St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1858-08-12
2
NUMBER A3.


to the heart which would fam s. 'cltcr
you forever :" and, in that sudden ont
burst Of feeling. the. heart, the young
Of that young heart of that mon into
whose thin, glossy hair gray threads
were stealing, beat hard against hcr
own
But DR.. Manning felt that perhaps
he had offended her, and fondly strok-
ing her hair as one would pet child's
said softly, Forgive mo, my child, if
| have panied you. | have Lccn pre-
maturc--l know not what made nc
open my heart to you this hour-but
had | found that you loved another
you would never have learned it,
Ruthy. But if you are free, and can
love me, and do not think me a selfish
and cXacting old man, and yet Ruthy,
perhaps am wrong in asking thee.
Listen, Ruthy," he said after along
pause. Years ago, twenty years
ago, loved your mother We were
to each other brother and sister. 50
she said, ah, | never told her how |
loved her better than any brother
could have done, for saw how her
love was given to another, your father.
| smiled when she was married but
oh, Rutly, my heart ached, and hence
forth all women were alike to me till
you grew up here, so like her that it
seemed as if twenty years had been
taken from my life and | were young
again. Now, Ruthy, you know all,
why, since you came back to me, 7
could not treat You as child, because
| loved You as 4 woman. Don't an
sWcr me now, don't say a word,
would not have You mistake gratitude
for warmer feeling, you need tell me
nothing till tomorrow, next week, o
year, never, unless it is your own
wish. Leave me now, darling :" and
kissing her forehead, he put her gent
y away from him.
Ruth did not come down that day
to dinner and when Edward South
ard inquired for her, Bridget replied
that her mistress sent down word
that Il headache would keep her in
her chamber. Perhaps, if honest
Bridget had rendered it "a hcartache,"
But strong, deep natures work ont
their own cures, and so did Ruths.
But you should have seen her proud,
pale face, and the shainc-stricken
countcnancc OF the young Southerner,
rs, that afternoon, she knocked at his
door, and i'll answer to his light Come
in,' entered, and laying her engage
mcnt ring on the writing-desk, said
briefly and cuttingly, You should
have added postscript to your letter,
| MIR. Suu:Lar.i--.-.-4s-a Ii1cI mind
tMen as quickly walked cut again.
OF the discontinue and mortfca-
tion Of Edward Southland it were use
less to write suffice it tn state, that
the evening train bore him to Boston,
and the next week saw him among
" the first families of old Virginia"
with his profession, but minus :" that
charming little piece Of rusticity," his
hcircss wife.
And Ruth did not wait ga year"
before she quietly laid her hand in
nr. Paul Manning's, and said, with u
happy smile, " AS my best friend and
'N4'' 'st' wa y "a tistHt ttStlNtN lily
gratitude, bat my love is Il free gift"
Not then, indeed, cuuld she bring
herself to confess how unworthily she
had bestowed her first fancy - but
afterward, relying fully on the deep,
serene, enduring love which filed her
soul-toundcd, as that love was, on
the deepest cstcem-aftcrwarl she re-
vealcd all, and how nigh her happi-
ness had come to shipwrcck.
OF course there was the usual quar-
tum SuDiclt Of gossip in Dentrord, be-
cause Hr. Panl Manning, whom every
body had set down confirmed bachc-
lor, appropriated to himself his young
ward but Susy, Mrs Simon Stubbs,
averred that she always knew how it
would turn out from the first day
RutlIy came under his roof" and tho
doctor took to giving up his dyspeptia
food and ate the very things " Ruthy
liked"
. And no one who fingers in that hap
t py household, looking upon the girl.
, ish, yet matronly Ruth, and her noble,
; young-hcartod husband, would say she
+ is too young to bc DIR. MANNlNc's
WIFE