, 1884-01-29
IN DUMB AGONY.
Geo w. Simpsons Fatal Ely-fn'
he-Croam-Pltcher"
Secret
Ichicago rrrbune .LakesIde ntnslnC.r1

Chicago Tribune Lakeside MusinE."1
a do not doubt You"
Esmeralda w. Pike spoke thsse words ~
clear, ringing tones, but beneath the roson'
ance OF hor voice there was a faint quivering
the mora suggestion Of a sob-that would
have told to IN obserYAnt listener tho old,
old story OF a love That was shattered forever,
Of a beautiful air castle in whose halls stslked
only the grim spcctres OF desolation and woe,
and from whose turrets a great sorrow kept
silent vigil over a world that could never
again seem bright or Joyous. Be a girl ever SC
proud In spirit, be her nature even Of the stoioal,
unyielding kind that can bear disappointment
and University without a tromor OF the muscle.
or a culver Of the nerves, there is got one
time in hor life, one moment Of supreme hor,
ror and grief. when the sunlight Of happiness
seems to have faded forever from tho horizon
Of her existence and tho black pail of Al
agouizing doubt which has Mt last become O
terrible reality falls upon the ghastly corpse
OF q dead loys-G love cruelty murdered by
the ono who above all others should have
cherished and protected 1.-THE man at whose
bidding It has grown and expanded like a
beautiful flower that needs only caro- and at
tention 10 be forever a thing Of joy.
1t is a solemn thing for any man to win
the love Of a pure and Trusting girl-A love
that knows no boundaries, that exists only
for the one man in all the wide, wide world,
ut whose heart it is offered up RS an eternal
incense, aud that when turned aside from the
object OF It's ndoration burns with even
hercsr fame than bcfor-, and lsavs= bsh.ad
It only blsckened ashes and the charrsd
corpse of a dead and gone affection.
George w. Simpson knew this. He knew
that Esmeral1a's love for him was not an
ephemernl fancy, but a strong, u%nwavering,
yOu-cnn-chew-my gum-whils-I-am ~reciting
passion that would gather intensity aud
force as the years went by, and that when
tho autumn OF life had come would, like tina
ripened grain, he even more beautiful and
enduring than In the days OF its lusty youth.
1t was this knowledge that made the task OF
parting from Esmeralda such a hard one.
But in spite Of his tight pants George W.
Simpson was a man in whoss nature there
was a strong element Of duty, and he felt
that, no matter what present sorrow might
arise from such action, it was best that
tile tie which bound them together-the
solemn, holy tie Of a plighted troth-should
be sundered. rather than that n greater grief,
o more blighting misfortune, should fall upon
them later In life. And SO when he had told
Esmeralda-whispered the words TO her
softly as they stood there beneath the linden
trees that soft, autumnal evening, the signing
nm AlAI MAAbtd hAAbbit hlOLid u -
beef from the next house kissing the fair
cheek of the girl and toying with the mass of
golden hair TINT sat pom her he'd like n
crown-there had been in his voice n certain
something that told the girl more plainly
than could any words that behind tho studied
calm OF his demeanor, far back in the wood
shed Of his soul, there was n secrst-n dark
fatal y-in-the-cream-pitchsr secret of which
she knew nothing.
"What is this terrible mystery that en-.
shrouds your action, darlingF' asked the girl,
looking up to him in the dumb agony OF an
awful grief. Gwen though we are to be
separated forever, it seems to me that l have
yet n right to know what It is that has desc
lated our livOs. Can you not grant this, my
last rsquostf'
mo" he says, in a voice that is hoarse with
gony, al dare not tell you.'
But l demand an answer to my question"
she says, imperiously.
He regards her a moment In silence, and
then, just as he turns to go, she clasps his
arms and looks up to him with a pltiful
pleading in her brown eyes.
"For the sake Of our dead love-" she wills
pers, tell me.'
Bending over the frail form, George whis-
pers in her ear one little word:
"Chilblains ."-[From "At the Brink" by
Murat Halstead.