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.