Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-04-25
STEPHANIE.

"How on earth could we love her?
She had caused us such bitter disap-
po,ntment!!"
And how could Gerald care for a
pale. strengthening little witch, with
her queer name after her French moth
er?: For witch. of course, she must be
TO have fascinated our fastidious brother
10 the extent of marrying her."
Gerald was our only brother, twenty
six years of age tall and svelte and
two of us, one widowed and the other,
myself, an old maid.
Few sisters are perfectly satisfied,
as a rule, when their brother has found
me one dea.er to him than those who
have loved him and administered to his
! comforts all their lives. Yet I really
think we should have been moderately
content if his choice had been to our
TASTE.
Why it had not been so was just a
my>tery. Edith Falconer, whom we
had set our hearts On seeing Mrs. Ger
aid Fame, was a ''daughtero Of the gods,"
tall and divinely fair, and it puzzled us
how his heart or his fancy could have
travelled towards this daughter of a Can
adam planter, when our letters were
constantly full of Edith's beauty and
Edith's goodness, and when we had
made q point of q ting on her attrac-
tons from morn till eve whenever he
was at home.
Edith vas with us when the letter
came bidding us welcome his wife, and
saw the surprise and disappointment
legibly written in her beautiful blue
eyes.
Not that Edith was really in love
with him, but she had always felt an
enormous interest in the brother of her
dearest friends-an interest which we
And this is what Gerald wrote:
Il shall bring her to you, my poor,
stricken little Stephanie. She would
be quite alone in the wide world now
II it was not for me! We We're mar
ried beside the death-bed of her father,
and she was scarcely a wife before she
was wholly an orphan, with never a
rei1tive on earth. l had promised her
so much love from you both that she
VIII not, l know, feel the loss of mother
ana sister, who were drowned on their
way out to America-while I shall fill
the place of all others-father, brother,
husband"
AS we read this we felt convinced
now it was that Gerald hadmarried her.
AZ was from sheer pity. We fully de-
clded this point, and it did not make us
leel more pleasantly on the subject, fol
we We're sure that loor Gerald had been
rictimized.
we went about II preparations,
however, for their coming; furnished
'ie rooms newly and prettily, and did
our best to insure comfort to the bride,
put it must be confessed our heart:
were not in our work.
on the evening they were expected
we had no one at the house. thinking
SS%lephanie would prefer it. That is, We
hauonly Edith Falconer-but then she
was Just one of ourselves.
Gerald looked handsomcr than evel
as ne sprang out OF the carriage and
rushed up the steps, and with a radiant
Ia G kissed us both. Then he ran down
aialn and lifted out a tiny figure,
winch he bore in his arms as if it haC
Deeh a child, and, placing it before us.
,;. Here's my darling-the sweetest
A'iIe darling that ever trod the earth!'
ne went away then to attend to the
l"ssgagge and she made a sort of move
aleht as if to rush after him, bu'
i.opped abruptly. Then with culver.
az up She lifted her glance to us will
LelpiesS wistful look; but presently s
,v ot1r llgnt crept into her great dark
h~nu,looklng eyes, and she clasped oul
A",us and bent and kissed them.
A1ter this we took her into the draw
nns1r4om and introduced her to Edith
Sau l saw her queer, dark little fac,
s bosnt.n up strangely as Edith greeted
ncr atfectionately.
I, tease call me Ste. and not Mrs
E.enaI1' she whispered in a low, fright
ivy voice, "my heart yearns to b