Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-05-31
IN TWENTY YEARS.

saS HW&BA GHHNOa
And 50 you really think there is nothing
serious i'll Margaret S naushtiness, my dear
sir said a fashionably dressed lady of five
and forty summers to a gentleman of fif-
teen years her junior, who stood behind the
open library window, regarding her with
an amused smile.
Nothing at all serious, my dear Mrs.
Gray, said the gentleman, quietly.
"And what do you think had better do
with herr
Send heI to me if you like was the
negligent answer.
The lady's anxious face cleared and
frightened at once.
Would you really take her:'
''lf it will give you pleasure / will be
happy to do So
''Oh, it will be such a weight of my
mind, Mr.. Strong. l cannot tell you what
| have suffered from that girls peculiar
ways since | came into this house to live.
Fond as | am OF Judge Gray, 1 doubt if
ever could have made up my mind to take
him had / known as much of his only
child rs / kno" nOw. And, since her
fathers death, she las run wild-posi-
lively wild, Mr. Strong. 1 have not the
slightest control over her. III fact, she sets
every one at defiance, and what ---''
tos IEJ bcdi Salu MI.
Strong, bOwing politely, as if he thought
she had completed her sentence. IL can
easily understand it all. But send her to
me and VIC will see what can be done. |
have had some wild natures in my time
Good afternoon, madam"
With these words Il human destiny Was
decided.
he next day saw Margaret, the only
daughter and heiress Of the late Judge
Gray, sitting quietly at 4 desk in the VII
iaSe academy among group Of g1rls, who
eyed her over their school books as stealth
lily and curi0usly as if she bad been a newly
imported Kangaroo.
First, because with her clear. bright,
brunette complexion, her large, dark eyes,
and hor curling, brown hair, she was by
tar the handsonest girl in the whole
school.
Secondly, because she was an heiress.
Thirdly and lastly, because they had
heard many n tale of her naughty and ca
PriciOis temper, and were in daily and
hourly expectation Of 4 strife for the mas
terry between her and their grave and
handsome teacher, whose authority no one
within those walls would ever dream of
d.sputinG. unless, indeed, it would be her.
but much to the wonder, and very pos
sbly to the disappointment Of the school
girls, 40 such outbreak had occurred. Mar
garct, pcrtled III the library gallery at
home, among her wcll-bCloyed books, had
heard llor s.cp-motbcr'S accusation, and
the teachers laughing reply. Neither of
the speakers lad been aware OF her pre-
sencc, and she did not make il manifest bv
word. or look, CT sign But when they
we've gone she clenched her little white
hand, vowed paSsionately to herself thai
she would surprise them both, and max
her step mother appear to others SO harsh
cenS0rious, and unjust woman she herself,
i'll her own secret heart, had ALWAYS been
willing to believe her.
Accordingly, when informed Ct the ex-
lsting arrangement, she uttered / 0 word of
opposition much 20 the astonishment of
Mrs. Gray, Who could scarcely believe her
own eyes when she saw Margaret Obedi-
emily leave the house each morning with
her satchel Of school books swinging from
her arm. Strong was also puzzled. His
deep blue eyes often met those brown ones
with a look of wondering inquiry that
made Margaret long to laugh. But the
one asked no questions ; the other answer
ell none. And SO the days went on, and
Margaret passed her first examination tri-
umpha1tly, and was proclaimed the best
and most promising scholar in the school.
She ought, therefore, to have been hap
py. But it was with q very sad face that
on the evening Of lha great examination
lay, 10 collect her books, and take one last
look at a place which she would never again
see tenanted as it had been tenanted of
late-the masters chair.
There it stood upon the raised platform,
empty and desOlate. The stately figure that
filed it like throne was absent and vet,
to her dreaming eye, present and plain as
ever, she saw the high, white brow, and
the deep blue eyes, and the beautiful chs
elcd lips, that closed so firmly in spite of
their beauty. She heard the deep, sweet
tones Of that beloved voice--belOved! She
started at the thought.
''Oh, my dear master - she said aloud,
ard buIyino her head in her hands. she sat
down in the empty chair and wept.
y step crossed the hail, hastily, an arm
was thrown around her waist; that voice,
all hurried and aeitateG, was speaking in
her very ear.
My pupil! Oh, if were younger or
you older If l were rich or you poorer,
would dare TO say, my Margaret and do
nly best to turn this girlish liking into
womanS love. But l am n poor man, dar-
ling, and / am fifteen years older than you.
Re1nembcr me, when you remember me
iii after days, and say to yourself that these
We're the barriers that rose between us.
Ny darling, nothing else should keep ME
from you if / were your equal in these two
things. Heaven bless you, dear. / dare
not Hiss your lips. You will keep them
for the man YOU love and marry one day
when l AN far away. But your hand
lie raised it TO bis lips, and not tear
fell with the long lingering kiss, and seem
Ell to burn in the soft, white flesh.
Before she could speak or stop him, he
hurried from the room. The pleasant
''summer term' was over, and the hand
some, stately master" was gone to return
n0 more.
And twenty years passed by.
TO Margaret they seemed to bring little
Of trial or change.
She Still dwelt III her old home, though
her fashionable mother had long since left