Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1862-07-11

the face, with the death smile on it, should
be hidden under the daisies.
"You have walked too fast and too far,
Mrs. Herkimer, said, kindly, "and now
you must let us help you on your way
Where are you going 2"
The stranger writhed herself away,
beyond the clasp of the kind arm which
was holding her. A brilliant scarlet
flushed the wasted cheek, and she cried
"Do not hold me. / know by your Sc
rene face, your pure, friendly eyes, that
you are what | was once, and never can
be again. A bosom like yours is no fit
ting pillow for an outcast You ask me
where am going, listen, and [ will tell
you. 60 to look upon the home which,
|, only, made desolate-the parents
whom | deceived and Geserted-to look,
till the sight shall blast my heart yet
more than the memory has blasted it,
and theD-listen still am going to
die"
"Where is this home 2" Mrs. Herki-
mer asked gently, yet with certain
authority in her voice which the poor
creature had no power to resist.
q In Bethel, ma'am lived there all
my young, innocent days. The birds in
the forest, or the flowers on the hillside,
were no freer or biither than l, and
was my parents all---the last child of
seven, and loved all the more because of
the six graves on the sunny hillside. /
was happy until Guy Leslie came. He
was with party going to the mountains,
and while they were resting and chang
ing horses i'll the village, he saw me-
then ordered his trunk off the stage, and
stayed to see Inc again and again. 1t was
the old story, lady. He was rich and
highly cultivated was poor, uulearned
and pretty You must not condemn him.
That fell was my own blame He never
promised to marry me, but loved him
SO we'll | was glad to go with him on any
terms.
1" | went away with him in the summer
midnight, Heaven pity me, and left peace
and home behind nue. forever. How well
| remember it all The moonlight lay
white and still about the little cottage
with the ivy over its porch. My father
and mother were sleeping peacefully, for
| went in 10 look at them, and leave my
last kiss on their foreheads. Then | went
out, and adGel1ihe laburnum tree by the
gate he stood; strong and beautiful and
beguiling as a lost angel. put my hand
in his, aud have never seen a happy
hour since. Not that he was unkind to
me; be was too generous for that, but my
mother had prayed too often over my
slumbers for her child to be happy living
in sin. Oh, lady, there is no anguish
which eats SO sharply into the soul as the
perpetual canker of remorse | felt that
| was outlawcd from all good men and
pure women; and | became a torture to
him as well as 10 myself | wept when
| should have smiled, and Wearied him
morning, noon aud night with my per-
petual bewaiings Still he was kind and
patient--neither deserted nor upbroided
me--but life grew more and more bur
den and misery. | came away. One
day, while be was absent for a little
while, left the home that be had pro-
vided me, aud SO far have come toward
my birthplace. must see, once more,
the two faces which | left behind me in
the moonlight, and then will die: Nine
teen years of life have brought me sorrow
enough. Hopeless, homeless, friendless
i will try the other world. 1t cannot
be more bitter"
"Poor child, poor child" Mrs. Herki-
mer murmured- He who was given to
us for our example, said, to one of olden
time, Go, daughter, sin no more +
Shall we, who are human and erring, be
pitiless, when He who was perfect showed
mercy? Life is not over for you. This
life, whether it be happy or miserable, is
but dream when compared to the end
less circle Of the forever. Let not your
last act be one Of sin. If you cannot
bear the short sorrows Of time, how will
you fssat the long ages of eternity ?
Promise me that you will live till God
calls your
How can L? | have nowhere to 20
no friends, no ties--would you send
me back to him ?"
Never. You have both ties and
duty. Your parents have no one else to
tend them 10 their old age. Will you
leave it to strangers to smooth their pill.
lows in the last agony? Have you any
right to shrink weakly from this duty
to refuse to care for those who have cared
all your life for youf"
"Thoy would not receive me-" the poor
girl gasped With look of agony on her
face, and a CLEAN Of longing in her eyes
They would--they must"
Constance Herbimer turned away as
she spoke, and walked resolutely toward
her husband, who was sauntering lei
surely up and down the road at little
distance.
In few words she told him the whole
story to which she had been listening
and then she said, earnestly
Z" You sec, Paul, what we must do.
We can reach Bethel 10 two hours; at
least the driver was saying so just before