Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-09-11

broken by the falling of a spar. For q
, month lay on a sick bed and then, with
a softensd heart and a feeling that [ was
sick of the ses /, went home to sister .Jen
ME, to be farmer again, if l could.
In these two years she had never had
line from me- Not an angry word did she
give me, but ran into my arms and wept
on my bosom like child; and then she
showed me the wedding ring on her finger,
and the baby lying asleep in the cradle,
and told me whose wife she was.
She was Mrs: Tom. Armstrong, and
had never guessed they liked each other !!
Il anu as happy as the day is long," she
said, comfy fretting about you. How
could you go away 50, Ned ? If you did
not think of my feelings you might have
remembered Nellie Brodie7s."
''Nelie Brodie's feelings ~ [ cried
/ Ynon7t laugh at me Jennie
* sIaugh at you - she cried, "Laugh at
you my dear! | haven't thought Of it,
Did you quarrel that night ? 1t must have
been quarrel / think. Whose fault was
it, yours or hers 20
esMiss Brodie and l never had quar-
rel l said.
ooh, Ned" she resumed, softly, ''don't
try to hide it from me, when I saw your
portrait in her bosom. [ told you SO, |
know, and thought it was all settled and
was so glad"
II started up and caught Jennie's wrist.
s'My portrtrait p l cried
"WhY, Ned, Ned, don't look at me So
screamed Jennie s'what does it all mean?
Your portrait, of course; one OF those
photographs you had taken-I found the
rest after you went away. Oh, Ned, don't
look so, dear ~
II thought you told me she wore anoth-
er mans picture,'' | said. "That drove
me away; that, and nothing else. Oh,
what wretched fool I've been Ibid not
know she had my picture; and l might
have cast her away [ who loved her so,
and have pinned for her all these years y
But Jennie, dear Jennie, with her kind,
motherly face and loving woman's eyes,
came close to me, and put her arms about
my neck, and whispered, Don't despair,
Ned She has never liked any one else,
and I know, for certain, that she wears
your picture STILL"
And those words brought my youth back
to me; and the years seemed plotted out,
and / was the Ned Brown who fell in love
with Nellie Brodie, once more.
Well, Jennie told the truth | went to
see Nellie Brode, and found hersweet and
beautiful as eyer; and we were married
when the spring came and the birds began
to build their nests in the green orchard.
Afterwards, when she had been my wife
for some time, Nellie told me, under those
very apple trees, how she had found my
picture one day when ne one saw her, and
worn it afterWard for love of me-Worn it
and wept over it while [ was far away,
trying to forget her-trying, but never sue
ceeding tbr the love | had, for Nellie
/ Brodie was part of my life, and will be,
believe, part of the eternity, where, when
death sewers US here, we shall be reunited
A VIVID DEsCRtPTIoN.-The following,
says the st Louis Republican" is an eX-
tract from letter written by Mrs. S. d.
Berrett, formerly of Cambridge, Illinois,
but now residing in Nemaha county, Kan
sas Her home is in the track of the
northern column Of the devastating grass
hoppers, and we presume her vivid de-
scription of the scene will give our read
: ers clearer idea of the magnitude of the
pest than they have hitherto been able to
| form
cit looks very sad, dreary to me to-day.
The sun is quite hidden by the clouds CT
grasshoppers flying all around and alight-
| ing Oh everything. They are pelting
against my doors and windows as fast as
hailstones ever came. [ can scarcely see
through my screen door for them, and to
look out as far as eye can see, it looks like
a snow 'storm-as they fly, their wings
look white like flakes of snow in the air.
They destroy everything they alight on
| They have destroyed acres and acres OF
corn, and now they are going i'll our corn
field by clouds, and will destroy it all in a
day. Every shrub and tree is covered
| with them. You know we read Of Pha-
roahs plague, where insects got into the
kneading troughs. [ think this is one Of
them. went out by the door to try and
drive them off, and they flew all over me,
and had to change my dress to get lid of
them. Instead OF rain we are having
showers Of grasshoppers. Our six win
doWs are completely covered with them,
and as l write, they are pouring down the
chimney and coming down the stove
pipe.
Father has just come in. He cannot
work out doors, for they blind him; and
they are coming faster, and are now eat
ing the netting off my doors and windows,
! and the heat and close air are sitting. l
never saw anything so terrible in my life,
The ground is now completely covered,
and they cause such an offensive smell
that but for an occasional breeze to carry
it off, know not what we should do.
Please excuse mistakes, as l feel so bad
and nervous under this awful scourge and
desolation.'
KLEPToMANIA.-Asp special dispatch to
the 'Index-Appeal,' from Blue Ridge (Va.)
Springs, 9th, says: A prominent lady
guest at the Montgomery White Sulphur
Springs was robbed on yesterday, by anoth-
Ell guest and lady from New Orleans, of a