Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-12-18
AFTER SIX YEARS.
BY MARY c. PRESTON.

BY MARY C. PRESTON.
II am giving you q treasure, my son.
Why do you hesitate? Surely you
have no other lover"
The sick man lifted himself on his
pillow, and looked eargerly, fearfully
In the face above him.
1t was a naughty, yet frank coun-
tenance-a face which mingled strength
OF vii! with pride, and tenderness
with truth, yet had enough poetic fire
in it to make the request his father
made Of Clarence Livingstone a very
hard one tor him to grant.
For Elmar Livingstone, dying, re-
numbered the wrongs done by him Sin
the days OF nature" and, recalling a
lucky venture, which, by enriching him,
had beggared another, asked his son
TO take that others orphan daughter
for his wife.
Clarence knew nothing OF the hour
OF temptation which saw his fathers
fall-lSnew Of no reason more powerful
than Christian charity which had in
duced his father to adopt the penni-
less girl, when she was left alone in the
world; and, full OF fair dreams for his
future, he shrank from marriage
with one whom he had rarely seen, in
his years of study and travel, and who
was to him only shy, awkward child
no more. -.
Il have no love-. he answered..
"Why do you ask this OF me, my dear
father? Make any provision you wish
for Miss Munroe; dover her as richly
as you choose. But leave her, as L
pray you to leave me, free. Ihaveno
love for her, nor she for me; we are
strangers. Let us remain SO, lest in
mating us as you would you do both
lives injury"
"Stoop down, Clarence. She loves
you; you have been her hero, her idol
Tor years. / have fostered her idola-
try for | have wished to atone for the
wrong did her; and there is but one
way--to make her the wife of my only
son: My boy, you will not refuse to
make my last hours easier?"
FEATHER, l would purchase your
peace with my life, were it possible.
But there is surely some other way
than this, and I will find it. What is
the wrong OF which you speak? l
must know it, since I am to atone:
and trust me, my father, though it
take my life, will not fail to make
the atonement a complete one"
"Ihece is no other way" moaned
the sick man; land since you bid me
unseal my lips, / will tell you how |
gained my wealth, and planted my
lite with aloes of remorse, my son.
My cordial! The story is not long, but
very hard to te|l-very hard my boy
--for it will make you blush for your
father"
And, while the summer night closed
in, gray and spectral, Clarence Living
stone, listening to his fathers story.
OF q credulous friend betrayed, and
wealth snatched from q too trusting
hand, bent his young head in humil-
iation wholly new and wholly intoler-
able to him.
Without, in the clustering shadows
Of the veranda, dropping like q lily on
it's stem, stood Lena Munroe, drink
ing in the tale, with pulses beating as
strongly as those in the breast OF her
Clarence, in her own girllsh bosom
pain as keen, regret as bitter; for she
had loved Elmar Livingstone as a
second father, and felt the sin OF the
dying as keenly as the wrong done the
dead.
Besides, another pang was hers-for
Clarence had begged his father not to
ask him to be more than astranger to
her! .
The story was told, and the old man
lay painting on his pillows, his face
damp with dews OF coming death; and
the girl, peering into the chamber with
wide, pain darkened eyes, saw Clarence
on his knees beside the couch.
"Forglve, me, my son! I did the
wrong for YOU" came hoarsely to her
from the drawl lips of the dying.
*'Make her your wife, and all will be
"Sii. h)liO A9 pNlS tSS a. IlcHCt Ui1-
plucked. She has grown dear to me
as 81 daughter-and, my boy, she loves
YOU" e.
A hot flush crept into her face at
the low, broken words, but it died in
stantly, for Clarence was replying, and
she bent her face to her hands as she
listened.
*'She may be all you say" came in
the clear tones OF the young man; but
she is no more to me than flower
which ] have no wish to gather If
she loves me, it is with childish love,
which will not linger. Rest content,
father, she shall not suffer through
your your regard for me. I will give
back every illgotten dollar. But !
will keep my freedom; lean not sell
it, father = ...--5.@ .....
"What do You mean?"
/. "That I will make over to Miss
Munroe every acre that yon leave me
every farthing that is her due. Nay,
not one dissenting word. as the old
man strove to speak Let me keep
my honesty, and make my own way
with clean hands, il empty ones. /
would not offer my hand to your
ward now, even though I1oved her,
which I do not. 3 II. 3
Clarence, my son!'