Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1876-08-19
TERRIBLY DECIDED.

t1O
knowwhich to choose. 1 don't
believe you at all
believe or not, Grace; just as
you please" is the soft, serious
voiced answer.
Those wonderful, deep, hazel
eyes of Sara Prescott's turn all
their subdued richness of color to-
ward her friend whilst she speaks,
and every feature of her beautiful
oval face wears an impress of ear
nest meaning.
ut is true, Grace she whispers,
''true, true, true" There are mo-
ments when / feel confident that
Ralph Curtis, with his darkssouth-
ern-looking beauty, and his i'm
pulsive, reckless ways, is by far
the dearer to me, but a visit from
blonde-haired, blue-eyed Walter
Crosbie changes everything. 1 am
just tossed about in spirit from one
to the other. Each seems to touch
with me a separate chord of con-
geniality. / don't know how it
will all end. Here they have both
been lingering along at the hotel,
Grace, paying me daily visits ever
since the first of july
Perhaps" suggested Grace, af-
ter a little silence, as they walk
along through the twi-lit paths Of
rhe great lawn, which compasses
the luxurious summer : house
where Sara Prescott lives-"per-
haps you will end by hating them
both, Sara"
II cannot tell. AndIyet it seems
possible"
Every well,' answers Grace; 81
must ask you to have my carriage
ordered round. now, Sara, notwith-
standing that l should like to re-
main and help to counsel you in
your troubles;but please to remem-
Der that L have seven miles to
drive, and that mamma makes a
perfect Rachel of herself if / stay
out after dark"
So Grace presently takes her de-
parture, and Sara is left to hold
converse with her own thoughts,
whilst she begins a second and this
time a wholly solitary stroll
among the stately shrubberied
lawns.
Very gloomy and miserable her
thoughts are. She recalls, with a
sense of shrinking fear, how in
tense a passion for her has recent
ly grown to possess both Ralph
Curtis and Walter Crosbie-how
each has become almost aggressive
oflate, in his fierce request for some
final answer to his eager hopes,
and how the more that either
pleads the more absolute and COM
plete has been her indecision, her
doubt and perplexity.
No, she cannot make up her
mind. Allow that she Is mentally
a monstrosity of womanhood; al
low that nobody has ever been
precisely in her unsettled condi-
ton; the fact exists, all the same,
that she loves two men at once and
has no power to choose between
them.
Suppose they should have some
deadly quarrel on her account p
Nothing is more possible. They
have grown cordially to hate each
other ; of that fact Sara feels right
sure. They are living at the same
hotel, and are constantly thrown
together. Sara shudders when she
remembers what evidence she
has had of how fierce a temper
each possesses. Oh, why can she
not be like other women? Why
must she suffer so keenly from
what seems nothing except her
own gross stupidity and silly ir-
resolution?
Just at this stage of Sara's
thoughts the sound of a footstep
directly behind her meets the
young girls ear. She turns, and
in the vague dark sees Walter
Crosbie's tall, commanding figure
and fair, Saxon face. He begins
speaking with brusque suddenness
-"Sara-Miss PRESCOTT have
come to bid you goodbye"
She clasps both hands together
in an abrupt burst of surprise.
"You cannot possibly mean it?"
81 do. l am tired of being play
ed fast and loose with from day to
day."
"You are not going" she an
swers calmly, after a little silence,
and whilst they were walking on.
VI know by your tones and your
manner that it is only a T1lse. You
are not going until II give. you
q final answer"
"And for Gods sake" Walter
bursts forth, "when is that final
answer coming? There are times,
Sara Prescott, when / feel like be-