The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-04-05
ALTERNATIVES.
A Love Story Prattily Told.


Arr there no underwriters for human
hopes? for the most precious of interests i
there no insurance.
| had been tempted all day, tempted
BY fate and the devil All summer Ions
| had been trying to clasp hands for +;
life Journey with'a man | did not love;
man noble of soul and born to the pur
Pile. who sal up high lineage against my
poor gifts of beauty and song. HI
threw some love into the scales, too
but [, God help me, had none to give il
return. [ had bartered erewhile my
whole possessions for a few chances of ;
dark, dark eve, and my note had gone
to protest.
Could I. could 1? 1t kept following
me about with fateful persistency, fol
| tried to look things in the face, tc
count the cost.
Money was a good thing; it insured
one warmth in winter and delicious
GOODNESS in summer, and prettiness and
daintiness. and the entrance into goOG
society. Yes, money was good thing,
and position and power, and houses and
lands. So far good; but my soul hun
cered and thir3ted for a love common
surate with nv own. which this man,
who offered me purple and gold, had il
not in his power to give, or, let me quail
fy that, had it not in his nature to give
The stars came out golden and soft
and the fragrant summer dusk crept
around me where | sat inhaling the
scent of the roses. Ambition ard love
tore my heart by turn, and WEAKNESS, too
put in a poor pitiful plea. for | was Sc
tired so tired.
1t was a brilliant future that Reginald
Dacre offered me, wherein toll anC
WEAKNESS could never come. | thought
of the purple and Inc linen; the luxuri-
Gus rest: the emuiumcnts! Then my
daily life passed. in review before fne-
that of companion to a naughty, fine
lady, and a singer in a fashionable
church. among fashionable saints and
sinners. began to Groom over the old
SATIRE:
In church which is garnished with mulion
With altar ana reredos, with gargoyle and
The penitents' dresses are seaIsI1iu and sable,
The oior of S.anctity's eau de cologne.
But surely If Lucifer living from Hales,
Could gaze ut this crowd, with its paners aud
paints,
He wtnd say, looking round al the lordS ana
the ladies,
o where is All Sinners it this is All Saints?
| had entered upon this life from an
unlOved and unlOving home, home
doled out 10 me by the tar'iy justice OF
n rranduncle who had robbed me of my
inheritance. | thought at first | might
find the sangreal somewhere i'll this new
country, which seemed 50 fair, but alas!
| bad not even heard the swish of wings.
| thought of it all the fever and the
fret: the petty jars; the nisunderstand-
'ngs; the pain of incomprehension; the
uneuerdoned toll; the tagging hours; the
awful pauses.
This or marriage; this or marriage
Ii seemed written like II placard on
earth and sky. 4 seemed bound like
phvlactery upon the brows of the peo-
pie as they passed to and fro; and soon
the word marriage lost all its sIgnlil-
canoe for me, rs words do after oft re-
peatinw Did it mean misery or happi-
ness, bliss or wo? This marriage that
rung its changes through my brain
was il God-appointed? Did it mean
Gods blessing or His curse?
You know | did not love this man
who offered me rest from my labors. He
had not power to evoke one thrill at his
call But then love is only one reason
why one should marry a man. There
might be love and plenty of money, and
yet one 90 hungry all ones life. | have
known such things.
| had tried to make my life straight
and fair. / had tried to keep clean
hands and n pure heart; tried-God,
who knows the secrets of all hearts,
knows this-to fight despair.
Long, green days,
Worn bare of grass and sunshine; long calm
u- hiob tho sIt-a,, s1eens xvere fratted ont
BE witness for me-
We see through shadows all our life
long. We come into this world without
our being given choice rs to our adj
vent. and go out of it in the same man
ner.
We have not been consulted as to
birth or death. More and more the
prayer of Epictetus haunts me. Lead
me, Zeus and Destiny, whithersoever I
am appointed to go; | will follow with
out wavering; even though turn cow
ard and shrink. shall have to follow
all the same.
Should | marry Mr.. Dacre? Was he
a rood partf? as the world said. Too
good for me, as my lady elegantly
it.
T had been born into the world amid
fierce throes of mental anguish.
Through the pain of her travail my
mothers heart was rent with the greater
pain of nv fathers sudden death
drowned off the Cornish coast, for was
born at sea. She lived until | was lO
years old, a life of sorrow. and poverty
and remuneration. Then she died, leav-
ing me to the care of a compassionate
world and my uncle. OF him have al
ready spoken
Nv life dragged ON with clogged
wheels. | was always at war with my