The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1878-12-19

An SO lO0ReQ dL uim W oeo ~ hs
was, when suddenly he turned upon
me.
sAt least you might have written
Agatha Wells ? said he sharply.
started, as you may think, to hear
my own name spoken safan'iliarly by
stranger; when, locking again, behold
I saw beneath the btopze, and under
wrinkles and behind she beard, a face
that twenty years before was the dear
est in the world to me-the face oI
Duncan Ashley, We parted one day
expecting to meet the next; but that
evening he was called away, and wrote
instead of coming. In q letter he said
what he said before with his eyes-yss,
those same beautiful eyes-that I was
the choice of his heart and the desire Of
his life. ......
. ANSWER me, said he'll cannot wait
till I see you.' ~.
So I answered. long, foolish let
ter, though there was:uo need of wri>
ting; for he had read all I could say
long before, with those eyes of his.
Then I watched and waited for him;
but never saw him or heard one word
more. If yousare young, you can i'm
agine the slow dying Of hope and ex.
pectarion. And if youafe old you know
how such things can be- lived over, and
hidden in secret graves.
But now as though the graves had
been opened, and the judgment set,
came this sudden reproschful question
up from tho buried past. 1 fairly
caught my breath, as turned back my
eyes, and looked him in the face
again. =. -
Forgive me- said he directly, in a
gentler tone, II did not mean to speak.
You brought it out with your eyes;
that questioning turn was so familiar.
Of course you we're right, and l never
blamed you. I never meant you to see
me again; but the temptation to feel
myself beside you, only to be in the
soothing charm of your presence, was
loo great. It-has been q blessing that
I shall carry with me all the rest of my
iGe.' t. ..,.
He-was rising to go away, But I put
put my hand. i'@....
L did write, Duncan Ashley said
I; 'tbe letter must have. gone wrong
You did ! you wrote ! he cried
sinking back in his chair again, and
ooking. at me eagerly. What did you
'ay?' - I
There vas only one thing I could
say; and I said that, / answered, blush
pg as though l had just writ written the
etter. %
u.itlde-ased woman in hood and
waterproof! But, dear ro it was only
ny face was midjle-aged. after ALL; my
ncart is as young aud silly as ever.
And as for Duncan's face, the marks Of
care and thought and time fell off,
eayiug it only the eternal youth Of
owe. = p
It was the old story of lost let
Ter, and the older story of a proud man
believing himself to be rejected and
humiliated, and fleeing to the ends of
the earth with his pain.
Twenty precious years of my life
wasted p said my New Zealander.
We will not be separated another day
while we both live. There is a clergy
man among our passengers and We will
be married this verystour. >
This was: sn like his -headlong de-
cisions! Certainly he did need So
Der second.thought like me for a bal
last,
That cannot be- I cried. The
ceremony wouldn't be legal without a
license or something And l would
by no means do anything so sensational
and conspicuous. & = .#z
But bless your heart! I might as
we'll have tried to wipe up the Atlantic
with my pocket-handkerchisf. He was
so grieved, and so impatient (and, in
deed, when one comes to think OF it,
twenty years is long enough for an en-
cagemen ut. J that I finally dropped Of my
waterproof and sea sickness. and
stood up behind the binnacle, and was
married before eight bells that very
morning-ring and all. Duncan pro-
duccd it from q small caskct, where he
had carried it in his waistcoaL pocket
for the whole twenty years.
4 never could bear to put the little
thing away said he, looking at il ten
derly.
The next day we came into port, with
the sun shining and our flags flying.
There. was furry of good-bys, hoist
ing Of trunks, a welcoming of friends
on the shore, and a glad hurrying to and
fro.
Among the rest was an instant's nest
ling of Miss Armour's lips on my cheek
and little cling of her hand in mine
the vanishing ola smile, and she was
gone, like the fash of 6re-fy, out oi
sight forever. But wherever she is
and however she fares, she has the
daily blessing Of two middle~ageo
hearts, whose way to each other she un.
consciously lighted. -
A Mare Jumps Twenty-Three Feet
On Friday night the sorrell mare