Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1870-03-03

ture, dear mother. / have looked death
squarely in the face, and had 1t not been for
the man whom term my destiny, you would
now be childless. i. viii tell you all by and
by, but this | will say now: In him to whom
allude, | have also found the first person In
whom my heart in its inner throbbings has
ever acknowledged an interest the first
whose voice has fingered on my ears after he
was out of sightw Igi
Gamma, have you fallen in love, and with a
strangerg tna 10
~ am in love, believe, mother, and with
one whom never saw until to-day. But he
is not a stranger to- me, to you, or to fame.
He is an officer and gentleman, one whose
services have been acknowledged by deserved
| promotion, and who has made his marx with
his pen as well as his sword"
His name, my daughter!'
"Colonel Edgar Mansfield, mother. Have
you not seen it in printy'
"Yes, often; but tell me how, when and
where you INST hims"
Anna Marston gave an account of the dan
ger which she had escaped, and enthusiastic
ally described the heroic conduct OF her pre-
server.
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 l loved him with love that will know
no change but in death.
Anna, my child, this Is folly To give
your love before it is sought, is unmaldcnly to
say the least"
"Mother, it is the voice of Nature, and who
shall still its pleadingsg Till now have 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 it is over. He will come to see
me-he will wool shall accept and pray
Heaven we shall be happyW
| At later hour, when Mrs. Marston was
alone in the drawing room, servant entered
and said:
"Colonel Mansfield has called to see Miss
Anna" H.I
"Request him to walk in and I 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
my dear mother may with myself join in re-
newal of grateful expressions for"
"a 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 l am more than rewarded, |
hope you feel no evil effect from the startling
incident of the day."
"None at all. And | 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
| tion of them here
Colonel Mansfield listened, and with the
keen perception of man of the world, read
the entire plot in all its dark details. And
| while he rejoiced at its failure, he warned the
lady that bad men seldom give up wicked
plan because foiled 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. lie in
tended to do So for in frontier and garrison
the income from that, added to his regular
pay, would enable him to continue to support
an educate an orphan sster-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.
| l"For,n he added, "she is too young, too
pure to 90 out alone in contact with the
world" F.
"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 preserycr, that
YOU will let her live with me, at least for
timeW
~ would be unjust to both you and her to
refuse, and if you will, together we will visit
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 part of her history.
"Do not think me bold Colonel Mansfield, y
she said. az do not mean to be. But am, |
fear, a spoiled child. Mother was left widow
when | was very young, with an immense for
I tune in her hands, large part Of which be-
came mine a year ago, when became of age.
! She has had me educated at home, but his
! allowed me always to have my own way IN
L. L., ii t.f,t afal