Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-08-09

arms to its delicious and delirious
mover ent-eternity would hardly
have any bliss for lovers beyond the
bliss Of this moment. Yet only a
moment was lit, few moments, a
brief sweet space of half conscious
time; and then a faint recognition
crept through it's spell and warned
Lucian Of the poison in the honey.
He was in the act Of surrender; he
was about to seal his fate and that of
this dear girl; to take her away from
her fathers wealth and her luxurious
ease, and condemn her to the carking
cares of poverty. All his nature re-
belled; he chose not to be swayed by
this melody of horns and string; he
would have no passion, neither music
nor love, SO master his soul as to be-
come the element in which it swan, an
exclusion of thought and fear, Of sight
and sound, and all other emotion; and
with his imperious determination. he
chose to break the enchantmen0; the
real world crept back upon his senses,
be heard the tune, beyond this cloud
that wrapped them, breaking again into
its distinctive measure, and, exerting
his will he controlled their steps, and
paused at last beside Mrs. Barnetta,
and, with low bow, and without a
word, gave Rosa back into that lady's
care, and passed into the crowd and
out of the place and home to his lonely
rooms.
1t was daybreak before he sought re-
pose, walking the floors till then, hardly
knowing what he did or what he
thought, but intent upon conquering
himself. He would give the world for
Rosa Mercier's love, but he would not
give his pride. To him that pride
meant self respect; to marry her, the
himself for price Or to reduce her to
trouble and WEAKNESS in which her love
might soon wear out. He did not
doubt that love might soon wear out
He did not doubt that love now, with
out a syllable's speech, he felt sure of
it. While it thrilled him wildly and
deeply, it cast sudden shadow Of
regret; he only hoped and cursed his
fate that forced him to hope such a
thing, that presently the love would
pass, and some one who would make
her happier would claim her. At
length with maledictions in the act, he
emptied his pockets of the gloves,
handkerchiefs, and trifes there, and
went to bed, with the sun coming
| through the curtains, and, worn OF. in
body and mind, slept to the blessed and
through oblivion of all the world.
When he awoke it was late in the
day. All his troubles rushed over him,
but in moment all his will to repel it
rose, too. He dressed himself leisure
ly; he meant to call that night on Miss
MERCER, restore her handkerchief that
he had forgotten to give back after the
dance, and in some indirect way let her
| know that he intended never to marry,
and SO seal his doom beyond hope. He
went into the next room when he had
completed his toilet, and after attend
ing to one or two other affairs looked
| for the handkerchief that he remem-
bered to have taken from his pocket
and to have tossed upon the table there.
1t was not on the table; it was nowhere
in the room. In panic, he rang the
! bell, and when 1t was answered insti-
tuted an inquiry concerning the thing.
Yes, indeed, Susan had seen it, and
thought it was SO yellow and soiled she
would take It down and wash it,
Lors, sir, it was the dirtiest little rag,
she said, :Just straw color. And /
thought ia give it a run thr ough the
tub and the blueing, and make it fit to
be SEEN"
"Good heavens |" he cried, with a
Mortified flash Of remembrance of hay
ing somewhere heard that the yellower
lace was, the more precious it was, and
that it was never washed on any &C
count except by people who did moth
ing else. "Let us have it at once. y
And in five minutes afterward Susan
stood before him holding up a little
little limp rag, and with pang as from
the blow Of omething unknown and
dreadful, the conversation that he had
heard over the transo,n Of the hotel
door, a. year or two ago, swept back
upon his recollection. o''1',3N t.-i's'
Five hundred dollars And gone to
grief in a moment! And he could no
more replace it than he could fly, with
out what was the some to him as abso-
lutte ruin. Of course, he must replace
it; he could not be indebted, through
Vic SGupluIty VI LIS SeIYdnC, Or any
other means, to Miss MERCER in. that
sum- Without any doubt she valued
such a bit of lace: and if anything were
needed to dem onstrate to him the wis
dom of the course he had decided on,
and the utter absurdity of having
dared for single 'moment'to look with
love On one of these darlings of for
tune, it was the fact that her handker-
chief alone were items of $500. What
a shame what wickedness! what a
preposterous folly. How could a
young man marry! He burned with
| Indignation then. a. 5aa 5ag
] But to replace it; one-third of the
sum he was saving to redeem his little
! property from mortgage-all the mon
ey he really had in the world beyond
that for his daily expenses! It was the
ruin Of his hopes, his ambition, his
pride, that scorned SO to be anybody's
debtor; it threw him back in the race
how long! But it must be done. He
had trife over $500 in the National
Solvency Bank. He drew his check
! fnxr ell -