Wilmington daily commercial., 1874-08-29
MISCELLANEOUS.
THAT BLESSED WIND.

ana 1irt of 5Oou nhouiei MiiiOn ihaho haeDo "
.orl to its credit, while every one else is charg-
inc it with damages done.
N, day long during that capricous, windy,
.,nuv. cloudy and altogether unreasonable day
WEDNESDAY, my dear little friend Bessie had
.on wandering about the house like all unquiet
sai,t Seeing how matters stood, excused her
..,,irelv from all duties of hospitality towards
'., iet me entertain myself, Bessie, said ~
i,f like to have people think that they must sit
lawn aud fold their hands, and converse
'nl;toly. because l have come to see them. Make
Isl,eye dear that nm not here, and do just
,yl,a, yon would do if you were Alone
Naw know perfectly well that what my sweet,
rne.cved Bessie would have done had she been
eione. was to just sit down and cry those blue
"rea nlmost blind ; and knew equally well that
.i,e would not 40 it while was there. But
wanted put her at ease.
The whole story was plain to me, or nearly all
of H. | had seen too much Of her and Arthur
flake over the way, not to know that there was
,nre 1--we between them than could be broken
into ly outside storms without making some, at
,a.t. temporary shipwreck. Arthur was fine
,,nnp man. handsome, honest and tender, with
rrcfty fair portion of spirit and determination
ID. was not one to make parade of his private
feelings but had seen HIM watch my darling
GRACEFUL soft ways with an unconscious smile
jswniue ON his lips, and light in his eyes that
toiI A sweet tale TO whoever might look closely
And Bessie-the girl only breathed in linn, it
seemed believe she walked thinking of him,
and Aronped asleep thinking of him, and never
re,-el thinking of him dreaming or waking.
used to SIGH, sometimes, seeing how utterly her
heart was IN Ills keeping.
But not Il word had she told me with those
beautiful lips OF hers. 1t WAS through her trans
puont face and actions that learned all know,
,nl more credible witnesses could not be had.
NOT ann urQa pf
Ibid not believe that there had ever been any
Ve.talk between them that tis, any that could be
renorlel What eyes, and actions and tones
4ae is not to be put III words. They were in that
lelcate perilous position. when the happiness
If Two loving hearts il absolutely perfect, and Mt
lo same time mostly easily destroyed-that si-
lent understanding which seems 30 sure,yet may
l. lost through look or word.
irlhur Blake was going away, had learned.
lie had got tired of our country town, and fam
eel That he would do better to get into prac-
uce in London There was nothing to bind him
t,cither place. lie was quite free. His near
est relative was an uncle, who would help to
-cttlc linn AK a surgeon wherever he should
choose to live and Arthur himself had little
property of his own, and need not be in any
billing haste, or afraid of taking week. rest,
and time to look about.
This much had been told me that very We'd
ue4lay morning, when | was on my way to spend
the day with Bessie.
''liut Bessie L Nbkeu OF my informant.
'l fancy that they are Off" was the reply.
hon know it wasn't engagement, perhaps
Dlly Imitation. AT any rate, / saw Arthur
Walking ont the other day with Julia Raymond,
h aud, at the same time, Charles Rivers WAS max
lux cllI on Bessie Arthur and Julia passed
/ The house. aud saw them sitting in the window"
went on in troubled frame of mind, think
n ng that this beautiful, sunny sailing little love
affair. which had been the delight of my eyes, was
ehaps running among the breakers; longing
linleriore, yet fearing to, since outsiders 30
often DO more harm than good. Aud the moment
n -lw Basse's pitlful smile, / knew that she was
being torn on the reefs.
so MIR. Rivers came to see you the other
n nl5h | said, AS we sat together in the after
Il noon, Bessie at one window, | at another, look
g ont into the rainy street, and listening to the
4 a-mg wind.
