The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1868-06-10

easy whisper, as she stood with he
J eyes rivctsd on hisface. - =
l. II dare say you have" l. eblurte
cut CURLY, as turned II Mrs. Robin
/ son. Mary, my dear, what Is, it z
taking her passive hand in mlne.-
t She made n motion, not eve
: shifting her eyes. ",Wont you speal
10 me Mary ?'' The eyes turned o
me, and, slipping her hands froIn min
, she groped in the air like blind per
! son. 1t was terrible to. see. es'Mary,
said. desperately, ''its your HUSBAND
come back to yOu-anytiiins,l tho
20 arouse her; won't you sspeak t.
him p .o; .sias,rf.s s..i aaidiT ieaifrh
Yes" said Mr. Robinson, ensetly
tstI am your husband :, don,t you Know
me, Mary y Amt you gladito see me
my dear = The tears stoodVg in sehi:
eyes, and although they could moi
soften the look Of The scared gone,u sill
could see dina. very adim-like-
mesa to the picture over the mantel-
piece, and could no longer doabt ,lis
identity, Deep lines seemed to grow
ir the little woman's face as he spoke
to her; the very roundness seemed to
fall into sharp angles, such as long
years of sorrow had failed to produce,
e.Scnd him away /; tell the man to so
aw Cannot he so away r. she
said ritcousiy 5-.f.-- ,.aa.,
mo, my dear, said her husband ,
~ have come to stay, aud l thought
you'd be glad to see me, "See I've
carried your picture with me through
hick and thin When we was, ship
wrecked, | thought about it, and tied
it Up water-proof, SO L should have
tbai, anyway and al them long years,
when Tom Bright and George Griffith
aud me used to sit in our,hut O. nights
and talk ever our wives and homes,
your picture used to looked so hopeful.
likc-just as you used to look them
first two months-I almost forgot ] was
ashipwTctk ked saiior thousands Of miles
away: Oh, Mary, The long days and
tbs -dleary niaLts, and the weeks aud
the months AID the years stretching
out, one after another! Yes, child. it
was awful dreary, and your picture got
diu aud blurred, aud grew old and
gray a'Ure my lime, and George. poor
fellow he died OF a queer kind OF
q fever, and We buried him, decent as
We could, uuder the big palm just
above tue hut. Then Tom and / led
rough kind of life; we got savage.
lise, and didn't care much about any.
thing'' f7l ~ fo fEf f77a1i s'f
There he paused and looked at Mary.
sitting motionless. 81 thought, some
times If everTI did get back, it would
be kind o hard for you to get used to
me aud ny ways, aud [ feel awkward
with decent folks 1t was nigh on
twenty years. I thlDk, before we was
found hut L thought may be you'd
be kind o. glad to see me, any way
Aud the poor fellow broke down, and
lopked wistfuly at his wife. >'''-
Bot the little woman's mind seemed
quite gone. She did not answer him
a word, and had again fallen into that
fixed unnatural stare 1 thought l
might rouse her by calling her thou ghts
back to daily things HMary, my II
said, 'lIr Robinson mu t be hungry
afisr his journey; wont you get him
some supper |
She left i he room without word,
moving mechanically, like ore in q
dream Ha.f au hour passed, during
which Robinson had given me ske,ch
If his shirwrecSS. 1t vas the old story
the same, W ih oariatioDs, that De
Foe and Tennyson and Addelai, e Prot-
tor have told. lie and his two com
pauious had been washed on an Island,
rich ia beautiful vege,a ion but idfu-
iteIy dreary in lis soil. ade through the
long, weary years Of watching tc whicl,
the castaways were doomed. lie, told
me how hope had almost died out,
when one, mornirg, at sunrise, they
saw ship steering for the Island, sig /
nailed her, and were taken aboard -
She was the zephyr" bound for New
York and in little more than two
months she brought them home.
When Robinson had finished his
story, went out to see what had be
,oue of his wife She was in the pan
.ry Standing before Willie's cup, and
he blessed tears vera streaming down
Ter cheeks As som as she saw me
be f.n upon my neck sobbins oon
Must l give him Willir's cup? No
ips have touched it since he went
way. How can [ give it to that MANI"
: let her cry until she was exhausted :,
hen I raised her gently ard carried
Ter to bed. .-c-f $50 .,-s.sT
"Lie th.re fifteen miputes my dear,
y that time shall have supper
eady" - -, l.
She obeyed as little child might
Fhon 1 went to her she was white and
Ill, her lips closed. Alarmed, /
allied he hastily by name and she
aised ter eyes to mine. There was i
till the same fixed glitter in them.
ifted her from the bed, md arranged
es dress she was quite passive ur-I
er my hands. 81, II oaH
II vas dreary supper, and a more
reary evening. But at last it came
D an end. a:-1sTco sf1 ~ ia'a.I
L lay half the night turning restlessly
n my, lounge. The moonlight pouring
cross the room in, a broad; stream ~
yi'lie's picture looked down on me
18th an unearthly expression Willie's
rm chair took wierd forms in the dim
ght l thought over the rapid sue
ession of events, until my head grew
izzy with thinking. Then tn, re- f
roachful eyes of young Willie seemed
tariDg at me from the dark corners in
be room and, mingled with his youth
ul traits, came the rough features and
mister eye of the adult Robinson. "A
this chaos of faces Mary's too