The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-03-14

SO M~afi8n-EIa SaGiiEaE upoif mist
I teading Tnat letter; and 1t was not until
hearing Miss Melia's wordstoher moth
er that she awoke to the consciousness
that fate would have even a greater sor-
row than this in store for her.
One wear ago she had parted from her
accepted lover, Walter Hinton, in anger
on both sides. Walter had become lCal-
Gus and had spoken sharply to her, and
in a manner which she considered her
self justified in reHenting. Walter was
too proud to apologize, and Marion too
proud as we'll as too delicate 70 make adj
vances to a reconciliation: and so they
had drifted apart, both miserable, until
Walter had broken the last link by 60
ing ont west.
She heard of him from time to time
! through his family, but nc word or mes
sage to herself ever m In all this
while she had looked forward, with a
faint, yearning hope, to the possibility
of his some time returning, and of all
being made up between them. ButnOw
this last hope was rudely stricken to
the ground. Walter was going to be
married. He had forgotten her and was
lost to her forever.
ooh, it is hard-so hard to bear"
thought Marion. as with hands tightly
clasped, she passed slowly under the
apple boughs of the old orchard. Life
is bitter. 1t has taken all from me: |
can have no more to give. Only my
dear, dear mother and Myra! For
their sakes I must he strong and try to
bear it all"
On the verge of the orchard, where
the high bank sloped abruptly to the
meadow, she came to a mass of tangled
honeysuckle fashioned into a rustic ar
Dor. Walter had made it for her, and
here, in fact, it was that they had last
parted.
Down in the meadow ran a little path
by a short cut to Walters home a
couple of miles away. How often she
had sat here of an evening and watched
for him! She could scarcely look back
upon any time of her life, orupon any
object now before her eyes, which was
not connected with some association Of
Walter. There was the walnut tree
which he and Jack used to climb, and
there the clear, laughing brook in
which he had taught her to steer the
little boat which he had made for her,
laden with grain, down to Jacks famous
water mill, at the roots of that old viii
low. Further up was the real "grist
and saw mill" which Jack had always
been so DESTROYS of owning, and which
everybody said would be such a good
investment for one who could manage
it properly.
And then Marion, seated on the bench
In the rustic afbor, turned and looked
long and yearningly, at the old farm
house peeping from the great beeches
across the orchard. No other place on
earth could ever be home to her. And
her motherI Oh, it would be harder
still for her, whose whole life of 80
years mad Been spent under that roof!
A Sudden sound aroused Marion-a
sharp whistle as Of some one calling o
dog-and saw through tear-dimmed
eyes the figure of a man hurrying along
the pathway In the meadow. She drew
back behind the screen of honeysuckle. |
The path led past the arbor, but at
the foot of the steep bank, and she
would not be discovered in her retreat.
So she thought, but a moment or two
after there was d sound Of footsteps
ascending the bank, a rustic of the hon
evsuckle branches, and Marion saw
standing In the entrance of the arbor
ihe figure of a tall young man, who
looked almost as much startled as her.
self.
For an instant they gazed at each 9th
er-Marion pale, and the stranger with
a flush rising to his handsome face.
Then he said as he held out his hand:
Marion, don't you know me?"
She gave him her hand in silence. 1t
was Walter. And suddenly with the
sight of him came the full bitterness of
her sorrow, inthe consciousness that he
was lost to her forever. She wasnoth-
ing to him now, and he must be moth
ing to her.
II am glad to have SO Unexpectedly
found Won here In this dear old spot"
he said. II arrived at home only an
hour age, and could not rest until / had
seen you."
She met his eyes bent upon her with
a strange earnestness, and her pale
cheek family flushed but she couldnot
have spoken a word
Marion, he said suddenly, have
YOU no welcome for me? Is it possible
that you cannot forgive nae r
Forgive youy'
Eyes, for all my absurd jealousy and
pride. 1 have never had i happy mo-
ment since I parted from you. Marion,
and + have come back at last to ask your
forgiveness. and to beg, too, for the
love which / forfeited but which | can
not live without"
IT do not understand you. Walter. I
do not know why YOU should speak thtas
TO me, when when yosa are going t. be
married.