The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1876-08-10
some of the girls. "Where did you find

and left it to die, 80 we picked it up"
4" Yes, and Mr.. FELTON, said it was
shame to treat flowers so," put in little
boy.
The captain listened impassively; but
Milly gave half panied glance at the
flower. "That was just like you, Ste
phen." she said, softly; and Stephen
frightened for the first time that day.
1t seemed to Stephen, looking back,
that his love for Milly had begun when
he was boy of five and she baby in
the cradle. He could not recoll, ct the
time when he did not prefer her to all
other girls. At school he was her
knight, his sled, his iackknife, his help,
always at her service. Stephen taught
her to skate, to row. It was he who
bought her the first maple sugar, the
first arbutus; he who took her on sleigh
rides, and walked home with her from
church and village tea parties. Milly
absorbed these services, not ungrateful-
ly, but as matter of course. She had
been used to them from her babyhood,
and could almost as well have dispensed
with sun or air out of her life; but the
sun and air being never withdrawn, are
rarely noticed or alluded to. "Dear
good old Stephen" she called him. Now
it is not well for q man to lavish himself
on woman who thinks of him only as
"dear cid Stephen"
And now Stephen was doomed to
stand by and see stranger appropriate
the object of this life long devotion. He
had sown, and another was to reap of
his labors. Day by day all that summer
long the glamour grew and deepened.
Captain Hallett's leave of absence SEEM
ed OF the most elastic description, per-
uniting him to stay the entire season at
plymouth. His mornings, his evenings,
his moons, were spent with Milly.
Stephen sick at the inevitable gold
banded cap which met his eyes when
ever he entered the house, and proved
his rival in possession of the field.
Milly greeted Stephen kindly always;
but there was sense of interruption;
he felt himself third party. Then he
tried staying away; but that was worst
of all, for his love did not notice his alb
sence beyond careless "What ages
it is since we saw you, Stephen -
This state of affairs of course set peo-
pie to talking, but Milly was blushingly
indignant. "It was hard" she declared,
"f a girl couldn't have pleasant
friend without having such things said"
But her pretty poutings and protestings
made little difference, and it was gen-
orally understood that the affair, if not
an absolute engagement, amounted to
ian understanding, whatever that may
mean.
AT last the loIg, lovely summer came
to end, as summers will. Scarlet
boughs famed in the forests, golden rod
burned along the brooksides. the birds
flew, ond with them Captain Hallet pre-.
pared for fight. His orders had come
20 report in Galveston, Texas, and his
ieave takings We're hurried. Tie last
moment was Milly's, and though no
me knew the exact situation of affairs,
It was taken for granted that another
year wonld bring orange blossoms and
4 wedding.
Milly's own expectations were not so
iefinite. No definite promise had passed
between her and her lover but she
trusted him, and waited brightly and
hopefully. Letters came and went; the
scarlet boughs burned into ashes and
fell to the ground in pale heaps; then
came snow and the winter, to be in turn
sconrged away by the whip Of the fierce
New England spring. Still Milly waited;
but not so brightly now, for tho letters
came less regularly than at first. By
and-bye they ceased altogether. Weeks
passed without a word. Milly, with
visions of yellow fever and Indians
chasing each other across her terrified
brain, wrote and wrote again; but no
presago of the real danger which threat.
ened glanced over her, till one day,
opening the newspaper, this met her
eyes:
sat Galveston, Texas, by the Rev.
Pierre st. Cloud, assisted by the Rev.
Thomas Dix, Captain Edward Hallett,
U. S, A, aud Blanche Emily, only
daughter Of the late Pierre st. Cloud,
Of Pilatka, Florida. No cards"
Mrs. Graves up stairs heard no sound,
but when she went down Milly lay on
the sofa white and rigid, the newspaper
still clasped in her cold fingers. It was
long before her senses came back. Her
mother famed with anger, but the
girl hushed her with weary sob.
"We were never really engaged, you
know"
"Not engaged Oh, Milly!"
But Milly turned her face to the wall
and said no more.
Baymouth was stirred to its depths
next day by the news that Captain
Hallett was married to Southern lady,
and that Milly Graves was down with
typhoid fever. Every one wanted to
help to nurse, above all, to know the
particulars. Such masses of blanc
mango and Jelly were sent in that poor
Mrs Graves was at her wits end to know
how to dispose of them. But no one
could really aid, not even poor Stephen,
who scarcely left the house day or night,
or ate or slept, till the crisis passed, and
Milly was pronounced out of danger.
Out of danger, but it was weeks be-
fore she could sit up, and weeks longer
ere she came down stairs, thin, white,
shrunken-mere shadow and wreck OF
the blooming little beauty who walked
so gayly up Love lane at Ned Hallett's
side not quite a year ago. She was
patient always and uncomplainiug, but
she did not often smile. Perhaps
Stephen won these infrequent smiles
oftener than any one else, and he count
ed them as precious payment for all
timo and all trouble spent in her
service.
Only once did he see her shed tears.
This was when, hoping to give her
pleasure, he brought in the first wild
roses of the season and held them be-
fore her. Suddenly a spasm passed over
her face, she gave a gasp. turned aside,
and struggled for composure. Stephen
dropped the flowers as if they burned
his fingers and hurried out of the room.
A hot anger shot through him. "He