Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1871-04-14
SELECTED STORY
MISS WARREN.
MY last hope rests in you May.s


my last hope rests in you May
'In me, father p
May Warren made answer in a tone Of
surprise, raising her sad anxious eyesto her
fathers face
As if her gaze discomposed him, Mr..
Warren turned his head, and his glance
wandered restlessly round the apartment
He was an old man, with tall, spare fig
ure, thin. gray hair, and was sitting in an
arm chair, by table covered with papers,
while his pretty daughter May, sat beside
him on an ottoman. She repeated her
words T.
lin me, father p
YES he replied, starting from mo-
ment's abstraction. "Do you remember
Colonel Leighton, my dear ?"
"Colonel Leighton ? An old man with a
heavy beard, partly gray, and pleasant blue
eyes. He dined with US few weeks ago.
Yes, remember him father"
s'Not SO very old, May not as old as l
am-and one Of the finest men living. He
is wealthy-very wealthy too
He met bis daughters questioning gaze
fully now, as if he wished her to read some
thing in his face She kept her dark eyes
fixed searchingly upon his countenance, the
ebb and flow Of the soft color upon her
cheeks betraying the quick pulsations of the
heart.
"What do you mean. father ~ she asked,
at length
II saw him last night. He offered to
! ha1n ma cave me- if-H
eff what, father?''
eff would give you to him"
The words came hurriedly from Mr..
Warren's lips, as if he feared that
if he deliberated he should not be
able to utter them at all. As they fell on
his daugh ter's ear she started to her feet
pushing back her hair from her pale face,
in bewildered sort of way, as if she were
half-stupned.
"Marry me, father Colonel Leighton p
she cried in low tone.
Mr.. Warren took her hand, and drew her
down to her seat again.
"May, Colonel Lei ghton will be good
husband to you. have known him from
boyhood, and understand perfectly his char
acter and principles He loves you-will
be kind to you, and strive in every way to
make you happy. And more-and more,
May he will save me from begga,y !"
He paused, but his child: with her face
bowed upon her hands made no reply-nor
stirred. The mute distress that her attitude
betokened was not unnoticed by him.
81 do not force you to this, May, re-
member: the matter is left to your choice.
But you know what my wish is-what the
alternative will be if you do not accept the
offer" oEt s5n1 vs9Se..s
She knew only too we'll. Fully she real
lied how absolutely necessary the luxuries
to which her father had been accustomed
were to him. Absolute loss of possessions
did not seem the most dreadful thing in the
world to her, but she knew what wreck ii
would make Of him. In her youth and
strength the future would still be bright ano
full Of hope to her but how could he, with
his aged frame and burden Of sixty y. airs
commence life anew? The hopeful though
that she could work for him and supply him
with his accustomed comforts, offered hel
but a moments comfort. To him, with hi
stubborn, aristocratic ideas, this would b.
) the most severe trial of all-his delicatel,
reared, petted child laboring for his support
He would never be reconciled to it. Tha
was no alternative, she saw at a glance. :
I Then with desperate effrrt to think calm
ly, she recalled the form of Colonel Leigh
ton. She remembered his bowed head ant
silvered beard, his dark, deeply furrowe'
t face. and fifty years. She could get n
further. A younger face, with merry, az
ure eyes, and tossing, sunny hair, spran'
up in strong contrast. Stretching out he
q hands to her father, as if for pity, she criet
n out ,E'I cannot Oh father, 1 cannot"
The old man sank back with groan.
"Lost- then I am lost he cried, shud
deripg .sa There were no reproaches, onl
those bitter words and that adespairing att
+ tude White and fearless as she sat at hi
feet, the agony Of her heart written on he
d face. The wild, desperate thought that tn
b sacrifice was possible, occurred to her.
la iaanFather, dear father p pro tF's d
He raised his head, whitened with tn
i frosts of sixty winters, and looked at be
n with CLEAN Of hope in his sunken eyes. :
s She crept into his arms as she had don
: when child land laid her soft cheek agaln'
v his wrinkled brow. ssrias5 ,yl1
"You know that L love you, father" sh
said II can never remember you but
kind, tender and forbearing with me. You
heart has been my home all my life. [ wi
n work, beg, suffer for you'll will die fe
you-oh, how willingly, if need be! BIZ
that-oh father, you do not know what it
i that you ask Pa W0Il0E eTyO8 -
\ He did not speak, but moan broke III
controllably from his lips, as he rested b
- head upon her shoulder. The struggle
her heart sent dark, shadowy waves acros
: her face. Could she-Acould she
Father" she whispered, kurriedly, "l'
me 90 now | will see you again, answe
: you Tomorrow And she left him.
l. He could not see her face in the gather
ling darkness, only glimpse of somethln