The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-03-27
Without other answer. he read

"What is it ?" he asked.
"The wrong note. | will find the
other"
I went away then, to the summer
house, softly as a thief, guarding my
steps on the frozen ground. They were
there, and I could hear Albert's voice
As I came near, I heard Etta-"Ah,
Albert, I will love you all my life TO,
this !"
She was crying too. i could tell that
by her broken voice.
I turned away and went home. 1t was
a cold day, and I was utterly miserable
Aunt Hilda insisted upon nursing me,
and l submitted, brooding over my
secret pain, seeking no sympathy.
It was but natural Eta should turn
! from the blind lover, who was but a dis
appointment, to the handsome young
man of fortune who had loved her sc
long. T would try to give her up, not
in anger, but tenderly.
But I could not. Albert returned tc
Chicago, and every day Eta became
dearer to me. She was the light of my
life. She gave me every hour she
could spare from her duties to her
uncle and his house, and she spoke OF
our future as surely to be passed
together. T had no courage to tell her
T suspected her secret, and only in my
lonely hours did I dwell upon the re-
! membrance of Albert's visit.
The long winter wore away the early
spring was gone, and when May BIOS
SONS were bursting Eta came one
morning to see me. -,
"Do you remember DR.. Sanderson =
she asked.
"Your cousins friend?"
eyes, He is a great oculist."
NY heart seemed to stand still.
"He came from New York solely to
see YOU, aud lie warned us that we must
give Won no exciting hope for some
! months. Perfect tranquility, he told
us, was the great hope for the recovery
of your sight. ,,,.
"He thinks that possible9"
"He thinks it more than possible.
If YOU improved in strength as you
have done all the winter, he was certain
he coald successfully operate this
month"
could not speak. Very gently Eta
told me of her cousins kindness. He
had gone to the city solely to find this
doctor, who was no more his friend
than he was the friend of any other
patient. He had brought him to see
me, aud then burdened my Eta with
his secret instructions. Even MI. Ray
mond and Aunt Hlda were ignorant of
this loving conspiracy. =,
It Inundated me to think Of the part
T had taken, the unworthy construction
T had placed upon Etta's outburst OF
gratitude. But she should never know
I had doubted her, even for an hour.
"Tell me-" 7 said, "when this doctor
will come again"
He is here, waiting to see you
He came in 1901 after, and there was
no reluctance then in my answers to his
searching questions. He examined my
eyes closely, and gave me a promise OF
sight in less than two months.
And he kept his word. After the
operation he gave strict directions tor
bandaging and confinement in a dark
room, till, at the end of six long weeks
he came again, and let me see once more
the blessed daylight and Etta's face.
From that hour I gained hope and
courage again, and when my eyes were
completely restored returned to New
York. I was expressly forbidden to
resume my old duties, but the firm
gave me q position as salesman and a
good salary.
Eta waited another year for me, when
nv great.uncle left me a legacy that
enabled me to marry, having a sure In
come.
1t was not until we had been married
over a year that Eta asked me one day
if I could spare her seven hundred dol.
lars.
Certainly" I replied.
"Do you wonder what I want of 80
much money ?" she asked.
I did wonder, for We had no secrets In
our life, and my wife usually told me
where she spent her money.
ct will tell you,' she said. 81 want
to buy back my pearl cross"
a"You sold that |" I cried. II thought
You valued that above all your posses
sions!' 20. r. H.. H
"But not above your eyesightl DR..
Sanderson was paid $500 for the opera
ton, not the $50 you supposed"
"Etta !"
"That was part of our secret. Albert
would have given me the money, but. 1
would not let you W your sight to any
one save me. So he took my cross, and
sold it for $500 here in New York. The
man who bought it agreed to keep it for
a time for me, and to-day Albert told me
he could get it again.
I shall always think the cross had
never been ont of Albert's possession,
and he was too delicate to give it again to
Eta. But he was in New York on. a
wedding tour, about to sail for Europe,
and he gave his cousin the opportunity
to redeem the heirloom.
My wife wears the pearl cross when
ever she is in gala dress, and I never see
it upon her fair throat but my heart
swells in loving gratitude to the faithful
m who sacrificed it, the dearest
treasure she owned, for me, to restore to
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