The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1863-06-12
What am l to do. Margery 2"

Nv nat UOu duu your o"u Soui eeH Jou'
"And you. child ?"
II am to wait and bear or, perhaps, l.,
too, shall 6pd my work"
So Nelson Harding had marched away
in the Angus, sunshine. and Mary Dane
was to commences her waiting.
Honor to the brave who fight and con-
quer, or fight or fall But is theirs the
hardest fate Do not those suffer NOR e
/ who can not lose in action their fear and
anguish ?--who must count slow hours.
j shudder at ,idings Of onward movements.
live on fragments OF newspapers? Ay ;
and is it not true that every bullet shoots
double. and the shot VIII ch flies furthest
makes the sorest wound
But Margery's waiting did not last long.
So soon. that il scarcely seemed as if the
regiment could have reached its destination,
the news of Antietam came. The Sixteenth
were engaged in it. and she read among the
wounded the name of Lieutenant Nelson
Harding. She was slight, delicately or-
ganized little thing. Her tall. strong lover
} had been wont to call her his child but
the child did not shrek or faint She did
not even cry. Some spirit other than her
own seemed to have taken possession of her
"a cool, brave spirit. strong to do aud to
dare She went TO the room where her
uncle and aunt were sitting together. They
started when they saw the white, firm face.
whence all the pink prettiness was gone as
utterly as il it had been touched BY death.
:" i am going TO Washington. uncle
Lieutenant Harding is wounded He will
be in the hospital. The next train leaves
| in an hour.
g But child. you must not go alone p
said Mr. Dane, with startled face and "on-
derng eyes. Do you want me ?"
"As you please. 1t might be help. if
you could get away in time. There is only
an hour
exchanged glances.
she will co." Mrs Dane said; 81
know her o! course, you had better go to
take care OF her."
That settled it. Mrs. Danes jad gments
were always final.
When the long journey was over. and
Mr. Dane and his niece stood on the TIRES.
hold Of the Baltimore hospital. to which
they had been sent from Washington, they
met there Connecticut surgeon whom they
knew. Mr.. Dane inquired OF him for Lieu.
tenant Harding.
There is no hope for him, poor fell
low!" was the answer. and thea Surgeon
Hunt met Margery's eyes. and remembered
that she was Nelson Hardings promised
wife. He murmured sincere but half in
distinct apology. which her clear tones cut
short:
Thank you-do not blame YOURSELF
wanted to hear the truth. It was best
hat should know it before I saw him
Now show me where he is, please"
Nelson t.
She had been standing for moment
him. Eyes and mouth were shut
against tear moan. But his
CHASTITY face was eloquent. She could see
in his couvulsed features the tortures he was
bearing silently. At her voice his eyes
opened. The old fond look replaced the
msut that he was suffering when he saw the
slight form at his bedside, and heard the
voice, the we'll known, well loved voice.
He put out his hand:
Child--lovelove-M r.
:" Did you expect me. Nelson -
Tomorrow, not to-day. l had not
thought you could be here soon. | was
waiting for your coming to die. l should
have waited . week if need were. But the
agony is horrible"
She bent over him. and left kiss on the
pale forehead. He drew her closer then,
and his lips clung to hers with long. de-
spairing pressure.
ITO think. after to-nigh. 1 shall never
kiss you again. Margery. If we meet in
heaven it will not be as here. | shall love
your spirit but it seems TO me l shall miss
all this vanished sweetness of tender eyes,
loving lips, softly falling hair. God help
US. child. how little the best of us know
where we are going y
Then she comforted him with her clearer
vision. her stronger faith. IL could no, be
for long. she whispered. their parting. She
would be his. through all time and eternity,
just as truly as now.
For hours he lay with her hand in his
waiting 1t was strange feeling he had
had when he heard her voice and met her
eyes-a feeling that she had brought him
his release from pain-that now even Death
would treat him gently. Blu, the strange
thought may have been true. Through
those long waiting hours, with her hand in
his. be did not suffer. He only felt his
strength ebbing away, and knew that his life
was dissolving into moments. Just a. the
las, his face frightened. and he whispered,
Something tells me YOU are right. Mar
gerry The future will not be dim ard pale
beside the present. / will be brighter
Nv soul before it leaves the body is assert
ing its own Immortality. | know now that
shall live hereafter Never think you are
solitary again, child. | shsl i've, and |
shall love you. Day times and night times
will bring you nearer 70 me. each one"
Then a pause. broken only BY her tears.
which wet his hair. and her kisses on his
lips-theu he cried, with one last effort.
Never be sorry. Msrgsry. that l went.
am not. l fell doing Gods work II
had turned my back upon fhe right should
have lost more than life. God loves you,
Margery. Be patient. One more kiss"
She ben, to give it to him, but when she
raised her head there was no light In the
swiftly glazing eyes--his soul was march
ing on.
Oh, il could but have told you that he
got betier-that her coming brought him
healing--shst he lived 20 love her in this
world-you would not have thought my
story so sad then; but msyhap it would
have been sadder. Ii is the sleep which
knows no earthly waking. and not the life