Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-04-03

And hold her hand in my hand,
And kiss her lids in her innocent sleep.
Though the river is broad, and strong, and
deep
Could build the arches of silver, r
And lay the floor with gold,
- Ieouid cross to claim my darling,
| -s4- Not waiting until am Old 10
Old and worn, and whithered, TO creep
Der the bridge of gold, to a grave, AM
weep.
WILL IF YOU WILL. =
The Kay House is q pleasant little no
tel, standing half way up the side of a
mountain in New Hampshire. r'
In the parlor there, one July evening
were four people-Mrs. st. John and
her daughter ELY, Miss Emily May and
Mr.. MiIlburn. As Ely st. John went
to the piano, these two last slipped out
on the balcony, and stood listening as
ELY sung: .r.
"Could we forget, could we forget!
Oh that Lethe were running yet,
The past should fade like morning dream
.
Ahi we know what you would say, aH
but we are too tired TO hope or pray;
For, hurt with ceaseless jar and fret,
Body and soul cannot forget. a-..
Can they forget, will they forget So
When they shall reach the boundary SET
When withfhe final pang and strain P.
They are parted never TO meet again?
Ever to them shall rest be given,
Senseless in earth, or happy in Heaven:
That which has been it might be yet
. Il l<,<slr~ ~laor -, n fnra H
But the stars shall cease to rise and set
And fall from Heaven ere We forget"
Ely sung with an intensity and
pathos which borrowed none of its
force from within, for she was q good
natured, inconsequent sort of girl, who
had never had a trouble in her life.
The gift of musical expression is often
quite Independent of~feeling or expe-
rience. Elly's music hurt Emily cru
ely, and stirred and reused the old sor-
row which had but just begun to fall
asleep for little. She had loved deep
ly and fondly a man who had grown
tired of her and left her, because he
was greatly ber inferior.
Much as she suffered, I rejoiced when
her engagement, with Lewis Leighton
was broken. i had known Lewis from
his earliest childhood, and 1 had al
ways disliked him as a selfish, conceit-
ed prig. The last I heard of him, he
had turned Catholic, and joined the
Jesuits; and 1 only hope lie got well
snubbed during his no viciate. Had
Miss May married him, her disappoint-
ment would have been unspeakably
greater than it was. As she leaned over
the balcony while Ely sung, and looked
out into shadows and starlight, her
heart was wrung as with the first an
guish of loss, the sickening sense of her
own blind infatuation. ooh God :" she
said to herself, "when will the bitter
ness of this death be past?" Then she
became conscious that Mr.. Millburn was
speaking to her; but he had more than
half finished what he had to say before
she realized that he was asking her to
be his wife. rT7
He spoke at a very unfortunate mo-
ment. He and Emily had been very
good friends that summer. They had
wandered in the woods, ascended Mt.
Washington, and been to Glen Ellis to-,
gether. She had liked him, but she had
never dreamed of him as a lover, and
when he presented himself in that light
she was shocked, and startled, and a
little provoked. Lsaf 81
"Oh, hushp she said sharply. at
never can be-never ~ ,.-1 1re
DO you then dislike me so much ?"
said Evert Millburn, trying veryihara
to speak quietly. izl5 T
"No," she said, making an effort to
collect her thoughts. 81 have liked
you-you have been good to me; but all
the love had to give is dead and bur
led, and there is no resurrection"
He made no answer; but she felt that
she had hurt him.
81 am very sorry" she faltered; 81
never meant"
II understand" he said quickly. at
is no ones fault but my own. Good
night" And they touched hands and
parted. l.s.E- add 81
Evert went up to his own room, where
his friend, Dick Bush, was sitting in
the dark. Dick was boy of nineteen.
lie had been trying to work his way
through college, and had worn himself
out in the effort, and Mr.. Millburn had
brought him to the mountains for his
vacation. Dick made hero of Evert,
and he had been mortally jealous of
Emily May. ia ai
"Dick," said Mr.. Millburn, after a
little, @we will go over to the Glen to-
morrow"
And then Dick understood the case,
and mentally abused Miss May as ga
cold-hearted fiirt," which epithet she
did not in the least deserve.
Evert and Dick went away early in
the morning. Emily heard the stage
drive away, and turned her face to her
pillow, and thought bitterly of the hor-
rible perverseness of things in this
world. - 'it
She knew that Evert was good, and
manly, and sensible He was in fair
way to win reputation at the bar, and,
if not just handsome, was attractive and
gentlemanly.
"There are dozens that would be
proud and happy to accept his love
and nothing would do but that he must
throw it away on me-" thought Emily,
impatiently. "But it's never worth
while to pity men very much. They
mostly get over their troubles very
easily, if there is no money lost" From
which it may be inferred that Miss May
was perhaps bit of a cynic.
Emily May lived with her mother, in
an inland town in New York She had
little property of her own, and, with
what she could earn by her pen, she
managed to dress herself, pay for a sum-
mer's journey now and then, and keep
her own house over her head.
1t was her way to look after her sick
neighbors, poor or not; to visit, now
and then, at the hospital and the county
house. and do what her hand found to
do. She made no fuss, and laid down
no rules, and was under no ecclesiasti-
cal direction" in particular; but am
inclined to think she was as useful, and
far more agreeable, than If she had
made herself hideous in poke bonnet,