Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1867-10-10
rARTHUR VINToN COUNTY OHIO THURSDAY OCTOBER TO- 1867

Irs'Yes, but 1 have not seen her since
EWeleft school, until this summer"
hShe is very cross and disagreea-
ible.n
Hush, Nellie-hushl She is bro
ken hearted. She is dying of grief" /"
"Auntiel"
81 had long talk with her this
morning. Shall ! tell you what she
ltold meSg
"Yes. / like a story, you know
This is sad one. When l knew
Ellen Wilkins, or, as shewas then, El-
len Lawson, she was one of the
brightest, happiest girls in our school,
IN full health, with beauty, talent and
wealth, u favorite of fortune. Two
years after leaving school she married
a gentleman to whom she was was de-
votedly attached; to this day she can
not mention him without tears, and
still wears weeds, though he died thir-
ty years ago. Perhaps thisis morbid,
but it is true. One year after her
marriage she was a widow, and lit
tie daughter of two weeks old lay in
her arms, fatherless. This child be-
came her idol. l cannot tell you all
the love she manifested in the men
tion Of her name. She watched her
grow to womanhood, training every
impulse of heart to bear the fruit of
cultivation and education. No voice
but her own taught her, and the fond
est love existed between them, till at
eighteen, Myra-her name was Myra
fell in love. She gave all the pure,
true love of an untried heart to a man
who was only flirting to pass away
summer Her mother was ill with
the seeds of the disease.that is now in
durable, and Myra was uner the care
of q friend whose son thus violated the
sacred charge. He firted and she
loved, and when the summer ended
and they parted without one word of
the love she had believed her own
passing his lips, she dropped and d.
ed. Does this seem unnatural? 1t is
true. Her mother in vain sought to
check low nervous fever that succee-
ded weeks of forced, feverish excite
ment, and when the last hours came,
found the long sought clue to the
change in her child. She died of a
broken heart, and her mother is fast
following her to the grave"
'But men do.not die of love?"
The words sprang half unconscious
ly to Eleanor's lips.
"They may die a mental death that
is worse. A man becomes cynical,
hard and cold, may lose his trust and
hope for happiness. Is not that death,
Nellie? Death to the noblest, purest
of nature-death to hope,
death to peace of mind, death to ali
that makes life dearest? Nay, worse;
men have so died mentally from such
a sorrow that they have become un-
believers in the faith of their child
hood, and turned religious scoffers in
the overwhelming bitterness of the
anguish of such blow"
A long silence fell upon the room.
The moon threw long silvery rays
upon Nellie's face and dress, and |
showed the cheeks pale, and the eyes
growing earnest and deep.
After awhile she whispered: $50
down, auntie. will join you in our
parlor after a little while"
I And when she was alone she knelt
down by the chair and prayed. Soft
ly, purely the moonlight mantled the
little figure in the it's soft snowy robes
of lace, with the flowers dropping
among the curls. The uplifted face
was pale, the raised eyes full Of peni-
tence and yet hopeful, the white hands
elapsed as if in pain, and the lips mo-
~ed whisPapAd pAtitions for pardon
and guidance.
She was in no mood for the ball
room, SO she went to her aunt's pri-
vate parlor. There was no one there,
and again she sat bp the window and
looked out on the beach.
"Miss Browning"
She had not heard him come in, but
he stood there before her, stern and
pale. She looked on with smile, but
The lips quivered Sc that it was only
IN imitation, after all.
81 came tip say farewell" said he,
IT'LL standing there. II am foolish,
perhaps, to seek you again, knowing
low the estimation in which I am
leld. I had believed you, Eleanor
true noble woman-one
whom to win would make a mans life
lappy beyond exprsssion-" His
,oice broke here in spite of all efforts
o be calm. II had believed you-oh,
Nellie! Nellie! say it is not true. You
lave not played with me. I have
owed you SO dearly--so truly, You
re not so false-so fickle."
It was fearful to see the agony on
hat face SO calm and grave by nature,
o hear the cold voice broken and
pleading as if for life. But he was
shaken to the heart, and Eleanor was
almost terrified to see how he loved