Nebraska advertiser., 1877-11-01

y J
tender, loving letter for some time
added to his content. January was
over when the letters ceased. He
waited a reasonabl time then wrote.
No answer. Again be wrote, ,inclosing
his letter to Leda in one to the land
lord of the hotel, giving his address.
The answer to this came promptly.
Mr.. Morrison had died very suddenly
the last week in January, his brother
and nephew had come to remove the
body to London, and the whole party
had left the hotel.
fastening at once to the town ad-
dress, Herbert found the house to
which Mr.. Morris had directed him
closed and deserted. The agent whose
address was upon the playcard an
bouncing the place "To Let" could
give no information excepting that
be had received his orders to let the
house from Mr.. Morrison, the brother
of the former owner. He was not at
the funeral himself, did not know
about Miss Leda, could give
the address of the late Mr.. Morrison
lawyer, and knew that the surviving
brother and his son were travelling.
At the lawyers the news was crush
ing. Mr.. Morrison had died without
will, and the entire property had pass
ed into the hands of the heir-at-law.
"He was superstitious. the old
lawyer said, "fancying it would hast
en- his death to make will. Foolish :?
Well, yes. but not uncommon. Miss
Leda came home with the body, and
remained a week, but do not know
what became of her then. The broth
er was very unkind-one might say
brutal-for he had been jealous of her
for years, and understood perfectly
well that it was only because of his
brothers. neglect that she was left PEN
niless instead of inheriting most of
the estate. If I hear of her l will let
you know certainly"
But thirteen long weary years pass
ed by, and no word of Leda reached
the faithful heart waiting and hoping
to have long looked for tidings. No
ether fair face ever took the place in
HeTbert's heart that Leda's face filled.
No other love ever drove out this one
strong love of his heart and when he
looked upon the parting gift of his
darling every throb of his heart was
as truly hers as 1t had been when he
I~ds he- f.roroII auu GvndVEly hisSod
away her falling tears.
1t was many minutes before he
could control his agitation sufficiently
to open the letter. 1t was postmark-
ed London" and the date was that of
the day previous to that of Mr.. Nor
rison's funeral.
When at last he opened and read 1t,
tears that were no shame to Herbert
Payne's manhood coursed down his
cheeks. In humble words Leda told
him frankly the story already familiar
to him, and her own penniless condi-
ton.
You may n OF care to claim a wife
who knows nothing of her birth, she
wrote, "who stands now utterly alone.
a beggar. But if. as my heart will
whisper hopefully, you may still love
me. you will find me here for a week
longer. IF you do not come 1 shall
know that you despise me for my in
deceit, and shall accept
position offered by an old friend as
governess to her children"
"My darling, my forsaken darling!
Herbert whispered, where are you?
for your wasted love. De-
spising your lover, who deserted you
in sorrow and loneliness It is too bit.
ter"
But cslmer thoughts came at last,
and after long deliberation Herbert
decided upon one more effort to gain
tidings of his lost love. In every
large city, for a week, one leading
contained this advertise
ment:
LEDA-The letter written thirteen
years ago has just reached me. Write
again. II.
Waiting, endured for so many years,
became torture after this notice ap-
peared, and once again Herbert Payne
himself to future uncheer-
ed by loving companionship.
Had he possessed the power of AS
modeus he might have been waited
nver the broad Atlantic to home in
Paris, where a sweet faced woman,
Iovlier in her ger gentle maturity
han ever in her girlish bloom, was
teaching a class of girls the hard
words of the English language, Ac-
,epting the position offered her by her
friend, and refusing the assistance Of |
Tered grudingly by her adopted faith
er's brother, Leda Morrison had trav-
eled with the children under her
charge for nearly six years. Then
iDding herself in Paris. and able to
gather a class of pupils for English,
he had decided not to return to her
I'D home. earning more than was suf-
icient for her humble wants in her
lew vocation.
1t was some weeks after the discov-
'ry of the long lost letter, and the
lass of girls were improving their
English accent by reading from a
when one slowly and hes
tatingly read:
LEDA-The letter written thirteen
ears ago has just reached me. Write
gain, H.
In q moment Leda, white and
rembling. was eagerly scanning the
,