The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-05-06

YEAR.
teal than POSSIBLY, although w
man, YOU are stronger. The mill,
worked, would yield good income
enough in a few years 10 place tn
unfortunate Farrell family out Ofwan
III could have done it without con
promising myself, ] would have b,
: gun the work long ago. / am sOrr
now that il Is too late-that / did nc
do it. IL will be necessary for you,
= think, to remain upon the farm te
years or more to carry out this plan
I am assured you will succeed; yO
are of a more practical character tina
| or Laurence, and better fitted {
combat with the world, and the en-
! ployment will not be uncOngSnial.
, have made your way quite easy f.
YOU by the conditions of the will
think il is ingeniOusly cOntriyed.
81 need not ask you to guard m
secret, my daughter. The fear of dc
lection has been a great weight upOl
me. / have watched the mill nigh
and day. / ought to have remove
the body long ago, but / put it OF
from time to time. There has been
vulgar rumOr that / have cOnceale'
treasures there; but the only secret O
the mill is this legacy Of shame ant
disgrace, which your unhappy fathe
asks you To take from him."
She could almost see the little oil,
man as she read, looking at her will
his weak, not unkindly, blue eye
chewing his bit of straw nervOusly a
he maundered over these words, We
hement and apologize by turns
''It's so like father" she said, with ;
bitter, sad little laugh, as she tore NJ
the paper bit by bit and threw tht
/ pieces i'm the curdling red water at he
feet. Farther up the road the shadow
Of the mill fell immOvable on th'
water, as the ghost that il has beer
said comes into every man and wo
mans path through life, with UNI
reasonable, pitiless face, barring then
out from their wishes, bidding them
RenOunce, RenOunee.
But Bertha knew none of these fine
words about life or its losses. "rhere's
nothing for me To do but to open the
mill and make what / can out of il
for them" she said "and even sgd.
ney must think ! do il for the love oi
money" And then she laid down
her head on a pine log near by and
WAS quite still q while.
Laurence looked down on her as on
one i'm Satan's grip. ''The carnal
flesh is strong within her" he sighed,
The carnal flesh was strong in Bart:
the blood in her strong limbs and
high-colOred cheeks was healthy and
young: she looked up and about her
after a while. The cut pine smelled
fresh and clean, the morning wind
blew keen. Spot was calling to be
milked. She got up and went through
the wheat-iield; quickly remember
ing that Laurence had not had his
coffee. Thinking rs she went of One
who had walked through the corn
long ago, who came not TO he minis
tered unto, butte minister and 70 give
His life ransom for many.
He would know why she did it.
do not think that Bart thought
once Of the temptation her soul had
been in, or of her soul at all, As a
martyr pilgrim in this vale of tears
should do. She was too busy keeping
the thought of her wedding day away,
by reckoning how much lumber would
be needed To repair the mill, and try
ing to arrange the great press of work
coming upon her. AS for herself
Tut Tut Many women never mar
ried; she would forget it i'm year or
two, no doubt. What was that ? She
had not been bedridden since she was
a child, or been forced to send her
helpless child 10 die in the poor
house.
BY the time she reached the house,
her clOg-shoes Fung as firm and her
lips We're as bright a red as ever
While Laurence drank his black cOf-
fee, cup after cup, and pepperd his
meat, she went out and changed her
dress.
"Where are you going ?" he asked,
when she stopped by the table i'm a
dress and cloak of blue flannel.
"AcrOss the hills few miles, to old
Manley's place. There arc some peO-
pie there that must see"
"Kirke is coming, Bertha"
She did not answer.
"WOn't you see him, sis ~ Gently,
for, in spite of his anger at her, Lau-
renee was enough of a woman to un-
derstand what her loss had been. 'tHe
goes to-day. With you, or without
you, as you please"
She turned away that he might not
see her face.
After . long silence she said "I'Il
not see him again. There is little
package there, on my bureau. 1t is
my ring-and- You will give it to
him ?"
"Stay and say goodbye to him,
Bart" holding her sleeve.
She did not speak or move for some
then turned away i'm silence
and went down the road, never look
ing hack.
Kirke, coming up the hill-path on
saw her, and, stopping,
watched her out of sight. When he
reached the gate, Laurence, who had
gone out full of sympathy for him,
drew back and silently made away
for him to ride through. There was a
look in the mans hard gray eye that
him. But there wereeX-
cuses for Kirke. He was a manly
fellow, ready TO forgive, and he had
come out with his big heart full of
and compassion for the
girl, happy and excited with the
words which he had planned through
the night, that were sure to bring her
quickly back TO him.
In this night i'm which he thought
he had lost her he first knew how he
loved her.
"She went away to avoid me ," he
said, when Laurence came up To the
door where he sat upon his horse.
al am afraid she did, Kirke. She
IS strangely changed. She does not
wish to see you again. There is q
for YOU" timidly strOking
he mares name. "pll bring it to
you, unless yOu will dismOunt."
"NO. have crossed this threshold
or the last time"
Laurence gave him the package,
md they exchanged the briefest of
sood-bycs. Muller, as we said, was
afraid of the white heat of anger i'm
he other man. 1t was a still rage
which he, with his temperament of
ebb and flow, could not
Lllc Illstl dIlCIHOOll, hlIhct IuSlAlliS
dong to the West in a railroad train |
OOked back tO see the last glimpse of
he purple hills among which he had !
played out his silly drama of love. He |
lad seen them for the last time, he |
old himself: whatever changes life |
night bring him, that face was over
or ever. o GOdI to think that aVar-
ce could faint her so surely and so
leepI
Meanwhile Bart was trudging |
over those purple hills
,he had seen the Farrells; her work |
vas begun in earnest. She was not
he least afraid, thinking of Sydney's |
II Laurence's soul as they of hers,
laving that Christian charity usually
o be found outside of seets, which |
lever think of classifying Gods creaN
ures rs heirs or non-heirs of damna-
ion. She was not thinking of her
work or her sacrifice, but of the blue
lannel cloak she wore. Sydney had /
allied her "bOnnie Bertha" in it once. |
/ was the only time in her life that it |
lad ever been limited to her that she /
Ould be pretty and winning like
'ther women. She drew the cloak |