Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-01-18
the beantiful sea Tbe,e, too. n, dear

tIlc DcHutlIul STD 1uGXt, lOU, IIlS uCttI
ones slept, and TO other land, be it
ever so rich or fair! could be to him
what this bleak New England coast was.
There was little said about the pro-
posed change before Ralph or Viola,
but Ralph knew that It was being seri-.
ouslyieensidered by his father, and he
they should go, for he was sure his
and the incest girl in the world ,sand he
guessed she'knew great deal by the
way she wrote; and she was SO anxious
s.'I don't want to go; and do1' want
to see her, and l. don't like her!" broke
in. Viola, impetuously.H ~ Oh GoE
"WelL what now. Wildfire?" he
asked, opening wide, his eyes in sur
prise. 8. Mother says Blanche. Will be
an accomplished lady by and by, and
she is rich, and pretty, and 1'should like
to know why you should say such spite
full things of her when you never saw
her." he said, in an injured tone, locking
down very seyerely9at the little flushed
face and quivering lips npHu - nj
'' don't never want to see her, and
I'm going back to Madame! I'm not
rich, nor nice, nor beautiful; and dom t
know a great deal either, and you Won
| love me any at all when. you see her,"
and thespassioll;ste voice grew suddenly
tremulous, and the little. bosom rose and
fell with dry, suppressed sobs: ar
go, that's it, is it 2''l he laughed. a
little pleased glow flashing into the boy
| ish face. 1t was rather nice to have two
| girls like him! But with true masculine
tact, he saw that it would meyer do, to
| let her know that he thought SO. So,
with a nonchalance that, would have
done credit to much older head, he
exclaimed: = ,,-.i}it ,>~asbhA
Nonsense! why she's my cousin.
and q fellow is expected to think a good
deal of his cousin, especially if she is
nice and pretty. like Blanche But L
shall love you all the same for that, lit
tie Wildire. / don't believe she is any
prettier than you; and anyway Itshall
| love you best" ----
80 Always.l Ralph-always,aso long as
| YOU live9' she cried. eagerly, looking
| up into his face with shining eyes. I
.. Always. as long as live: he re-
pcated, smiling. ~ 2..'4
But she did not smile; the small face
was preternaturallv grave, and the great
black eyes had dreamy. far away look
! in them, as if some picture in the far-off
| future shone vaguely and dimly through
I the long vista of years---a picture shaded
and lined with some impalpable pain
| fixing and holding her gaze. Possibly
| the Angel of Futurity LETT for moment
the gate aiar, and the young eyes caught
! vision of the struggle and pain beyond.
! That night, after Ben Anderson had
] PRAYED as usual for all classes and con-
ditions Of men, that He would send His
! Spirit out after them, and snatch, as
many as possible from destruction and
/ eternal perdition," he added the follow
ing petition: T. 40
| I'VE ask. also, o Lord, that Thou
would st 90 with us and bless us in the
new, as Thou hast in the old, home.
Keep our hearts pure before Thee, and
let no worldly gain or desire usurp Thy
place. but let the Spirit which kept our
| fathers as they emerged from their
| homes 90 with us to the fair land of our
adoption, and keep us there, as it did
| them here.' ,
Then Ralph knew for the first time
that his father had decided to 60 The
next day it was very generally noised
about that ''Ben Anderson was going
to sell out and GO West" Everybody
talked about it, and some prophesied
he "would be back within year, if he
wasn't too poor to get back" and 9TH
ers again said that they wished they
were going, and applauded his resolu-
ton. Among the latter was Ned Brad
lee, who "always thought he should
like to see the big pastures they Dragged
so much Of" s- t,.s tt -..,.',..
"Why not go with us, Mr.. Bradlee?"
said Ralph. .sf4 ,
wall, now. Squire, you've just hit
think of it, for I'll be hanged if ever
| should.'
81 wish you would go Bradlee,'' said
Anderson. earnestly. .v f..
"Yes, do, Ned; / should be so glad to
have you,'' Mrs. Anderson added,
warmly. ''5 81. "'z''' +
You would?. Lord! then I'll go. A
man O my gallantry could never stand
out against woman's wishes, no mat
ter what they asked" he said, with a
jolly laugh. ....-.-...
mot if they wished to marry your
asked Ralph. ~.
"Wall, perhaps not. Squire, if they
wrote me fine, wonderful letters on yal-
ler-edged paper" he said, with eomi-
cal gravity II think that would fetch
most any teller that had any feelin
about him. don you?" .c.,
Ralph colored to the temples with
shame and annoyance. Everybody who
has been young knows with what halo
of sacredness these 4" first" letters are
invested, and how it hurts and shocks
the young heart to have some rude hand
swoop down through the beautiful aure-
ole, and hold up to laughter and ridi-
cuIe the precious treasure. To this day
/ feel stir of Indignation whenever l
remember a certain afternoon, when,
coming home from school. l heard peal
after peal of ringing laughter issuing
from my bed-chamber, and upon COM
inc upon the scene discovered my two
"grown sisters, sitting on the floor
before an open bureau drawer-my
drawer, it was-one of them holding in
! her hand. and reading, between her
bursts OF .abominable merriment. a little
| note sonee6ody had written me, and over
which had had some of the most deli