The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-07-04
Written for THE ARxANsAw TRAvxLER.
 HOW ONE DREAM ENDED.
BY HELEN N. CLARK.
These were the closing words of val


 edictoy:
 !" Classmates, tonight our paths di- verge forever. Some of us go forth to dreamy ideal lives, to be society queens, some to lives of privation and toil and some perhaps, alas, may grow weary just upon the threshold and we shall behold them o more.
 "We may never realize our girlhood's s dreams of love and happiness, but let us remember that each of us has a place to fill in the busy world, that to each one of us some sacred duty will be given. Let us perform that duty nobly, fearlessly, no matter at what sacrifice, and at ife's close, we may hear the Master say {: Well done, enter into the joy of thy Lord'"
 Of all that throng of "sweet girl grad uates," none went forth with such brilliant promise, such certainty of grand fruition, as the fair valedictorian. One brief sea- son of life that to her was a dream poem, then came the great financial crash ot g. Her father went to ruin with thousands of others. When the storm had cleared away, she found her self amid the debris penniless, and alone, save for an invalid mother. Her father filled the grave of suicide.
 Soon she came to realize that the SUD- port of herself and mother would devolve upon her; but how? In times of great financial depression every department of work is ove.run, the supply exceeding the demand, and she could not wait. She might marry, and thus secure for herself and mother their former ease and af1uence. But her whole womanhood revolted against such step, she had never met the one who could compel her highest love, and whose manhood she would be willing to crown with those wifely gifts, which in the light of happi- ness, thrill and grow with the matchless- ness of supreme and absolute devotion. Her mother demanded more and more of her time, and the mere pittance gained from the work of her inexperienced hands did not keep them in the bare necessa- ries of life. Every avenue to employ ment seemed closed and she had come to feel that in the vast limitations of this great world there was no place for her and hers. l think that the saddest thought which can come to a gifted sen- sitive being, is to feel that the future holds neither joy nor gladness, and that the past must ever be the Mecca to which the memory must journey, in order to shut out the vision of long dull years, as they loom up empty and loveless in the distance.
 One day it occurred to her to write to her mothers brother, who lived all alone on bleak New England farm. In few days came reply: "Child," it said, "I am poor and old and well-nigh helpless, butyou and yours can share with me the little that have"
 They went, but even they were hardly for the barren and desolate waste and poverty which surrounded the old farm. Many, many times her heart misgave her as she realized how much was expected of her and how little she could do. The winter passed. She had not been idle, but had matured her plans for making the farm support them, and when spring opened, hope came back to her once more.
 With the aid of hired help she put every available acre of ground into culti. vation. She herself attended to and bar gained for the sale of her produce. The old orchard was constant source of re- either in fresh, dried or pre- served fruits. Her butter and poultry the highest market price. Gradually she found herself in comforta- ble circumstances. Every year added to her bank account. The old life had | almost unconsciously slipped away from her, and she was in measure contented because duty well performed is its own reward. She knew nothing of her former gay circle nor of her schoolmates. They had gone out of her sphere as completely as if they had never been. Once party of gentlemen stopped at the house to re- fresh themselves. Among them was Sormer lover. He recognized her and re- newed his suit. She said, "I do not love you. Without lsve marriage would be My duty lies here."
 And so the years went OF. No one seeing the quiet sad-eyed woman, fast approaching middle age, would have guessed what dreams of beauty her girl