Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-04-07

death score of times as quietly as face tho
fire. 1t matters very little what takes me
off, he used to say; I've nothing to live for.
and there's no one that will shed a tear for me
when am gone It's sad thought for a
man to have, isn't it?"
was.
g But did he ever tell you the name of the
lady who Tilted him %
81 know her first name''
What was ?"
Maria"
The plump little widow almost started out
OF her chair: the name was spoken 80 exactly
as Sam would have said it,
Did you know her." he asked, looking
keenly at her.
eyes"
Intimately"
eyes"
"And where is she now, Still happy with
her husband, L suppose, and never giving a
the world"
NO." said Mrs. Cobb shading her face
with her hand, and speaking unsteady "No,
..Ah. But still she never thinks of Sam. -
There was a dead silence.
'Does she %
How can tell?"
Yes
" Then you ought to know, and YOU do. Tell
me-" ~" "0 Ao''
Ia sure don't know why should. But
II L do you must promise me, on YOUR honor,
never to tell him if you ever eet him again. >
Madam, what you say to me never shall
be repeated to any mortal man, upon my
honor
- But how 20
. AS kindly, think, as he could wish,
" am glad to hear it for his sake You and
L are the friends of both parties: we can re-
joice with each other
He drew his chair nearer hers, and took her
hand. One moment she resisted, but it was a
magic touch the rosy palm lay quietly in his,
ana the DARK beard bent so low that it nearly
touched her shoulder. 1t did not matter much
was he not Samuels dear frend2 If he was
not the rose, had he not dwelt very near it for
a long, long time?
1T was foolish quarrel that parted them, -
said the stranger, softly
"Did he tell you about it?''
Yes, on board the whaler"
"Did he blame her much?',
"Not so much as himself He said that his
Jealousy and i'll temper drove her to break off
the match; but he thought sometimes if he had
only gone back and spoken kindly to her, she
would have married him after all"
81 am sure she would said the widow, nit
eously. ''She has owned it to me more than
thousand times
she was not happy, then, with another,
MIR that is to say her husband-was yery
good and kind. said the little woman, think.
ing or the lonely grave on the hillside rather
penltently, "and they lived very pleasantly
together There never was harsh word be-
tween them
"Still-might she not have been bappier
Win Sam! BE honest, now, and say just what
you think
eyes"
"Bravo! that is what wanted to come at.
And now have secret to tell you, and you
must break it to her,
Mrs. Cobb looked rather scared.
What is it,"
Il want you to 60 and see her, wherever she
may be, and say to her, 'Maria!'-what makes
you start so?''
''Nothing-only you speak so like some one
L used to know, once in whilen
do L! Well take the rest of the message.
Tell her that Sam loved her through the whole:
that when he heard she was free, he began to
work hard at making fortune; he has got it,
and he is coming to share it with her, if she
Will let HIM Will you tell her this?"
The widow did not answer She had freed
her hand from his, and covered her face with
it. BY and by she looked up again. He was
waiting atgy,E', patiently
Il will tell her."
lie rose from his seat and walked up and
down the room. Then he came back, and
leaning ON the mantelpiece, stroked the vel
low hide OF Bowse with his slipper.
Make her quite understand that he wants
her tor his wife. She may live where she likes
and how she likes, only it must be with him );
/" / will tell her
Say he has grown old, but not cold; that
he loves her now perhaps better than he did
twenty years ago; that he has been faithful to
her all through his life: and that he will be
faithful till he dies
The Californian broke off suddenly. The
widow answered still
{" / will tell her,
''And what do you think she will say ?'' he
asked, in an altered tone
g What can she say but-Come"'
" "Hurrah :"
The stranger caught her out of her chair as
if she had been a child, and kissed her.
Don't-oh, DON'T" she cried out Il am
Sans Maria 10
Well am Maria's Sam,''
Of went the dark wig. and the black wbis-
kers-there smiled the dear face she had never
forgotten, 1 leave you to imagine the tableau
even the cat got up to look, and Bowse sat
on his stump of a TAIL and wondered if he was
on his heels or his head The widow gave one
little scream, and then She
But stop. Quiet people like you and me,
dear reader, who have got over all these fol
lies, and can do nothing but turn up our noses
at them, have no business here. L will only
add that two hearts were very happy, that
Bowse concluded after awhile that all was
right, and so laid down to sleep again, and
that one week afterwards there was a wedding
at the house that made the neighboring farm
ers stare. The widow Cobb had married her
First Love IN. Y. LEDGER.