The Lincoln County herald., 1872-09-25

had said before with his eyes--yes, those
same beautiful syes-thss l vss the
choice of his hsast Aud che desire Of his
lifc
ANSWER me-" said he, II canast wal.
till see you"
So | answered. long, foolish letter,
though there was no need Of writing;
for he had read oil could say long he
fore, with those eyes of his. Then l
watched and waited for him; but never saw
him or heard one word more. IF you are
young, you can imsgins the SLOW dying
out OF hope and expectation, and if you
are old, you know how such thin.s can
be lived over and hidden in secret graves.
But now, as though the graves had
been opened, and the judgmeu, set, came
this sudden rep, oachful question up from
the buried past. | fairly caught my
breath, as | turned back my eyes, aud
looked him in the face again.
"Forgive me-" said be directly, 10 a
geutler tone. IL did net mean to speak.
You brought it out With your eyes; that
quts ion ~ tri was 20 famil Or. Or
course you we're quite right, and never
blamed you. never msuut yon to see
me again but the temptation to feel
myself beside You, only to be IN the
soothing charm Of your presence, was
too great. 1t has been bless ny shall
carry with me all the rest of my life"
He was rising to 90 away, but | put
out my hand II did write Duncan Ash
ley" said l "thv letter must have gone
wrong"
You did you wrote r he cried, sink.
ing back in his chair ssain, and looked
at me egcrly. "What did you say?'
"There was only one thing | could
say and said that" answered, blush
ing as though had just written the
letter.
A middle aged woman in hood and
waterproof But, dear me it was only
my face that was middle aged, after all
my heart was as young and silly as ever.
And as for Duncan's face, the marks Of
care, aud thought, and time fell off, hav
ing in it only the eternal youth of love
1t was the old story Of lost letter,
and the older story of q proud man be-
lieving himself rejected and humiliated.
and fleeing 10 the ends of the earth with
his pain.
Twenty precious years wasted" said
my New Zealander. 1--WE will not be
|, separated another day while We both
live. There is clergyman among our
passengers; and we will be married this
t very hour"
That was SO like his hsadlong decis-
, ions! Certainly he did need . sober
second thought like me for ballast
That cannot be!'' | cried. The eere-
t mony wouldn't he legal without license
t or something. And l would by no
s means do anything so sensational and
3 conspicuous.
G But, bless your heart I might as we'll
t have tried to wipe up the Atlantic with
' my pocket handkerchief. lie was so
grcved. and so impatient (aud, indeed, !,
e when one comes to think Of it, twenty
q years is long enough for an engagement) I,
that | finally dropped off my water proof
e and my sea sickness, and stood up behind
:, the binnacle, and was married before
d eight bells that very morning-ring and
d all. Duncan produced it from a small
8 casket, where he had carried it in his
Q waistcoat pocket for the whole twenty
r years.
II could never bear TO put tho little
. thing away" said he, looking at it ten
: Derby.
Q The next day We came to port, with the
sun shining and our flags flying. There
b was furry OF good bys, q hosting Of
. trunks, a welcoming Of friends on the
}, shore. and glad hurrvins to and fro.
2 Among the rest was on instants nest
. ling of Miss Armours lips on my cheek
2 and q little cling of her hand in nine
2 the vanishing Of \. suile,-and she'was
4 gone, like the fash Of 6rc fly, out OF
Q my sight forever. But wherever she is,
). and however she fares, she has the daily
!. blessing of two middle e,nped hearts,
i whose way to each ether she uucon-
9 sciously lighted.
j.. In the Paris court Of correctional
= police, recently, q lady by no means
young, advanced coqusttishly to the wit
. nets stand to give her testimony. "Wha,
. . is your Dams9" "virgiuie Lou''atos.
. "What 10 your age?' "Twenty.6ve. u
(Exclauations of inoredulity from the
audience The lsdy's evidence being
:. taken, she regained her place, still co
~ quettishly bridling, and the next witness
} was introduced. This was full grown
y young man. "Your name" said ths
jedgs. "Ladors Loustatot." "YouI
y age?" "Twsuty.ssvsu years." "Ar.
you n relative Of the last witness ?" al
|, 1 am her son." "Ah, we'll" murmured
= = the magistrate, "yeur mother must have
!. married very young"
A girl was married 10 Detroit tho othsl
q day, who was 80 obstinate that she would
Q not stand up or answer . question - be-
d comss The marriage ceremony. Th,
parents had managed the affair on th'
q part Of the girl, and the young man sup
| nosad sha Una hashfnl and ahv huk th