Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1857-05-29
CIR Story te..1r..
BEATRICE LiNCisTE L
BY ANLRtN HAMILTON
CHAPTER l..

/, was late in the afternoon 4 long
row OF girls and boys stood ii 4 regular
Inc fore their teacher, in The .iae ri
scheol-hoase. rceitias their spelling
lesson, while the rcu Under of tie ll5
pills fdgctted in their SEATS. ri'e-l s.ati sez
piled their books on t.c.r de-, aaa
cas, fcstl es eager glanles ont d. the
open door, taen - the tacaef'- iaer,
for II ~. nearly tim ~ dsa. Il, aa4
weary ola long al rnalH's e4naa m"gt.
the children co1ld hard = wait tor the
beIl--;he signal Of ta-ir feiea,r. At
last the spelling class took their sea'S,
the bell oun!sd. AL instantly tn.@
was scene Of CONFUSION boys fls-e.
out oil til, door. anl saec veut "a ii If
pent-up spirits In whooPs, yelt, ami
summersats; and gir!s more quietly. bHf
no, less gaily. ran into the op air
Soon their merry voices died awa8in IT,
distance. and the teacher VS. l,,t alone
IN the just now crowded ehaol rnom.
She was ynan- and striking la1 king
girl. Her >orn was erect, her step
stately, and her feature, though iyr 54-
lar, were pleasing; h=r abundant ray9a
hair was wound in sert OF eeyoual
around her head in singular, ba, not
uubceoming fashion; bcr complexion
was clear o i've, and her mouth dtm III
its expression. almos, unple1sant,y 50
when closed. bu, when she smiled .hc
was positively beautiful then her who'll
countcnanco changed; her large. fiery
eyes grew soft and tender, aal the prl le
and hAuteur that spoke in her every
lineament. marring her otherwise almost
perfect beauty disappeared.
Just now one of those bcaming smiles
lightened up her countcnance; she stood
by her desk, in her usual erect position,
holding a note, yet unopened, IN her
hand. 1t had been brought To the
school-room during the session, and now
that she was alone, she prepared to read
it. She seemed il no haste TO break the
seal She looked at the bold, firm. hand
writing. and pressed it to her lips; then
slowly unfolding it, she read :
"For some time past, Beatrice. | have
"cSh uHHaPP5 Npu nav p''NA'~ - -
and to your inquiries as to its cause
have gwen false and eyasive replies, bu'
can deceive myself and you no long gsr
Isought you last night with the deter
mined to tell you all, but could no
utter the words that would. felt, giyl
you much pain. But | must 90 it
What my tongue refuses to tell ! mus
!ntrust to my pen. 1t is useless to hcsi
tate; the sooner all is known the bette
for us both. Beatrice, find that
have mistaken the nature OF my feeling
towards you, AS God is my witness
when we were betrotbed ! thought
loved you. l still appreciate your rar
loneliness, and, better still, your man,
excellencies Of mind and heart but GU
affections are beyond our control, and
much as there is admirable about you
l no longer love you. At first | deter
mined never to acquaint you with III
change in my sentiments, but l shranI
from lifetime of deceit. could no
at the altar perjure myself by takin
those solemn vows, and knew, too, tina
You would spurn the offered hand with
out the heart accompanied it. hay
done very wrong in hastily entering uT
on our engagements without prope
knowledge ofmy true feelings toward