Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1858-05-01

"Annie, my little pet sister, as I used to
call you, You will not at ast look coldly on
nc; tell me what is it that troubles you ?'
! had gone out in the woods a little way
from our house, that fair May afternoon to
have cry all by myself, for sister Nellie
had been telling me, that very afternoon,
that she was going home in little while,
and when the long grass straycd over her
little grave, / must be good girl to papa
and mamma, and take her place with them
and at last we might all come to her.
1t was favorite haunt of Ncll;as, that
little woodland bower, where the till trees
leaned over and wrapping their long arms
together, formed a dark green wall through
which the sun could not find a playing
place. There Edward Preston came sud
denly upon me- Had one risen up ghast-
ly and sheeted from the dead | could not
have been more startled, more shocked
But he advanced toward me, and then
all the wrong that he had done to me and
mine, all the horror, all the loathing with
which had grown to associate his name,
rose up to repcl his approach, and, spring
ing up, | answered him
"Go away, go away, you bad, wicked
man! You shall not touch me, you who
wrote that awful letter, you who have killed
my sister Nellie Oh, as mamma saws
"You may go unpunished for season, but
your sin will surely find you out. >"
| stopped short, trembling in every limb,
utterly confounded at the anathemizine tor
rent which was issuing from my lips. Ed
ward Prcston's eyes were rivcted in wild
bewlldorment on my face.
81 will solve this mystery if God grants
me another hour of my lifc,' came, after
momcntary pause, from between his com
pressed lips; he wheeled suddenly round
and rushed in the direction of our cottage.
"Nellie Nellie my beautiful my be-
loved Oh, to find you once more, and
thus J" And Edward Preston sprang into
mammals bedroom, regardless of her pres
ence-sprang to the bedside of my uncon-
sciouS sister, for her physical being was too
weak to sustain the shock of his presence.
i The young man wrapped his arms round
her, and laid his head OH her bosom. "Nel-
lie, darling" he said, in voice pathctical-
ly tender, "open those brown eyes and look
at me once more. There has been a long
dreadful shadow between US. Look up, and
tell me you did not write that cruel letter.
And at the sound of that beloved voice,
Ncllie's brown eyes unclosed and roamcd
eagerly over the gentlcman's face. She
opened her lips, but the words had no au-
diblc birth, for she had not strength to
consummate their uttcrancc.
"Mr. Preston p Mammals voice was
gentle, but very firm, for the surprise and
bewlderment which Edward Preston's alb
rupt entrance had momentariliy bequeath-
ed were now vanished. "Bcfore any fur
ther communications take place between
my daughter and yourself, | desire pri-
vate interview with you in the parlor.-
The mystery which surrounds your conduct
must be revealed. 1t may be, we have mu-
tually suffered wrong. Nellie, my child,
trust your mother"-for mamma read the
prayer in my sisters eager yes.
eyes, trust her, Nellie, even as I do, for
very foul wrong must have been done to
both of us," said Edward Preston, as he
bent fondly over my sister for moment,
and then left the room with mamma.
"Ncllie, my sweet girl, restore him to
you, true and worthy of your love as he
was when you plighted him your troth, ;"
said my mother, as she returned to Nellie
after half hours absence, accompanied
by Edward Preston
ooh, an enemy has done this !" eiacu-
lated the young man, as he looked with
mournful fondness on Nellie's thin, pale
face. Courses on him for the bloom he has
taken from those cheeks. If could only
find him !" And his brow darkaned.
vengeance is mine; l will repay, saith
the LORD" came low and impressive from
my mothers lips
ooh, Edward, it is enough to feel that
you are here to know you are true to me!
[ can forget and forgive all who have
wronged us now" and Nellie's thin fin
gers fioated among the short brown curls.
and the smile of former times rippled thro'
the bed of dimplcs round her lips, as her
brown head was pillowed on the bosom of
Edward Preston.
That night all was revealed That cru
cl letter, which had well.nigh broken Mel
lies heart, was the offspring of another
brain than that of Edward Preston'a and
the brief, cold epistle in Nellie's delicate,
Italian hand, telling him that another love
frightened the hearthstone, where the
flames of girlish fancy which he had kin
died had died out forever, furnished COM
plete solution to Edward Preston's long 81
lence.
"Ncllie, darling, do not tell me so I
cannot bear it o God my God spare
her to mel" and the strong man bowed his
head on his pillow, and sobbed in the bit
tcrness of his heart like very child.
And Nellie twined her small transparent
fingers within his own, and talked to him