The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1877-09-07
LETTY's PROMISES.

LEITf'S PROMISES.
When Laurence Van Everen was
about to sail for the East Indies, he ask
ed Lefty to walk half an hour in the or
chard with him, which was wreathet
and pcrfumed with fruit blossoms.
'Tve request to make you, my deai
Lefty" he said, "and I'm half afraic
you may think it selfish thing to ask
indeed, kno,c il is, but yet, with the
renowned selfishness of man, | not onl,
ask, beg it,"
"What OH earth can it be?" said Let
ty, smiling. "Do you want me to go tc
a nunnery till you return, or to trave
to Calcutta to marry you? Or do YOU
want me TO give the cold shoulder tc
Tom Longworthy, and promise never tc
say so much as How do We do?' to him?'
For the gossips had their say in Var
his last voyage, to the effect that Long.
worthy had taken advantage of his alb.
sence to be sweet on Lefty, and that
Lefty was by no means averse to sweets,
supplemented by the assurance, "How.
ever, Tom isn't marrying man, and il
Lefty hadn't been promised, he would
have paid her no heed; Tom always
goes in for safe thing" But this phil.
osophy by no means satisfied Van Ever.
en-.
"No, Lefty, it is none of these trifles,' y
he answered. ''it is something much
more important to my happiness"
"You know l will do anything to
please you"
"You will? Then promise me this
thing-solenmly promise that if any
thing should happen to me, ifI should
never return, if / should die-promise
that you will remain mine forever-that
You will never, never marry another.
Can you promise this, daring"
"Certainly. But you will come back
you must. Why, should die myself
if you failed. There is no need of such
a promise, but | give it all the same.
promise solemnly that if you die l will
never marry"
"Thanks," said Van Everen, kissing
her cheek with an air of having confer.
red favor. 81 have exactly five min.
utes left in which to say goodbye
There is a great deal called love in this
world which is only propinquity: but
one mustn't call it loving, so the poet
tells us,
Unless you can love as angels may
With the breadth of heaven betwixt u.s.
And you think you can, Letty?"
81 know it. Perhaps you mean tC
commit suicide in order to test me-"
And then followed few minutes oi
tender nonsense, and Van Everen tore
himself away, leaving Lefty in tears
What N lnno Int,n f;,,,a ~ 10
forward tol How many storms would
beat along the coast, how many suns
would shine, mornings dawn, and even
ings gather to their close, before they
met again! In the meantime here was
her trousseau to finish; and she used tc
sit at it hour by hour, with her thoughts
away on some distant reach of the Indi
an seas, except when Tom Longworthy
loitered in to help kill time. One morn
ing he brought her letter, which {
sailor who had spoken the Flying Scud
months out, had intrusted to him, ant
he looked out of the window while she
read it, whistling "The long, weary
day." softly. Tom was really com
fort to her, in spite of Van Evercn's un
reasonable jealousy. lie could tell hel
all about the long Indian voyage, of cy
clones, calms and trade winds-all abou
the great foreign cities to which hci
lover was bound, with their sunburnet
natives, their strange customs, theil
fantastic stutis and curious architecture
till she felt as if she was there herself
Ii was some months later that Ton
Longworthy came in with cloud OF
his face.
"You are ill?' said Lefty, regarding
him.
"Not at all, thank you: only ill n
ease"
"Then you have some bad news"
eyes, have some bad news"
"Nothing about Laurence?" she gasp
ed.
81 hope not"
"You hope not. For Heavens SAX,
don't you know? What is it! Dom
think you are sparing my feelings. Yoi
are only cruely-"
"The Flying Scud-"
"Is lost?"
elias foundered. But there's no Ger
tainty with regard to Laurence; he ma,
be among the saved. Lefty! Lefty
don't look at me as if l had brought i
about. Iwould exchange places will
him gladly for your sake / would in
deed" he cried.
She left her needle where the i'll new
found it, and folded away all the wed
ding garments. And month followe,
month of anxious foreboding; and on
or two old seamen struggled home Il
their families, battered and destitute
after many hardships, but they knew
nothing of Van Everen; he had not ia
ken to the same boat; some had beel
swept away by wave before the shi
was abandoned; and so by sad degree
hope and Laurence Van Everen wer
given up. But though the object tina
made existence precious had been rude
ly torn from us, yet we go forward wit
the drama perforce; we must dine, rea
letters, receive coincidence, discuss crap
and bombazine, as if the world ha
not suddenly grown empty and forlori
And SOFT was with Lefty. Daily lif
was too exacting; she could not 81
down and hug her grief, and look at
in every light and discuss it i'm all il
bearings; she was oblighed to dry he
tears and earn her bread. The railroa
stock in which her small fortune wa
invested had suddenly declared agains
dividends. She could not permit hei
self to share the crumbs that fell fror
her uncle's table, and which they coul
i'll afford to spare, even had dependenc
been sweet-a quality it was neve
known to possess. Thus in her drear
routine of drudgery Tom Longworthy
kindness and occasional visits constitul
ed her only variety. If she found
bunch of the earliest May flowers on he
desk, she knew who left them there;
Christmas brought her anonymous gifts
she was none the less certain of the civ
er. If her birthdays and anniversarie
were remembered, whose thoughtful
ness could 1t be but Toms? II wa,
perhaps, three years and better after tn
Flying Scud had sailed that Lett,
weary of declining invitations and of b,
ing asked If she mean to sacrifice herse
like Hindoo widow, Joined a party {
friends going to take their tea in I'll
sunset at the beach, two hours steam
ing down the river. She had under