The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-07-08
WAITING FOR AN ANSWER,

y
Others. but my nwn--well, well! as you
will. You .hall hear. The wound has
never h,ai,d. and il | put my hand above
it, the place still throbs, even Ms 1t viii
beat and ache till kindly nature says te
me. sleep, poor weary one, and rest.
And then peacefully, trustingly, and with
a simple hope of forgiveness, may sleep
that long sleep which they say so fippant'
ly has no waking, rs every lesson which
we learn in life persists in teaching US.
You will smile, perhaps, when l tel!
you that was once what people called
pret,y-that this pale-hued face was once
plump and rosy, these sad eyes bright
and this gray scant hair golden brown
long and flowing. But why should l
think you would smile2 Do not know
that you must have seen the gay young
plant putting out its tender leaves in
spring, growing green and luxurlant OF
foliage in summer, ripe and ruddy in
autumn, and gray, bent, and withered IN
age2 And should l be pitied because
have but followed in the way of natureY
Surely not. 1t is not for that / ask your
sympathy, but for the blight that fell
upon the young plant, and scared and
scratched it so that it seemed for month:
that 1t would die; but it lived, as have
lived to tell you this.
Do you know that wondrous feeling
which comes in the early year, and that
strange sense of keen delight, elasticity oi
spirit, when, full of youth and hope, the
very tears of joyous sensi6illty start u
the eyes rs you wander amidst the trees
and flowers in spring? l remember how
| felt, oh, so well-even though it is now
forty years ago, and | WAS twenty.
Jack and | were engaged. 1t was all
such n simple, homely affair. We had
known one another for years-the chill
dren of neighboring farmers. jack
still call him by the simple old pet name
of those days-Jsck had been away ut q
good school, and being bright and shrewd
and clever, he had won his way on, TAX
ing to engineering instead OF his fathers
farm lie; and it had come t. this; that he
had been staying at home Tor month
previous to gong out to good appoint
mert in Melbourne.
That month in spring, how it passed.
We had met again and again, and IN his
honest, manly way, he had asked mo to
be his wife.
"You know Grace, that l have always
loved you. he said; "and, now l have
hope and prospects, it cannot DO wrong 10
ask for your promise"
We were walking by the river side as
ne said this, and how well | can picture
it sll--the soft gliding water mirroring
the trees on the opposite bank, the young
green buds Just breaking from their cases.
and, about all, the soft, tender blue ofthe
spring sky-the blue, he had told me,
that was like my eyes.
"Do you want me to promise, Jackf'
/ said, simply, as looked up in his face.
"No, darling, am satisfied" ne cried,
rs his strong arm clssped me to his broad
breast, and that was all. No oaths could
have bound me more tightly To him. l
ielt tina: | WAS his wife when he should
claim me.
We were late that evening, and | en-
tered the house shyly, for there had been
so much to talk Of and plan. In a
months time Jack was to sail for Mel
bourne; then he was to work very hard
for three years, and come and ietch me
to be his wife.
That month glided by, and the last day
had come. 1t was, rs | told you, spring
time-joyous spring-time with the haw-
thorn's snowy blossoms, the apple trees
pink, and the pear trees pesrly with their
pyramids Of flowers Every meadow l
passed was stared with golden buttercuPs,
and from every spray the birds trilled or
jerked forth their merry songs OF hope
and love.
| could not feel sad, even though | was
going TO NEE. Jack for the last walk be-
tore he went away; but, as | said, mih-
sled with the feelings OF ecstsy there was
n tearfulness of eye, and my breath would
come ut times with sob.
He was BY the stile waiting Tor me
the stile down by tho loLg mead, half
wsy between the two farms and ss he
took my hand in his, we neither OF us
spoke but stood gazing away over wood
lawn and meadow, all clad in their Won
drous beauty, and listened to the birds.
Now It was the soft, tender COO oil the
stock dove from the wood, now the Jerk
ed out twittering song oi the linnets, then,
soft and mellow, from the thick hedge
rows Aoated toward us the flute notes of
the hlsckbird, while far IN high. trllled
away the iarks, singing one against the
other To their mates, sitting IN the tall
grass Of the golden meads.
We could not talk, our hearts were too
full, Tor Jack was TO he OIL ri dsybreak
the next morning. But there was no
need for words. We loved each other in
the simple, nature taught way that has
been since the world began, and We knew
that every Joyous song sround that thrill
ed upon our ears mear love, and even IN
our sorrow We were happy.
"Osly three years, darling Jack whis-
pered TO me, tand them
The tears rose 10 my eyes ~ tired to
sns~s or hsu. but could not speak word.
And YOU sili let the III d long letter
when 1 get there2 he ssid, ienJe'iy.
"les, Jack, PROMISE ss'u' anu
then il was time 10 return, for the hours
bad yhded BY, how, we'could not tell.
! Jack spent the evening with us Al home
and then he lett US hurriedly, FOR our
fsrsvells hsd been said in the wood, and
il was one hearty kiss, given and taken
before the cid people, and then good oy.
But l saw him pass soon after Day
break, and he saw me and waved his
hand, for I had sat BY the window All
night lest / might let him 60 by and l
asleep. 49,,
And then time glided on sadly, but
As we'll. Nine was busy life,
Tor soon nv father took to his he'd hi-a
he'd he never left again, for he gradually
,snk and died, leaving my poor mother
in very indifferent circumstances
i, was q hard blow for Us both, for be
II hoao nna of the kindost and truo8t Of