Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-06-03

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branches. But they could hear her all
too well-a viewless voice; it reused all
their little imaginations, and they scam
pered away as fast as their feet could
carry them. in their amazement and
fright, to tell of the mysterious sounds
they had heard.
.sNow 1 must de-" said poor little
Angel; and she fell back in her nest,
worn out with her frantic exertions.
ct suppose there is some purpose in it.
IF sparrows don't fall to the ground I'M
Needed" she said, ''God knows l am
here" And it would have been very
much to her surprise, if it had been
possible for her to know it, that here
She fell asleep.
The sun was still shining brightly
when she awoke; but SHE was unable to
tell whether she had lost herself for a
few minutes, or had slept over night
and it was now next day. She felt
SO faint, however, that she was
quite sure it was next day. And he
he T6srs s for @rs ms dys s Of she vs s1sS
young people," she said, "and I am
only Seventeen And then, in spite of
her effort at resignation, tears welled
over her eyes. to think of the light of
her sweet seventeen years 30 early ex-
tinguished. She put her hand into her
pocket for her handkerchief, to wipe
the tears away, before she remembered
that she had hung it out as signal of
distress; and she drew forth, instead, a
letter, one that Mr.. Wilston had slipped
into her hand the evening before, and
that she had crumpled up, hardly glanc-
ing at it, and had then taken with her
in the morning, thinking she would read
it in the wood.
What did he write her such letters for?
Why did he want to love her? Why
did he urge it again and again? She
was only child; she had just begun to
taste the sweetness of life. Why couldn't
he let her alone for little while, till she
had looked on her surroundings and
seen what the world was; had had a
little freedom and pleasure-at any rate
till she needed himP
Till she needed him! the next thought
came. All, Heaven! did she not need
him now? And a storm of tears an
swered for her go, if he did love me,
if he really did love me he would know
what am suffering; he would come and
help me and save me. 1t would break
his heart to see mer' she sobbed. 1t
would break mine to see him so.'' And
then all at once she paused in her cry
ing and exclaiming. and opened her
trimming brown eyes wide to the sun
shine. What! Would it really break
her heart to see Mr.. Wilston suffering
so? Would she care? Did she-could
She. o, if she never saw him again
at all! Was it possible that, after all,
she really, really Was it possible
that she-she loved Mr.. Wilston?
And if he never knew!-if he never
knew! How good he had been to her!
how patient with her! what noble fell
low he was! how tenderly, how passion
ately his eyes had followed her! If he
was ugly-well, she had never thought
so. Now that she should not see his
face again it seemed beautiful to her.
It was the first face she should look for
when they both woke at last in the life
beyond this. And what forward and
perverse child she had been! What had
he ever seen in her to love? But he did
he did love her. And she Rugged her
little hands over her heart, suddenly con-
scious that the fact was precious.
Well, if she must die, she must. But
here was a mercy in the act of death.
1t had been given her to love. 1t seemed
as if the Angel of Death had touched
her heart with the living fire. This
great joy, this great rapture, had buoy
ed her heart over the abyss. There
was first moment for everything, and
the first moment of her awakening
love, of her recognition of her love,
had been like a winged spirit soaring
over death, the seraph springing from
the grave. ''My love is my SOUL she
cried, and my dying sets it free"
And now if he never knew! But he
should know. Some day they would
find her, and the letter in her hand.
And she refolded that letter, took her
pencil-case and addressed it to Mr..
Wilston, and wrote with her trembling
fingers underneath: Il never knew l
loved you. You must forgive me.
But do-indeed do. 1 am going to
die presently. If 1 had lived, would
have tried to be good wife to you.
And she signed herself his Angel and
lay back in her nest half content.
She lay there little while, looking
up at the blue of the sky rising from
the red and purple of the rocks. with
the white flashes of wings across it, her
mind so made up to the inevitable that
she had hardly any fear; and she began
softly singing hymn to herself. eff
mans love is SO precious" she was
thinking, "what must Gods love bep"
In the midst of this tranquil moment,
however, she was reused by singular
vibration running through the stout
vine ropes OF her cradle, and quite an
other line of thought as instantaneous
ly suggested itself. She had been fully
prepared for this fainting, painless
passing away, high up in air, almost in
the blue sky itself; but falling on the
jagged rocks and boiling waterfall
that was horrible. and she felt her heart
shaking.
All, yes, certainly the vine ropes were
shaking too. Were they loosening?-
were they fallingP o, what was this?
And some great Tapping object was fly
ing over her with a scream--an eagle
started from its perch-and rope was
following it. a great moose, and then a
hand and arm had suddenly closed