The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1867-11-07

MI I1drgTdVe stepped forward With q
pleasant greeting. l renewed my ac-
quaintance With Miss Ware, and present
ed my friend.. Will was always
diffident enough, but even [ was scarcely
prepared for the vivid crimson that shot
mered words that accompanied his awk-
ward bow. I saw Mrs. .Hargrave dart a
| look of Involuntary inquiry at me but if
| Miss Ware thought my friend an uncivil
lied boor, she was too sweetly and truly
lady to allow the feeling to mirror itself
a moment in her face. AS soon as pos
sible, out of sheer pity. I drew Will
away, but tried vainly to engage him in
cheerful conversation. Through all our
homeward walk he was silent and alb
stracted, only recovering something OF
his usual manner at parting.
A few days afterward the Hargraves
issued Invitations to a little reception,
given on Miss Wares account. Harper,
greatly 70 his own surprise, received a
card 9-i'
2"How strange, George!" he said !;
you know [ have never spent an evening
out in Cambridge-or any where elsei'
he added, With a half laugh. and one of
his quick girlish bushes. ~ -'s.o = ~, 7.
L - ~ eto u NC ohOuSH Cuc utiequdA SlIuS-
gle with poverty. waged from his earliest
years, had left the shy. country-born
youth no time even, for S oh society
as had been accessible to him. . $500 .
What shall | do, George? Tn not
tit to go. What must she = - 4 He stop
ped suddenly, his cheek flushed again,
then turning to me quickly, - Y GU were
miserably ashamed Of me that day at
Mount Auburn ?'' 3 'i.'Vi- +aa
"Will Harper" I said. you ought to
know me better You are easily embar-
raised, | know, but how are you to over
come the tendency without accustoming
yourself to company? Go by all means
forget yourself as much as possible
be natural-no more is required.
His brow cleared, and [ saw that he
had really wished to go, aud needed only
word OF encouragement to aid his de-
cision.
&, 81 think you are right he said. ~
will try it We ' z7ii'' 0'-i ~ '' ~
The expected evening caine but a
throbbmg headache kept me in my room,
and Win made his debut into Cambridge
society alone. [ have an indistinet recol-
lection OF some days of suffering that fol-
lowed-of being carried by slow stages
TO my country home; then comes a long
blank. They tell me that / lay for weeks
at the point of death, and l know that /
rose from my siek-Ded the enlaciated
shadow Of myself Months passed before
| was strong enough to think OF resuming
my studies !, Harper wrote to me oeca-
sional, rambling eHectlonate epl>ties, like
himself. and yet pervaded with a subtle,
exhilaration as, of one, lifted above the
common plains of life into the regions of
a ptlrer atmosphere. | read and wonder,
ed sometimes; yet no allusion gave ne a
clue to the change. aut q ,iiit1fliivi- aii''
He met me on my return to college with
eXtravagant demonstrations of delight,
actually kissing Inc on the lips. fe-
How well you look my dear old boy
said, noting his eager face. you
have not pinned for nc, / think
''Ah, but [ have, George /; I have
wanted you more than you know y
Harry Carlton came to my room that
evening and RECALLED me with the latest
college news.
s,You' We seen Harper, of course?n he
said. Did you ever see a fellow more
changed p --.-.-~-.f ar..lr-
Il did notice something looks hap
pier, I think
Hes in love. Capital, isn't it?'-
And Harry laughed 10 a way | did not
like. d ~ no s.s -Haar'-ri a9e} {
why not q 1 said, smothering my
surprise and curiosity.
IVY by, no reason, of course was the
slightly disconnected answer, only it
strikes one queerly someway. Let me
see-the Hargraves gave that little party
for Maggie Ware the same night you
were taken i'll, did they not? And liar
per was invited, you know, and went,
though we all wondered. Well, Maynard
was there, and he said it was the ..,vst
Torrsaerful thing to see now Miss Ware
brought Harper out that evening. She
actually looked him up as he stood against
the wall in his queer, beautiful way, and
put him at his case, and made him talk
after the most unheard of fashion There
never was anything like it, Maynard said;
and so that was the beginning They
have met few times since for. the ice
once broken. Harper did not go back
| wholly 10 his old recluse ways | don t
| think Miss Ware is coquette, and yet
she led hun on strangely for a time, listen
| ing to his old speeches with grave ear
nestness in that splendid face of hers that
would have turned stronger head than
'old Harper s. Every body can see with
half an eye that he worships the very
| ground she treds on, aud yet no one but
/ he Is so blind as not to know that Field
ing viii win her An odd pair of rivals,
Forsyth Fielding and old Harper, Ell,
! George p rr IiaHstsl -I
| Harry careless words moved me far
more than he suspected. Here, then,
was my poor friends secret In the
| light of this new revelation how clear
were many portions OF his letters that
| had puzzled me to understand! Know
ing as | did the depth and intensity of
his nature and it's terrible capacity for
pain and despair | troubled to think of
the inevitable hour that would shatter
his dream. Ought | not to speak to
him-to warn him of his danger? Was
it not too late to avert in the smallest
measure the crushing weight of disappoint-
ment? These questions and many more
| asked myself when alone without being
able to find any satisfactory reply.
But the revelation of his fate was near
er than | imagined It came at soiree
given to our class by member of the
faculty.
| The evening was sultry and the air of
| the parlors oppressive. Not fully strong
vet from my Illness the heat effected me
to dizziness. and | steppedquietly through
an open door leading upon vine cover
ed veranda. The sound of voices came
to me through the lattice, and the leaves
rustled as two figures moved slowly along
the garden walk in the moonlight |
was not an intentional listener, but as /
leaned against pillar, almost too faint to
stand, | heard these words in Maggie
Ware S voice:
Il grieve for one thing, Forsyth, and
all the more keenly now that you and [
are so happy. 1t is strange thing for
| q Girl to say but surely j need have no