Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1879-10-16

cradle lust forty eight hours. 1t seemed
to me that had never been happy. l
had lost my youth; / was old; l had
come into the shadow. There was an
other yourg girl" she said, after mo-
meDt's pause, as if even the sorrows of
youth had their sweetness that it WIS
good now to remember, " that PauPs
grandfather had chosen for him to
marry. l may speak about it now, I
suppose; she long since ceased to care;
she was, she is, my dearest friend,
and Paul has always loved her
as a brother. She has had many
suffers since; with one of them she
plighted faith, so she has kept her
trust with death. But IL thought
that because l adored Paul, all the
world was at his feet; and when his
grandfather said this other was to be his
choice, with her great fortune at com.
mand, and / remembered that had only
this house and its belongings for my own
fortune, why, then / looked well after
my lover. Yes, he was my lover. had
felt sure of that, although he had never
said 30, never exactly said so in words;
but we do not always need words. And
now, all at once, all in twinkling, as if
the sun had gone out at noon, he was the
lover of another girl. And | could not
have believed or dreamed that the for
tune would have made any difference
with Paul, or the grandfather's wish, or
heavens thunder bolts even, before l
saw it for myself. / saw him go and
turn the music as she played upon the
harp, and bend over it with the color on
his cheek, and an angry fire in his eye
when the eye fell askance on me. l saw
him lift her from her saddle at her gate,
just down the street; and 90 in with her,
and stay till, an hour afterward, a groom
came and led the horse off. / saw him
lettering with her at the lane, but they
did not know saw, and | heard his mis-
cradle old grandfather come hobbling up
our steps, rubbing his hands, and talking
to my father of PauPs lucky hit. And
so knew that he had forsaken meme,
the child that had worshipped him from
the cradle. And / meant to die rs soon
as ] could; but in the meantime, if it
killed me it itself to hide it, they should
never know | cared. Yet | was not
angry; in some way, some strange
way, it was Paul who was angry,
who would not speak to me, would
not glance at me, would not come
near me, said sharp and bitter,
almost insolent, things in my presence,
and seeming to try to hurt me all he
could. 1t was not, in his manner, as if
he had found some one still dearer to
him than /, but as if he hated me,
thought, for just existing now. All,
well, it broke my heart! And l gather
ed those roses that morning remem-
bered that we had been going to make
grandmamma's pot.pourri together.
But l gathered them with my back
turned to that garden across that high
box hedge, and the dew on those roses
was salt. John, the old house-servant
Che has been gone this many Year,,
came Juggling out the big Chelsea jar
the same jar, Rosamond. 1T has never
had nick. l wonder if you can say as
much for it after half century! John |
left it, with the spice boxes and dish
of salt, on the marble step, to be handy |
for me, and l began to shred the roses
into it. And as | scattered the velvet |
petals, it swept over me in surge that
just so the days of my life had gone,
and too was withered flower; and as
| knelt before the jar, all at once my
arms fell across it, and my head fell
between them, and l WAS crying such a
storm of sobs that wonder no one heard |
me. But some one did near. Directly |
q shadow fell between me and the sun
shine, and voise made my heart stand
still, and my sobs cease.
"What does it meanW cried Paul |
demand to know. / will have no
more of this. Wha. are you unhappy
about? Because you abused me, because |
you have outraged all my feelings, be-
cause you have refused to answer my
letter.
What-what letter. l stammered,
throwing back my head with the tears
streaming over my face.
"'What letter. he cried. Are you
playing with me still? Have you re-
ceived no letter from memo letter that !
| gave JohuY Do you pretend to say
"' pretend to say nothing l re
turned, in storm of irrepressible tears,
springing to my feet and starting to run |
away and hide my face away out of sight,
and pray that every fresh food of tears
might drown my very being Ipretend |
to say nothing but that you have broken
my hearth
"But he hso caught me, and he held |
me by the arm, and would not let me
hide my face.
go have broken your hearth he said,
in such grave and tender voice. Il
49, II