Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1862-02-19

love dictates to night, and believe me, you
Will do right Say, rather, your pride viii
curse YOU
Yes, Paul, it will be my pride. 1 an,
proud 4"
Goo bless you for saying that cried
the young man, and smile lit up his
homely face until it seemed positively
beautiful You are already, by that
confession, far less proud than you were
before. Pride rarely stoops to conces-
sions. Now listen to me, Miriam Need
tell my love over to you again.?
NO, no, Paul; | know you love me,
with a love calm, holy, spiritual, eternal
To the skies"
Have | not always been very kind to
you, Miriam p
Always very, very kind, Paul"
Have | ever erred in my counsel 10
you, Miriam r.
" No, you have not NJ spirit has ever
grown more beautiful, more etherealized
through ompanIonship with yours True
my pride would often revolt against your
counsels My lips would murmur, | love
him not; what right has he to lecture me
thus, and sit in Judgment upon me? But
my neart, Paul, my heart would whisper,
lie Is right and could not turn away
from that int gritty OF sod which, when
ever / obeyed, came to bless
" Could ask anything of you, Miriam,
that Is not right ?
" No, Paul. you are too good
" Then listen TO and obey my counsel
Life has always been gentieness and soft
ness 10 you you have been brought up in
luxury -e every want anticipated, every
wish gratifed This wealth you inherit
rom S0 father is not yours, because it
was not his You know this 10 be true.
Miriam. For years YOU have been eniov-
ing what rightfully belongs to others-to
those who are struggling d4ily, hourly.
with the most bitter privation and want"
" BY law they cannot recover it. Paul
so much greater and nobler will be the
sacrifice on your part Give up all, my
love- Justice demands Il; the deep toned
voice within your soul demands it and
above ALL Miriam, God demands it
And y0u demand it, Paul, said the
woman, with faint smile
d" am nothing, Miriam have moth
ing TO share with you but poverty. nothing
% bless you with but nv earnest. manly
love. But | cannot wed you il YOU are
d term ned to continue this injustice 10
others. Give up all; be poor but happy
Let your warm impulsive soul Stru.erle
with my soul, and we will build up our
own crowning tortunes-and if we fail,
5ne grandneSs and greatness Of our nutu-
al love viii alone be a tempIe-Iike struc
,ure, dedicated to truth and humanity
Paul, my own dear Paul the struggle
Is hard. | cannot crush down this over
awIue pride. Can find no arguments to
whisper to me that YOU are wrong and
that | am right? That the sin was nv
iather 5. and not mine2 To relinquish all
Jhls wealth, all these broad domains and
golden presages of abundance: to walk
voluntarily from luxury and high social
position down 10 lowiiness and suffering
to have poverty taunt me at the doorstep
and grim want to crouch like ghoui on
the hearth % feel
Miriam, you forget your love, its
richness, its glory, its splendor Won for
get the delicious consciousness of having
done right you overlook the happiness OF
having acted under the most exalted and
dIsInterested motives. The greater the
sacrifice, the richer the rev trd to your
owb soul 1t is practically no sacrifice
when we suffer no loss, and under % no
privations
" ou are right, Paul, vor are always
rl@ht onr soul Is truer to yourself, to
G d ani to hun N tv There is NOR.
rig,d sterunc,, and determ nation in your
nature. \ on plan, You resolve, vou act.
| do not know what / am saying, Paul
| am bewildered- The ordeal Is too Sc
we're; O. do not urge it upon me Pat
lie these high notions of right or once.
Just for once. my beloved Share my +
tunes with me, Paul; yield to me just this
once
Low and earnestly the beautiful woman
plead TO the witchery OF her voice and
the dewy lanruor of her eyes, she added
a fond and loving embrace. PauIs heart
beat unanimously as he felt those soft
white arms draw him closer and closer to
her heart
:" Did You say yo'r fortunes, Miriam p
And there WAS something OF bitterness in
the young man 5 words, AMI his lips : ow-
" compressed +" Yield, Miriam am
ike nv namesake of old | yer Weld to
the wrong 1t WAS not my Miriam that
spoke then-the Miriam en~hrinei and
worshipped in my soul 1t was the voice
of the Tempter.
90, Paul you hate me, you loosen my
arms You push me away from YOU .,
hut this Is bitter. Ii was the Tempter
who spoke | kHolr it was and he viii not
get behind me And ycu. YOU viii Spurn
me, my noble Paul, if | do not yield To
YOU III iilio on W III remain lOEeNef IN
flexible ? and her eyes etrnes5ly scanned
the face of her companion
Miriam, you have known me for years
from that knowledge you can adduce your
answer
Then let me think, Paul, before you
20 away so sorrowtully again Let me
press my hands to my brow, this way. and
think Imbue me, Paul, with the noble
principles resplenlant in your own soul
The young man rested with his hands
upon the railing, and awaited the decision
OF his companion. He looked abroad
upon the wide domains. meadows slopinE
away off TO the river shore, fields of wa
wing grain lying far beyond ike dark
patches in the moonlight; here and there
the white gables of the tenant houses pro
.iecting from the shruhbery; and above
him and around him, in its st telinesS and
grandeur, rose the mansion, the crownjnG
superstructure OF the lordly wealth
And lid not the Tempter whisper to
hin2 No and vet had he done 81, the
stern, unhinchin- nature of Paul would
have been soulless as adamant to his Sc
ductIve voice.
Miriam Lee was sole heiress Of all the
wealth around her-or at least the posses
sar Her father had ham n y-,,r - - =