The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-11-13


poetry clipped from magazines some
Letters! 1 had not replaced the note
/ had found. 1t still burned over my
heart, burned as it were q living coal.
looked for some time at the desk;
I saw things with wondrous distincness.
There was dust--minute PARTICLES of
dust upon the lodges. / rubbed it of
with my bare finger.
Next was the window. l pushed
aside the Turcoman curtain and looked
down upon the street. How dull and
cold the whole world seemed! How
empty Before the window stood the
little chair she often sat in just a little
willow rocker with square of painted
satin. My heart ached harder as l
fancied her sitting there.
Past these stood her piano. Past
this the music-rack, with all her songs
upon it. All, me!
Next, standing diagonally across the
corner of the room, the curious old
clock that / had brought from my
studio at her request. put my hand
upon the door, as if to open it. Then
/ stopped and wondered If one could
not stand with ease behind the antique
l
| tIme-piece.
Then passed on.
Between the windows on the third
side of the room was the lounge upon
which 1 had so often lain and heard
her singing in the twilight; sometimes
| she had come to sit beside me, and lay
her small, soft hand upon my hair.
/ turned another corner and came to
the door, through which she must
enter. Past this were chairs, and lit
| tie stand heaped with cabinet photo
graphs, her own among the rest. A
chiifonier with bric-a-brac in the fourth
corner, and so l came again to the door
of the bed chamber. After time I
thought again of the old clock, and re-
turned to examine its position.
L drew it ont a little further and
slipped in behind.
The room grew dusky; the afternoon
was slipping away.
1 walked up and down the room; up
and down, up and down-thinking. 1
had not broken my fast the lifelong
day. Ny mouth seemed parched, my
tongue swollen. L felt the shadow of
approaching calamity.
AS it grew dark l went out to a flor
lists and bought little bunch of flow
ers, carnations, with surrounding sprays
of mignonette.
Coming back, l stopped and spoke
to the ianitor of the building, giving
him message for my wife, who must
soon arrive.
1 went up hurriedly after this. for
there was no time to lose. / put the
sweet and spicy blossoms in tumbler
of water, and set the tumbler on the
comfortable, underneath the chande-
! lier. / had vague notion that the lit
tie Offering might touch her heart and
cause it to yearn for me, who loved her
so. L wrote my note hastily, telling
her had been called away, but would
return tomorrow. ] placed the note
beside the flowers. L lit one Jet of the
gas above, and left it burning dimly.
1t was time for her to come. 4 grew
each moment more feverish and i'm
/ patient. / felt, besides, faintness
] from long fasting. / went back through
the bed-chamber to the dressing room
! for a swallow of ice-water. There was
some fruit in a dish upon the table.
thought perhaps taste of this might
cool my throat l took an orange and
hurried back to the parlor, slipping
into my hiding-place behind the clock.
Why did she not come? 1t was past
the time now, and began to imagine
all terrible things. / fancied that she
had come, had met the janitor at the
entrance. had received from him my
message and taken advantage of my
absence to return or send word to some
lover. The thought fairly choked me.
My throat was painfully parched.
l took out my large pocket-knife and
began to cut the orange. My hands
| trembled constantly. -
At length l heard footsteps. This
waiting was torture, but endured it.
The gas burned dimly. The spicy
fragrance of the flowers upon the table
seemed to fill the room. stood motion
less, listening for the sound of her
latchkey. L still clutched the orange
and the open pocket-knife.
! held my breath.
She entered alone, and let the door
swing carelessly after her; it did not
close entirely. She gazed inquiringly
/ about, then advanced toward the table.
"Flowers?" heard her say. Gar
Acknowledgements"
1 saw her take my letter in one
hand, while with the other she reached
up to turn the gas higher. The chan
delier was high, and she was not very
tall, so that she did not reach it at the
first effort. Her 1.-the form and beau
tiful, uplifted face seemed to draw me
toward her. longed to rush out and
clasp her TO my heart. Heavens! what
demon held me back?
She balanced there on tiptoe.
Il wonder if he will Gomez" / heard
her say. Then heard something else
"a soft sound, as if the wind had
pushed ajar the door she had not fully
closed.
She did not turn; she did not seem
to hear; her slender fingers were upon
the gilt of the chandelier.
What happend next was swift and
strange-and all in silence. A man
had stepped within the room, closing
the door noiselessly, and darling for
ward, encircled her head with his
hands, binding her eyes ere she had
seen him.