Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-02-25
THE HOUSEHOLD.
WHICH Or the Tw0 2
Or, rhs.Ohslss sf R=ish Eivi=s=sss.

favored children young, In geod health handr
- and very rich. Ralph was the only child
49, widowed mother, and the last repressnta-
.,,o n an old and proud race. He was uni-
versal fayorite. s. 1A
NJ ISviuaster knew The time was coming
~, her sots would marry, sud she thought 70
sSntjopSts bic choice By eeiseazng : vie foE
him. fearing hts hssF s is sssss ous e. sf Sns svses s1
sat,v gira III toza. end feared them-save one
PInh, n home BaA then Aiieen was not beau
.;SrI and. Of course, she had no Idea OF the gil
Who was fFiendlesas dePonens on nsr Reanty,
son, on, A,Issu. posssshlll was not 20 Be feared.
ehs waited onssRaiph read 70 him leerned DIM
cnt sengs, that he might saaily catch the ~
and sing them to other girls listened 70 PIC
anIoSiss an the beanty grace and sweetness o.
Jiv' Rose O. Violet, uhaehsveE he chanced tp
In ,be bsat pleased with At the time. Before
Hlsan knew kalph'e nature 50 well, shs would
stssl hasrt A"so Would bresk-why. shs would never
scLnowledae even to hsrssh-whsn be woule
sslE Of the girl he admired 90 much. B1ts afteF
a time AiieSn oould listen and smile. for shb
felt his heart knew not the mighty power
friend. was the ohoies Of Mrs. Livingston, and
she set herself about to haye It ae she wished
Fortune favored her just then. Mre- Waiting
health being very fseble, her ghysiclsns advisea
Wlntef
and 20 il was an easy task for Mrs. LiviHgHton.
to persuads Mr.. and Mrs. Whiting 20 iesve thezr
daughter TO her love and care. And so the
beautiful Ada became one Of hrs. Lvingstonf
family. Ads vas pesnuISl, .ruiy psda ptLlecs u
iets: complexion fair, and Is dslicsteiy tinted
IA the peariy sea-sheili eyes as blue - the SUM
mer sky-and languishing eyes, that ever glow
cd with the same soft, sweet light. =.
Never were two girls more dissimiiar than Ada
Whiting and Aileen Wild. and when Mrs. l4v-
inoston saw them standing near togethsr, shs
th1ught how much AdA'H beauty was enhanced
be the contrast; for Ailesn was : pale salloE
thing whom no one had ever thought pretty, and
beside her the fair beauty that Mrs. Livingston
had determined should be her dAughteF. the
protege appeared very plsin looking. But all
hen had eyes thst would have won for any 40
man that had little tact, and with the aid Of
art the reputation of a besuty-eyes 90 lHsge
and dark, with world OF love asid passion glow
iue away down in their depths.
Mrs Livingston was well satisfied with the
prospect of Affairs. She had but little doubt Of
the final succoss of her plan. There wss ons
thing, however that Mrs. Livingston did not
ike and felt the necessity OF warning Ralph
against II was this: "that whenever ne would
intend to read for the Entertainment OF Ada sna
lis mother, he wonld invariably ask whsra y
Aleen Z" and wait until she was sent for and
WHY doyou do 10, Ralph 2 Mrs. Livingston
asked "Ada will think you rather more at
tentlyo TO A1leeu tnan - utcdnshky h,iuoE ttAu
circumstances. IN fact n looks IS II you read
mora particularly for Ailesn's benefit. And Last
night noticed, and 90 must Ada, that you COM
msnced your reading with only. one auditor, and
that neither your mother nor guests. i
did II Well, mother really was very re-
miss; but the truth is, Aileen not only appreoi-
stes the subject but shows it, Ada takes all sen
timents no matter how varied, with the same
sweet expression of the eye and tongue. Why,
mother, the most glowing descriptions, passion
md flsafi Al fall from in
spred poets brain, fsil to draw forth from her
any exclamation other than, Its pretty, is It
notT while Aileen's dark face lights up, her
glorious eyes sparkle and glow with inspiration
caught from the poem, aHd she. Expresses her
appreciation in words that would satisfy tho
ambition of the most exsctlng author. That is
why love to to read to her. She abso lutely
throws on the little plsin face, and grows really
his mother gazed, really amazed at his words
and manner. ..itapaa4 n .i4L
At length, after moments pause, she said
One who did not understand you, Ralph,
would doubt which OF the two you were in love
with Let me advise you, my son, TO be careful
Aeen might be foolish enough to misint2rpret
your feelings and actions, and Ads might with
draw her favor.
the rustic OF adress caught his ear and, starting
DO not worry. mother. Til do what is right
He walked out of the conservatory and looked
around, but no one WEI VfdlDtos lib thsVthuh Ass
started train of thoughts that had never been
touched BEFORE and he wandered on from the
house and threw himself dswn ona shady mound
tocommune with his own heart. Yes he must
know himself Did he love Ada And Aileen
what of her Never for moment had nc
thought Of her, except as abe was-his friena
his conhdant; ahe would not misunderatand biz
kindness. Ada loved him, he felt sure; and Al
though he had never told her so, he had certain
ly given her reason 10 believe he loved. Yes ht
must do what was right-what Ada. his mother
and the world expected.
With this determination be sought Ada, toll
his love, and won her promise TO be his, be De
lieved himself very happy but one one thing gd,hs ma
might What ifpoverty, or danger Of any KIND
threatened, would she brave sil for him
All the trial came soon enough. dreadet
sickness came upon him. 5oryants ned Irieno
came not ; and when he called Ada to come AMI
cool his fevered brow, the good doctor tried 2
soothe him. and hide the shameful truth, She
too, had hed--Among the first.
Oh, how he suffered no gentle hand !
soothe, no loving voice to whisper WORDS 2
comfort. Dying alonei and then his hea
knew but one wish ON eArth-to see Allest
Yethe breathed it not. She must not come nef
him to breathe the fatal air. Lying thinking 2
her he felt soft little hand pressing gent
on his burning brow. She was with him, knee
aAileeen Aileen! Darling, away away !" |
cred. do you not know It's death here I"
NO, hhlpn. lis llle 10 DO VIII youy SLY n
swered. pressing her lips to his, and inhaiins
death-beAring breath. .l.L
She stayed by him, clung to him. Death VI
robbed of his terrors then. The last SOUND th
fell on his ear was an agonizing CRY krom Aneel
as they strove to draw her from him.
II will will Il" she cried.
Aud Ralph Livingston sprang up-not ITO
death-but his dream and stood gazing newllde
ed at the scene before him. Ada and ALLIE
both stood by, the first pale and trembling, z
other pale, too, but with = look OF hrm determl
and courage. On the ground, afew spaces iro
her feet, lay O fnghtful, venomous snake, stun
cd by the force with which she had thrown
down.
In a moment, Ralph, az II by instinct, kpe
all. And Ada iu the same sweet emotonle
manner said they had come to hunt tor on
by hia mothers desire, and found him sleepin
And she had stopped down TO waken MN, Wn
she discovered the dreadful snare steali
round his neck. She ran away so frighten'
And Aileen went up--although she told her
would surely bite her-and caught 1t close up
the head, drew it on, and dashed IL 70
ground
Ralph's dream flashed back to his mind
Nvediy then; and he felt toward Aileen as
had never before and much relieved to be o.
that he was not bound to the. cold, beaun
girl beside him. And he believed IL she sho'
ever be his, it would be as in the dream;
danger ever threatened, she would ny. w
Aileen-dear, noble. loving Aileen!-he kn
she would never desert the man who calico
his. She would cling by to save or die with
30. ha