Frostburg mining journal., 1883-12-01

/
We wandered together s.over the house
and grounds, and walked with Mrs.
Murray to the rectory, where she al
ways spent the first days of Georges
absence. When we returned, went
with Lydia to her brother'sroo to put
away the many pretty things she had
arranged to welcome him when he
came home.
He has not stayed so long for years, y
said Lydia, as she disconsolately col.
lected the pipes that had been scattered
on q side table. Il can't think what
sent him away again so suddenly, poor
fellow"
l did not speak; I dare not tell her
Mrs. Johns remarks then. So
sat, idly looking from the win.
dow, and Lydia busted herself with
the dressing table. There were some
papers there, left all together just as
they had been sorted out to take Mr..
George must have gone off in a hurry
at last, and SO have forgotten them.
Lydia looked through them listlessly,
saying, Perhaps / must send them
on? Suddenly her hand stopped
turning the crisp leaves, and an ex-
clamation burst from her lips. l rose
and looked over her shoulder. In her
hand she held a small, square paper.
that might once have been leaf in n
sketch book. On it girls head had
been roughly drawn in pencil. The
hair waved off the temples, the eyes
looked up anxiously, pleadingly. The
lips were silently apart. Round the
throat little ribbon was tied, and on
the ribbon hung small locket Be.
neath the drawing the letters d. @. were
written, and these two words, "kyrie
Eleison." 1t was not an artists
sketch; it was the drawing of a
hand that loved. Lydia held up
the sketch and placed her finger
on the looking glass before u.s. The
reflection was reproduced in the sketch.
turned away, for it was my own re-
Election that / saw, and | was sorry to
have stumbled on another of his secrets
But my heart bounded, and new life
seemed to come to my soul. Lydia
put her arm around me and kissed me.
My dear, red rose; mind full.
rich crimson rose, from the second
standard in the large conservatory, and
your long white dress"
1t was Lydia that spoke; she had
come to bid me goodbye for the after
noon. She was called from home, she
said. l must excuse her and try to
amuse myself. A bright bloom was on
her cheek, and she looked quite young
again, though she was dressed soberly
in black with only a violet ribbon to
relieve it. Those delicious hours of
solitude, if solitude it could be called |!
No, no; it was life! new life! happi-
ness too great to realize; luxurious; a
holy future, in a sweet uncertainty and
shadowy brightness. One figure, one face,
in q thousand reflections, precluded the
idea of solitude. | was companioned
by the future. The evening came, so
quickly. | must dress for Lydia's re.
turn; the rose was plucked. | was
fastening it IN my hair when she came
softly to my room. She had been cry.
ing, though evidently she tried to com
pose herself.
MY DEAR" she said, drawing me
down to the sofa at her side, 'do you
think we are responsible for the evils
we unconsciously bring on others?'
Certainly not, !" said |, my mind go
ing to George and his mistake.
She leant her head upon my shoul.
der, and tear dropped on my hand, as
she whispered;
Il have done you real wrong.
have been Judas to you, and betrayed
YOU by kiss!"
did not know myself or my weak
ness; actually was i'll. Mrs. Murray
and Mrs. John thought | had taken
cold. Lydia knew differently. She
kept my secret and nursed me kindly
When | was recovering she told me it
was Miss Chester's portrait had seen
ID. G. was not Dora Christensen, but
Delicia Chester. 1t was my resem-
blance to Miss Chester that had
brought me so much notice from Mr.
Murray. | hated myself for the mis-
take, and my hatred only increased the
evil For weeks / lay i'll at the Mead
ows.
Lydia would blame herself for show
ing me the portrait. But we both felt
that there is mystery in sequence-a
circumstance would follow circumstance.
One link cannot be severed in the chain
of fate. And the weary days Of illness
and conyalescence passed on; and after
n time my mother took me across the
channel to Dieppe. We were en- route
for Geneva, but / was weak, and we
waited at Dieppe for few days to rest
We used to watch the steamers como in
1t was the autumn, and there were not
great many passengers. As the boat
nearod the shore the day before we in
tended TO leave, | recognized pain OF
dark eyes looking up at me Mr. George
Murray was on board. tainted
When | recovered Lydia was bending
over me. and though, we were inan open
carriage, in the public road. she kissed
NE as she said
"Silly grill"
We did not leave Dieppe chat day.
In the evening Lydia and / walked out
together, TO havea chat, she said, about
old times; but that seemed scarcely her
intention, for when we were alone to-
gether she was unusually silent. We
were on tho pier, sat down to rest, and
Lydia, with some unintelligible excuse,
left me / leaned against the parapet,
watching boat come in. The tide was
dead ahead the wind only cross wind,
so the task of bringing her in was not
an easy one. Ii was only fishing-boat;
four mon were in it; each had an oar;
still, as they passed the erucifx at
either side, each raised his hat and
signed the cross upon his breast, and
seemed to breathe prayer.
ttIln thnu lnan on. crnit, lu thnf nnt 2n