New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1884-04-23

The old man smiles and droops his head,
The thin hair blows from his wrtnkled brow
The sunset radiance has appeared.
Ger every wasted feature now:
One sigh exhales like breath in June
He has found the Land Of the Afternoon. !,
San Francisco Can
HER PRIDE sUBDUED.
When Helen Vinton was twenty-one,
the great mills where her father had
made the bulk of his vast fortune be-
came her absolute property.
A heavy charge for q girl, and many
of her friends questioned the wisdom Of
the will. But it had been understood
that before that time she would be the
wife of her cousin Victor, to whom she
had been betrothed almost from her
cradle.
And besides this, between her and
all care regarding the mill stood her
foreman, Stephen Walker, the strong,
calm man whom the men both loved
and feared. and whose father had been
foreman there before him.
And though the marriage had been
delayed from time to time, and Victor
had spent most Of the two years since
she reached her majority wandering
over Europe, she had never known the
responsibility of her position until this
autumn day when she sat amid the
rich surroundings of her library, her
self the fairest object there, bending
YEARLY over the long columns of fig
ures that represented to her the state Of
her business.
There was quick step in the hall.
and Stephen Walker entered tall,
rugged man with kindly brown eyes,
and smile that revealed the plainness
of his features, and with strength and
determination in every line of his face.
''You are examining the accounts,
Miss Vinton. l trust you find no diff
Guilty in understanding themP''
"Oh, I dare say they are plain
enough she replied with !. forced
laugh, ''but was always stupid about
figures. This is a heavy burden you
have thrown on my shoulders, Mr..
Walker-how heavy, scarcely realized
until I attempted to 60 over those
dreadful books. =
Stephen Walker grew very pale, and
his voice sounded harsh and strained
as he said:
II hope there will be no trouble,
Miss Vinton. suppose Victor will be
home in the spring, and think Brown
will be quite capable of taking charge
until then.
II daresay we will do very well,
and cannot blame you for wishing to
go. know you have talents that are
quite thrown away here. But Ste
phen" with little break in the sweet
proud voice. and extending her hands
to him-''I will miss you sadly
He took her hands in his, and bent
over them, with a great sob in his
voice:
'.Oh, Helen-don't you know Can't
you understands It is not because
want to better myself thatI must 20,
but because to stay here, seeing you
every day, and knowing, as | do. that
you can never be mine, is madness,
for, oh, Nell, my queen, l love you!"
''Stop! she said passionate1y, her
face white, and q steely CLEAN in her
eyes that would have .daunted weak
or man.
mo; you must hear me. I never
meant to tell you this, but now you
must know why I desert the charge
your father left to me. I remember tho
first day saw you, when your father
brought you down to the dusty old
mills-a tiny golden-haired fairy, who
seemed Of finer clay than I, rough
boy and left you whole bright day
in my care. Helen, from that day I
have worshipped you, madly, hope
lessly, I know, but as never 9 man
loved before; and now to stay here and
see you Victor's wife, is worse than
DEATH
Have you quite fnishedp" she said
coldly as he paused. Then 60. It Is
well you have chosen to leave here at
once. And never dare to come In my
presence again!''
He turned without another word,
and went YEARLY out into the autumn
evening, where the wet wind, sobbing
through the leafess branches Of the
trees, seemed dreary echo to his
thoughts.
And inside, prone on the floor, her
golden hair trailed over the rich car
pet, Helen Vinton lay struggling with
the great sense of loss and pain, as she
listened to the sound of his footsteps
down the broad path and out of her
life, realizing that Stephen Walker had
loved her no longer or no better than
she had loved him, but knowing, too,
that between John Vinton's daughter
and the foreman Of her mills was gull
that not even love could bridge.
The winter that followed was try
ing one to Miss Vinton. Brown, the
man whom Mr.. Walker had left to fill
his place, fell i'll soon after his depart
ure, and the burden Of responsibility
fell upon her.
She was q proud woman, and had
never made friends among her employ
es. Murmuring and discomfort on one
side, and scornful implacability on the
other, eliminated in strike, involving
q heavy loss to Miss Vinton, and much
suffering among her people. q
In the spring Victor returned
bright, handsome Victo with his hap
by heart and sunny smile. And with
his coming the trouble vanished as
though BY magic. The men loved him,
and subdued BY the sharp lesson Of the
winter, were quite ready to come to
terms.
He wageager for a;speedy marriage,
but on. one pretext andsanother It was
delayed until the summer. faded and
autumn was upon them s; sls
Once or ftaWiceS during the summer,
Victor brohght her asnewspaper con-