. Her complexion
was unusually transparent, and early exercise and mountain air had
rouged her cheeks till they matched the brilliant hue of her scarlet
crown. A few steps in advance of her stood a large, fierce yellow dog,
with black, scowling face, and ears cut close to his head; a savage,
repulsive creature, who looked as if he rejoiced in an opportunity of
making good his name, "Grip." In the solemn beauty of that summer
morning the girl seemed to have forgotten the mission upon which she
came; but as she loitered, the sun flashed up, kindling diamond fringes
on every dew-beaded chestnut leaf and oak-bough, and silvering the
misty mantle which enveloped Lookout. A moment longer that
pure-hearted Tennessee child stood watching the gorgeous spectacle,
drinking draughts of joy, which mingled no drop of sin or selfishness in
its crystal waves; for she had grown up alone with nature--utterly
ignorant of the roar and strife, the burning hate and cunning intrigue of
the great world of men and women, where, "like an Egyptian pitcher