The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1876-08-16

Sllt ullCIot.
What a lovely rose, Stephen :" said
some of the girls. "Where did you
find it?"
"In the road" replied Stephen.
Somebody had switched it off its stem
and left it to die, so we picked it up
"Yes, and Mr.. FELTON, said it was Il
shame to treat flowers So put in Il lit
tie boy.
The Captain listened impassively,
but Milly gave halfpained glance at
the flower. THAT was just like you,
Stephen" she said brightly; and Ste
phen 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 recollect the
time when he did not prefer her to all
other girls. At school he was her
knight; his sled, his jackknife, his
help, always at her service. Stephen
taught her to skate, to row. 1t was
he who brought her the first maple-su-
gar, 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
ungratefully, 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 sun or air being
never withdrawn are rarely noticed or
alluded TO. "Dear, good old Stephen"
she called him. Now it Is not well for
Il man to lavish himself on a woman
who thinks of him us "dear old Ste
phen."
And now Stephen was doomed to
stand by and see a stranger appropriate
the object of this lifelong devotion.-
He had sown, and another was to reap
of his labors. Day by day all that
summer long the glamour grew and
deepened. Capt. Hallett's leave of
absence seemed of the most elastic de-
scrption, permitting him to stay the
entire season at plymouth. His
mornings, his evenings, his moons
were spent with Milly. Stephen sick
ened at the inevitable gold-banded cap
which met his eyes whenever he en-
tered the house, and proved his rival
in possession of the field. AIilly greet
ed 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 people to
talking, but Nlilly was blushingly in
dignant. at was hard" she declar-
ed, IF girl couldn't have a pleasant
friend without having such things
said" But her pretty poutings and
protestings made little difference, and
it was generally understood that the
affair, if not an absolute engagement,
amounted to "an understanding"
whatever that may mean.
At last the long, lovely summer
came to an end, as summers will.
Scarlet boughs famed in the forests,
golden-rOd burned along the brook
sides, the pirds flew, and with them
Capt. Hallett prepared for flight. His
orders Lad come to report in Calves
ton, Tex, and his leave-taklngs were
hurried. The last moment was Mil
ly's, and, though no one knew the ex-
act situation of affairs, it was taken
for granted that another year would
bring orange blossoms and wedding.
Milly's own expectation were not so
definite. 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 win
ter, to be in its turn scourged away by
the whip of the fierce New England
spring. Still Milly waited; but not
so brightly now, for the letters came
less regular than at first. BY and by
they ceased altogether. Weeks passed
without word. NIilly, with visions
OF yellow fever and Indians chasing
each other across her terrified brain,
wrote and wrote again; but no presage
of the real danger which threatened
glanced over her, till, one day OPEN
ing the newspaper, this met her ewes:
At Galveston, Tex. by the Rev. Pierre
St. Cloud, assisted by the Rev. Thomas
Dix, Capt. Edward Hallett, U. S. A., and