The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-06-03
ONLY ONE FAULT.

You may see 1t IN Greenwood GENE
terry. A splendid tombstone with b
woman's name upon it.. Not Ruth Holly
though that is the name under which
you shall know her-but a prouder
name, and one you may have heard.
Flowers grow about her tomb, and the
turf lies softly over it. You, would
scarcely guess her life and its sad end
as you stood there Rather would you
fancy that love and tenderness sur.
rounded one over whom such piles of
sculptured marble rears itself from her
birth unto her death.
1t is story such as / seldom write
this life of hers-one that can not be
ended by happy reunions and the sweet
sound of marriage bells; but there are
too many such stories in the world to
be quietly passed over, haply there be
any warning in them. The lives of others
are, If we read them rightly, the best
sermons ever preached, and this of Ruth
Holly's is only too true. Yet it began
very sweetly, like some old pastoral
poem She loved and was beloved again,
and the man she loved had only one
fault. He was young, he was brave, he
was witty, he was handsome, he was
generous; his love was devotion, his
friendship no lukewarm thing of words;
he had great talent and great power.
His eloquence had thrilled many an au-
dience worth the thrilling. What he
wrote touched thesoul to the very quick.
He was an amateur painter and musician
and everywhere was loved and honored
and admired. He had only one fault III
the world-he drank too much wine at
times. When he did so he turned, so
said convivial friends, into very demi-
god. 1t was wrong, but not so bad as
might have been, and he would SOW his
wild oats some day. they said, loving
him as his friends all loved him; and SO
Ruth thought Sweet, loving, beautiful
Ruth, to whom he had plighted his troth
and wooed in verse and song and with
his most eloquent eyes long before he
put his passion into words; but so did
not think Ruth Holly's father. This
one fault of Edward Holly's over
shadowed his virtue in his eyes, and
he refused him his daughters hand,
giving him the reason why plainly and
not kindly. fiafeS sii' y
you'll be q drunkard yet, Ned
Holly said the old man, shaking his
head, earnestly. ''Pve seen men of
genius go the same road before. I've
often said I'd rather have no talent in
my family. since it seems to lead SO
surely to dissipation. My sons are not too
brilliant to be sober men, thank heaven,
and as for my daughter, only a sober
man shall have her for a wife; you'd
break her heart, Ned Holly"
So the dashing man of letters felt
himself insulted and retorted hotly, and
the two were enemies.
Ruth suffered bitterly. She loved her
father. and she loved Edward. To disobey
her parent, or to break her lovers heart,
seemed the only choice offered her. She
had other lovers, she had seen much
society, and had been introduced to the
highest circles in France as we'll as in
England, but amongst all the men she
had known none pleased her as Edward
Holly did. Not what one styles an in
tellectual woman herself, she reverenced
intellect, and her affections were in
tense. The struggle in her heart was
terrible.
She met with her lover by stealth,
against her fathers will, but for a long
while she resented his entreaties to
marry him in defiance of her fathers
refusal At last, angered by her per-
sistence. in obedisnce, Edward accused
her of fearing 10 share the fortunes OF
one comparatively poor-one who must
CttA fC ttto OWLl WY &If LIZ . -t.>ttl- 80
without assistance. The unmerited re-
proach sunk deeply into her warm heart,
and in sudden impulse Of tenderness
and sympathy she gave him the. promise
he had SO long sought in vain. They
were married that evening, and before
morning were upon their way to a far
off city, where Edward, .sanguine and
conscious of power, believed that he
should.1nake for himself name and
position of which any woman might be
proud. To her father Ruth wrote a
long letter, imploring his forgiveness,
but the answer crushed all hope within
her bosom s e.
..As you low SOW, so must you reap,
were the words her father wrote. II
have no longer daaghter, and Ruth
knew wthat.henceforth Qor she had been
motherless for years. she had in all the
world only the husband for whom SHE
had sacrificed fortune, and what is wortl
far more, the tender protection of 1
In those early days Edward did hi
best to make ameEds for all, and she
was 50 proud Of him and so fond of hin
that she soon forgot to grieve.
She heard his name uttered in prais'
by all. She knew that he had but {
keep steadily on, 70 mount.to the proud
est seat in fhme's high temple, and for I
year she Ind mo- fear of : his faltering
Now and then q feverish something Il
his voice aud manner. a strange light Il
his eyes, greater flow of eloquence II
his talk, a more passionate demonstra
tion of love for her than usual, told tina
be was under the influence of wine, bu
the fact only seemed toenhance his powe
of fascination. Never was he so brilliant
never SO handsome. Almost could Rutl
have laughed at the sermons preached
by the temperance folks Of the harm sur
to follow wine thinking.
II the story could end here, the tru
story of Ruth Holly's life, it would b