Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1865-09-06
d thEnk rou do lore me. Hester .

} eIlti4i have 10 give you u p
Give me up, my dear love" and he
held me closer
II cannot go to India"
"Why not?' as he looked half amazed
half amused
/ could not bear the glance of his kind
dark eyes, | shrank away from his arms
and said
II cannot leave Millv"
To my own thinking, / had pronounced
our doom now; but Mark Sutherland only
laughed, and said
"Well, then, you shall not; Miss Milly
shall 90 too"
"Ah if that could only be; but Milly
would die in India We came home be-
cause the climate was killing her"
"hnd you will not leave her p
II promised mamma before she died,
that never would that Il I married t
should not separate us; that my home
should be MiIlv's till she did not need it."
/ answered, falterinc under something in
the look Of his face that was new to me
Up to this time had been thinking of my
self; now | was reminded that I was Civ
ING pain to him.
He was silent two or three minutes;
looking away into the distance. He had
taken his hand from my shoulder
'WeIl, Hester" said he presently,
eravely, not unkindly-hut all as it seem
ed to me, very coldly-"you haye simply
to choose between your sister and myself
You are best able to judge of your sisters
claims upon you; Of my own, will only
say that love you / never thought nor
cared much about women till | saw you,
so ! am not likely TO change my liking or
to forget it; ana if you had married me
But | will not try and plead my cause
a@ainst your sisters Itis for you to de-
eide, and fer me to abide by your decis-
ion"
| looked desperately up to the smiIinr
blue heavens, at the calm stream flowing
on its tranquil path to the sen, 1T all the
sun basking peace around me, and prayed,
with a prayer 50 passionate that it seemed
like loud demand, that might not be
forced into Staying with my own hands
the young happiness Of life. q cannot
and will not do il" I said in my heart;
yet knowing al the while that | must and
could.
Then Mark spoke gain.
"Would You like a little time to consider
the matter? l need not leave the Eollies
till to morrow evening or, perhaps the
next day
No / answered-wiCh or without my
own will, never knew Il know what ]
must do cannot leave Mil y.
And MiIly cannot 90 That decides It,
then Well l have nothing to say, am
the lest man in the world to try and pur-
suade any one against Judgment"
lie rose deliberately, Jut did not 20, for
l sat still
Are you going home p he asked, after
a minute Hester, don't look so sad ; you
are feeling for me-don't do that, l should
like to think of YOU when | am over the
seas; as happy as l would have tried
to make YOU Think of me sometimes as
a friend l don't expect to forget YOU
Hester Good~by"
His hand as he held it out, shook ever
so slightly, bus it held mine in a firm pres
sure for an instant Then he let it drop,
stoo oped and picked up his gun, whist ed
his dogs around him, and strobe away
again along the sea-walI, without once
turning to lool, back
MiIly and l were orphans. Our father
and mother had both died in India, and
we were sent home to the care OF our sole
relation, my father 5. only sister, an elder
" maiden lady, living in a kind of a lady
like poverty, at a dull little village in Kent.
Aunt Col died when | was seventeen
and Milly twelve, leaving To Us the litsle
cottage tn - had been her home and ours.
with every1hing that it contained no very
valuable bequest but all the poor soul
had to leave; and here Mil and mot
heires<es, no, but not destitute, either
continued to live with the dear old er,ant
who had been our aunt's faithful friend
and companion, and our own kind aud
atfectonate nurse er since, fathcrlcss
and motherless, we had been sent to Eng
land
There was not many people to visit at
ITllstead The rector, the doctor, and the
f,miIy at the Holies comprised them.
think we were the most intimate at the
TIollies; for the children there were Mil
ly's cotemporaries. and her sworn admir-
ers and friends. | first saw Mark Suther
land at the Hollies; he was Mr.. Suther-
lands cousin end had heard of him otter
before | saw him. He had led a wild al.
venterous life, wandering all over tne
world for his simple pleasure, | suppose
since | never heard that he had any other
object in doing so had formed my idef
of him; 10 be sure, the reality was not il
the least like it. No, quiet otherwise, anC
and vet, after the first fge minutes
| would not have changed the real maj
for the ideal for worlds.