A Bit of Gladness.

As I near my lonely cottage,         At the close of weary day,     There's a little bit of gladness         Comes to meet me on the way:     Dimpled, tanned, and petticoated,         Innocent as angels are,     Like a smiling, straying sunbeam         Is my Stella - like a star.     Soon a hand of tissue-softness         Slips confidingly in mine,     And with tender look appealing         Eyes of beauty sweetly shine;     Like a gentle shepherd guiding         Some lost lamb unto the fold,     So she leads me homeward, prattling         Till her stories are all told.     "Papa, I'm so glad to see you -         Cousin Mabel came today -     And the gas-man brought a letter         That he said you'd better pay -     Yes, and awful things is happened:         My poor kitty's drowned to death -     Mamma's got the 'Pigs in Clover' - "         Here she stops for want of breath.     I am like the bold knight-errant,         From his castle who would roam,     Trusting her, my faithful steward,         For a strict account of home;     And each day I toil, and hazard         All that any man may dare,     For a resting-place at even,         And the love that waits me there.     And sometimes I look with pity         On my neighbor's mansion tall:     There are chambers full of pictures,         There are marbles in the hall,     Yet with all the signs of splendor         That may gild a pile of stone,     Not a living thing about it         But the owner, grim and lone.     I believe that all his millions         He would give without repine     For a little bit of gladness         In his life, like that in mine;     This it is that makes my pathway         Beautiful, wherever trod,     Keeps my soul from wreck and ruin,         Keeps me nearer to my God.