Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-22

don q to get this httte boy out OF the way,
Dorcas an nell get nothin' done.'
"Well, l minded afterwards how
Cicely got redder'n a beet when Mahalv
said 'yerfather, an David shifted round
Uneasy like. But they took the basket,
an went out together.
"'The dear soulsv Mahalv said, as
tenderly watchin' 'em out o. sight.
I'm so glad. Dorcas, that nv Cicelv
thinks so much o David. An he thinks
q sight O. her. He's told me 80, often.
Wen all live together so happily herer
The tears ackshilly stood in her eyes,
she was that happy. Purity soon she
said:
"'The Lord IS good, Dorcas. I've
been wicked an ongrateful 'nough to
think He wasn't sometimes, when 1 was
troubled and vexed. But o! Dorcas,
for all our earthly troubles and trials,
there Is recompense sometime, some
where. If it don't come here, it IL come
in the blessed Hereafter. NV recon-
pense has come now. David Bascom
has come home to me, an l am to be his
wife. David an Cicely! In them is my
earthly Joy an rest an peace!'
81 worked nearly all night the night
but one fore the weddin' day. David
had a likin' fer purity dresses fer a wo-
man, an 'Haly'd sent clean to Boston
fer her weddin' an Unfair dresses. She
did RELY look like a girl o. twenty-five
in her weddin' dress. 1t was a beauti-
full laylock silk-an' was most becomin'
to her-with lots O real point lace at
the throat and sleeves. She didn't allow
to wear 10 veil, an l was savin' all the
blush roses l had on some bushes I'd
KEEP in the house all winter. Iallowed
to dress her hair with them an some
lilies o the valley, an put EN- in long
with the lace at her throat. I knew
she'd O. looked real snipshus. She'd
awful nice wavy brown hair, an not q
streak O. gray in it.
"she'd planned for a big weddin',
bein' as she'd lived all her born DAYS
right there, and knowed ev'rybody, an
it was reckoned kind O. shabby for a
person not to ask their decentnei ghbors
to a weddin'. Mahaly's house was good
sized; an she felt able to get up a big
dinner, an have all her old friends see
her married. l wa to boss the affair.
"The weddin' was to be on the twen-
ty-fifth O. May. l was stayin' night an
day at the house, an Mahaly an me
allus got up an got breakfast. She
would have it that young people needed
all the sleep they could get, an so
wouldn't call Cicely only in time for
breakfast; an she needn't get up then
if she didn't please to. Ireckon Mahaly
hadn't failed to slip into Cicely's room
an kiss her good mornin', in the hull
seventeen years O. the girls life.
"The mornin' of the tw%enty-fourth it
was she tip-toed into Cicely's room jest
fore breakfast, an in a minnit [ heerd
a scream that was the most pitiful, pain
full, heart-rendin' thing I ever heerd in
my life. Irushed acrost the hall an
into Cicely's room. There was no one
in it but Mahaly, an she lay flat on the
floor, with a face that want whittier
when she lay dead than 1t was that
minnit. Her eyes was wide open, an
starin' in the most horrible way at
nothin'. She'd a bit O. writin'-paper
tight in her clenched hand. She let
me read it after a good many days. 1t
read:
"'DEAR, DEAR, DEAR MAMMA: I can not
Write igI 10 or think link Of anGyt tn he t but that that ! var am g.,
each cther so. Forgive me, if you can, dear
mamma: love an bless you for all your
loving kindness to me. Please forgive me. l
"A AND C1cELY.'
"'There were tear-stains on the pa
per, an we could see that the lines had
been written with a tremblin' hand.
But how my heart hardened against
that girl as l knelt over Mahaly, layin'
there with her very soul an body with
in in agony. There was a kind of a
specifies cry of a broken heart round
the poor SOULS %quiyerin' lips. An oh!
the eyes of wretchedness an despair
that she turned toward me in that hour!
Poor soul! poor soul! My heart ached
SO fer her!
Il lifted her onto the purity white bed
on which licely had slep' fer so many
years. She turned her poor white face
YEARLY to the wall, an | stole out an
left her alone. | had an idea it was the
kindest an best thing to do.
"Old Doctor Wintergreen was pass
in. I called him in, an told him as
best I could what had happened. an
sent him round to tell folks that there'd
be no weddin'. It was mighty hard,
but it had to be done. There was no
gettin' out of it. An 1 tell you, I didn't
spare that Cicely! l couldn't soften my
heart toward her.
Il hustled round. an got all the
weddin' doins out O. sight: an 1 tell
you 1 fairly blubbered right out when it
come to foldin' up the purity weddin'
gown an layln' it away. 1t seemed as
if l was handlin' dead peoples gar
ments.
"After an hour or two I slipped into
the room where Mahaly was. She lay
Just AS I'd left her, an 1 thought for a
minnit she'd gone where broken hearts
are filled with joy, an tears are wiped
from every eye. But as | bent over her
she turned her dry eyes toward me. l
wanted to say somethin' or do some
thin fer the poor body. took her up
in my rms She looked at me a min
nit, an all of a sudden the drawn, pitt
full look let her white face, an she
whispered:
"'>urely He hath borne our griefs.'
can then | knowed that there had
come to her the evcrlastin' love, the
love that is never weary an can not fail