North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1866-12-19

are responsible for the evil We unconscious,
ly bring en- Others?"
"Ccrtaiuly not" said |, my mind going
back to George and his mistake.
She leaned her head upon my shoulder,
and a tear dropped on my hand, as she
whispered:
81 have done you real wrong, | have
been Judas to you. and betrayed you by
a kiss -
did not know myself or my weakness ;
actually | was i'll. Mrs. Murray and Mrs.
John thought had taken cold. Lydia
knew differently. She kept my secret and
nursed me kindly. When ! was recover
ing she told me it was Miss Chester's por-
| trait | had seen. DC was not Dora
Christensen, but Delicia Chester. 1t was
my resemblance to Miss Chester that had
brought me SO much notice from Mr..
Murray. hated myself for the mistake,
and my hatred only increased the evil
For weeks lay i'll at the Meadows.
Lydia would blame herself for showing
me the portrait. But we both felt that
there is mystery in sequence circum-
stance must follow circumstance. One
link cannot be severed in the chain of fate.
And the weary days of illness and conval-
essence passed on, and after a time my
mother took me across the Channel to Di-
eppe, We were en- route for Geneva, but
| was weak, and we waited at Dieppe for
few days to rest. We used to watch the
steamers come in. 1t was the autumn, and
there were not great many passengers.
AS the boat neared the shore the day be-
fore we intended to leave, l recognized a
pair of dark eyes looking up at Inc.
Mr.. George Murray was on board
tainted When | recovered Lydia was
bending over me, and though we were in
an open carriage in the public road, she
kissed me as she said:
">ilIy girl!'
We did not leave Dieppe that day. In the
evening Lydia and | walked out together,
to have chat, she said, about old times :;
but that seemed scarcely her intention,
for when we were alone together she was
unusually silent. We were on the pier
l sat down to rest, and Lydia. with some
unintelligible excuse, left me | leaned
against the parapet, watching boat come
in The tide was dead ahead the wind
only cross wind, so the task of bringing
her in was not an easy one. 1t was only
fishing boat four men were in it; each
had An oar: still. AS they nassed the crnci-
fix at either side, each raised his hat and
signed the cross upon his breast, and
seemed to breathe prayer.
"Do they lose or gain by that act 2
| started so when | heard the question.
It was MIR. Murray who put it.
They lose wave,' said l. ut is
question.
"They believe they gain. 1t may be
superstition; still / think there is some
reality in their idea. The loss is gain.
The boat is trife longer Id getting in
each man is nearer to his home"
/ did not understand, for my brain was
stupid, and | felt ashamed at seeing him
again; but he said no more about the boat
or the men, tho, gh we watched them out
of sight. Then he sat down at my side.
| felt his brown eyes on me ; but what came
next can never write. 1t is only Tor
him and me. The minutes passed on, each
bearing away pain from my heart. lie
told me he had come to Dieppc on purpose
to see me, and with tie remainder OF his
life cndeavor to Danish the remembrance
of the mistake that had cost me SO much.
And could only weep and weep, till
Lydia came back to put his hand in mine,
and ask if would be her sister.
1t is all told how. A month after, we
lett DIeppe; and were married by special
license before he took me home to The
Meadows as his wife. Mrs. Murray was
glad to welcome me, and have her eldest
boy near her, happy, though Mrs. John was
not SO pleased as she might have BEEN
And George and | talk freely of the past
and I, too. have learnt to sympathize in
Miss Chester's sorrow, when she wrote
those two sad words beneath the sketch
Colonel Chester permitted him to make
from her few days before her death.
Sone day | am to travel, and stop in
Madeira, to visit the English cemetery and
see her grave. Still he carries the sketch
bul the mystery is gore between us, and
we are very strangely happy, he and /. He
does nottremble at my baby, though often
| see the little fingers twine round his; ln-
deed, think he likes to feel the strange
soft touch of baby's cheek against his own.