Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1872-10-24

with those eyes Of bis. Then watched
and waited for him; but never saw him
or heard one word more II you ara
young. you can imagine the slow dying
out Of hope and expectation aud IL you
are cid, you know. bow such things can
be lived over. and hidden Id secret graves.
But now. rs though the graves had becns
opened, and the Judgment set. came this
sudden repgcachful question up from tho
buried past. l fairly caught my breath.
. turned back my eyes. and boxed hi,a
in the facz again.
Forgive me-" said he directly. in a
cen'ler ,onc. ~ did not mean TO speak
You brought i. ou, with your ewes that
questicu'rg turn was so familiar. Of
Course you were quite right. and / never
blamed you. | never. meant you to sec
me again trt TIC temptation to feel my
self beside you. ouly to be in the soothing
charm Of your presence. vas too great,
1t has been blessing l shall carry With
NE all the rest cs fly life,
lie was rising to 60 away. but put
out my hand. Il did write, Duncan
Ashley" said / /; 1.-THE letter must have
gone wrong"
You did. You wrote =" be cried.
sinking back in his chair again. and look
cd at me eagerly. What did you sayl"
There was only one thing l could say:
and said that" I answered, blushiug IS
though had just written the letter.
A midile-agcd woman in hood aud wa
terprouf! Bat. dear me. it was only my
face that was r:Giiie-aged. after all my
heart was as young and ally 60 ever
And as for Duncan's face. the marks Of
care, cud tliorgh.. and time fell off, lcav-
ing. in it only the eternal youth Of love-
It was the old story of lost letter. and
the older story of a proud man believing
himaclf rejected and humiliated. and fee
ing to the ends Of the earth with his pain.
Twenty precious years wasted - said
my New Zcalander. 1--WE will not be
separated another day while We both live.
There is clergyman among our passcn-
gers and We will be married this yer,
hour"
That w,s so like his hcadlohg dccisionsl
Certainly he did need sober second
thought like me for ballast That can
not be-" cried. "Thc ceremony wouldn't
be legal without license or something =
And would By no means do anything so
sensational aud conspicuous"
But. bless your heart! might as we'll
have tried to wipe up The Atlantic with
my pocket He was SO
gricvcd and so impatient (and, indeed.
when enc GENES 70 think or H. '~-=sv
years is long enough sr au chgagement,)
that finally dropped of my waterproof
and my sea sickness. and stood up behind
the binnnacle. aud was married bcforo
eight bells that very morning-ring and
all. Duncan produced it from a small
caskct. where he had carried it in his
waistcoat pocket for the whole twenty
years. 49,.
Il could never bear to put the little
tting away" 5aif lie laoking at it tender
ly. ...
The neIt day We came to port. with the
sun shining and our fags flying. There
was a welcoming Of friends on the shore.
and glad hurrying to and fro.
Among the rest was an iustant's nesting
Of Miss Armour's lips on my check. and
a little cling of her hand in mine, the
vanishing Of smile-and che was gouo
like the Rash Of q 6re-fy. out Of my sight
forever. But wherever she is. and how
ever she fares. she has the daily blessing
Of two middlc-agei hearts. whose way to
each other she unconsciously lighted.