The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1866-11-06

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fsr several minutes aad vas ] battered
mysef losing herself i sleep WHOM
suddenly sho exclaimed to huaN
rhere haven't looked under the
he'd A horror ran through me- all
4 lost. what should ! de- Belle rose
ana / heard hgr feeling iorihe matches
She struck ono and was moving toward
thc gas hight when The nciicr went
out leaving all darkness again Bless
"a relief. buthoW brief Again heard
her feeling for the matches aud trying
10 light one after another as they failed
to ignite, thou an oh dear, there arc
10 m0rc escaped from her lips
Safe safe whispered my soul tome
and l thanked God IN silence for my
dclycrance Belle groped back g the
bed. bat did not immediately get M;
she stopped and lifted the curtains
which hung around The bottom and
cautiously passed her arm under and
around as tar as ii could reach | al
most felt her fingers gsge my face rs |
held myself icartully and siieutly back
against tie wall. too far just too fd for
her reach Apparently satisfied that
30 danger was near her she lay down
in the bed again, and | counted
her rospirations til she was lost IN
slumber
As for myself sleep was utterly out
Of the question. ] never was So vide
awake il my life How lay upon that
hard carpet and thought the night out
though Of her, and her love for me;
thought Of myself and my love for me-
Yes, ! was convinced from that moment
that the hand of destiny was IN 1t, and
that a benign and all-wise Providence
had seen iii III this extraordinary way
60 open my eyes to the.path Of happi-
ness and peace.
With the morning light fresh fears
came upon me lest my unconscious
roommate might yet peer beneath the
bed for robbers before she left the room
but my fears were groundless. She
rose and dressed expeditiously, for she
was to JOIN her cousins at an early
breakfast, and she had oversight her
self When at last she took the key,
unlocked, the door, and departed j
lost no time in slipping ont Of my shame
full place Of concealment and, escaping
from the hotel On the stairs | met
room, who Fred coming out Of his
exclaimed.
"Why what's the matter with you
old fellow You like the last days Of an
ill-spent life And yourcoat, too why,
it's all over feathers and dust Where
hare you been n
why | slept slept ont last night
that's all. Our house is full, and so i
had to find quarters elsewhere. I'm
just going home to dress"
u should say SO, decidedly ] see il
all, old fellow You've been on lark,
and had TO put up in the watch-house;
come now, own mp and tel MS all about
it.
NO lark at all, Fred; nothing Of the
kind, ! assure you
"Well, if not a inrh what kind Of n
bird WAS il? From the looks Of the
feathers / should say it was a goose.
You're the goose, Fred. But, scri-
ously I've a word to say to you OF a
most important nature. BE a man,
Fred, and make up your mind TO hear
something excessively disagrceable. 1t
must be told you sooner or later, and !
may as well tell il now"
tss.l Is.t,s ggt
you look at me; you don't mean to say
that that any thing has happened to
Belle Bronson n
Don mention hername again, Fred,
or think Of her any more, for she'll
never be any thing to you. have it
from one who knows all about it, that
she has long been attached to somebody
else and that somebody else means TO
marry her.-Th There's no mistake abont
it; 50 bear up and try your luck else
where.
But Fred Evans was not TO be dis
couraged by mere hearsay That very
dav he went to see Belle, determined
to know his fate from her own bps
Soon after he left Oakyile and ] did
not see him again for several years,
when, meeting him in town ono day ]
insisted on bringing him home with me
aud presenting him TO his Old fame,
Belle Bronson the present Mrs. Ever
green.
"Ah, Gus" said he, after dinner,
when my wife and the little Eycrgrecns
had left rs to ourselves "Ah Fred,
You served me n shabby trick when you
allowed me TO lose my heart to the girl
YOU we're all along intending to marry
yourself very shabby trick, cEe Of
whick.I never suspected you r
So | had to tell him lin strict conf
dencc, Of course, as | tell you reader
an about the bedroom affair At the
Oakvllc Hotel, and the love that grew
out of it.
AspEEw WEpr. When the tender
hearted crocodile lies basking IN the
sand Of Mississippi swamp, with his
II