The Red Cloud chief., 1877-05-03
Nv HUCH?"
BY L. ". d.

SO44A w PtA 10Y ~ w viz SANS " AN
warn him that he will never know any
thing more than what I choose to re-
late. In fact, he Will never know at all
that 1 would. perhaps gladly. relate, if
1 knew 1t myself. for there is a mystery
hangidg around the subject which /
would clear Away if l had the power.
One thing, however, the reader will
never knoG, and that 10 my name. He
may scruti6ize the initials at the head
of this sketch for a clue, but it will be
all in vain, / fancy that, metaphorical-
ly speaking, I have covered my trail in
such a manner that nobody can find it.
Let no one suppose from this, that 1
have conimitted a hOrrid crime. On
the contrary, l am the victim of a con-
spiracy. more or less base, and as inno-
cent Of any evil intent as a lamb. My
friend Briggs says l am as innocent as
calf, but I never liked the comparison;
and it is because he 10 SO fond of
making<f 1t that l have been led to be-
lieve HAT Briggs himself had q hand in
shaping those untOward events that led
me into SO much trouble, and was final
ly the cause ofeo much embarrassment.
I Am by nature an impossible man.
The heartiest laugh I ever had in my
life was almost purely a sympathetic
one. An elOcutionist spoke a most ri.
diculOusly n0nsensical piece about
Daddy and Me" The substance of it
was, that Daddy pand me had a potato
patch that would yield about three po-
tatOes to a hill, and small Ones at that.
Daddy and me has fifty cows. Daddy
has fO~rty-nine and me one. Mines an
OK"
The elocutionist would repeat a short
sentence of the above nonsense, and
then throw back his head and laugh as
though it was "too funny for anything"
and oy the time he got through, the
whole audience was in an uproar. But
l believe . laughed harder than any o.
the rest 1t has always been SOL Nave
always been ready to laugh with those
who laugh, and weep with those who
weep.
But notwithstanding my impresslble
nature l did pride myself on one thing.
l battered myself that I could never in
all my life love but one woman. I
knew l might take q passing fancy to a
great many beautiful women, but as to
real. genuine love, why that was a very
different thing.
Il can never love but once" was what
l said to Briggs, times without number:
and for reply he would always smile
one of those incredulous smiles so thor
oughly exasperating to one who feels
positive his statements are true.
Time will show" I would NV def.
antly.
Sure enough time did show. and re-
vealed things I would never have
dreamed of.
For two years I was engaged to one
OF the loveliest and best girls that ever
lived. l was thoroughly convinced that
loved her as well as it is possible for
a man to love q woman. But in an evil
hour Mary Bradley crossed my path
way. All! she wa beautiful! Anda
was not long before 1~~
hetroth~6 found that my
~40d was on the decline. In fact
in a few months from the time I Hrst
saw Mary, l felt it my duty to tell Miss
Carter that 1 no longer loved her as I
felt that 1 ought to love the one whom
/ should make my wife She said but
little. as she quietly took the ring from
her finger and handed it to me, bat the
look she gave me made me feel for the
moment that l was q very mean man.
As soon as it became known that the
engagement was broken Oh, I could
read reproach and condemnation in the
eyes of all my acquaintance. They
might just as we'll have called me
"iend" and demon" for 1 could read
their thoughts plainly enough. In fact
their silent reprOaches were far more
exasperating than violent demonstra-
tions would have been: for the latter
would have given me an opportunity to
defend myself. I could have explained
to them how the feelings of my heart
had changed without my consent: and
could have grown eloquent on what q
mean thing it was for q man to marry
a woman he did not love simply on the
pretense that her happiness depended
on it
There was one person, however, who
had no reproaches for me. and that was
BRIGGS. On the contrary, he seemed
rather pleased at the turn affairs had
taken. For q long time l had half sus-
pected that Briggs had q warm side for
Mis- Carter himself. and now I knew
It. soon found out. too that after the
Art shock was over, the violence of her
uief rapidly subsidized. There is not the
Ieest doubt in my mind that he con-
.oled ber in something like the follow
ing language:
sIt,s lucky thing. Miss Carter. that
your engagement with him is broken
Oh. Heis 8 good enough fellow oot
yery tickle minded.
And / fancy she replied about = 'os-
lows: