The daily gazette., 1880-02-07

bad already concluded that sshezWas er
gagged, and said In. conelnsion: (.
81 r"AlthouehJ am not, fcrtunsteqenoug
N TO be able 70 Claim q ccnsinshlp,I shoul
4 be much pleased 70 replace your rim
! with wish" '''''''' 'es'''''7'Vs "
Silently she extended her hand, and
taking it, I was about TO ship therihg up
on her finger, when o slight rustl,
4 caused me 10 raise my eyes, add there
4 inthe doorway tiixt connected thsH par
lor with the llibEsrye stood Annie Shei-
i don, looking at. us With \ mingled ex
preston Of grief, contempt and astonish
m snt. ~ H' ~ -''I'."'"I -
1.-The next instant she turned, and, with
l slgesture Of infinite scprnI swept away,
fsrnd directly heard the hall door Close
This was an event had not sniici-
p tied. rin
l knew that as Annie had seen me in
the very act ofspIscing ring on her
supposed rivals finger, she would at
once infer, and naturally enough, too,
that IL was the seal of our engagernent.
This knowledge made me very un-
easy. 80 III 100 gii
Itried various nexcuses TO free my
self from my companion, n,and finally s.ic-
ceeded. 'n - ~ 1ta,
il hurried through the cool hall and
entered the fragrant little GARDEN
| IglaDced hastily around, but could
see no trace OF Annie; and then sudden
ly l remembered fagcrite haunt of hers,
rustic bench at the foot of a sturdy oak
from which the ground sloped gradually
to the rivers bank below, and from
which, glancing to, the, east, one COM
manded q superb view, +, e,..,o .ind
+ So 1 plunged IN among the trees, and
hastened, along the. shady weed dpath,
gfancing to the right and LEFT as l. went,
In hopes Of catching . glimpse Other dut7
tering white robes.
But / saw nothing Of her. until
came in sight Of her favorite resort,
and there, as ] surmised, she sat but
her face was buried in her hands while
her whole attitude betokened the deep
est grief. =,
I crept softly to her side, and then,
by her low, suppressed sobs, / knew
that she was weeping; and, ah how
! ereproached myself then & for my
Tenderly threw my arms around
her, and said, as quietly as my excite
ment would allow me: 80 .it
"What is the matter, Annie, my
darling9 Will you, not let me com
fort you ?" " IL,
She started at my voice, but did not
raise her head, and continued. ,e
Wont you tell me, Annie? Won't
you give me the. right to share your
grief~ I cried, passianately. sa
Thrustingl me from herr she, started
to her feet, and, drawing herself to her
full hight exclaimed angrly, although
the bright tears yet sparkled in her
eyes: in flt slHtU "aLtts
: 1sit that you wish to- insult me,
Paul Hammond,l that you, the ,acce pt-
ed loyer of another, speak suehwords
/, to me Orhave you followed me only
to reproach me for being, a listener to
your loye-making ! If theilatter, I can
assure you it. was entirely uninten-
tional, and her lips curleds 4
''Far from it, 1 cried hastily.
II am here to tell you that I love,
adore you, and to ask you to give me
this precious little hand, to be my own
.foreverp" h n'n us III
h And l pressed it to my lips.
But she snatched ii away, laughing
scornfully, and, I thought,I esther
Historically, as she replied = AAL.i
81 am not one to be satisfied with
second love, Mr.. Hammond. l must
be first, or nothing; but, even were l
content to take a secondary place,
what would Miss Benson think Of nv
acceptance of her recreant lover ?"
t'Miss Benson She is nothing to me
and never will be, and, more than that,
she is already engaged; my darling, it
is you l love, and you only 1 will
we'd"
Still she hesitated, and said, doubt.
''But what did you mean by giving
her a ring? For you did, saw you"
But | laughed gayly, and, boldly
drawing her yielding form to my side,
replied II
CAN that ! can, explain to your en-
tire satisfaction, fair lady mine, if you
will say, just once, Il love you,l Paul.
and will marry you.'" sla. ~ i
n And prisoned her face between my
hands. .Ial 1ot
She struggled an instant, and then,
finding resistance useless, pouted:
"Well, then, i love you, torment, and
so / suppose shall marry you. some
day; and now tell me about that ring;
but remember, sir if your explanation
is not satisfactory, withdraw my con-
sent" ,a ..4 q. III
So acknowledged my deceit /; and, |
that | finally convinced her of my feAl- |
ty to herself no one would doubt who
could see us. at this moment, in ourl
own happy home. IRE
While i write, she leans. over my
shoulder, and laughingly says that |
she is pleased to see that, at last, l |
am willing to confess what a deceitful
creature was, although she trusts
that, under her careful ulteaching, j have
since improved vastly in that respect"
And think so, too, for, in our cheer i
full, cozy little home,i have now no
reason to wish to ''eure q coquette with
her own weapon.p 10 tibomosb ..Y II
Kindness, IL nothing stronger, should 4