Kimball enterprise. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1883, 1883-07-20
think Of happiness, bought cnly at the
price Of desertion of these little ones;
think of that and call me -cowardly!'

think ofthat and call me -cowardly!''
"Erica!'
A sudden brimming Of brilliant eyes,
the swirl OF crimson wrapper, futter
! Of white hands, and Bertha was on her
knees with her arms around her sister.
You did this for us-for me! For
| give me-forgive me! Oh, I didn't mean
it, Erica, didn't, indeedp'
| A canary swinging in his gilded cage
| burst forth into great bravura.
! Erica rose suddenly.
How shrilly that bird SINGS" she ex-
claimed. "lt is deafening." .
Y She went out of the room and Bertha
sat quite still where she had left her.
Her head lay within the hollow. of her
arm, which rested on the elbow of the
racker. Louder and more piercing
came the song from the bird cage,
Stop, Dick!" she cried, irritably.
She caught the late September rose
from her bosom and flung it at him. and
laughed at herself for being so foolish
all in one breath.
Robert Sutherland came up that eve-
ming. He was man of twenty.fi five or
thereabouts, with a smooth, clean. shaw
en- face, absolutely colorless. His nose
and chin were OF type long and pro-
nounced, his eyes were light blue, his
nalr i1Rnt yellow.
The Braithwoods were all gathered
together in the parlor when he entered.
Rick lay full length on the sofa, deep in
the perusal of a seductive Freuch novel.
Dot and Dora drummed duet on the
asthmatic piano in distant corner, the
younger children clustered around the
story-teller of the family, who Just then
was RECALLING them with thorough de-
scription Of o fight with "Injuns.''
"Come in Bobp' cordially invited Rich,
who, had he ever had the honor of a
presentation to the late prince consul,
would have called him sAl" Gu their
second encounter.
Erica, busy with the homely task of
patching Willie,s coat, looked up with a
swift compression of her lips and held
him out her hand. Bertha rose hall
eagerly, shyly from her chair and came
little forward to meet her lover. She
was looking yerv graceful and slender,
and stately in her picturesque dress oi
dull Venetian red, with the quain,
broech oftawny gold at her throat.
"Sit down. Hsve a cigar-the girls
don't mind ;" murmured Rich in penial
abstraction, his thought still with Celes.
tine.
They were not ceremonIous q; the
Braithwood's. The twins paused mo.
meDt to stare at the newcomer, and then
resumed their interrupted performance
with an energy which threatened to
shake every petal form the "Last Rose
of Summer" The sensational narrator
adown the room suspended his recital
in the middle Of startling sentence,
And the toma-," waiting long enough
to run the curiosity of his listeners up to
fever-heat before he concluded, "hawk
ielll'
Thanks, mol Sutherland replied. '.I
don't smoke. Let me move that lamp
for you, Miss Braithwood 80. Well
excuse you" with nod to Rich; 'sgo on
witk your book. am going to talk to
Bertha"
Thus liberated from the conversational
thralldom, Rick went back to Celestine.
Erica sewed on with brown, bent head !;
under its merciless manipulation the pi-
ano groaned agonizing crescendi and
sobbed gasping fortissimi. Once or
twice Erica lifted her eyes and looked
across the room to where Robert Suth-
erland leant above her sisters chair.
He always talkingin his slow, absorbed,
nervous fashion; she listening, her face
luminous.
what does she see in him?" she
asked herself desperately, and fell to
plying her needle more rapidly than
before, as though to stitch out an an
swer to her question.
That will do, Dot. Good night,
Dorap she said at last to the relentless
musicians. They ceased Immediately.
And on sudden silence came distinctly
from the distant corner the blood-curdl-
ing words s'and Tiger Tommy, pulling
out his revolver, exclaimed"
There was quick, spontaneous shout
Of laughter from the elder people, break
ing the thin veneer of ice which had
coated their intercourse.
Tiger Tommy, go to bed!" chimed in
Bertha gayly. Looking rather shame
faced, the Youngsters scrambled up.
Robert Sutherland rose too.
"Whatl going, Bob2 Where is the hur-
ry? Oh, hang it, you don't, you know!"
expostulated Rick, dropping Celestine
carpet.
"Oh, I must! didn't tell you Bertha,
did /, that / have to leave town to-
nieht?"
The girls dark, velvety eyes dilated.
"No," she said slowly, "you did not tell
me-"
He looked up at her with smile.
SIT was such hard luck for me, my
darling, such difficult news for me to tell
naturally deferred its mention as long
as possible. received telegram to-
day containing information of the death
of my uncle ia Paris. An uncle only by
| marriage, a native born Partisan, he. I
must 60 over to protect my cousins in
her itance from the devastating grasp of
those rapacious Gallo lawyers. OF what
duration my absence will be can form
no conjecture, however faint. This only
/ know. However brief. brisk work and
loving homewa-d thoughts can make it,
it shall be because of-Bertha. g
A hot rosy tide came flooding Bertha's
sale cheek. But closer around Erica 8
heart cold fingers clutched in pre-
monition OF pain.
After that the days went by very mon
otonousiy, wholly eventfully, at the
Braithwoods.
Rich smoked, and frolicked, and
laughed, kindly presence in the house
as usual; Erica ordered the dinner, and
patched the boys clothes, and took
more than her share of the domestic
difficulties on her own shoulders unob-
trusively as ever. Bertha lived only
for the mails from France.
One day in particular, day without a
laugh or q sob, smile or frown, very
nonentity Of day, she listened, listened
all afternoon for the postman's irlpera-
tive ring. It came at last. She fed to
i kho door What a 6roarv Ioeoloto