Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1877-09-22
AFTER DARK.

Nlltt, ltI bfbNS anu ld1AT0 N'l' '-'
dark. But it was none of that, nor the
soft skin with the delicate rosy bloom
that sometimes diffuscd it, that made
the charm of the face it was the soulful
expression there, and the smile sweettr
than any young girl knows how to smile
"a smile full Of innocence and love.
Her life had not been q very happy one,
we used to fancy, she having had some
serious cross in her youth, and aiterward
marrying a man whom she did not very
tcrdsrIv love, because he loved her, and
who ended by abusing her, She had
been now for several YEAR, a widow with
ou. children, spending her considerable
fortune in kindness, and making all the
young people in the region her stauEch
adherents.
She lived at The Cedars, and s0me one
OF the other Of US was always with her,
ami it would be hard 70 say where q
p,ra,anter lie could be lived than all
day long in Mrs. Dalrymple's gardens or
behind her aoI-ss, and all the evening",
w,th the breath Of roses and honey
auckles about the windows, in her
delightful drawing-rooms, listening to
her old %contes' or to the talk of by-g0ne
DAYS in which her contemporaries in
dulred when they became her guests,
Among there guests occasionally was
Mr.. Stephen, an elderly person who had
come into the neighborhood come years
before, and who lived on the next place,
where only a hedge divided the lands-a
strange, sad, silent old man, concerning
whom, as nobody knew anything, every
body conjectured everything, Some
said he was an Englishman, some that he
was a New Zealander, it was generally
conceded that lie had suffered great
calamity; and here and there even it
was declared that in a distant state he
had been imprisoned under a life sen.
tence, but pardoned out for quiet
behavior after fifty years, taking then
the property which it was in his power
to take, and coming here. Peaceful and
gentle as he was, living among his birds
and flowers, giving freely to whOmsOeyer
asked, he was generally avoided, and, as
he sought no one, his life was solitary.
He had had occasion to look for a lost
net on Mrs. Dalrymple's grounds, which
had led to an acquaintance that he 50 lit
tie followed up that sometimes she
herself would take one OF US and 90 over
into his garden, and often she would tap
on the long window, and saying, gayly
privilege of an old woman. ~ insist on
bringing him home to dinner.
She had done 50 to-day for we had
surprised her--fve homeless girls whom
she had at last made permanently at
home with herself--in an unwonted
shower of tears in the morning, tear.
that continued with more or les force all
dav. e" must have something now TO
brighten me-" said she. Let Us 90 and
get Mr.. Stephen. We will have an
omelette roum, There wa omalette
roum on the table ffty-three years ago,
remember now. 1t is one OF my
anniversary days, to-day, my dears,"
Chine illa lacrima," said We, wiping
the dear lady's face and trying to make
her smile, Somehow We always felt as
if she were our " age.
"Yes, it is one OF my anniversary days,
today" said she again, after dinner, as
we all sat in the d~rawing-room about her,
Mr.. Stephen not far away in his arm
chair. III is 80 long ago that it often
seems to have been something ! once
rad Of rather than once lived and felt
and sufered--O yes, suffered ] fancy
that bright young girl with her lovers i
N a romance. | can think OF ii all with
ont suffering now; yet, just for the pity
Of it, inst as YOU cry over a novel, you
know, | could not help shedding a few
tears to-day"
"Was it so very sad, them" one Of
Us yentufed.
"Ah. very. And we were all "a
young, ! will tell you about it !
a.ways said ! would. | do not mind
sgeaking Of it now it is all as il | were
Speaking of some one else: They were
three brothers," she said, after a mo.
mcnt, land they were all my lovers, as !
said but sometimes | have doubted il
he loved me as he loved those brothers Of
bis, hall a dozen years their senior. He
had been father and mother to them, and
be compassed heaven and earth for theiI
wishes. All. well, well! 50 noble a be
ing never lived before. Greater love
hath no man'-hath no man. She
paused a moment again, her voice trem
bling. "How strange" she resumed
presently " that | should be telling thit
10 calmly Oh, it was a storm--it was
storm Z" and her old hands clasped anC
unc'asped ~nervously. What a darkanC
dreadful time Of horror, and now Il
Tranquil! But | will tell you. You al
WAYS do seem 10 like my own children
might have been-all but Mr., Stephen,
mean she said, with a quick laugh tina
restored her to herself. lone day W,
were in q boat together, alone upon tn,
little river. How | remember it all -
the green boughs meeting overhead, tn,
treen shadows underneath, the sunligh
sitting through, and his face, his proud
pale, passionate face, as he said som
simple words that let mt know, not tina
he loved me, not that he wished to know
if ! loved him--as if that had Away
leen underst0od--but that he expecte,
me soon to be his wife. | loved him.
oh, how | loved him l' said the old lady
c~lasping and unclasping her hands again
"But some evil spirit seized me. / wa
a coquette !; ! answered him lightly
How did he know / said, but that
was already plighted to Ralph? w
had hung close to the shore, beneath tn
great boughs, and looking up as | spoke
: / saw Mark, the second brother, sittinI
in the boughs.-oh, so strange his fac
looked them | beckoned him mischiev
ously, and in a moment he bad parte,
all the leaves and sprays, and was threat
ening to spring and swamp the littl
boat if we did not let him in. Tha
night, at the home OF the three brother.
there was a fearful contest--I the cause
Alb this soft, sweet summer night VIII
could believe it? and could / ever hav
believed / should sit here calmly an,
tell Of it to those who were not born
They had %grappled Ralph was killed
bis eldest brother was found r~ed.handed
When Mark came home from his ramble
the officers were carrying that brother t,
prison. He never opened his lips con
rcrning Il from that day" said Mrs
Dalrymple, with sob in her voice. "Hf
employed no lawyer, although the court
appointed one; he refused to plead
guilty or not guilty. / will hurry. He
was sentenced TO death his sentence wa,
eonmuted to imprisonment for lie. Az