Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1870-03-04

| bcTVeT.
"Mother," she said, at the close of her mar
ration, 81 looked down into his blue eyes
while faltered between life and death, and
in their soulful depths read MY FATE. In an
instant I loved him with love that will know
no change but in DEATH"
Gamma, my child, this is folly To give
your love before it is sought, is unmaidenly to
say the least"
"Mother, it is the voice of Nature, and who
shall still its pleadings? Till now Ihave been
as ice to all who have sought my smiles-till
now distrustful, believing that the heiress, and
not the woman, being wooed, should meier be
won. But il is over. He will come to see me
he will WOOL shall accept, and 1 pray
Heaven we shall be happy"
Alta later hour, when Mrs. Marston was
alone in the drawing room, a servant entered
and said:
Colonel Mansfield has called to see Miss
Anna"
"Request him to walk in and will gladly
welcome him; then you may inform my
daughter of his arrival"
The Colonel entered, was received with a
courtesy, a grateful kindness, which made
that queenly matron nobly prepossessing in
his sight.
The conversation, Ringing much on the SER
vice he had been SO happy as to render, con-
tinued until the rustic of her dress announced
beautiful Anna Marston, our heroine. AS he
rose, she glided forward, and with hands ex-
tended to grasp his, exclaimed:
81 am so glad you have come so soon, that
iot,, a
newal of grateful expressions for"
| GA service which fortune threw in my way,
and to which hope my kind friend will make
no further illusions, for by the honor of her
acquaintance am more than rewarded.
hope you feel no evil effect from the startling
incident of the dayp'
| "None at all. And I can now explain to
you how it occurred"
The reader, who has noted all the incidents
of the plot laid by Belphor, needs no repeti-
ton of them here.
| Colonel Mansfield listened, and with the
| keen perception of man of the world, read
| the entire plot in all it's dark details. And
while he rejoiced at its failure, he warned the
lady that bad men seldom give up wicked
plan because foied at first, and that she must
yet guard against peril from these men.
Urged on, they could not say why, or cared
| not to ask, each in turn confded to the other
a knowledge of their respective positions.
The Colonel, who had gained his rank in
the volunteer service, was now about to enter
the regular army as a captain of cavalry. He
intended to do so, for in frontier and garrison
| duty he could find leisure to use his pen, and
the income from that, added to his regular
pay, would enable him to continue to support
and educate an orphan sister--his dear little
Pearl, then at the Rutgers Female College.
He informed Miss Marston that his sister
would graduate during the following week,
and that it was his intention to then take her
| to the West with him.
"For," he added, "she is too young, too
| pure, to go out alone in contact with the
world"
"When your dear sister graduates, would
like to have her here to live with me. Her
room shall be next my own. Birds shall sing
in every window, and flowers greet her eye
on every side. Promise me, my preserver,
that you will let her live with me, at least for
a time?'
81 would be unjust to both you and her to
her tomorrow, for it is Saturday, and she will
be all day at home"
| Anna, noble hearted, far above the selfish
ness of too many of the wealthy daughters of
America, now revealed her soulful nature as
well as a part of her history.
| "Do not think me bold, Colonel Mansfield"
she said. 81 do not mean to be. But 1 am, 1
fear, spoiled child. Mother was left q
widow when I was very young, with an i'm
mense fortune in her hands, large part of
which became mine year ago, when l be-
came of age. She has had me educated at
home, but has allowed me always to have my
own way in everything. 1t has made me in
dependent and willful, apt to speak just as l
| feel, and to act as I believe right. If l err,
| forgive me-
| "Dear Miss Anna, your faults are the faults
of an angel, and can never see them. Were
1 wealthy, placed above the influences of that
| tide which, ebbing and flowing, carries poor
humanity whittier it wills, would feel indie
pendent, and say more to you now than honor
will permit. For to tell you that love you,
to ask you to give your love and hand to one
unable to do more than to keep himself out of
ter, would indeed be dishonorable."
Edgar Mansfield, drop all titles, scorn
all cold ceremony, hate conventionalities.
| acknowledge that l LOVE YoU-that nature
whispers to me you are the one, the only one
to whom I can confide the happiness of my
life"
ooh, Anna, is not this dreamT'
ono, Edgar Mansfield, it is real, and every
word that 1 have uttered comes from my
heart. The world, too cold to read hearts as
hearts are, may not understand me, but you
will. Love springs into existence even as
volcanic fires leap from the now-crowned
mountain, and LovEw
This outburst of affection was succeeded by
cry of alarm. Anna Marston, raising her
eyes to the curtain of the large window, front
ing the parlor, saw a face which she immedi-
ately recognized. Her startled exclamation
caused the owner of the face to fly, and pur-
suit was made in vain.
To account for the presence of this strange
face at Miss Marston's window, it is necessary
to return to the two gamblers With bitter
curses on his lips, Belphor rejoined his part
ner, Durant, and explained the manner in
which Mansfield had saved the lady and how
he had been literally refused an opportunity
to make any acquaintance with her.
While he was threatening to challenge his
rival, for such he mentally made him, the vag-
abond urchin who had shared in the work
rushed up, demanding the five dollars which
Belphor had promised him.