Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-08-28

A1dhN 1As aQNduccd years lit fOF your
younger life? And was teaching my
sell TO Rope that / was not vet too old
| TO make this altogether impossible
| You must destroy all nv dreams, dash
al my hopes 10 1he ground. because an
old woman has shown her temper and
her jealousyra
This was true, according TO the light
In which he saw her position Had
there been nothing between these two
! but a mutual desire to be married, the
reason given by her for changing it all
would be absurd. As be had continued
TO speak. slowly adding one argument
to another, with a certain amount OF
! true eloquence, she felt that unless she
could go back to John Gordon she
! must Weld. But it was very hard
! for her to 20 back 10 John Gordon. In
the first place, she must insist on her
| love for q man VINO had never spoken
to her of love- 1t was SO hard that she
could not do it openly = / had thought
so little of the value j could be to you.
Your value TO me is infinite. | think,
Mary. that there has come upon you a
certain melancholy which is depressing
YOU. I our regard TO me is worth now
more than any other possession or gift
| that the world can bestow. And / had
taken pride to myself in saying that il
/ had been given. Yes; her regard,
/ She could not contradict him as to that.
And have you thought of your own pos
sition9 Alter all that has passed be-
tween us, yon can hardly go on living
here as you have done"
Il know that.
Then what would become of Won if
you were to break away from me-"
"a thought You would get place for
me as goyerness, or companion to some
lady"
Would that satisfy your am bition2
] have place for you-but it is here.
Not as companion to lady are YOU
required to fulfill your duties here on
earth. 1t is fuller task of work that
+ YOU must do. ] trust-I trust that it
may not be more tedious" She looked
at him again, and he did not now APP
pear SO old. There was power of
speech about the man, and dignity
which made her feel that she could in
truth have loved hirn-had 1t not been
for John Gordon Unfortunately, !
am older than you, very much older.
But TO you there may be this advantage
that you can listen to what | may say
with something of confidence in my
knowledge of the world. As my wife
you will I'LL position more honorable
and more suitable TO your gifts. than
conld belong to you as 9 governess or
companion. You will have much more
TO do, and will be able to go nightly to
your rest with consciousness that YOU
have done more as the mistress of our
house than you cLSIld have done IN that
Y l., i
even those viii ennoble the world to
you, and you to the world That other
life is poor shrunken death rather
than life 1t is a way of passing her
davs which must fall to the lot of many
female who does not achieve the 9TH
er; and II is well that they to whom it
falls should be able to accommodate
themselves TO it with contentment and
self-respect. / think that i may say of
myself that, even as my wife. you viii
stand higher than you would do IS a
companion.
Il am sure of it,
Not on that account should you &C
cept :-ny man that you can not love"
Had she not told him that she did not
love him-even that she loved anotherp
And vet he spoke to her in this way!
You had better tell Mrs. Baggett to
come TO me. f
There is the memory of that other
man. she rnurmured very gently.
Then the scowl came back upon his
face: or not scowl. but a look of cold
displeasure. If ] understand yeu
rightly, the gentleman never addressed
you as a lover"
Never"
Il see it all, Mary. Mrs Baggett has
been violent and selfish, and has made
YOU think thoughts which should not
have been put in your head to disturb
you. You have dreamed a dream in
your early life-as girls do dream,
suppose and it has now to be forgot
ten. Is Il not SOP
Il suppose it was a dream"
.-f1e has passed away, and he has
left you to become the happiness OF my
life Send Mrs. Baggett to me. and
will speak to her. Then be came up
to her-for they had been standing
about a yard apart-and pressed his
lips to hers. How was it possible that
she could prevent him?
She turned round, and slowly left
the room, feeling, as she did SO, that
she was again engaged to him forever
and ever. She hated herself because
SIlt uttu DetI So Dii hO" COu "a
she have done otherwise? She aske3
herself. as she went back to her room,
at what period during the Interview,
which was now over, she coIld have
declared to him the real state of her
mind. He had. aslt were. taken com
plete possession of Ter. by right of the
deed OF gift which she had made of
herself that morning. She had en-
deavored TO resume the gift. but had
altogether failed. She declared to her
self that she was weak, impotent, pur-
poseiess but she admitted on the Other
hand, that he had displayed more of
power than she had ever guessed al his /
possessing. A woman ALWAYS loves this
display of power N a man. and she |
felt that she could have loved him had
Il not been for John Gordon
But there was one comfort for her
None knew OF her weakness Her /
mind had vacillated like a shuttleeock. /
but no one had seen the vaciliation. |
She was in his hands. and she must
simply do as he babe her. Then she /
Went down TO Mrs, Baggett's room, !
and tod the old lady TO GO upstairs at
her masters behest. I'm a-going,
said Mrs. Ba-gett- I'm a-coing.
/ hope bell find every one else as good
1T dniEg what he tells EN- But L ain I
a7geing to be a-doing for him or for
any one much longer" 1
CHATTER VI.
JOHN GORDON.