American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1866-08-18
S4flisttllau,
One Of Life's Shadows.

aglow. The young man with % pale
!, handsome face, and brown hair an
eyes, leaning on the fence at her side
must have been two years her elder
"Well, Alice" he said at length
with a sudden change in his voice
- must bid you goodbye, / sun
: pose. You won't forget me. hope,
he added, taking her hand.
No, indeed, replied Alice, smil
ingly. 81 am afraid YOU will be tn
first to forget. Good-by."
She went into the house with a en-
riOus smile on her lips. Forget
indeed !" said she. 81 almost hate
myself that | cannot. | WONDER"
looking into the mirror opposite her,
{" if l shall be handsome some day !"
then with a sudden proud lifting of
her head, she added, 81 shall he
handsome enough for even him II
my cheeks were only red, my face and
form rounded a little more. Per
haps-"
She broke off suddenly, and the
old sad, hopeless look came over her
face What mattcred it if she was
beautiful? Philip Burdall was going
to study law, and his profession
would place him far above her, for
her parents Were compar vely poo,
and all the education she had ever
received came from a smal! school in
the village and the few books that
had fallen in her way.
So she lived on, loving hope'cssly,
but well, until two years after, her
father, by a railroad speculation,
raised himself from comparative pov-
erty to indcpendenco, and from
thence by rapid strides TO wealth.
Alice was sent away to n fashion
able boarding school, and FOR a year
after her life seemed wholly compos-
ed of sunshine the first she had ev-
cr known poor child!
She studded eagerly thoueh not
enough to prevent her becoming more
and more each day what she had
once prophesied-a beautiful girl.
This combined with an exquisite
taste in dress, might have given her
more power over hearts than she cv-
er dreamed Of possessing; but she
studiously withdrew herself from al
most all society in the ool-know-
ing but one or two intimately, and
living in dreams Of the future.
AT the end of the year she met
Philip Burdell, now admitted to the
bar but her secluSion hnd made her
shy, and she found it impossible to
throw it off, even in his presence.
He construed this rcticCHcc IS an in
dication of her changed feelings TO-
ward him, and met her with a cold
ness that chilled her TO the heart.
She went away sadler and colder,
up the pain in her heart
with a firm hand, shedding no tears,
and taking up her changed life again
in much the same way as before, so
that no one dreamed Of the cruel
shadows that darkened her soul.
Ii was the old tale miSandcr-
and an estranrrmynt. At
last, urged by her friends, and pity
ing the suitor, Alice married. She
knew she did not love this man as
she ought to love a husband; yet the
tenderness in his manner,
the love in his quiet eyes, were so
new and 20 sweet to her, that some
times in his presence she almost for
got the past. None who saw her
would have dreamed that
the blossoms of her hope were dead,
and her life henceforth Il wcariSOmc
desert, forever staring her in the
face with its shadowy, dcSo,ate
waste. |
She fulfilled her duties as vii"
untlinchingly. She tried to love her
husband, and could not help respect
ing him. lie believed the slight re-
straint which always characterized
her manner toward him to be only
the natural result of her peculiar ]
temperament. Thus she lived on,
sternly self-reliant, giving her cont :
dence to no one, and waiting patient {
" yet more sadly each day for the
that never cane.
Once only she met her Old lover.
One evening at the house OF a friend,
she caught his eyes as he stood
her. She looked SurpaSs-
ingly beautiful, and his eyes showed {
that he felt it. She came forward,
extending her hand with a smile of
recognition, yet so different from her