Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-05-02

Il
CROPPED my way to the table, where
was sure / had heard Albert writing.
Nothing there! | felt about, till a
small piece of paper was found close
beside Etta's chair. She had trusted
to my blindness for its remaining un
discovered.
II | was half mad with jealous pain,
and | somehow got to Mr.. Raymond's
: study
evil you read that to me?" / asked.
/ Without answer, he read:
7, 81 must speak to you. Wait in the
summer house,
"Thank you," said.
"What is it - he asked
"The wrong note | will find the
other"
Il went away then, to the summer
house, softly as a thief, guarding my
footsteps on the frozen ground. They
were there, and l could hear Albert's
voice. As came near, heard Eta
-"Ah, Albert, VII love you all my
life for this
She was crying too. | could tell
that by her broken voice.
\ | turned away and went home. 1t
was cold day, and / was utterly
miserable. Aunt Hllda insisted upon
nursing me, and | submitted, brood
ing over my secrc pam, seeking no
sympathy.
1t was but natuE that Eta should
turn from the bli ] lover, who was
but disappointn ut, to the hand
some young man O. fortune who had
loved her so Ions / would try to
give her up, not anger, but ten
derby
i But | could not Albert returned
to Chicago, and every day Eta be-
came dearer to ne. 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. | had no courage
to tell her suspected her secret, and
only in my lonely hours did l dwell
upon the remembrance of Alfred's
visit.
| The long winter wore away, the
early spring was gone, and when
May blossoms We're bursting, Eta
came one morning To see me-"
"Do you remember Dir. Sander.
son?' she asked.
"Your Cousins frlend?'
Yes. He is great oculist"
My heart seemed to stand still.
she came from New York solely to
see you, and he warned us that we
must give you no exciting hope for
some months. Perfect tranquility, he
told us, was the great hope for the
recovery of your sight"
"Recovery of my sight," / cried.
"He thinks that possible p
| lie thinks it more than possible. IF
you improve in strength as you have
| done all winter, he was certain he
could successfully operate this
month"
l 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 be was the friend of any
patient. He had brought him to see
me, and then burdened my Eta with
his secret. instructions. Even Mr..
Raymond and Aunt Hilda were igno.
rant of this loving conspiracy.
1t Inundated me to think of the
part had taken, the unworthy con-
struction | had placed upon Etta's
outburst of gratitude. But she should
never know that / had doubted her
even for an hour.
"Teli me" / So z, "when this doc
tor will come again y
HE is here, wa ng to see you"
lie came soon after and there was
no reluctance then in my answers TO
his searching questions. He exam
ined my eyes CLOSELY, and gave me
promise of sight in less than two
months.
And he kept his word. After the
operation he gave strict directions for
bandaging aud confinement in dark
room, till, at the id of six long
weeks, he came az in, and let me see
once more the BILE, I'd daylight and
Etta's face.
From that hour / gained hope and
courage again, and when my eyes
were perfectly rest red returned to
New York. ! was expressly forbid.
den to resume my cd duties, but the
firm gave me position as salesman
and a good salary
1t was not until we had been mar
ried over year that Eta asked me
one day if could spare her seven
hundred dollars.
"Certainly," | replied.
Do you wonder what | want Of SO
much money!" she asked.
| did wonder, for we had no secrets
in our life, and my wife usually told
me where she spent her money.
81 will tell you," she said,"T want
to buy back my pearl cross"
"You sold that! p ! cried. 81 tho't
you valued that above all your pos
| sessions I"
"But not above your eyesight! DR..
Sanderson was paid $500 for the ope-
ration, not the $50 you supposed"
| "Etta I"
THAT was part OF our secret Al
bert would have given me the money,
but | would not let You owe your
sight to any one save me. So he took
my cross and sold it here in New
York. The man who bought 1t agreed
TO keep it time for me, and to-day
Albert told me he could get it again."
| shall always think that the cross
had never been out of Albert's pos
session, and he was too delicate to
give it again to Eta. But he was in
New York on wedding tour, about
to sail for Europe, and he gave his
cousin the opportunity to redeem the
heirloom.
| My wife wears the pearl cross
whenever she is in gala dress, and |
never see it upon her fair throat but
my heart swells in loving gratitude to
the faithful one who sacrificed it, the
dearest treasure she owned, to re.
store to me the great blessing of sight.