The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1865-03-22

I
She did not answer, but pulled the
scarlet geranium blossoms in her hair
apart, ,and dropped them slowly in the FIRE
cam unwelcome ?" he questioned.
"Perhaps so," she replied, With icy
eoldness.
Georgia, I thought you loved me, !"
he said.
81 did" she answered
"But do not DOW p be cried bitterly,
stung by her GOODNESS.
You may be right" she said ~
shall not contradict you"
WELL be cried, 81 may never come
again, welcome or unwelcome. Perhaps
it would be better if I should not.
Something in his tone startled her.
She was too proud to ask him to explain.
"Shall | 90 2" he asked, while his
cheeks flushed up hotly. "If you had
rather be alone I will leave you"
"You can 60 if you wish to, sir It
is nothing to me-" she answered, while
all the tine her heart accused her.
at is nothing to you " be repeated,
bitterly. "Well, then, | viii 60 Good
bye, Georgia. l have loved you-I do
love you! God bless you, ny darling
Good.byew
And he was gone.
Gone. She stood there alone, where
he had so lately left ber-stood there ;
and her heart smote her for her blind,
cruel willfulness, her unazcusable and
perverse conduct. How she longed when
he was gone, to throw herself into his
arms and ask forgiveness-to rest her
head upon his breast again. But it was
too late a demon had seemed to be
urging her on, and she had driven him
away by her coldness and cruelty.
She paced the velvet carpet, whose
softness gave no echo to the footsteps, a
strange unrest at heart. What if she
should never see him again ?-never
hear his voice-Dever hear words of for
giyeness ? She would have given much
to have recalled her bitter, singing
words; but she could not,
Georgia, have you heard the news ?"
cried Eva Grantley, as she walked rather
uuceremoniously into Georgia Berrian's 3
room, two or three days after Christmas.
NO. What is the news, pray 2"
Georgia asked.
"Ash. Leicester has enlisted and gone
10 NashlDgtOn-went this afternoon
You know he has been rejected once or
twice as physically incapable of perform.
ing the duties Of a soldier, but this time
he was taken"
ASHLEY Leicester enlisted p That
was all that Georgia heard There was
ringing fuctuating sound in her ears,
a cloud swan oefore her vision for a mo-
ment, then with an effort she regained
her self possession.
when did he enlist?7 she managed
to ask.
"On the morning after Christmas
People say be won't stand il long, he is
50 delicate. His constitution is not
strong enough, you know"
Poor Georgia Berrian
After that she went about with such a
load at her heart-such a great pain.
But the saddest Of all was, that they had
parted, as they did, with her u1kiad
words and actions between them. sepa,
rating them like a gulf He had left
without one word for her. Ana she had
driven him away,-driven him to endure
hardships which he was incapable Of.
Poor Georgia ! her trial was indeed a
bitter one-her punishment a sad one ::
but she had brought it on herself
The grey twilight settled down over
the earth Oh the Christmas evening when.
for the last time, I lift the curtain on the
lives of two whose hearts had known in
the year that had gone by, so much of
sorrow so little of the calm, quiet hap.
piness that had been theirs befure the
shadow fell between them.
Georgia Berrian stood in that room
where just one year before he had left
her-he who was now away down IN
Virginia, doubtless; but she was cot GER
taiu, for he had not written; or if be had,
no letter had been received from him In
a long time by the Leicesters. He bad
never written to Georgia-nevcr men.
uoned her name in his letters Oh, how
long, how dreary the vanishing year had
seemed to her. AID to think that all
this misery, this terrible estrangement,
had been brought on through her own
wilfull self, in strange fit of ill-temper,
for that alone had caused all this sorrow
She was looking strangely beautiful
A dress of purple velvet, edged with
black, fell about her tall form in artistic
waves, till it touched the crimson carpet
OF the floor. Her brown hair was braided
away from her superbly beautiful face,