Rapides gazette. (Alexandria, La.) 1869-187?, 1873-10-04
BY.AND.BY.
by HARRIET PRESCOTT spoFFoR,

BY HARRIET PRESCOTT sPOFPoRD.
When Laura gave her hand to Roge
Gregory that evening i'm the dark. and h
kissed 1t passiOnately, tenderly, reveren
tally, and she only trembled and did no
take it away, he thought himself the luck
lest man alive. Then LANTERN came swing
ing round the corner, and the whole part,
were hidden to hurry into the great picnic
carts; and Laura and Roger came up Il
Join the others, and felt it blessing tha
the might was dark, for, as il was, she still
rmbled, and the color had fOrsaken hel
Aeks, andhe was too flushed and radiant
nh his joy to like the encounter of curl
as eyes.
They sat on the high seat beside the
driver, and of course Roger had to put an
arm about her to keep her from falling off
and all the way he was covering her ST.
lence with jests and exclamations, now
and then joining in a song, but all the time
holding her close to himself. so that she
felt the great plunges of his heart, and
thrilled to think that heart was beating so
for her.
II guess that thing is settled" said Mrs.
Clifford. looking after them, when they had
descended at Laura's gate at last, whence
Roger was to walk the short distance
the Others to be out of sight.
1t seemed as if the great wagons never
would turn the corner, and be shut away
by the bending branches of the elms but
at length they did ,slnd then Roger looked
down from his height into the face, the
sweet, tender face below, and heard the
words he had been longing for, and pressed
upon the lips the first long, feryent kiss of
love.
As he went away, after while, over the
hill. past the graveyard, and past old
Squire Benham's place, it seemed to him as
if the earth had been made for this hour !;
the night, with its sacred silences, be
longed to him and Laura the little birches
rnstled along the wayside in the sweet
wind. as if trembling with joy themselves;
bird that woke in the thicket, and sung
over and over again some fragment of its
song, seemed only their confidant; the
high heaven full of stars, as he looked at
lifted their loveinto loftier region than
ny earthly love can ever reach. - Are all
Overs as happy as this?" he asked him.
self, when at length he was falling asleep.
"Ah, it cannot be-" he said "they are
not Laura's lovers!"
1t was to be long engagement for
Roger was just starting in business, and
must wait while before he could have the
home he wanted and until he could have
the things very nearly as he wanted them
ne preferred to wait. And then there are
great pleasures in a long engagement, he
told himself: there is the certainty of pos
session, the delight of homage, the per-
spective into the happy future /; and he
went to work with will. OF course the
engagement was happy enough. Laura
was not a girl accustomed to SO much in
the past as to be exacting now. and she was
content with what time Roger had to spare
her, and there were always letters twice a
week from his place of business i'm the city.
to which he went every morning; and
then the other side of her life was such a
different thing that this engagement
seemed like glimpse into a possible para
disc. and gave her heart to toll along over
all the rather dismal present. For Laura
was a dependent in the family of cousin,
sort of superior drudge there. with an
overseer in the place of a cousin-in-law,
who. for the sake of her own girls. was
rather jealous of Laura's grace, of her
pleasant ways, and of her face, which, if
not really lovely. yet was apt to seem so
beside the decidedly plain faces of the girls
Of the cousin-in-law, who accordingly
made her place no sinecure.
Still, If this home had always been dis
nal when compared with that of the ex-
pected future, Laura was not so discon-
tented with it as to be willing to leave it
unworthily, and though she had not been
without lovers, she had never given one of
them thought till Roger Gregory came
upon the field; and with Roger she fell so
instantly and deeply in love that in very
shame she had to counterfeit GOODNESS
hat caused him to exert every effort TO
Nercome it, and that made him value her
Tmore than if she had been. so to speak,
nd easy prey. Nevertheless, If the home
Snot quite unhappy to Laura, it was
nd: it was constant care and constant
W. and she was losing bloom and grow
xpale, when Mrs. Clifford, the village
sfbody. said boldly one day to Roger,
vel, Mr.. Gregory, so | hear you are go
ng to be married!''
rone Of these days, ] hope" said the
contented Roger.
well, 1 trust Laura'n be alive when |
Sae ve Of these days comes, that's all - said
MS. clifford. ''She's wearing out in the |
service" And then rs she went on. and |
.ed .naused to turn and look after Roger. and |
uiink over the amazement that had filled |
,is eyes at her words, she softly said to |
herself, II shouldn't wonder if that thing |
her way. ' ''"'
.s, " was not such long engagement
W. an. Tor the very next season there
;onr,,aq quet little wedding. quiet little
aban, anu Laura was settled at last i'm
mnJas. vi I ner own. To be sure, it was
ont os ,,nsn nsollle-7a tree-embosomed cottage,
into ar WIS n1S long windows you stepped
alleys and bending appIe-treas with beds
Vi stately hollyhoeks. blue Canterburv-