The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1878-04-20

quite cortain-lire without Fanny would be
life not worth having"
That night a note came to Follett's house,
having these words
1--WE must part forever; don't try to see
me again-don't try to alter my resolve, for
it would cost us both needless pain. Believe
me l have acted for the best. FANNIE"
"But I will try to alter her resolve, and
III alter it, too," Folliett muttered to him
self, cor I'll know the reason why"
lie was descending the steps of the front
door when Charlie Hyde,an intimate friend,
came hurriedly in the opposite direction.
Follictt, wanted to speak to you"
"But l am in a hurry
$50 am Folliet, have heard bad news
very nearly concerning yourself and an
other who is very dear to you"
"Not-Fanny ?"
eyes, Fanny. Be man, Follictt, and
cast her off. She Is unworthy of you. She
is an inebriate."
"Impossiblew
"My sister-in-law has friend who occu-
pies the next room to her in Mrs. Digwalls
house, in C street, and she saw her stag
gering home at midnight last night; she
heard the noise and comments Of the house.
She says, moreover, that it is a common oc-
currencer
"Great heavenp
Folliet stood pale and stricken, as if some
mortal blow had descended upon his heart
This, then, explained the note now lying
in his pocket.
Fannie ha6 known that they could never,
never be more to one another than they now
were.
Fannie's eye had penetrated further than
his own could do. Fanny was an inebriate.
He turned back again, sick at heart, re-
jecting the profIered consolation of his
friends. Solitude alone could comfort him.
The next morning he left the city to try and
fight the battle of his heart in the silence of
nature, but it was in vain. A week after
wards he returned.
:" would marry her if she was a common
drunkard," he told himself "Iwill try and
redeem her-and if that were impossible, I
would give my life to her, to shield her i'm
perfections from the public eye. For she is
mne-mine only, and forever"
With this obstinate determination in his
heart, he went straight to the house, which
was the only home poor Fanny Harrington
knew.
as it Miss Harrington you want?" said
the maid. "she's in trouble"
In trouble?"
It's her mother, sir. Just buried" said
the girl, lowering her voice to a whisper.
He motherl I never knew she had
mother here"
"No, nor any one else" said Peggy, de-
lighted with the new auditor to the nine
days wonder at the house. " It was step
mother she was. She kept her at a place in
the country, till just of late, and when she
got so bad that they wouldn't keep her, poor
Miss Fanny had her here"
"She was my fathers wife," says Miss
Fanny, "and must take care of her"
l'ub lip bllt hlltN uub ms anu hI6s l'lR-
wall what trial Miss Fanny had of it try
ing to keep it from the rest, working all day
and watching the poor drunken creature all
night. She got out once or twice, and
pretty noise she made but she's dead and
gone now, and Miss Fanny will get her re-
ward for all she has done for the poor soul
that had no friends but her in all the wide
world"
As Peggy ceased her revelations, the door
beyond opened, and Fanny Harrington,
dressed in plain but deep mourning, stood
before her lover.
Fanny" was all he said.
And she came forward with wistful eyes
md lips apart:
You know all, Fred"
81 know it all, dearest. The obstacle is
yone-you will be mine now?"
al could not marry you, Fred, with that
,harge burdening my life. could not weigh
lown a second existence with the blight Of
ny own. had to choose between love and
luty, and choose the bitterest lot, because |
lare not cast her off-the responsibility God
lad laid upon me. Oh, the bitterness of that
lour when l wrote to you that we must
,artw
It's over now, darling" Folliet whisper
d, softly. "And l shall not love my wife
he less because she has wrought out the
'roLlem Of duty"
And Fanny secret, asleep in the grave,
hadowed her life no longer.