Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1874-08-20

pItmiSc. dC opOhC UtaNC WOIuS, anu
he was able to give the assurance that
he was pleasantly situated.
The weeks and the months passed
on, and another letter came. 1t was
written from Calcutta, and Paul was
well and in glorious spirits. From
there they were going to Canton.
Again at Canton he wrote, and the
letter came home, by way of England,
after many weary month. All was
hopeful still. They were going to
some of the Pacific islands for spices.
And then the months dragged on
heavier and more heavy. Two years
had gone since Paul had written. o.!
how dark and dreary! Mary remem-
befed the shadows and the forebOd
ings of that first sleepless night.
Two years without word, and then
came a word that stunned her. She
found it in newspaper. The
American ship Fides which had sail
ed from Canton for Borneo, had not
been heard from, and fears were en-
tertained that she had been lost in a
typhoon which swept over the Chi
nese sea with terrific force shortly af-
ter she sailed.
Weeks, months, years, and no more
from Paul. That the ship had been
lost was now known. And could any
of the crew have been saved? Old
sailors to whom the question was
put, shook their heads sadly. Not
many men could be saved in a ship
that went down in a typhoon!
When the news of the loss became
known, men who had thus far held
aloof came to smile upon Mary
Archer, and to seek her smile in re-
turn. She was knownto be as good and
true as she was beautiful, and men of
sense knew that she would do her
part toward making an earthly
heaven of the home over which for
tune might lead her to preside.
Among them was John Lettrell, a
man older than Mary, and man of
wealth. He offered her a home, and
asked her to become his wife; but
she had no heart to give him.
The months and the years rolled
on, and it was known that the ship
Fides had been long at the bottom of
the, sea, and not word had been
heard from any of her crew. That
they had all been lost was beyond a
doubt.
In time Mary's mother fell sick
and died and Mary was left alone
with her crippled brother. She kept
the little cottage, but it was not all
her own. There was mortgage
upon it, and upon Mary the mortgage
lay heavily. Percy, the cripple, could
eat, but he conld do no work. He
was constant Hcare. and he repaid
pay her no other way. She found
work at dress making, and so she la
bored on, praying for strength to per-
form her duty to the living and to
the dead.
Years, years, with little of sun
shine, with much of gloom, and with
much, very much, of care and labor
Years four-and-twenty since that
night when Paul went away so reso-
lut and so hopeful. And Mary
Ar.her was now forty-four. The care
AMI the labor had made their mark,
bu they had not detracted from her
, beluty. The freshness and the
bDom were faded, but the ripeness of
hr true womanly nature, in faith and
resignation, had come with a beauty
, tat cannot fade-the beauty of good
) rss and Christian devotion.
| But it was growing darker without.
a hrcy had been very sick with need
: & more care and more medicine.
he interest on the mortgage was two
0 ears overdue, and the man of calcu-
= ting business who held it had fore
!. 0sed and sued for possession. The
a ottage could not be much longer her
:, bme. OF herself she thought not at
n d; but what would become of her
/. | ElDlcSS D1OblCl!
e In this strait John Lettrell came
i ther once more, and offered both
lrself and her brother a cOmforta-
II L home for the rest of her days.
V Mat could she tell him? Only
v tat she had no heart to give him?
l. Ad yet he pressed his suit. He
q yuld teach her to love him in time.
ld he left her weeping with indie
,e Gion that had grown from the one
of yak spot-duty to her brother. He
,r I'd her he would come again, for he
m ought he saw his way to hope.
''Mary, DEAR" whispered Percy, as
it e bent over his couch, and smooth
his pillow, "why don't you accept
O. home which he offers? Mr. Let
r I'll is a good man. o, my sister,
IN t for my sake-not for mIne-but
ryour ownp'
''Hush, Percy! Not nOw-not now.
W my poor heart!''
or And she went out to the little sit
r. Ing room and sat by the window
,e here she had sat long, long years
is o, while the man she must ever love,
to Ither living or dead, walked on his
ay to the great city to go forth
I Don the sea. The grand words Paul
Tinship had then spoken sounded
IN rain in her ears; she saw him again,
ne then, put the blue ribbon about
b 9 neck. and kiss the little lOcket,
re lid then hide it away in his bosom
o. lose to his true heart. 1t was her
Ift-her hair in that locket-and if
10 he lifeless form had sank in the sea
e. he precious memorial of her love had
bne down Herewith. Her hands
at ere clasped, and her face lifted
IN eavenward.
as s.No, no, no-John Lettrell-never! |!
ID will be true to HIM, as I know he
tn Iould have been true to me-"
re She turned from the window and
L 4