Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-07-12

anu Lrleu 10 tnlnk what lie would De
without him; my old life-the life at
home seemed so far distant, and this
was so near,so good. / think, Sylvle,
there must have been some piteous
question or appeal in my eyes, for, as
he looked down upon me, his whole
face changed, and suddenly taking
me In his arms, he kissed me over
and over.
These he said, in half whisper
these are for love and for good-byel
Janet, Janet, aoiy are you not free for
me to have as my very own? For
give me; | have shocked you. l
know you must despise me. l know
all your kindness, all your gentleness,
to me, these long, delicious days, have
meant nothing but friendship. / knew
of your engagement to Jack almost
before knew you. There can be no
excuse for me in your eyes. L know
| must seem dishonorable, cowardly /;
but oh, Janet, forgive me | shall
never sec you any more, and | love
you, my little Janet 7
what did you say?' | asked, pro-
saically, as Janet halted in her story.
'What could say, Sylvie? was
bound to Jack, and, much as might
want to, dccency forbade my calling
Bertram back and telling him would
gladly throw Jack over for his sake
so he went away?'
Eyes, he went away, and the rest of
the day is daze to my memory. OF
course we dined at Richmond, and of
course we drove home as we had
planned, and it was very gay and
merry party; but | can remember
nothing distinctly, save the persistent
way in which one line of his song
would go over and over in my brain,
'Auf meinen bleichen Mund
Den letzten Kuss'
sThe next day was the last of our
stay in London people were in and
out all day to say good-by. For at
ternoon tea came Lord Southwell.
After little talk | heard him say to
Dora,
GA strange fancy, this of Fitzger-
aid to 90 off and give the Germans a
chance to pop at him. What, didn't
you know? Oh yes, he left in the
tidal train this morning to take part
charge of French ambulance. After
all he's half French, you know, through
his mother; so its only natural but
| do hope none of those beastly Ger.
mans will make a target of him. He's
a nice old boy, is Fifty We'll all
miss him horribly
Il didn't scream and | didn't faint,
Sylvie, and l did laugh aud talk and
say good-by to them all brightly ; but
something went out of my life that
has never come back to it since.
sWe came home, you know, almost
Immediately, without visiting the con-
tinent. On the steamer | told Jack
all about it, and asked him to free me
from my engagement. Like the per-
feet gentleman he is, he did so, kind
" and without blaming me, though |
knew it went hard with him for a
time. Now he is all over it, and has
the sweetest wife in the world, as we
know.
Shortly after our arrival home l
saw in an English Times brief no.
tice ofthe sad, early death of Bertram
Fitzgerald, shot down by cowardly
German when he was helping a
wounded Frenchman.
That is my story, Sylvie, without
beginning and without end judge
for yourself if the middle is all NICE
did not answer her. AS she sat
in the quick coming darkness, | could
Just see the faint outline of her face
buried in her hands, while | felt
rather than saw the tears that were
falling.
A hand was laid on my shoulder,
warning finger on my lips. | caught
sight of Hillyer and Jack, and then
felt myself being carried off bodily
into the small room back of the Sec
ond drawing-room. There were bright
lights here, and standing by the
piano, his hands resting upon the
keys, beheld "the very haudsomest
man | have ever seen in my life.'
| gave little mute sign of delight,
seized Hillyer's hand in mine, and
pressing it hard, laughed and cried
together.
Very softly he at the piano touched
the chords; then in wooing, tender
voice he sang,
"Weil es seiu Leid vergisst,
We'll du mein eigen Dist,
We'll du mich innig druekest
An define Brust,
Auf Wiedersehn."
Down the now dark drawing-room,
as one half dreaming, came my Ja-
net. She stood, one moment only,
within the dark draperies eff the door,
a wistful look on her fair, sweet face ;
then "Bertram ~ she cried, and fled
to his open arms, lost to all sense of
those about her in the fullness of her
love.
And this is the story of my littl e
Janet. Her lover was not killed, and
he was true to her. From Lord
Southworth he heard of her broken
engagement, and so came over the
sea to seek her, and thus seeking,
met Hillyer and Jack and they both
being young and both romantic,made
the meeting what it was.
My little Janet is very happy in
her English home. Lord Southwell
has stood for her first boy, who, as
his godfather remains unmarried, bids
fair in time to become an heir to
wealth and distinction.
Janet has beneath her own and
Bertram's name on her wedding ring
the two words SO full of me aniRg tt
her,
"AUF WIEDERsEHN."