Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1870-09-02

|
ing long drawn mieow, when from my
hiding place I beheld Belle Bronson take
quiet possession of the apartment
My establishment was SO great, and the
sense of modification so intense, that did
not, as I should have done, make myself
Immediately known to her. Thus the op-
portunity for discovery and explanation was
lost. | dare not move hair, but hoped
sincerely that some excuse might take her
out of the room for moment, and so facili-
tate my escape. She however, locked the
door, removed the key, and, as I knew by
the sound, prepared to retire. Finally she
kneeled down beside the bed. and clasping
her hands and bowling her head ESQ fearfully
near to mine that I could hear the soft words
in my very ear, she offered up her evening
prayer in manner SO full of feeling, and
with such sweet accents Of womanly tender
ness and devotion, that felt as if she was
an angel bending over the vilest of mortals.
That prayer went to my heart but one
portion Of it went through it and held it
captive. Never shall I forget my feelings
of surprise and my deep emotion when heard
her utter these words :'Bless my dear moth
er, sisters, and friends bless all around me,
and, O God bless him [ love. Augustus
Evergreen, and shower down thy mercies
over him. Amen"
If I breathed short before, after this my
breath seemed to desert me entirely, and [
verify thought that the beating Of my heart
would betray me. Belle, pure as an angel
to me then, and white as snowflake, pro-
ceeded to turn off the gas and to get into
bed What thoughts rushed through my
brain Above me lay young and I'M
sophisticated girl wholly unconscious that
the one she loved lay SO closely to her, and
who had for the first time been made aware
of her interest in him, by hearing words
which she supposed went only to Heaven!
Belle had lain perfectly motionless for
several minutes and was, fattered myself,
losing herself in sleep, when suddenly she
exclaimed to herself, "There-I haven't
looked under the bed y A horror ran
through me all is lost; what should I do?
Belle rose and I heard her feeling for the
matches. She struck one and was moving
toward the gas-light, when the lucifer went
OUT leaving all darkness again. Blessed
relief; but how brief! Again I heard her
feeling, for the matches and try TO light one
after another, as they failed to ignite; then
an "Oh dear, there are no more p escaped
from her lips ''Safe! safe !" whispered my
soul to me- Belle CROPPED back to the bed,
but did not Immediately get in; she stopped
and liftod the curtains which hung around
the bottom and cautiously passed her arm
under and around as far as it could reach.
I almost felt her fingers Craze my face as I
held mya=lf fearfully and silently back
against the wall, too far, just too far for her
reach. Apparently satisfied that no danger
was near her, she lay down in the bed again
and counted her respiratlons till she was
lost in slumber
AS for myself, sleep was utterly out Of
the question. never was so wide awake
in my life How I lay upon that hard car
pet and thought the night out thought of
her, and her love for me thought of my
self, and my love for her.
With the morning light fresh fears came
upon me lest my unconscious room mate
might yet peer beneath the bed for robbers
before she left the room but my fears were
groundless. She rose and dressed expedi-
tiously, for she was to join her cousins at an
early breakfast, and she had oversight her.
self. When at last she took the key, I'M
locked the door, and departed, I lost no
time in slipping out of my shameful place of
concealment and escaping from the hotel.
On the stairs met Fred coming out Of his
room, who exclaimed 4:
"Why, what's the matter with you, old
fellow !! You look like the last days of an
ill-spent life. And your coat, too-why it's
all over feathers and dust. Where haze you
been 2"
"Why, slept-slept out last night =
that's all. Our house is full, and so [ had
to find quarters elsewhere. I'm just going
home to dress
II should say so, decidedly l see it
all, old fellow =! You've been on a lark,
and had to put up in the watch house 3
come now, own up and tell US all about
it,"
'sNo lark at all, Fred; nothing of the
kind, assure YOU
well, if not larA what kind of bird
was it From she looks of the feathers |
should say it was goose"
YOU'RE the goose, Fred. But, serious
ly, Eve word to say to you of most i'm
portant nature. Be a man, Fred, and make
up your mind to hear something excessively
disagreeable. It must be told you sooner
or later, and I may as we'll tell it now"
GOOD Heavens, Gus how earnest you
look at ne; you don't mean to say that
that anything has happened to Belle Bron
son 7"
Don't mention her name sgain, Fred, or
think of her any more, for she'll never be
anything to you. [ have it from one who
knows all about it, that she has long been
attached to somebody else, and that some
body else means to marry her. There's no
mistake about it; SO bear up and try your
luck elsewhere"
But Fred Evans was not to be discouraged
by mere hearsay. That very day he went
to see Belle, determined to know his fate
from her own lips. Soon after he left Oakville
and I did not see him again for several
years, when, meeting him in town one day,
[ insisted on bring him home with me and
presentin. him to his old fame, Belle Bron-
son-the present Mrs. Evergreen.
s.Ah, Fred |" said he, after dinner, when
my wife and the little Evergreens had left
US to -''Ah, Fred, you served mo
shabby trick when you allowed me to lose
my heart to the girl you were all along in
tending to marry yourself-a very shabby
trick. one of which l never suspected you ~
So had to tell him Gin strict confidence,
of course, as I tell you reader) all about the
bedroom affair at the Oakville Hotel, and
the love that grew out oft.
MANY neonle take no care of their money