The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1859-07-30

/ lOun1 uellgnt IN SUCH sacflaCcs. EFeTy Cus
of IL saw, ey cry blow of a hammer. or mallet
every coat of paint, every boot and shoe il
/ his shop; held in his mind some relation to
her comfort and prosperity, as part OF
that household of which she was about to
be the daily sunshine !; the source and center
/ of all its hight and warmth and pleasantness
the measure of its work and rest.
CHATTER ".
At last Anne came to herself in n little
while she rose from her bed in good health
But she was quite pennles.. Her greedy at
tendants had disposed Of every mite of heI
little fortune even her wedding clothes hac
gone into the nasty hands Of the pawn bro
xers for medicine, food ard lodging.
She felt ashamed. the proud lass, to send
after William, or let him see her as she was
. She got little employment as charwoman
Mt one house np! another, through the rec
concentrations Of the Sisters of Mercy, and
| the parish clergyman, who were themselves
too poor to give her any other he! p. But
she KEEP, from them the story of her love anc
betrothal, and, by doing so, kept peace from
the aching heart of her William for If the
priest ard Sisters, had known it, would al
once have sent her of to hln, or have fetch
' cd him to her.
She made up he: mind to continue cheer
fully at rhnrrinr. until she could repurchnst
some Of her good clothes. She would ther
visit William, make known her condition to
him. confess ali the story of her savings
and the Sad way in which it was lost, ant
steadily insist upon the wedding being pu'
off until she had removed her unaaSness,
and regaine! ner sense Of independence by
recov verirg, nj .eaSt, some part or her Tor
mcr wealth. Her disposition was ii. COM
pact Of che"rfuIness and h"po' Nh"never
she bad found anything broken, instead OF
standing over il crying, she had looked tc
see if it could be m"nded if it could not
she tried to procure another thing OF rs
kind.
SO she dealt with her own broken pros
poets Just as she had been used to deal with
her mistress broken china. She kept hes
mind fixed upon their restoration. THIS
hope gave her great zst and eagarness in
her scrvie work. She never let herself
remember that the time had come in which,
except for her misfortune, she would have
been bride and mistress of a household
but she set about her dull actualI,ies rs If
no such brigh; possibility had ever belonged
to her. She looked forward to tn" glory OF
that moment when che should find her head
at rest on the dear shoulder Of her William.
She went to her work singing. she came from
it>inging. She said TO herself " 10 MiHk
would destroy me /: shall never BE- able II
recover myself if ponder on my loss and
IN, present state.'
Thus she kept up fever Of couuter-ez-
c.t,mr hv shutting out Of her thoughts al
truth which might excite her the truth of
her own loss, ii" truth of Williams aston
ishment and pain. Whenever she found her
mind incInir. to the realization Of his >ut
fcrngs, >hc would sigh and gricye; but thc
moment the echo Of her sigh struck athWart
Ter c0nsriouSness,s she arrested herself. II Ms
will nat lo,' she would Say: 81 it viii more
than make up for our misery She never
waited in qurtneSs Of spirit. aud calm ' an
allied or prohel these H. IIdigrsted ,ha>ty de-
ductinu-. II .hr had done so. she would
hlyr r.r."i Il n,pnstr0uS rcsiiHum OF pro-
per pri,i" > underlying AL the other elements
# her r, .uctuncrt to see William as she Was.
If she had done so. she would have seen
what wrntchc,ln"ss. doubt, and despair she
was sowing in the true heart Of her William.
When that Quakerly impulse sprung up in
her, she scrnhhed, or walked, or hummcd
more vigorously if tear for William start
cd into her eye. she used 1t AS mcrcilessl V as
her sighS. nil brushed it hurriedly away
She felt that if she looked ut the present,
she would be weak cncd, and do nothing. II
was only bv keeping the cnt before her that
she could find spirit and moral sinew for
work. And while shc was ut work, her ef-
forts raised dust around her which MD ey
eryt'ing but those Efforts.
But wh"re wns the need OF nll this =
What was the end of her eager and Incts-
sant stri,:rr>? WnuMi William love her III
less for having but one gown, and that m
old ragged one; for having shoes with holes
in them: for being rennlless? She knew
him better: sh, knew that he never suspec
ted she had II farthing of her own. She
knew that the thought was delightful one
to his open, generous nature. as 1t made him
feel himself the surplier Of all her needs
But the little maid was vain. She had tns-
ted the sweet, pernicious. intoxicating
draught of false independence. The
draught gave her stimulus for work. In Il
few weeks. she had made enough to redeem
her best new dresses, her shoes, and other
articles Of dress, aud to pay her standing
hebts.
William, in the meantime, not having,
like Anne, anv insight into the causes OF her
mysterious absence and silence, could not,
as she did, find solace. excitement, and de-
light in looking forward. On the contrary,
the future was his most bitter thought. His
disappointment lay there. All the glory Of
his life was behind him-gone by forever
And even that past glory, since suspicion
and the present appearance of hings had
began to cloud it, lost all its golden worth.
1t had been no true possession. 1t was MIS-
erable to think that. even when he was III ost
happy. he was only so by being ignorant of
the truth, by trusting in heartless and we'll
acted deceit. Before him, he could see no.
thing but unacceptable misery; in the pres
ent, his thoughts exercised themselves wor-
rvingly on the causes Of Anne's sudden de-
par.ure, until, by slow processes, not with
out, as he conceived, two ocular proofs, he
admitted the awful and maddening conclu
sion that she was dishonest and unfaithful.
The first ocular proof was as follows: One
dark, foggv night, going from the station to
his home, after a dull day, all through which
his body had been taken up by business, but
for himself by the fiery vexations of his
thoughts, shape rushed by him which
startled him, it was so like Anne. lie would
almost have veptured An oath it was her,
Without thinking, he pursued the figure. 1t
turned down some darkened street, and was
lost in the fog. The other glimse he had of
it, decpened hi, persuasion that it was real
" his afianced bride whom he had seen.-
.sWhose is she now? What relation to those
rhe chooses in preference to me?" Hswent