St. Landry democrat., 1883-09-08

Cranes stern old guardian to Captain
Carbonel; for she had neither father
nor mother, brother MOI sister. And
Humphrey Carbonel. tired perhaps of
q soldiers idle life, for all the world
seemed to have been at; peace for ages
and likely to remain so, got put upon
half-pay.
Sure never did couple begin life UNI
der more promising auspices! They
had pretty homestead of their own
it was Emma's, not his-amid Q small
colony of other pretty homesteads, and
they had between them handsome
competency, and there was pleasant So
ciety around; and life was as delightful
as a morning dream.
A child was born to them, but it
| died. That brought sorrow. No other
| child came, and time went on. And
here some lines that / met with in a Pc
riodical in youthful days occur to me.
l don't know whose they are. Ii |
knew then have forgotten:
"Alas, that early love should fly,
/ That friendships self should fade and die;
| And glad hearts pine with cankering fears,
| And starry eyes grow dim with tears!
/! For years are sad and withered things,
And sorrow fingers. and Joy has wings;
And falsehood steals into sunny bowers,
| And Times dull footstep treads on flowers
| And the waters of life flow deep and fast
| And they bear to the sorrowful grave at last. :
| Why should the lines be put in here9
! Because they Just express the altered
condition of things that fell upon
Humphrey and Emma Carbonel. They
grew estranged from one another. hard
| " knowing how, or why. He said she
no longer cared to please him, her hus-
band; she said he liked other wives bet
ter than her-that he gave them all his
attention and gave her none. And
again time went on.
/ Seven times had the May violets
/ opened their blue eyes in the messy
dells since that lovely day when he and
she had vowed to love and cherish each
other until death did them part; seven
times the May deW-drops had made the
green meadows all aglow with sparkles;
and seven times the sweet spring flow
ers had faded beneath the scorching
heat of summer. All, If yiolets had
been the only things that had died out
in those seven years!
It was May again now. But it brought
no cherished bridal flowers to Humphrey
Carbonel and his wife, no clasping OF
hands, no fulfillment OF loves glorious
prophecy. Enlargement had but deep
ened, and they were parting in pride and
anger. Tired with the state of affairs
at home the unbending GOODNESS, the
resentful tones, the cruel chickering's in
which both ndulged-Captain Carbonel
had got placed on full service again.
He was going out to be shot at, if fate
| SO willed; for we were at war now.
The day of departure dawned, and
| they parted with bitter words. Heaven
and their own hearts knew how much
or how little they suffered; there was
no outward sign of it. People, who
| had ceased to wonder at the suspected
estrangement between Captain and
/ Mrs. Carbonel, said to one another that
it was brave of him to 60 out volun-
tarily to the wars. :. Marlbrouck
s'en-va-t-en- guerren' So he went off
| with an Indifferent countenance and q
jaunty air; and she stayed behind
equally jaunty, equally Indifferent.
One year passed on. Emma Car
bonel began to feel lonely, to sicken Of
her unsatisfactory life. Bit by bit she
had grown to see that she and
Humphrey had been but foolish, both
of them, the one as much as the other.
Did he feel the same? 1t might be.
Yet their letters continued to be of the
scantiest and coolest.
Another year dragged itself on, and
then she made no pretense of keeping
up the farce of resentment to
her own heart. Time, generally
speaking, shows up our past
mistakes in their true colors.
Emma Carbonel longed for her husband
to come home, she grew feverishly inn
patient to be reconciled. Mariana in
the Moated Grange was a favorite read
ing of hers just now -
"She said: j am a weary. weary,
He cometh not she said:
He cometh not, and all Is dr. !,
4. Il would that were deadt :"
Humphrey Carbonel came not.
Nothing came but the details of the
fighting; wars. and rumors Of wars.
May was in again; another May.
Mrs. Carbonel sat at her window in the
twilight OF chilly, drilling day. The
gloom without harmonized with the
gloom within And yet, hardly so. The
rain might be cold, dreary, dispiriting,
but it was nothing as compared with
the desoIation of her heart. Childless,
and worse than widowed! She had
hoped, ali! for year or two now, that
Humphreys old love for her might
override his pride and bitterness; and
prompt him to write to her word of
tender regret for their conduct to one
another. But he did not. She was
feeling tallto herheart's core this miser-
able evening; unavailing remorse lay
heavily upon her; she wished she could
die and end it. No sign of reconcilia-
ton had passed since they parted in
pride and anger; not word of repent