Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1873-03-15

pared to pass ont. leaving them with the
boy lying as if dead on the floor with no
more apparent concern than if he had
knocked over rabbit. Ii was all in the
way of his profesSiOn-merely unit in
h IS ayer;ryes-and he knew he had not
killed him.
/ Now, then, my beauty he laughed,
turning to the poor wretch alternately
covering and raving in his grasp. 40
your house if you please and then We
will get our little business settled"
So he passed out through the village
so far conscnting to appearances Is To
cover with a shawl the golden head that
had so lately borne itself in triumph. and
which was now so bitterly abased, and To
conceal the cruel handouts that shone
among the bracelets on her wrists. She
was a prize worth taking. anI he was
pleased with his days work.
Years passed. and Kate Hyslop. for all
her money and unrela king determination
to marry Walter. was Kate Ilyslop still.
and Walter Drummond, sad. grave
man. prematurely old. and always bear
ing that heartbreak of his about with
him. was living in London, in an isolated
miserable fashion enough, seeming 10
have little to do wi II lite any way, and
To have parted forever with happiness and
hope. His father and mother We're dead.
and he had made no new friends. The
only interest he took in anything was i'm
prisons and rcformatOries. These he Wis
itel cons antly; constantly, too, wander
ed about the lower haunts of poverty and
vice; or. suddenly changing his method,
he would roam about lhc park and the
fashionable squares, always searching.
always hoping, and ever pursuing what
he never overlook. His search be-
came kind of mOnOmania with him
but he never saw again the woman he
sougat. though day by day he said to
himSelf-nOw the moment had surely
come. he would find her to-day: and
when he had found her. he would take
her to his heart lovingly, reverently. as
OfOld, and in his love he would cleanse her
OF her stains. He never thought how
tine would have treated her. He looked
for the golden hair. the fair flower-facc.
the sweet, shy smile of the early days;
and once. when he gave Il grey-haircd,
haggard, brOken-dOwn beggar-wOman
half IL crown in the street, he did not
know why she touched his heart so sadly.
or why she woke a chord that vibrated in
remembrance, but that had no echo in
recognition.
At last. one bitter winters night, he
died. He had wandered restlessly all the
day. feeling so near and yet so far off. as if
her form was walking with him side by
side. step for step. as he paced the long
streets for hours but he could not see her
face, nor touch her hand, nor hear her
voice. When the night fell he crept back
to his miserable home, once more diSap-
pointed and his mission unfulfillcd. His
heart broke at last; and when they came
to rouse him in the morning, he was
dead.
As they laid the poor worn body
straightS and fair for its last rest. they
found suspended round his neck a lOcket
in which was long tress of golden hair.
a date. monogram, and For ever" un.
derneath. And when wretched beggar-
woman died of drink and privatiOn IN a
police-cell. tina: same winter. they found
on her. too, wrapped in worn bit of pa
per that had once been pink and stamped
in gold. short, crisp, chestnut curl. and
Walter" with the same date as his
written within; while a trembling hand,
of evidently later days. had scrawled in
unsteady characters across, my only
real love. God bless him r'-London So
ciety for February.