The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1857-09-30


were cold and hard, and she went to the
table, bestrewei. with her bridal gifts.
! 81 have forgotten whether you ever
saw my eldest brother?" she said interro-
gatively.
81 have never met him, l an sorry to
say. He was in South America most Of
the time we spent together at school"
80, yes I reccoIloctl He is living
here now. Wespeak ofyou SO often and
Familiarity, that he feels well acquainted
with you; so you lnust rot be shy to
him. on viii like him, I am sure. He
ia only my adopted brother, you know"
"Yes-he is cousin, ] believer"
"Not even that-but the nephew Of
my fathers first wife. He was widower
when he married my mother. Herbert
was orphaned in his infancy, and his aunt
promised her dying sister to rear him her
own son-an engagement which my faith
er after her death, still felt himself bound
to fulfill. He has had a collegiate educa-
ton, and chose the mercantile profession
of his own will. They say he is doing
we'll"
She said all this as if rociting q lesson
learned by rote "a very different tone
from that in which she generally alluded
to her favorite brother | noticed, more
over, that confusion, instead OF order.
marked the progress of her hands over
the glittering Silver, the jcwel-caskets,
and the hundred nameless articles Of bi-
jo,rterie she pretended t. arrange. Sud
denly, her arms fell to her side. Some
strained cord had snapped asuader.
II an tired" she said, fretfully. May
sit here, Grace, as | used to in study
headaches?" @ .ea
She dragged cushion to my feet as
she spoke, and throwing herself upon ii,
laid her head in my lap TIE strange
aching at my heart W ould not let me speak
but, from the force of an almost forgotten
habit, unbound her hair, and passed my
fingers through and through the heavy
locks-a kind Of loving mesmerism, that
ofyore had always proved eficacious in
guelling pain and nervousness. We sat
thus for silent half hour. Louise might
have been supposed to slumber, except
that no healthy sleep was ever so motions
less, so fearfully still. For myself, laps
cd into my inye.erato practice Of dream
ing. All my surroundings were unfa,nil-
iar. The furnaturc Of tie apartment was
splendid, in comparison with that Of my
simple room atllaome; and scattered
everywhore were garments that, to my
eyes, were fit for be wear Of royalty it.
s5lf; silks, that reproduced the shifting
hucs of the rainbow and the sunset clouds;
other and lighter fabrics, whose folds
blossomad into 5oquets Of imperial exotics,
or were overrun with graceful vines; mus
ms feecy and sheer as morning nist8.-
Even the friend at my feet was not a re-
| atty. saw not an inch below the sur
face upon which the world might gaze :.
whereas nay Louise was frank, affection
ate child, who had sept in my bosom, and
wept away every grief in my embrace
In my bewildered musings now, l seemed
to see her attempting to lift a ponderous
iron gate to bar my entrance to her heart
the threshold worn by my footprints
| I his thought had come to me during her
labored recital Of HerEert Wvnne's story,
| and when her arms ga Q way, l could
imagine that saw the fal and heard tho
crash. The dull, heavy roar without, new
or waxing louder or more faint, like the in
cessant roar of a cataract through stag
nant atmosphere, made my mind wander
still moro. KNEW little then of the bend
ing backs and breaking hearts the toiling
arms and tortured brains; of the battles
for life, the groans of the vanquished, the
shouts of the victorious, that make up that
tumult, mighty, yet monotonous- sonnd
that must reach Heavens high gate as a
sigh from the grieying earth; but as l
listened, it almost stihed me.
"Gracep'
The voice was hollow and broken, but
it was her own at last and my heart leap
ed to hear it. IL
"My own LOUISE y
~ an very miserable! Pity me'
a love You, dearest"'
] drew her nearer to- me, and calling
her by ell the vim ng names our affection
hsd taught me, assured her ofmy sympa-
thy in every sorrow, my Willingness
my anxiety to aid her by every means this
affection could invent. la.H-I
81 need no help-I ask none. | ask
nothing of any human being besides your
self. | do say to you-pity me-"
"And why, dear Louise p
"She said nothing for time, and when
the words came, they were not a reply TO
mine.
"Grace! do YOU believe in God?"
could scarcely answer, so great was
my establishment. taloF
'"Certainly. Who csn doubt thisa"
ar
"Louise! YOU are mad r
81 am sane! If I believed there was
an Allseeing Eye, which would witness
and cause to be recorded the tremendous
sin shall coaily commit in three days
more, do you think that |, daring as |
am, would risk the consequences of such
an act! NY father and my mother aro
members of a Christian church. The god
ofthe one is gold; that of the other, society.
l disdain hypocrisy -therefore | declare
that | have none!m
"Yet there was a time, | commenced.
II know know! ] an changed IN
everything since then, Grace. O, darling!
those happy golden hours" $50 -
L was, glad to see the tearsEa fiery
deluge though they were. She checked