The prairie news. [volume] (Okolona, Miss.) 1851-1875, 1858-10-14
OKoLoNA, MISS, OCTOBER IA, 1858.

) given, and kept it ranking in your memo
, ry, till it has grown strong enough tt
: crush by its rebounding, heart tha
would have shed its last drop of bloot
/ to serve you. Love you ?-yes--so wei
J that / could strike you dead here at my
feet, and trample on your lifeless body il
J very loathing of the mean soul it con
tanned so well, that if your false hear
lay bare before me, / could snap the
chords apart with as little pity as | woull
threads Of fax $50 well that when you
die hope l may be beside you to show
you how unfit you are for heaven; tt
console you by recalling the magnanimous
aims that have inspired your life, and to
revive you at the last moment by whis-
pering in your ear of the honorable vic
tory you have achieved over defense
less, weak hearted woman !" l paused,
out of breath with passion.
Go on--please 60 on. Anger i'm
proves the style of your beauty. and am
a gratified listener" said my tormenter
dryly.
Il have nothing more t. say" | re-
piled, "save that | pray may never
look upon your face again, unless the
sight of me becomes torment, and then
| will risk wealth, life ay, everything,
for the sake of passing once more before
your eyes !" .,t t.:...
He caught one of my hands that was
lying idly in my lap, and when | would
have snatched it from him, he closed his
fingers about it like vice. The look of
bitterness softened away from his fea-
lures, and one Of almost tender expec-
tation took its place. saw in the change
only new revelation of hypocrisy,
cunning and farseeing, treacherous mali
gnity so | waited for him to speak, Is
it any wonder | hated him?
E" Helen" he said, and, the cutting
sharpness was all gone from his voice
"will you marry me g ,.l. 4..4 ISL
The question did not startle me half as
much as it would have done an hour be-
fore; it was like him--strange, abrupt
contradictory /! Isprang up, and spurned
him with my foot.
81" Do not tempt me further, Richard
Vinely, or even you, evil as you are, may
shrink from the demon | will harden into
| am not ashamed to own that | loved
you, for over the blackness and corrup-
tion of your true character, you have worn
skIfulIy the disguise of pure, upright
maniness, and through that only have
| known you. Go away now and boast
of your prowess-I am willing. Spread
it far and wide that Helen Reade-proud,
imperial, naughty Helen Reade, has been
humbled by your scorn. But say not
tnat she wept before you; say not that
she clung to you; or pleaded, or tainted,
as gentle woman might have done, Say
that when she knew you better, she
spurned you as she would venomous
reptile; say that she took back the love
you despised, and flung it to the winds,
as the only shame of her life; say that
she detied insulted, cursed you to your
face, and called all the angels of dark
ness to her aid, so that she might hate
you--hate You entirely so long as you
and she live; say"
"Stop in heavens name stop p he
exclaimed, interrupting me and | knew
by the whiteness of his face, and the
black, hOrritied look of entreaty which he
gave me, that my yehemence frightened
him. i was glad that did 50, and wept
past him with low derisive laugh
+" Wait, and hear me one moment,
Helen!" he cried, springing forward to
detain me.
But shook off his touch as though it
had been serpent's, and walked proudly
up the garden path. | can but wonder
now at the mighty effort with which !
crushed back my true feelings into sub
lection, till my heart was numb with the
great agony, it would let me find voice.
tried to think of everything save the
inward fire that was consuming me
tried to think of the rosebushes whose
green branches thick with buds, brushed
my garments as | went steadily past them
tried to think of the lilacs that reached
out their heavy clusters to me like 50
many purple hands and all the while
felt that sharp anguish gnawing into my
soul.
did not go into my room, for |
thought that its quiet solitude would kill
me. / was too miserable, too unhappy
to weep, or pray, or think. Ihecded ex
citement, activity, amusement. So |
went into the large parlors that had been
crowded all the afternoon; ] sang, jested,
and played, Scarcely knowing and little
caring what / did, yet dimly conscious
that once the tall figure ofRiehard Vine
" came into the room, fingered mo-
nlent, as If watching me, and then disap-
peared. ss - 's's.
| do not remember how that afternoon
and evening wore away But | know
the great, noisy, brilliant roooms were
silent at last; the guests had departed,
tbo lirbts were cxtinguished, aad faint