The Red Cloud chief., 1884-09-12

| the floor. a few books on hanging
shelves, and on the walls some cheap
prints which | fear would have made
the apostle of modern culture smile.
Here are more of nv companions.
and some of the best" she said. hand
ing me a scrap-book from the little
side-table. after giving me q sea in her
cushioned armchair. Some Of them
You know" she added. with q smile
which lighted up her brown features
with beaut ful benignity.
II could have hardly been ~ accident
that she let the pages fall open in my
hands ut a place where my eye fell
upon q little scrap Of verses which I
knew indeed.
Il don't know how To compliment an
AUTHOR she said. seating herself on
q chihtz-coverei lounge beiore ne. but
l am glad Of an opportunity to tell YOU
that that poem has heen agreat comfort
To me. a very great comfort. Icut il from
q newspaper q few years ago.. and !
have read il over and over again until
/ know it by heart. ] love 10 repeat it
10 myself wien I am lying awake
nights and Listening 10 the rain ON the
roof"
Her eyes glistened a she spoke. /
was deeply touched; the thought Of
having written a few words which had
Afforded solace to this lonely creature
made me humbly grateful. Nv vanity
was not in the least moved. and I can
! relate the circumstance without vanity
now; for, alas, my little piece vas
pasted on q page with other, which she
S cmed TO regard as equally precious.
although they were o literature. any
more than the sentimental pr nts on
the wall were art. Ii was evident that
she viewed poems and pictures, not
with 4 cultivats d or critical eve, but
wholly from a spiritual and syI:pathet-
L. att tude OF mind; prizing what APP
pealed To her emotional and especially
To her religious nature, without being
mu h DISTURBED by weak lines. ba
rhymes and other imperfections. How
some Of my aesthetic friends 80 Id have
| scorned to see their verses included in
snch a scrap-book, But. aft all, there
is something in life better tLan %culture:
and | would not for anything have SAID
a word to lessen the saiisfa ton old
Aunt ABBY found in the feeblest Of that
trash.
Ny own little piece had given me a
key To her heart, and | soon found il
easy to lead her TO speak Of her early
lie.
IL have heard something of your
history" / aid. and it makes me won
der if YOU have never regretted the very
great sacrifices You once made
Her large, gray eyes beamed upon
me mistily. II have asked myself the
same question many I mes. For it was
a sacrifice she said, tremb,inrly.
But the answer deep down i'm nv
heart is always no. We must live ac-
cording to our light. lived according
To mine. | could not do differently
then; ! couldn't do differently now. if
the thing was TO do over
II hear that lie was. i'm manv re-
spects, Il worthy man. | said, Ito lead
her on. And tell me .ranhly. Aunt Alb
by. were you not very strongly attached
to each other?'
There was only one thing in heaven
and earth that l loved better than |
loved Aaron Deemsr.' she answered,
with emotion. But there were other
things that he loved better than he
loved me. Too many. too MANY"
What were they?' | asked.
"His ease and his pride and his
worldly possessions. Yet. as you say,
he was a worthy man. Few people
blamed him, but a great many blamed
me. That was what made it so hard
for me to DO as | did. NV friends called
me foolish and overscrupulous; while
he acted as so many other men would
have acted in his place"
She wiped her eyes and resumed, in
answer to my questions: 1--WE were
engaged, and Were To be married in a
few weeks, AMI 1 telieve there never
was a young couple with happier pros
poets, until he came to me one evening
and told me o. an exciting event. He
had a rich uncle who was known to
have acquired much of his property
dishonesty; he hal died sud !enly,
everything TO Aaron, and
seemed cutie set up by his good
fortune.
"'But. Aaron > 1 said, .how can II
be a goo | fortune 10 you, s,nce it is a
bad fortune. got in a ba way. as l
have heard you say yourself? All that
property, or a: least a large part OF it.
belongs to the family of his dead part
ner: the widow and children he de-
irauded. after he got the business into
his hands,
81 don't know how much there is
all that sad Aaron. Stories get
exaggerated, and unc,e had his enc
mics.
But You were not his enemy,'
,orI- sanl L have lnl A. .. =
your own lips. You always condemned
hat transaction; and / never heard
Soa speak OF him with any respect. |
hope sad /, you are not going to I
let the fact that he has made YOU his ,
change your ideas of right and ,
wrong s
''he laughed in a way I couldn't |
ike, Il have no ideas on the subject I
said. All l know is. the property
mine now $
but you can't take it and enjoy I
t. l said.
"'Why not?' was his answer. in a I
'one that astonished and orieved ME.
L never heard that my uncle did ANY, I
Illegal; the property is lawfully
nine 8
"'lVhy, Asron!' 1 demonstrated, 4 s
have heard You say yourself that he /
vas shrewd enough to keep clear of {
he law. but does that make his wicked /
ness any less wicked? And what if the c
'rope.t y Is lawfully yours. if it is not I
ours by absolute right, 4 you accept d
t?' Z
What l said disturbed him: and | I
Gould see that a dark shadow was COM
ny between us-the first that had ever n
crossed our path. He argued that it v