Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-08-22

voice.. A
.n ano have l not been eitherp"
Dear Tom, don't imagine that I wish |
70 n fault q critcise; I love Won far
100 we'll for that; there is no one in ali
me world as dear to me as YOU are.
but 90 you not think yourself that our
engagement has been too ]protracted to
seem hopeful now? You don't feel i
ama 40; 1t seems to take all my strength
s SMay 70 see our life together always
ppm further andfurther Off"
III l make things worse for YOU. of
course that alters matters" His face
nad lost its smiling softness, his brow
WAS stern and angry.
plness. the end Of my Dreams" she
SAID passionately; 1.-The want of YOU
viii leave my whole future barren"
Then why need you give me up"
"Bccause | think you will be freer
wlthout me; because you nre learning
imperfect"
ut was for your sake 1 thought of
Kangoon,' he said, suddenly.
YES, dear, and 1t is for your sake,
heaven knows, that I propose to give
up. l am a drag on you, and whatyou
feel for me is far more friendship than
love-"
elf you think so I have nothing more
to say" He ros to 90, stinly, and
then the tender heart in her failed.
ooh, Tom, if it were not best for
spokenP"
She wanted him to tell her that it
was not best for him; she wanted him
to prove to her that all her doubts were
needless; but she had hurt him, and at
her %relenting he hardened himself.
elf it is best for you, that's enough"
he SAID, and took his hat and left her
without looking at her again.
When the door had closed behind him
Mary Ranley sat five minutes notion
less. The airy bubble she had spent
seven years blowing was shattered by
her wv touch. She scarcely realized
what had happened yet, but there was
a numb aching at her heart, far worse
than any keen, comprehending pang.
Her tears began to flow heartbrokenly,
as she mechanically folded the piece of
the poor little trousseau on which she
had been working, the trousseal that
never would be needed now. Tom was
gone, and Tom was the lover of her
life; but-and in this capacity she
would miss him far more-he had al
ways been her pet and protege. What
would her motherly nature do now.
without any n to plan for or protects:
Women's sorrow seek consolation
in the strangest ways. IN the first hour
of her loss Mary Ranley went up among
the gathered treasures of seven hope
full Years, and touched with reverent
fondness the accumulated tribes des-
tined for the future home. There were
the little bronzes meant for Toms
study, and purchased out of the econ
Omies of her holiday time; there were
pretty vases, and little brackets, and
scraps of tasteful china-all the FEM
mime trifles that would have given a
home likeness to his bare lodgings.
She remembered where she had gath
cred them up-sometimes in Toms
presence and exen the words he had
said in Jest over one thing and another.
And now Tom was out of her life, and
there never would be any home for
them together. She felt as though the
big oak chest were a coffin containing
ali her youth us she locked it, shutting
all the relics out of her sight; and then
she went down and drank her solitary
tea, and tried to reali e all the empti-
ness of the coming years.
Would he write to her, she wondered,
or would she be left always without
tidingsp And when would he 90? And
would he be relieved that they had
palted after the first edge of pain had
worn Off:
Six days passed without even an in
direct word from him, and the morn
ing's work was acquiring a maddening
monotony, and the evenings silence a
despairing loneliness. Mary mad few
girl friends and no contidantes, and so
her heart-ache missed the common
alienation of talking it over If he
never came or wrote, If she never
heard OF him again. there was nc one
in all the world to help OF comfort her.
But he would not be cruel enough to
treat her with silence forever; he would
send her q message one day, and it
would be one of peace and friendship.
That faith grew in her day by day, bat
Ting with the growing despair, and
then one day fact ranged itself on
faiths side-a letter awaited her as she
returned from the walk she had taken
to escape from her thoughts.
She held. it for a moment without
looking at it, and all her fictitious
strength gave way. She threw aside
the cloak that had suddenly become a
burden and sat down in her bonnet to
read Tom message.
But the letter was not from Tom; she
saw that as she unfoldcd it. The writ
ing was bigger. holder, more legible.
She read it all through before she
reached the signature. When she had
seen that she read the letter again. 1t
was from John Hayward, the nan she
had always thought Mousse Graham's
lover, and it contained an offer Of
marriage for herself.
81 have loved you always, Mary
he wrote, ''and ! have only refrained
from telling you so because had SO lit
tie to offer Til now. l did not dare ask
YOU 10 share a worse home than you
have been accustomed to, and so l held
my peace. But at last l have attained
to what Ihave honestly coveted solong;
50 g. ~ l,ou, y, ada M