Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1861-05-24

hesitate" He leaned forward ano
looked at me anxiously.
II was thinking" said l, "of fa
more precious thing that is drifting
from you-steadily drifting, and get
ting more distant every day, and ye
you heed it not" q
"Bertha." merely uttered th'
name. He grew pale instantly.
Bertha is drifting away from you,'
said I, "and unless you stretch forth, ,
hand to save her right speedily, she
will pass out of your reach"
He let the rudder which he had beer
holding slip from his grasp. and leaned
with frightened look toward me.
"Why do you say this" he asked, ir
breathless manner.
Because it so appears to. my eyes
Bertha has faded sadly since I last saw
her.. All her celor has departed, and
all the fine roundness of face and limbs
has wasted away. She eats nothing
comparatively, yet is taxed with duties
that would wear out strong man. You
with your vigorous health could not en-
dure them
"But what can 1 do?" asked my
friend, with pale alarm in his face
My few sentences had startled him from
a pleasant life dream "She will busy
herself as you see. What can I dor
he repeated
"You can stretch out your hand and
save her, before the current that is now
floating her away bears her beyond your
reach, said l, confidently; "and take
the privilege of a friend to warn you in
time. Not once since I have been here
has she shared our recreating drives or
refreshing hours upon the river. She
does not sit with US in the library, Join
ing in with our pleasant talks, and ma
king thought more beautiful, as in other
days; and when we meet her at meal
times, looking SO pale and spiritual, it is
plain to be seen that mind and body are
weary from excessive weariness. Can
this go on long, and her delicate orgari'
ism not give way? Be assured not, for
the strain is too great.
"But what can I do?" asked mJ
friend again, looking still more alarmed.
''She is welded to those household cares,
and enslaved to her children"
Il have not seen" said I, "any at
tempt on your part to win her away
from them. There has been no remon-
STRANGE against her self-sacrifcing course;
no manifest concern; no urgent invita-
tions to join US in our rides and ram
bles-I speak plainly, for there is a
life at stake-but dull kind of acqui-
escence. Now, if you wish to keep her
long, all this must be changed. You
must, at any cost of effort, see that she
no longer violates the plainest laws of
health"
"You have awakened me from a
dream" said my friend, as he grasped
the rudder again, and headed the boat
Drifting away! Drifting
away!' he added, few moments after
ward. "Yes it is even SO. But l will
catch at her receding garments and
hold her back
At dinner time we met Bertha, look
ing worse than / had seen her since my
arrival. noticed that my friend $
eyes wandered every little while to her
face, and that he did not eat with his
usual appetite After the desert and
before we left the table, he leaned to-
ward her and said, with tenderness in
his voice which no wife's heart could
resist:
IL am sorry to see you looking SO
worn out, Bertha. Last night was Sc
we're tax on you. Have you been lying
down this morning.
"Part of the time she answered,
looking at her husband gratefully. II
was plain to be seen that she was not
used to such tender inquiries.
"This way of life won't do, Bertha, -
he went on to say at is destroying
you. l see you drifting away from me. y
His voice failed little. "And l must
put forth hand to draw you back. Ma
ture will not bear the burdens you are
laying upon her"
l saw light coming into her pale
face, and love beaming out from her eyes
upon. her husband. His interest and
concern were genuine, and she felt it.
We are going to take an easy ride this
he added, ''and you are to
60 with US. Now don't say .no!,.'
| saw objection in her face; and her
lips moved as if she were about putting
her objections in words But her hus
bands "Now don't say NOR coming as il
did on his warmly expressed interest
and concern, changed her purpose, and
she said
"If it will give you pleasure.
"Nothing in the world would give me
more pleasure" replied my friend, with
almost love-like warmth.
There was visible, already, new life
in the countenance Of Bertha. A sofl
glow was family dyeing her cheeks, and
mellow light tempering the unnatural
brilliancy Of her eyes.
"When do you wish me to be ready?'
she asked
AT four o'clock; we will ride unit
six. That will be long enough for you.
1t was the Bertha of other days. who
talked SO pleasantly ana lookeuso prlSh
and cheerful during the ride.
At tea time she was another being from
what she appeared on the evening before
or, indeed, on any evening since my ar.
rival at Fern Dale. The ride had quick
ered in her mind a new and healthier
impulse.
She was lover of all things beauti
full in nature, and this had given her {
pure enjoyment, which could not soon
die out
During the evening my friend, by ;
little management, drew her away from
her nursery into the library, where VT
enjoyed her company for over an hour
How solicitous my friend was to keer
her mind interested; to give her thoughts
new direction; to call back old themes
in art and lifor.tura fbaf opno ,fif al