The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-11-25
MISS EULALIE'S ELM-TREE.

Ii was q magnificent work of nature
Miss Eulalie,S elm-tree so tall and grace
ful, Ovcrhanging the street with it,
green banner, lending a charming shade
70 her little parlor, which gave it the air
ot It dim, cool recess, in the woods on 9
,.mmer's day. Miss Eulalc loved it,
and, except tor her gay Young ward, ii
would seem as if she had little else &c
love. Her grandfather had planted it
il was 2 sort of heirloom. She had pas.
Scd her youth beneath It's boughs; hel
name was carved on its stem. She
never looked al the tree without think.
INC Of the one who had carved it there
Of the still, moonlight nights they had
spent together in its shadow. 1t gave
her both pain and plea,rc-pleasure
her once pain, that he loved her no Ion.
ger. She could not guess why he had
never returned to her; what had es.
trangcd him was still as great mystery tC
her as in those early days of her bereave'
ment, when sorrow and suspense had
been her daily companions, rising up
and sitting down with her. Perhaps
some fairer woman had enslaved him,
perhaps he had never really loved her
nj all, and she experienced a pang of
mortified pride when she reflected that
she had possibly been vain enough to
make the mistake, Year by wear she
watched the tender green of the elm
thicken into dark masses of leaves; year
by year she watched them fading and
falling, like her own hopes and illusions;
- tI hn,. aud oH. ~ |,
it was only Miss Eulalie's elm-tree by
permission. The home of her ancestors
had fallen into other hands; she had only
returned to it by a happy chance, not as
its owner. Mrs. Vaughn, the purchaser,
had a daughter to be educated. and Miss
Eulalie had taken the situation. When
Mrs. Vaughn died, she devised that Miss
Eulalie should make a home with Isabel;
be mother, sister, and teacher, all in
one, to that wayward young person, till
she should margin short, stand in the
gap. Miss Eulalie had been used to
standing in gaps all her life; this was
nothing new. And it was a home-her
old home where she had dreamed
dreams. When she walked at twilight
beneath the old elm its leaves seemed to
whisper, "Just here he kissed you first, p"
and Here you said good-by.' No
wonder she loved the old tree.
dangerous thing" said Captain Val
entine, tapping its trunk with his cane
as he walked by; " hollow-hearted as a
iilt, Miss Eulalie'
g You are mistaken" she reioined;
il is as sound as nut"
R,,{ 4 I
as if his word were law
9 Meier, while live. Captain Valen-
tine"
You forget that am a man of prop
erty; that | pay more taxes than any one
in Littleford; that | can buy ever tree in
the place, and cut it down if | choose"
Then it is only from pure good
nature that you beg my consent to cut
down this exquisite tree? Do you know
| have loved it from child; my grand
father planted it"
8 | know that Miss Isabel owns the
whole estate, and | know that this bone
OF contention, this tree, obstructs the
view from my windows, Miss Eulalie,
which is more to the point-that its
boughs leap into the air so high and
spread their branches so wide that it
blots out the view Of the sea, the open
sea- and he passed on up the long
green lawn to his new home, with its
marble steps and broad balconies, which
made its humble neighbor seem forlorn
and shabby. Miss Eulalc looked at the
imposing structure, at the parterres of
brilliant flowers, at the fountain tossing
ITS jets into the sunlight. the velvet ter
races and lawn, and smiled. Why had
Captain Valentine chosen TO build his
palace 50 near her homeP Why had he
built at all, at his time of life, with no
family to inherit, and no wife to do its
honors? How lonely he must be, she
thought, in the spacious mansion, with
nobody but the servants to speak with.
Why had he never married? In the hui
millty of her heart Miss Eulalie never
dreamed that it was because she would
not marry him. That had happened so
many years ago, before he and Arson
Andrews had sailed together in the Water
Witch. How angry he had been then!
now jealous of Arson! How bitterly he
mad sworn that the day should come when
She would give her hearts blood TO re-