The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1873-12-24
tokencd on the table by garlandry Of
green branch and hollyberry.

tokencd on the table by garlandry Of
green branch and hollyberry.
+ We ate and drank with Christmas
glee; and then came the cutting OF
the largest cake, the one that held the
ring, according to the immemorial
custom.
! Aunt Martha bore the cake about
in triumph, and when she came to me
said in a whisper:
"Take the slice toward thee, VIII
helm; methinks, by curious coinci-
Gence, thou wilt find therein the treas
urc."
! found, surely enough, plain gold
ring, one of betrothal My courage,
my hope, all came back. Had nv
aunt's whisper anything to do with
lit?
held up the ring that all might
see. Ny mother fixed her eyes on
me; Margretta held her head up
proudly-she did not doubt my choice;
aunt Martha looked at me earnestly,
her lips moved, | almost thought she
prayed.
This | felt rather than saw; for
looking, not to the right hand, nor to
the left, | walked straight to Hilda.
Hilda, who had held my heart from
childhood within her dear little hands.
She, gazing into my face, smiled,
even as a child in utmost confidence,
and, smiling back, | slid the ring on
the finger.
"My Hilda," said "It is the ring
of betrothal."
| prom'>c YOU there was scene;
not a wyrdy one, it is true, but each
expressed his or her sentiments in ac-
ton; my mother locked steely, her
eyes said, 81 will never consent
/ Margretta's face was awful; none
cared to look at it but once. As for
aunt Martha, she kissed Hilda hear
tily, and then myself, first on one
check, then on the other Albert had
vanished from the scene for the nonce,
and soon Msrgrctta, with dark face
OF hatred, followed him, "miching
mallecho" in her eyes
With displeasure in all her mien,
my mother led the way out Of the
supper room. The rest of US follow
ed, ! unconscious Of all save that Hill
da was on my arm.
In the wide, great hall was a long
window, that held an oaken seat for
two.
"Sto2 here, my IIilda,"I said. /
put my arms about her, that she
might not be cold, and she nestled
within them as birdling that had
found its home.
"Dost thou wear q locket. nv be-
trothed ?"
YES, Wilhelm"
Trembling, all hIushing in the clear
moonlight that, silvering the hall,
made the wax lights dim, she drew
forth a little golden ornament. Plac-
ing it in my palm, it thrilled me
through, for it was warm with her
heart-warmth.
Remember, if it is another's,
throw it away said.
Nay. my Wilhelm, thou shalt not;
| love it too dearly"
| forced the trinket open. Smiling
in my face, was my own painted i'm
age, truer even than the portrait.
The tender scene was interrupted
Margret.a, looking more than ever
like her ancestress, whose balefuf face
hung above, stood before us
Zone whom thou hast wronged
would have something to say to thee,
Wilhelm"
Il will settle that" said |, rising.
Outside, in the porch, | found AL
bert. Il did not know he could look
so grim, yet | felt kindly toward him
toward all the world
well ~ said |, mildly.
when one man wrongs another, in !
these. parts, we fight it out" said AL !
bert.
Albert, sighed a gentle voice over
my shoulder.
1t was Hilda. Albert looked |
abashed. What, would you fight !
with my husband? Didst thou not
guess we had loved one another al |
ways-since we were born almost ?"
"Margretta told me otherwise. But
for him, she said, | might have had |
you"
"Margretta spoke unwisely. Thou
wilt forgive her and me, Albert; for,
indeed, / am innocent; | loved one
so truly, | never thought of any
other; and thou didst seem a very
brother"
Albert spoke no word but grasp
ed my hand, and held it like a vice,
looked once over his shoulder at nv
betrothed, and went away.
When we came back in the chest
room,r there was no one there; aunt
Martha, as | suspected then, and
knew afterward, had dispearsed
them. In the inner room, however,
was my mother the fir-tree had
burnt out its tapers, but there was
light enough elsewhere, and | saw
my portrait, and its legend of well
come, plainly written in flowers
above.
NV mother was looking at it fixed
". She heard us enter, and turned
angrily toward us.
| chose the short way, and the
bold one. 1t was thus | had won
indulgences from herin my childhood.
When | spoke in this manner, she
felt j was my fathers son.
| pointed to the legend.
'Does the inscription set in flowers
lie, my mother Thy son is not well
come, methinks! Out in 1.-The wide
world, will | find home for me and
for NINE
Her face grew tender all at once.
The eyes lost their fire. She burst
into tears. She held out her arms.
"My son, mo son ~ she Grid.
| brought my little one, my Hilda,
TO her, and she folded us both in one
embrace, blessing US.
Midnight found us by the fire, each
m stool at my mothers knee.
More sacred than lands, dearer
even than my fathers wish, was the
one heart-craving that declared Hill ;
la was it's own. The wide world
,wned not for mo n creature SO sweet