he knew was settled beyond a doubt, as a majority of those who had contributed most liberally to the funds were glad enough to be relieved of the labor and care of inaugurating the work, to yield readily to any plan proposed by those who were willing to bear its burdens. So after the necessary preliminary arrangements, including a proper degree of patience with the cavilling of those who had little else to offer by way of assistance, the following Christmas witnessed the dedication of the old, stately mansion of Christopher Blanche, once the envied abode of wealth, luxury and ease, to the service of the most unfortunate of the other extreme of society.
This was a delightful scene to Mrs. Carleton, and one which atoned for the years of bitter suffering she had experienced. The rather dilapidated state into which the grounds had fallen for want of an owner's interest in them during the last few years, suggested to her the passage of scripture, "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose," which was literally illustrated as spring advanced, and a general air of thrift succeeded the former neglected appearance. The magnificent lawns began to assume their former tasteful simplicity, the hedge-rows were neatly put in trim, the climbing vines, clematis and honeysuckle, carefully trained around the pillars of the garden porch, as in days of old they were wont to grow under the supervision of the same watchful care which was now superintending all these improvements, the old gardener.
He had lost all the careful savings of many years
