The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-05-05

would go to the city where he lived.
| Her pride forbade her seeking him, but
maybe, if he were not dead, as she often
feared. she might one day meet him in
| the street, or at least hear some news of
| him.
The hope of meeting him-of hearing
him-vanished, when she found herself
in the great metropolis, and realized its
size and immensity.
| She had secured comfortable home
with good, motherly woman, but her
/ purse was growing scanty, and she could
not tell how long it might hold out, I'M
less she could find some means of sup
port, when one day, sauntering idly on
the street, glancing into shop-window,
she saw some fancy articles, painted by
hand.
| Gathering up her courage, she went in
and asked II there was sale for that sort
| of work, and if she might be allowed to
test her skill.
From that hour all dread of want van
ished. and. now that hands were busy.
she found less time to brood and think.
81 want fan painted" the man said
to her, one day. "You may make an
original design, but it must be very
beautiful"
Lena's heart had been very sad all day,
| as, at evening. she unfolded the satin.
and sat down, brush in hand, to fulfill
| this latest order.
'It is gift to an expectant bride,
| the shopkeeper had said; and the words
had recalled all the long waiting, the
weary disappointment, those words
might bring.
| And, as she thought, she sketched,
and the hours crept on and the evening
grew into night, and the night into
morning, and still she bent over her
work, silent, engrossed.
The next day, the gentleman who had
given the order for the fan sauntered into
| the store. With an air of pardonable
satisfaction, the man drew it from the
box.
"The young artist has outdone herself,
SIR" he said. 81 never saw a more
beautiful piece of work, and the design
is entirely her own. L"
| But he checked his sentence,
! The gentleman had taken the fan in
his hands, and was examining it with
startled eyes, and face from which every
trace of color had fed.
Could it be that the word Nemesis
was painted upon the satin? No, this
was all he saw. On one side was a
| woodland scene, while, seated on log
beneath the leafy branches of an old
oak, were two figures, one man, and
one q woman, His arm was about her
| waist. Her lips seemed to move, her
whole expression was full of love and
trust, and his of promise. A little laugh
ing stream ripppled at their feet. A
bird sang overhead. tg
Where had he seen Just such O scene
before? He turned the fan on the other
side. Summer had vanished. 1t was
winter here Naught but the fast-falling
snow drifting in white heaps upon the
earth.
''who painted this?" he asked, in
hoarse, changed tones.
The man gave the name and address.
How well he had known i'll but how
came Lena here? And what was this
which stirred through every fibre of his
being? Could it be that his manhood
might yet redeem him? ~
With swift steps he walked to the
house of his betrothed Stately and
beautiful, she came into the drawing
room to greet him, and bent her head
thst he might touch her forehead with
his, lips.
"Helen, do you love meY
She had known him for long years, but
! never had she heard such earnestness,
such real passion, in his tones.
It was as though his very soul hung on
her answer. Strange, she had never
dreampt his love for her was more than
friendship, such as she had felt for him.
A tinge OF color crept into her cheek.
II have promised to marry you, Earl.
You know that 1 am fond of you, and
I highly respect you. Will not this sat-
'No. Iwant all the truth. Is your
heart mine-al mine, SO that, to tear me
from it, would be to tear it as1nder?"
mo, Earl. If it were for your happi-
ness or mine, could give up my lover
and still hold my friend and cousin
He seized her hand and carried it to his
lips more fervently than he had done
even in the moment of his courtship.
Then, taking the fan from his pocket, he
unfolded it, and told her all the tale of
his summer romance. r.,tly
81 thought could forget her." he
said, in ending, "and that when the
snow fell and did not return to her, she
would cease to remember me; but see,
Helen! She still remembers, and I still
love. / do not know what brings her
here. / have heard nothing from. her
since last summer. But, tell me. cousin
mine, what must I do? leave it all to
you"
II said that would be your friend.
Now, / will be hers as well. Go to her,
Earl. Tell her all the truth. Then, If
she forgives you, make her your wife. If
she is alone in the world, as perhaps she
may be, bring her to me- She shall be
married from my house, as my sister.
accept this fan, not rs a lovers gift, but
pledge to the truer, more honest bond
II which henceforth binds u.s." 5
Lena was exhausted after her sleep
less night, and, throwing herself on the
lounge In the sittiug-room of her kind
hostess, she had fallen into a dreamless
slumber.
| Long Earl Lysle stood and watched
her, until the magnetism of his glance
aroused her. She thought that she was
dreaming of the fan; but as he stopped
and took her in his arms, she knew that
it was reality
She listened silently while he told her
al-even his struggle for forgetfnlness,
and his ignorance of his own heart and
Its demands. She heard that she had
sent the paper with the news of her
fathers death to the wrong address, that
he had known nothing of the long,
lonely winter to which had succeeded
this wonderful, glorious summertime of
hope.
Poor child! She had no room for
pride in the heart SO filed by his image.
She forgot that there was sore need for
forgiveness.
He loved her now! Of that she was
assured; and after all, the snow had only
lain upon the ground to warm the earth,
and foster the rich, sweet violets, which
now bloomed and clustered at her feet,
ready for her to stoop and pluck them.
Perhaps some women, in their pride,
would have rejected them. She conId