"les, said Bessie, keeping watch,I could see,
0nho opposite house, not to lose sight,of Arthur
when he should come home. There would be 80
few more comings home for he was to go tile
| very next day.
u wish Mr. Rivers wouldn't come mere, she
sad; after pause; II don't care for him, but he
seenls to want people to think do. May be he
4 lle-i mean it, but it's just as provoking az if
lie did,
4 was turning over a photograph album, md
4 opped ut pictured face thai gavo me chance
n i"-ly something else l wanted to say.
This is good photograph OF Miss Julia Ray
1 mold She takes well; hers is just one Of those
n fuses Tint look best in a picture, because it Is
Il ih '@nGlhgi she has more pretty features, but
hp Expression.
a ies-les face frightened little. '.Some peo-
4 PIE admire her very much, she said, family.
81 DON'T know any one who docs" replied in
aclreless voice.
Then there WAS silence l saw Arthur come
NoMo wall, mp the steps of the house without
w y'ea ookln6 across the street, so in, and pres
'illY appear at the window Of his room directly
opposite NJ. Bessie sat with eyes downcast, hor
4 iDor changing from red to white, her bosom
4eAHhB with tho tumultuous beatngs of her
heart, her poor little hands all in quiver.
lheyoung man may have given swift glance
Ioss, but it was only glance. He closed
'le NJ his windows, and, since the wind war
a'@ high, closed the blinds too, all but one
.all and then he disappeared. He had been
Nel to rlt there, and with some pretence Of
'eallhe book in his hand, keep watch the
MI oSer tho way. Both Of them happy in that
'ulaldonship, though perhaps they did moi
'oN even, To each other
hooked at Bessie as the last blind was closed
"i'' 5e1ieclN uld restrain an exclamation, 81
!"'v udi sie grown. For moment, she seemed
Wl lle lon.t Of dropping ont of her chair Blu
7'ie "a not look up, kept silence. Poo
1"l Fiat ellutting of blinds seemed to her
'Ne%, like Fmtting her ont.
lhe wind rose, and beat the trees and twisted
'' eale7 and branches, il shook the windows
'A-Eei the blinds, tore OH slate from roofs, ant
.N'lcu IL about like feathers. Underneath ou
"d4low II bent street lamp off its post, an,
Uttered the broken glass about. There was
'a''iB u the chimneys, a crash every momen
~ 'oue shutter. syklight or fence went by til,
g.d' From our sheltered windows we looket
% Y~.oi 'ae storm ; | with that interest whcl
pNeN lfealsoi nature are calculated to inspire
"-sSle "th the cold listlessness of u creature
@ ,1l 'eiiael'ss, She never said word, onl,
","el ' Oh piece of paper that lay on the win
--iiafi while, began to suspect that Mr. Ar
,.I hiaAc was not 80 very far away from tn
Yt' i llie house, az he would have us thnl
5''''fse ol u coat-slecve was voucheafed IN
- "5l!lhl The blind that was half-slut and
W tol comfortable assurance that not
@af motion OF the paid giil at the other wiz
~" M was lost ON linn.
""iie looked, the wind rose in one of il
s ''aflu gusts it caught the maple tree Ill
wy window, and bent its head to the earth
Mi9'p on Its wings leaves, dust, tiles, states
'''aS i could catch it suddenly dashed i
IT, " glass, and the next moment it caugl
,l,i il'"iIiea ont the slip of paper on which Bel
t'Nl 1een scrrlbbling for the last half houl
'le started mp with cry, and tried to catch
n ieailiiig into the tempest without
si5Ht i5Ht q It's fury, wide awake now, and as re
...,, 'la been white the moment before.
81 9l' what shall do y she cried, in distres
ila, peeh writing every sort of nonsense G
'a'' "i what shall do? Could l get it |
8 9ala 1a.l o''', do you think? | should die if OF
ip r., "ei1 to readit My name is written there
,,'e WIND seemed fairly to laugh as it liftc
1sn n"Ii,'e'ing i alp of paper straight up in the al
i.r.t, t9"ered 1t tantali2ingly again, only
M,'9l " ~ II away from the two outstretched whi
St lh"t Nainly caught at it through the raj
lgsl o'ie besides mo was Watching. Arthl
g# "iHht Wis lcauino from hia ,,;ndn,v S,o,, ono,