Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1880-01-27

the words which seem forced upon us,
and for which my soul yearns ~
Could he Withstand their pleading?
flour years ! It will not be very
long and you will come back to me-"
Had some one spoken those words, or
was it only memory?
His face was CHASTITY as he rose to his
feet and offered his companion his arm.
II forget I am monopolizing the belle
of the evening"" he said, lightly, though
in his own ear his voice sounded harsh
and changed.
One moment she faltered then, wrap
ping herself in the mantle of her pride,
she swept into the light and radiance of
the ball room, her gloved hand just rest
ing on his sleeve, smile upon her lips,
and only shade, perhaps, of pallor on
her beautiful cheek.
Back to college and to work. It was
this alone, thought John Arnold, which
would save his brain from madness.
Through the long vacation he plodded
on. He wrote his uncle:
"Next year is my last. To do you
justice, you must let me stay here and
work
"If I should see her, should betray
myself and honor" he added to him
self.
Then a sudden idea possessed him.
He would cut short the time of their
probation and see Mary. Her letters
seemed changed. Perhaps she was not
happy.
ance must return, and he would forget
this unnatural dream which now app
peared to have enveloped his life. He
Io1 oof fhnr1nht II dicci vofod n
that first glad moment of greeting, he
held Mary in his arms, and saw the rose.
| flush deepen on her cheek to vivid scar
let.
She had drawn herself away, as
though in sudden shyness of the elegant
stranger, SO unlike the lad who had bid
den her farewell three long years agone.
She glanced down, too, at her cotton
dress, so simply made, then at the tex
ture of his sty lish outfit. But these were
| mere externals-these she could con
uuer. What else was there yawning be-
tween them, black and bitter gulf?
She did not know, she would not
think she put the truth resolutely away
| from her, and he, holding fast to his
honor, helped her all he could, until,
one day, she missed him, and strolling
into the wood in search of him, found
him at last, PROSTATE on the ground, his
frame convulsed by sobs, letter crush.
ed in his hand.
He did not seem to know she slipped
it from his cold fingers, and read it
through-aye. to the very end. The let
ter ran thus:
"Vera is ill, my boy, go ill that we have
shaved off the beautiful hair, you re-
remember, close to her head so ill that
she knows no one but her one piteous
cry from morning until nights for you.
The physicians think your presence
might quiet her, and If this thing con-
tinues she must die. For Gods sake
lose no time! 1t cannot be but that you
love her. Let no fear of lack of fortune
come between you. All that have is
yours and hers"
The letter had fallen to the ground
now, and the girls voice, though very
low, had in it no tremble, though hel
fingers were so tightly interlocked that
she wondered dimly, if she could release
them even from their own interclasp.
"John, you are losing time" she said.
"The train leaves at six"
What commonplace words! Did they
tell the story of a breaking heart?
II cannot goW he groaned.
"What you would not let her die p
Think what the world will be without
her, for you love her, John All, do moi
start! II had meant to tell you any
how, that as we had grown older, We
of course-had-cha that
thought it better to 60 back to the old
footing, when you called me your little
sister. and to give up the foolish talk
that followed it. We thought we loved
each other then, in different way bu,
you see''-how involuntarily the swee1
voice faltered, as her strength almost
failed!-"it was all mistake, and-and
it only required little courage for one
of US frankly to state the truth"
"You mean it, Mary ?" he cried, see
ing heaven suddenly open its gates be
fore him. springing to his feet and grasp
ing her hands.
All, the agony of that moment, wher
his clear eyes searched her face! How
could they be clear, blinded with tear
for love of another woman? But he
woman's soul upheld her, and in hi
, blindness he saw nothing.
} Three weeks later and the physicians
said his coming had saved Vera Mel
ville's life. She was strong enough tt
hear all the story now-of his love ano
; of his bitter fight with self-to learr
why he had kept silent on that night in
the conservatory, and, though she bu
loves him the more dearly for holding
honor dearer than herself, pang steali
into her heart for the woman she ha,
never seen, who yet sent him to her
and she wonders even, In her own over
flowing content, whether for one sac
heart the words its lips uttered were no
DER true, and that it had been-"All ,
[ Mistaken