Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-07-17
HIS STORY.

/ have been mat the death of many a
fox. shot many an innocent bird and
beast as 3 young man, and have said
many cruel words in my time, but
never felt such barbarian before that
day. And yet it was not my fault.
was obi iged to do it. Truth and honor
demanded it.
Poor little Marion Morley! had
often noticed her sad face, and longed
to be of use to her, and had even tt ed
to make her think would befriend her
| if she needed it. / had often preached
at her the hard lesson, in whatsoever
state she was, Herewith to be content,
| But had never dreamed of love, [ had
! never tried to win her affection. AS
! told her, marriage lay very far in the
/ dim future with me. as far, in fact, as
the living that hoped would ultimately
| fall to my lot. 1t never crossed nv
widest fancy that she would have taken
more than a friendly interest in me;
therefore my utter astonishment can be
imagined when / received her poor lit
tie innocent letter promising to be the
wife / had not desired. How hard it
| was to tell her that l had never penned
the letter she had received!
/ returned home humbled and grieved
grieved to have wounded her sensi-
tive feelings, grieved that she should
have given her love unsought. I
prayed that night that she might forget
me. i felt very guilty.; and yet could
4 find nothing of which to &C, use myself.
/ My chief feeling, however. was indig-
nation against the person, whoever he
or she might be, whose wicked Jest had
caused all this. l had my suspicious.
Caroline Thomson was never favorite
of mine / thought her a forward. sly
girl, precocious and assuming; and /
imagined her quite capable of playing
such trick, & So -
One day met Miss Thomson walk
ing IN the village and joined her. Pur-
I posely 1 led the conversation round to
practical jokes. ~.
II do not know anything more cow
ardly than to play a practical joke" /
said. ION person whom circumstances
place to a certain extent in one power.
| A practical joke of any magnitude is
insulting. cruel. stupid, and dis grace
to one person only-the perpetrator. -
The girl face got very red, and she
Uttered nervously.
Have You ever played such a
joker l went on. i am pretty sure
You have, and on Miss Morley; have
you not" demanded, sternly.
-" hat do you mean" she STAN
mered.
please answer me straightforwardly,
Miss Thomson" / said, "ol l must> as
your clergyman, apply to your mother.
You will know what I mean if Your
conscience accuses You. Did you not
lately play practical joke on Miss
The girl burst into tears and grad
ually told me ali-how she and Amy
had written the letter in fun. and never
meant any harm, how. when she mag
ined Miss Morley had answered it, she
was too frightened to confess, how she
was very sorry, and so on.
\ GU have done an uumaidenly,
cruel action said; can action which,
but for Miss Monkeys good sense and
ladylike mind, might have caused great
mischief. hope tins will be lesson
to you, and that in the future you
will be more considerable for other
feelings" " -
now hoped that all trouble rising
from the unfortunate letter would be
ended; but it grieved me to see how
Miss Morley dropped. She seemed al
most afraid to look at me, though ]
strove hard to put her at her ease.
Several months passed by, and ]
found myself taking more and more in
terest in her, though we rarely ex-
changed words now. One day was
much concerned to hear from Mrs.
Thomson that she was leaving them.
miss Morley sleavng!n / e >clamed.
"You surprise me Why is she going?''
81 cannot discover" said Mrs.
Thompson. ''She has no complaints to
make. have always been kind to her;
but she says she must go; and she does