The White Rose of MemphisFalkner, William C. (Clark)
General
The White Rose of Memphis
Falkner, William C. (Clark)
Memphis (Tenn.) -- Fiction
greatest trouble that presented itself to our young and thoughtless
minds was the sad leave-taking of the poor but dear home where so many
happy days had been spent. There was the little garden, with its neat
beds of new flowers that had flourished under the constant care bestowed
on them by Lottie; there were the jolly little birds, singing so sweetly
in the blooming apple-tree near the window; a thousand things of a
trifling sort, but dear to the memory, were now to be looked at for the
last time. How could it be expected that under the circumstances we
should make the necessary preparations for such a journey? How could we
think of bread and meat, clothes or cash, when our poor hearts were
melting with the very bitterness of sorrow? The wonder is that we should
have started with anything at all. We hastily packed a few extra
garments into a couple of sacks, snatched up a few articles of food, and
with eyes swimming in tears, bade adieu to our home forever. Harry moved
on in front, Lottie and I following. Not a word was spoken; no one bade
us good-by; no one consoled us in our desolation; and we neither asked
nor sought it. As we passed through the streets, a strange look would
occasionally be cast on us by the pedestrians as we passed them. We saw
but little, and were moving on in silence, when I perceived that Harry
had turned his course and was going toward the cemetery. I knew his
object, and was pleased to know that we should once more be near our
dear mother. We entered the city of the dead, approached the sacred spot
in silence, and fell upon the little mound of fresh earth that rose
above our mother, and moistened it with our tears. Harry had brought a
little basket of fresh flowers which I had not noticed until I saw him
placing it on the grave. Mr. Fogg had promised to have a plain marble
slab erected with the proper inscription, to mark the spot where our
mother rested. He complied with his promise. But a beautiful monument
now rises high over the grave which we afterward had erected. We
remained nearly an hour bathing the cold earth with our tears. No words
were spoken, no passionate outbursts of grief were heard; but in solemn
silence we knelt side by side and paid the last tribute of love to the
memory of the dead one who slept below. At length Harry turned away; I
took Lottie by the hand and followed him, and soon we were moving along
the road outside of the city limits. We traveled about ten miles the
first day, and I was surprised to see that Lottie had not appeared to be
fatigued at all. She had walked by my side all the time, her beautiful
eyes fixed on the ground, and I noticed ever and anon a fresh shower of
tears would fall from her eyes. She was a heroine in the strongest sense
of the term--never complaining, unselfish, confiding, hopeful, and when
not thinking of her great loss, she always smiled sweetly when speaking
to Harry and me.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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