Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1873-02-15

OOqueA9 HAlu Matte Qisdaiu-
fully, "As II you ever knew the
meaning Of the wOrdt''
ssPrObably he repented, Matte.
and thought q poor country girl
would not grace his city home. But
whatever his motive, he left me,
and / confess | shrink from meeting
him"
Certainly you DO. l will not
urge you to do so now, dear;
but after we return from Newport,
where suppose Charlie will have
Douglas for his guest, you Will come
home again!'
eve will see, Matte. Let me go
now.7
II am afraid you will find Hill
farm Just as hOrrid as eYer.p
just as hOrrid as ever Edith con-
cluded il was, after a weeks So
iourn at the dismal farm she had
cnilest home during her girlhood.-
Her uncle did not dOmineer quite 50
much over the digni6ed, sfatelylady,
who came, after i've years OF city
life, 70 replace the Uniformed girl
who had left him, but he was mo-
rose and ill-tempered as ever, and
the dreary house had no added
charm. Edith found there were
servants 10 do the churning, baking
and house work she had shared with
Matte, and rambled about the place,
wondering a little how many weeks
of IL would suffice 20 fit her for
| lunatic asylum.
In one of these rambles, two
weeks after her arrival, she came
upon a group OF men who were re-
pairing the tumble down fences and
/ rickety gates about the place. They
! were at work upon the old gate
post she had turned into a post
/ Office, and she stood listlessly watch
ing them as they lOosed the earth
around il, to lift tho rotten wood
| work from its place. The loose top
| was gone, and there were wide
/ cracks Ia the wooden slap under il,
i where the love letters Of five years
ago had lain waiting for eager hands
and eyes.
Edith felt her heart beating fast,
her eyes filling with tears, as blow
after blow fell upon the hollow post,
tracking, bending il, till il fell TO
the ground, Just as the MONDAY bell
called the men 10 dinner.
When the curious eyes that might
I
contemplating meat and vegetables,
Edith went close to the old post, and
looked into the hole where il had
stood for so many years. In the
damp dark earth she saw a folded
paper, evidently shaken from the
hollow post by the recent blows
A strange sutocating feeling held
her tast for a moment, then she
1 NHHlAv.nI -auahnaN aud Gnamran
the letter. It was not a dainty mis-
sive, such As she sent 10 Newport,
for il was not easy for her 10 find
scented paper and tinted envelopes
At Hill farm. 10 was = sheet of
coarse paper, folded, sealed and
stamped with a thimble top, direct
ed in a round, girlish hand to Doug
las Fisher; the letter she had writ
ten TO appoint time and place for an
elopement-the letter he had never
seen, that her hurry and agitation
it must have slipped through one
of the wide cracks down into the
hollow post.
She opened il carefully, her heart
plying even then the simple girl
who opened her whole loving soul
to her lover. The very words were
so different from those she would
use now. No polished courtesy OF
address, no polite evasion OF the
tender questions, but frank, girl
ish outpouring of her happy con-
sent TO leave her hard, bitter life,
and accept the sunny future her
lover promised her. Edith was
cold, impRssive and stately in the
days when she shared her sisters
, happy home. lt was a rare event to
see her show emotion in any way,
: and Charlie had wondered more
than once at her cousins admiration
of her statuesque beauty.
: But as she read now the secret of
| her lovers apparent fickleness, the
; record of her ewn young heart, the
, tears fell fast upon the yellow sheet,
! | and sobs shook her whole form
: There was no one TO see her, and
I she knelt down by the fallen gate
, post, and wept for her own lost
! youth and broken hopes.
: She was still kneeling there, the
: open letter in her hand, when she
. heard a footstep turn from the road
into the narrow lane leading TO the
farm house. In a moment il would
! be at the gate. She sprang TO her
! feet, and faced tall, heavily bear
: ded man, who paused for a moment
; looking searchingly into her face
only for a moment, and then lac
opened his arms.
Edith" he said, in deep tender
= tones, 81 never saw your letter!'
She was resting against his breast,
, as she put il now into his hand, and
told him how she had found il.
''Mattie told me ALL" he said,
''and came on at once. Oh, Edith,
il seems too much happiness now
TO find you still, single, still my
own"
T Charlie and Matte were fully
. prepared for the return Of the tru-
, ants to Newport and the autumn
collected a cOncourse Of dear friends
10 witness a grand wedding, few
suspecting the previous courtship
of the handsome couple who were
united after long years.