The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1878-03-14

Il
ever spoke. What say you to stroll on
the Parade?"
with all my heart" was the re-
ponse.
IT shall see her tomorrow for the
last time" said Harry, conclusion.
"There's to be a picnic at Paradise
rocks. After that-well, Europe"
Little did either of the speakers i'm
agine that there had been listener to
their conversation, much less that the
listener was the very lady under discus
sion. But so it was. Miss Temple had
come to call on friend at the hotel, and,
finding her out, had sat down at the
table, in her private parlor, to pen her a
note. Now this parlor was the nextroom
to that occupied by Charley Rossiter,
and, as the windows of both apartments
were open, she heard distinctly every
word that was spoken. It was Harry's
admission that he was going abroad
which first attracted her attention.
A sudden pang shot through her heart,
a spasm Of absolute physical pain.
Harry had been so devoted to her for
more than a year that she had taken it
for granted he would always be SO. She
had, therefore, no wish to change these
pleasant relations; as Harry had said,
she shrank from him when he became
too demonstrative; but, now that she
found he was going away, she awoke to
the consciousness that he was necessary
to her happiness, and it burst on her
like revelation.
She listened, spell-bound, to what
followed. 1t never even occurred to
her that she was eaves-dropping; she
was too intensely absorbed. While her
cheek flushed, half angrily, more than
once, at Charley's cynical criticisms, her
heart throbbed with strange pleasure q
Harry's generous defense of her; the
more generous she felt because he ad-
mitted that he was without hope. And
it began to dawn on her that she had
been, unintentionally, little selfish in
expecting to keep him at her side, on
her own terms, receiving everything and
giving nothing. She saw, too, that she
had misunderstood herself. She had
been saying all along, and her set had
said it also, that only weak, silly wom-
en- fall in love; that men were all alike
selfish that her sex we're the victims of
their affections-s' too emotional alto
gether, " as the high priest of the Hsthet-
ic Club put it. It should be her care,
Isabel had early declared, to avoid this
weakness Life surely had enough in
it, even for woman, without the need
of love. But now her fne-spun phi
losophy fell from about her. Now, when
one whose society had, somehow, be-
come essential to her talked of going
away forever, she suddenly discovered
what dreary waste of years lay before
her-what hopeless, purposeless fu-
ture. And she compared Harry, men
tally, with the other men she knew, re-
alizing, as she had never done before,
how superior he was to all Of them
nobler, truer, manlier, more intelligent,
better cultivated, chivalrous beyond
words-a Sir Launcelot in all that was
great and good. And she blushed, with
secret pleasure, as she thought it.
But he was going away for years. It
was too late to recall the past. Yet
there was one hope-a slender one, but
still hope. They were to meet to-
morrow at the picnic; and, though she
could not take the initiative, yet some
thing might happen. Perhaps-per-
haps-
Suddenly she reused herself, with an
effort, for she had been thus musing
for long after the two gentlemen had
gone out, and rising, ran down stairs to
her pony-pheton, feeling Like some
guilty thing, all at once remembering
that had been eaves-dropping.
There was a great dinner. party that
day where Isabel was guest, but every
body remarked that she was not herself.
She was dull, spiritless, absorbed. Her
usual gay sallies, her contagious wit,
were absent. Little sleep visited her
eyes that night. She was thinking all
the while that she had discovered her
secret too late; she called it a secret now;
q week ago she would have called it
weakness, Harry was going, and might
go, was almost certain to go, without q
word.
She dressed for the picnic next day
with the greatest care. She was in
fever when she reached the rocks till
Harry made his appearance, for she
feared something might happen to pre-
vent his coming. He did not, for awhile,
join her; and she was in fever of APP
prehension till he did. When, at last,
he came up, she welcomed him with
a bright smile; and from shat moment
she was the gayest Of the gay. Never
had she been more brilliant Half
dozen of the most intelligent gentlemen
present were about her; she had retort
for each; the ball of conversation never
tagged for moment. But, with all.
she was restless. She was hoping that
Harry would give her chance to see
him alone; but he made no movement to
do SO.
"Why does he not ask me to go for
walk she said to herself. The after
noon was rapidly passing; her hopes
began to grow faint; she resolved on a
decided step.
How very warm it is" she cried,
tanning herself vigorously. "Iwonder
If there is more breeze on the beach,
Immediately her attendants, one and
all 0ffnrad RI ocoort how n ~, chow