Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1870-05-05

must nave nearQ MS question, ana as she
did not Immediately answer, he allowed
his anger to express itself in slam Of the
door as he went out. He pulled on his
gloves very vigorously, and stepped off
with measured and majestic strides. But
not long SO. TIE fresh morning air
famed his brow with cooling influence,
and he began to think. He missed some
thing For the first time since he had
been married he was going away from
home without his wife's kiss: Surely a
cloud had arisen upon the domestic horizon,
and something very much like storm
had come upon their peace. He was
unhappy and the more he meditated, the
more unhappy he became.
'Dollie was to blame he said to him
self. But this did not heal his wound.
I may have been hasty,' he acknowl-
edged, after further reflection. But
still, he assured himself, she irritated
me-
Thus he reached point very far from
soothing or satisfactory in its influence.
He was forced to acknowledge that he had
allowed himself, in moment of irritation,
to speak hastily and unkindly. When he
entered the car, took his seat alone, in
far corner, and pulled his hat down over
his eyes. He did not wish to converse.
When he reached his store he was moody
and taciturn-very unlike the Andrew
Thurston whose wont it was to come in
with smiles and cheerful salutation.
A little thing it was, to be sure, but it
gave him great pain. A mote is tiny
particle, but it becomes thing of painful
moment when it is lodged in the eye and
the heart that is made tender with de-
voted, living love, is as sensitive to notes
as is the eye Hitherto the current of
Andrews love had flowed on unbroken
and untroubled, and this incoming Of
obstruction had produced turbulence as
destructive of peace and happiness, for the
time, as though the very fountain Of love
itself had been broken up. In short, he
was brought to the self-confession that
there could be no more joy for him until
this cloud had passed away. And how
should that be done ? How should the
sunlight be let in again upon his heart
stone +? He was proud, and he did not
like to make confession of fault. Would
his wife make the first acknowledgment?
He hoped so for thus the evil might be
put away.
As he sat alone in his counting room,
he picked up paper, and sought to
overcome his unhappy thoughts by read
ing. He could not fix his mind upon
the thread of a long article, so he read the
short paragraphs and at length his eye
caught the following:
Where there has been misunder
standing between near and dear friends,
resulting in mutual unhappiness and re-
greet. the one who loves most, and whose
sense of right and duty is strongest, will
make the first advance toward rcconcilia-
ton
Andrew Thurston dropped the paper,
and arose to his feet. 1t was as though
voice from heaven bad spoken to him.
L do not love the most he soliloquized;
but am the strongest. and should show
my love by my words
He looked at his watch. 1t was not his
custom to return home till evening, but
he could not remain aud bear the burden
through the other hours of the day. And
he marvelled, as he put on his hat, and
drew on his gloves, how even the resolve
to do this simple thing had let the sun
light into his soul.
i X
Dollie Thurston, when she knew that
her husband had gone-had gone without
word or kiss-had gone without giving
her time to recover her stricken Senses
sank down and wept; and it was long
time before she could clearly think or
reflect. She had been left aione-alone
with pain and sorrow-and she was utter
" miserable. She blamed herself for not
having called her husband to her; and
she blamed him for not having come of
his own accord. To her it seemed as
though the death ofjoy had come. She
had never known such misery before. :
By and by, when she could think, she
wondered if her husband would smile
upon her if she should offer him the first
kiss, and speak the first word of love.
| She would try it. 1t would be terrible
if he should repulse her but she could
not live so.
The hours passed, aud the young wife
sat like one disconsolate. She thought
not of dinner-she had no appetite
She only thought, could the warm sun
shine ever come again ? Did her husband
love her less than she had thought?
Thus she sat, with pale cheeks and
swollen eyes, when she heard the outer
door open, and step in the hall: She
started up to listen, thinking that her
senses mil ht have deceived her, when,
the door Of the sitting was opened,
and her husband entered. His eyes filled
with tears when he saw how pale and
grief-stricken his wife looked, and with
open arms he moved toward her.
'Dollie My Darling !! Don't let us be
unhappy any more 7
| He had been thinking, on his way
home, what he should say when he me-
her and he had framed in his mind
speech of confession which he woule
make but he forgot it all when he saw
her, and his heart spoke a, it would. Th'
words burst from his lips, lovingly,
prayerfully, beseechingly,-
Dollie My Darling Don't let US b
unhappy any more!
She came to his bosom, and twined he
arms about his neck and for the kls
that was missed in the morning they too
many now; and they wept no more apart
but wept together.
That was all. The cloud had passed
and they experienced the exquisite thru