Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1874-04-15

ing, and from the tranquil appearance
of the patient, he augured a favorable
result. He was right. John Burney
slept for more than ten hours, and
when he awoke he was free from fever,
and the physician, who, at Mr.. Bannis-
ter's desire, had not quilted his bed.
side, declared that, with proper care,
his recovery was almost certain. The
nurse, however, shook her head in dis
sent, and Mr.. Bannister, who hardly
dared hope, could not help repeating
to himself, "Was that ghost saw %
We shall see.
The next door neighbor of Mrs. Mar
tin was a widow, who had a charming
daughter. The families were not ac-
quainted, but as the gardens joined,
John Burney had not been long in in
PRODUCING himself to the young lady,
whom he saw almost every day over the
low fence. Her mother was then from
home, and she was left under the care
of an old aunt, who rarely stirred from
the house and as the habits of Mrs.
Martin were also very sedentary, the
young people had consequently many
opportunities of meeting unobserved.
They talked Eot of love, however,
though they both felt it, until one
morning John Burney surprised the
fair Sophie in tears, and learned that
they were caused by the expected
arrival of suitor whom she had never
seen, but for whom her mother informed
her she was to entertain the iveliest
affection.
We may believe that this intelligence
unsealed the lips of John Burney, but
he pleaded in vain. Sophie did not
attempt to deny that she loved him,
but she regarded her passion as crime
against the duty she owed to her
mother, and she avowed her determine
ton of conquering it.
"1ou avow, then, that you are deter
mined to forget me and marry another" "
cried the distracted John Burney.
Sophie's tears flowed fast, but she
only replied in a voice suffocated by
sobs, 81 must do my duty"
John Burney quilted her, as he be.
heved, in anger. The following morn
ing she was not In the garden. Day
after day passed, and she did not ap-
pear. He, however, found means to
get letter conveyed to her, but it was
returned unopened.
The mother and the lover at length
arrived, and John, believing his fate to
be sealed, gave himself up to despair
which soon threatened the most fatal
consequences.
Meanwhile the tender and dutiful
Sophie suffered no less than her lover.
1t was in vain she strove to reconcile
herself to the choice her mother had
presented her. The form of John
Burney was forever before her eyes.
But her sense of duty was too strong to
permit her to relax in her rigor, till she
found that the effects of it were such as
to endanger her lovers life. Then,
indeed, she bitterly regretted her
severity, and mentally vowed to live
and die for him alone. But how was
she to convey to him this resolution
She dared not apprise her mother of
her sentiments she had no confident,
no friend, upon whom she could rely to
reveal them to her lover, and procure
access to him herself was impossible.
In this dilemma plan occurred to her,
which nothing but the force of love
could have enabled her to execute.
Some time before, her mother had
occupied the house in which Mrs. Mar
tin then resided, and Sophie had acci-
dentally discovered a secret door which
opened from Mr.. Bannister's chamber
into that in which she herself slept.
At the end of Mr.. Bannister's apartment
a recess had been formed in the wall,
capable of concealing several persons
a sliding panel in Mr. Bsnnister's room
and another from the recess gave ad-
mission to the chamber where John
Burney lay i'll. Before Mr.. Bannister
came, his chamber had been untenanted
and Sophie conceived that she would
have nothing to dread in passing
it to the recess which opened
into Johns apartment. She had already
entered Mr.. Bannister's chamber before
she was aware of her mistake, but his
stiffness made her conclude that he was
asleep; and while he hesitated about
her, she had gained the re-
cess unobstructed. There she concealed
herself till she found that all was quiet,
when she ventured into the chamber
Of her lover, whose bed happened to be
close to the door which gave her ad-
mission.
Oh what a joyful and unexpected
sight it was for poor John Burney. No
wonder that he could not believe
his senses. No wonder that in his
first emotions he conceived it to be
the disembodfed spirit of his beautiful
Sophie, and that he exclaimed, as the
nurse had truly reported, 81 come"
But few words from Sophie's lips
convinced him that she came not to
summon him to another world, but to
bid him live for her, and lest the scene
should appear to him in after hours to
have sprung only from a disordered
brain, or an exalted imagination, she
left with him a memorial of its reality,
which he could not doubt-a ring which
he well remembered to have seen her
wear. The sight of this upon his finger,
when he awoke after his long and tran
quill sleep, assured him that his bliss
was real, and in the first moments of his
he was sensible only to the
delightful thought, that Sophie had
vowed to live for him and him alone.
But doubts and an1ieties began to
mingle with the hopes to which this
assurance had given rise. One day, as
his uncle sat by his bedside, he took
notice that his countenance changed
several times.
"John," said he, "you are in pain"
"Alas yes, ;" replied the nephew.
"Where, my boy? asked MIR. Ban
mister.
"Ohl dear uncle, if I dared to tell
you"
"Dared to tell me! What, you, whom
[ love as my own soul, you to have
secret from me, and this secret perhaps
the cause of your illness ?" exclaimed
Mr.. Bannister.
"My dear uncle, you shall know all.
love a charming girl.
"Very well, there is no harm In that, ),
quickly responded his uncle.
"She loves me, too, continued John.
$50 much the better" cried his uncle
rubbing his hands in glee, "you shall
Il