Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-02-17

wore silks that could stand alone and
sable cloaks reaching to her heels, who
ate off French china every day, and had
never known what it was to suffer from
hunger, cold, or fatigue, who had never
had sorrow or lover-even she might
have envied poor Miss Bertha those hal
cyon days when Angus Aiken loved her,
when they walked together in the moonlit
gardens in their English home, and sat
beside the fountains, and listened to the
silvery monotone, like some sad and gen
tie voice complaining. No doubt Miss
johnson would have bartered all her dry
goods and imported fnery for an expert
ence as rich as this Of her elderly seam
stress, about whom no romance seemed
to linger. To be sure, every body in
Great Harrington knew that after the Wis
itation of the smallpox Parson Chapel
had invited Miss Bertha to share his tenn
poral blessings, which consisted Of small
salary and four mischievous boys with
torn jackets and dirty faces.
ssThe parson wanted {; housekeeper,"
the neighbors agreed. "Of course a man
of his age don't fall in love like bow
with an old maid too Seems as though
she must have thought he'd ask again
with a house all carpeted from garnet to
celler, and the gentry in his gates, so to
speak, I wonder what Miss Bertha ex-
pects-at her time of life too--when Of
fers of marriage aren't as plenty as Wrink-
/ les.''
But Miss Bertha expected nothing.
There was that in her history which she
would not exchange for the kingdoms Of
the earth aud the glory thereof; the dust
of twenty years had in no wise furnished
the brightness Of it. She had her ami
versaries whcih no one reckoned but her
self: delicious anniversaries of half guess
ed happiness; days full Of sunshine and
the music of the spheres; dark and cruel
days, when the clouds that threatened
showed no silver Innings. On such a
morning, so many years ago, Angus and
she had gone out to gather spring flowers,
and the wood had been full of spicy odors,
and the pale bloodroot was waiting for
them, its petals all on tiptoe; at such an
other date they listened to the nightin-
gales fluting, while the stars stole cut as
if to listen with them, and the new moon
hung golden bow low in the heavens,
and she had asked" Do you never wish
| by the moon, Angus?' "Never,o he had
answered; "but shall tonight; shall
| wish that you may love me forever and
ever"
And then he had kissed her, and ssthe
nightingale kept fluting.' There was
that day in June which should have been
there wedding day and the time when
he kissed her last, under the golden la
burnum- tree; and then that dreadful
morning when her father came home,
black as thunder-cloud, and swore she
should never marry the son OF man who
had robbed him of the invention into
the perfection Of which he had put all
his money, his hopes, and his energies
for years. Bertha had refused to re-
nounce her lover on account of his fathers
wrong; there had followed scene; then
her father had seemed to soften, and had
travelled to London with her to talk the
matter over with lawyer. She mad
been glad enough to go, for was not An
gus somewhere in the great throng of
London at his work? would she not be
sure to meet him? But the day after
they reached the big noisy city her father
had taken her out and on board a ship,
sightseeing; and suddenly, while she
looked and listened and wondered and
talked with the captain-who was in the
secret-suddenly the shore, the masts, the
steeples, began to recede, and they were
standing out to sea, bound for America.
Oh, what long and hateful voyage it
was how she longed for the sight of
Angus. to say just one parting word, to
tell him it was no fault Of hers, and she
should love him forever and ever! What
terrible days they were which carried
her farther and farther from England
The fine weather seemed wasted without
Angus. When storms bore down upon
them she only shivered at the thought of
dying apart from him. But as they neared
the New World, her father, weakened by
long and useless struggle with fortune,
and broken utterly by this ''unkindest
cut, gave up the contest and lay down
to die.
Promise me, Bertha" he begged
"promsie that you will never write to
that mans son, that you will hide your.
self from him. Promise, child, and l
shall die easy, willingly. Can you refuse
CIlAo last 1CHuCSi! f1uu dLuluSl gr1cl anu
distraction, poor Bertha promised. And
she had kept her promise for twenty years
and better. Never one word for Angus
had crossed the water to tell him whether
she lived or died, though longing
thoughts and wishes went out of him on
every wind that blew, though night after
nigt her pillow was wet with bitter tears,
though he had never been out Of her mind,
waking or sleeping. AT fest she had
comforted herself, with the belief that he
would find her out himself; but, as time
passed, this hope faded and died, and
was given decent burial How should
he know that she had proved true, that
she had loved him on and on? Whv
should he not suppose that she had left
him of her own choice, because she
had scorned the son of his father! No
doubht he had taught himself to unlove
her; had almost forgotten the old fond
ness, the old hurt; had married some
good woman, and was happy by his own
tireside with his children. She hoped he
was happy; as fol that good woman, she
did nor care to think of her overmuch.
But daily she pictured him in the midst
of his family pictured him young and
handsome, with the color in his smooth