The Greenville enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1870-1873, 1870-09-28

Hers like stream of living light.
There was a spray of heliotrope in
the bottom of the casket, and its
sweet, subtle odor, filed the cham.
berhke the breath Of fiasense-and
with that styange power -whieh
odors alone possess, carried the
heart Of Tire sad.Eaced governess
away back to the dewy dawn of
her girlbeod. ,,.'a-s;, ,.,.
Only five years ago, and this
self same Janet had been the
daughter Of o wealthy and induI.
gent father, with every luxury and
comfort at her command, and
crowds of su;tors at her feet. But
only ono Of these met with any IA
vor from the shy little beauty, and
he was in every respect worthy of
her. On The eve of voyage 20
Calcutta, he had made bis declara-
tion, and been accepted, and the
string of emeralds had been his
bctrethal1gift.
For months after his departure,
Janet lived in o dream of bliss,
and then the great trouble of her
life came. Her father who held a
high position in the mercantile
world, failed utterly, and finding
himself beggar, died Of brok.
en- heart. Then their beautiful
dwelling and everything went,
and his poor wife sank into des-
pairing beiplessness and there
| was no one left to breast the bitter
storm but pretty Janet.
Bravely enough che did It, for
the girl was a hero, despite her
slender form and lily face. She
removed aer invalid mother and
little sister to a city far distant
from tue scene of their recent
troubles, procured humble lodg.
ings and then cast about her for
employment. With much diff.
Guilty, she obtained q situation as
governess, a position for which
her fine education and natural
abilities rendered her eminently
qualified. Thus the years wore
on, Janet hearing nothing from
her lover. He was, probably,
dead she thought; or he might
have heard of her fathers failure,
and resolved to quietly ignore her.
She did not know, and she was too
proud to inquire.
! Now, standing there in the gath.
ering gloom, with the rush and
roar of the great city in her co, 8,
she asked herself. "wby not sell
the emeralds 2" They would bring
a good price 4; enough to make her
poor mother and little Alice com
Portable through many a dreary
month. And yet she could hard
ly bring herself to pal with them.
They were the one link that bound
her to the happy past. The sl,ad
ows thickened round her, and the
dreamy odor of the hcliotrope
wrapped her, like a trance, in
memories of long ago. She could
see the green summer. garden,
hear the plash Of the fountain, and
catch the twitter OF the canaries
from their gildcd cages. His face
was bending over her, his kisses
burned upon her brow, his very
words seemed sounding in her
ear again. " A quaint affair for
betro:hal.gift," lie said, "but they
are very precious, and they
were my mothcr's wedding Jewels.
l hold them dearer than anything
else ] possess, hence / give them to
you." s........
Could she part With them . Sell
them for few paltry shillings p
Her bosom rose and fell with great
throbs of agonv. She was coiIing
them into the case again, when her
mothers hollow cough broke on
her car.
Fer her sake, :" che murmured,
her face whitening in the gloom =;
" Yes, God help me, for her sake
[ must I" .
She closed the easket resolutely,
and slipping it In her pocket, hur
ried ont into the darkcning strcets.
Only a block or two from Mrs.
Drapcrs was . fashionable level.
ry establishment, every window a
blaze Of jewels. With her heart
in her mouth, Janet entered and
glanced down the line Of gayly.
dressed customers. 1t would be
half an hour at least, she saw, be-
fore she could be waited on. and
that would be too late, Aud after
all, perhaps, Mrs. Draper might
let her have part OF her monthly
pay, aud sbe would no: be forced
to sci. the emeralds Just yet
Glad of any pretext or excuse for
keeping her precious gems, che
hurried from the shop; but
thoughts OF her mother, and poor,
disappointed little Alice, brought
the binding tears to her eyes,