Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1871-04-07
PLAYING. u sss
YOU'RE simply glorious now.

Her hands went wrong. A buick elias
"a discord-then she went on. she va
growing strong; equal to the strife. Thel
| Is nothing % deathless as womaa's pride
1t had risep at last Her hands hashc
over the keys. throwing off sparks of th
widest, gayest music.
stGood night. and good bye, it must be,
he said, OBTAINING her hand when they seT
arated. '.We shall take the early train.
The flush had died out Of her face. Sh
looked worn and tired Upon the whole b
was not sorry he had decided to 60.
Goodbye" she said quietly.
"You'll come and make us that visit il
The summer, Vesey?"
Il don't know Perhaps so.
'Of course you will"
ITO be sure,' added Darrell. 81 shall
come for you myself
They were gone at last. She turned
away.
but Mr.. Hayes Vesey!"
She had forgotten his existence
s.Ifm afraid 4 am rude" And she pu
out her hard Good (; but indeed | may
confess now that have wretched head
ache. and-and-" That was all she said
The play was over.
The spring and early summer wore
away. On, letter came from Darrell A
letter such as he might have sent to any
chance acquaintance, full of hints of gay
doings here and there-nothing more. One
little note Vese3 wrote his mother, to say
she could not make the promised visit. Oar.
rel hid said nothing in his letter of coming
for her. 'And tell Darrell at the close
her n,te-'' that I am saving any amount
Of gossip against writing him some day"
But some the 'some day. never came. Alb
sence, like strong light, brings out hidden
defects, and Vesey knew row that he was
man selfish and vain. who had played with
Ter heart. He had held it IN his hand
weighed and measured it and her, and ha
cast both aside as worthless. She thought
of it with burning cheeks.
With another winter came the Wlnslow s
If she had dreaded it, if she had feared Tor
herself. would it have been strange? But
the spell was broken. Looking back, she
wondered.
OutN ardly the old intimacy was resumed.
Darrell came and vent as he had come and
gone the yeal before But to Vesey it was
only shell-a hollow, heartless thing that
never had b,en friendship, and could never
now be love. Paul, ploddiug along day az
ter day in the round of his duties, saw--as
though great way of-Vesey and Darrell
flying up and down the icy streets to the
tinkle of silver bells.
One night, Vesey, glowing in crimson,
with white chyrysanthemums in her hair,
tassed through the hall The outer door
was open wide Paul stood outside. The
wind, raw and wet with the breath Of the
sea, caught at her hair-at the silken ruffles
OF her dr. IS.
"Oh, is it you? I}ut you are coming
in 2"
She little knew how her words tempted
him-how the vision tempted him, as she
raused with clasped hands under the gas
light, and with he warm, bright room be-
yond.
s. Il cannot, [ am waiting for J our father.
There is "a family at the lower end Of the
town StarV--
The words choked him. THANK you,
not tonight he said He had Hinged
to meet her again, like 'his-alone and
face to face: But her light manner, her
dainty dress, augered him tonight. He
had come from such different scene. Only
a W man OF the world, after all, he thought.
And yet 50 sweet, SO bitterly sweet, he own
ed, when he had turned away and plunged
into the cold and darkness Darrell was
waiting for her in the drawing-room.
"You're like poem toni ht, in all that
ruby red-like an Eastern song
''Thank you,' Vesey said, dreamily.
Il couldn't imagine you in gray" he
went on, hall to himself or in anything
sombre, or worn, or poor" He had begun
to study the girl in earnest now. Eyes
YOU are made for the rarest and best, Vesey
to shine in satin and diamonds oti55 ~
rs that all" she asked wistfully --1
"All? Is not that enough 1t woul(
satisfy most women"
But to nightit did not satisfy b +. Dowl
at the beginning of the long street was
black, low browed Louise like many other
here, with shop in the lower story, Or
more properly, two, since one window wa
occupied by matchmaker, and the othe
disrlayed pins, needles, spools Of cotton, AM
such small wares Above were two or tire
rooms with slanting sides, where deforme
eirl-a pitiful object to look at--lived wit
her mother, earning enough by sowing t
nut bread into their mouths and scanty COY
ering upon their backs--no more. Vese
employed them from. pity mostly, sine
her work could have been better done elsf
where She stepped out Of the sleigh her
at dusk ons night, and ran up the stairs,
roll of work in her hand. She had to wa
moment, Sc she sat and talked with tn
girl. who was young like herself, and yf
not like hersel tail. It made her happie
in the happy lot that had sometimes wsa |ils
her. It made her thankful for her Strong
Young life. which she had never name
among her blessings and it shot CLEAN {
pleasure through the girls dark days. b
1t was poor room, with paper torn, an
soiled, and Of many patterns, upon The wall
with the bare boar DIS of the floor yawnint
rising and falling uneasily /; with the di
light struggling through entertained vii
dows that peered from under the caves III
ewes from over hanging brows. A lowvol
n a continuous murmur fell upon Vesey
or. It seemed to come from the mex
room.
s'What is that p
l3t'Thafm p The girls pale face gre
bright, It's the ministsr, Mr.. Hayes
He comes and prays with mother, now sh'
sick"
The voice ceased She heard his st
upon the stairs. It was but second /;
could not have reached the street, when
shrek came from the room he had left
The girl sat like one paralyzed. Vesey thrf