The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-03-22

She laughed, blushed, and threw Dack
har beautiful golden hair.
mo. don't know as / have; he de-
voted himself to me good deal this eve
ming, and ! couldn't help forming my opin-
ion, you know. There is to be croquet
party tomorrow at the Hollies, and Mr..
Sutherland made me promise to come up
and bring you, If you would come but /
told him beforehand that knew you would
not, knowing your dislike to that delecta-
bic means for the promotion of flirting
4 And after this it happened that MiiIy
either went or was sent for nearly every
day ND to the Holles-where, indeed, sue
was very much in the habit of going; whlle
/. who had long ceased to care for any coln-
panionship beside my sisters, sat AZ h %a !,
longing with feyerish longing to see marh
Sutherland once more, and yet dreaoins
With n sickening dread to meet the care.
Ices estranged glance Of the darReye tna'
had looked once into mine full OF love.
T. seemed that Mark not unfrequently
.ooomnanied Milly part of the way nome )
80 ha bever came near enough to our COT
80 for me to catch even the most distant
s,;n,nse of him. and my little sister had
sn aphow ceased to talk OF him after the hrst.
Sn although | still knew he staid az tne
Hollies. he might almost as well nave Deeh
ocross the wide ocean as far as was con-
cerned. And yet-oh, no! the sense Vi
S;s ,resence seemed borne to me upon
every breath of the sweet summer air that
aooted into nv roOm-I could not sleep al
night nor rest calmly by day; and oiten'
,.te;ia M;IIy sat with her friends, used 10
wander out, scarce needing where went'
inpatient only of rest.
Gne day. when this terrible yearning was
otrono mon me, took my sketching ma
teriais, from force Of habit, and set OUT 70
walk to a pretty wood at some aistahce.
The cool, green fragrance OF the iealy
shadows was grateful after the giarihg sun
shine. and / sat down to rest where they
felt coolest. But sudden sound OF laugh
ter and merry voices close at hand startled
me. and not willing to see who the speakers
were. / got up and fed swiftly down the
darkest and most tangled of the paths that
branched away into the heart of the wood.
soon left the merry voices far behind me,
and. slackening my walk, wandered on,
dreamy and absorbed as ever, till sud-
denly turning into another path, saw
what caused me to stand still and forget
everything but what my eyes looked upon.
Mark Sutherland Yes, Mark, older, darker,
thinner, but Mark himself. All! how the
green marshes and the winding sea-wall,
and the lark singing far up in the sky, all
floated before my eyes as saw the down.
ward bend of his stately head to look into
the face beside him-the face that looked
up into his, with those candid blue eyes,
and ausmile upon the soft-parted lips. The
smile seemed to reflect itself upon Marks
grave face for an instant, and then he took
up a little hand lying on his arm and kissed
it tenderly. / looked no longer; crept
away, stricken with dumb anguish, a
dreadful, sullen despair; crept away and
went home for / knew the candid blue
ewes, the sweet smile, and the floating gol-
den hair; they were my sister Milly's.
Oh. had l not done enough Had not
sacrificed enough? Was my cup not yet so
full but that this bitter drop must be added
to its overflow?
So cried in my anguish, and it was long
before better thoughts came to me, or that
coming, could hold them firmly and take
comfort. But by-and-by l rose from where
I had flung myself down, and sat by the
window to watch for Mlly. She came
along presently in the quiet evening light,
and / looked at her with my eyes freshly
opened. l had never yet ceased to think
of her as a child; / realized in one mo-
ment how that child was q woman:
looked at the beautiful fresh young face,
and involuntarily glanced at the reflection
of my own in the mirror opposite. Inever
could have been in my best days what
Milly was and now-I turned away with
a sigh from the image Of that faded wo-
man with pale lips and weary dark eyes.
Milly came in the next instant, threw off
her hat, and coming up beside me, took
my face between her two soft hands,
looked into it tenderly for minute, then
kissed me, and sat down with her arm
around me.
"But, my dear, have something to
tell" she began, with strange tremble in
her voice, though she was smiling too ;
ga wonderful thing"
"Don't you think | would ever guess it,
Milly dear?" I asked, pressing the little
one to my throbblng breast.
"You never could; and yet how your
heart is beating!" she said looking up at
me timidly; / believe you really do"
Then sinking her face down to my shout
der once more, she added almost in whis-
per, chester, he told me to ask you whe-
Their you would see him tomorrow"
"He, means Mr.. Sutherland, of course ~
"Of course, Hester, do you mean to say
yes?" asked Milly, stealing another OF
those timid glances at me.
"My yes will go with yours, Milly
DEAR"
"God bless you, Hester! my darling,
my dear, dear sister," cried Milly fer
vently; and for long while we were both
silent. Nor, indeed, did she mention Mr..
Sutherland's name again, nor recur in any
way to the subject, till about the middle
of the next day she suddenly sprung up
from her place by the window, and CLAN
cling at me with a vivid blush and smile,
ran out Of the room, and l heard her fly
upstairs. .........
Then / knew who was coming, and l sat
still because to move was entirely out OF
my power. So, when he entered the room
/ sat, and though held out my hand and
tried to utter a greeting, know that my
lips only murmured inarticulately. He
looked at me as he held my hand in mo-
mentary grasp, and l thought there was
both pain and shock Of surprise in his
face. Then he began:
Ct have not come unexpectedly, hope
Milly promised to ask you-to tell you
"She did tell me; expected you," ]
strove to say and hope said it quietly
"Did you guess why wanted to see
you 2" he asked, with that directness OF
r
eyes, even went SO far as that" an
swered, and smiled-oh what wintry
smile, if it did not belle my heart.
"Of course l could only have one pur.
pose in asking to see you again." he went