The Penn's Grove record., 1885-01-10

never could ~
Then he went away and l was left
alone, too utterly heart-broken to utter
words to stay him. He looked
back-never once. l watched him till
the green branches hid him from view /;
aud then | walked away, to be alone
with my misery.
And 50 we parted-my love and L
under the pink and white blossoms in
the old orchard. But, oh, if I could
see him once again, to kneel at his feet
and tell him how he was mistaken-if
[ could only hear his dear voice whisper
forgiveness should be happy
Harold left that night without a word
or a message for me. Helen came to
me in tears to ask for some explanation.
"Poor little Nora ~ she sobbed.
"Dear, he will come ~back--poor Harold
Oh. what did you say to him ? His eyes
were full of tears and he could hardly
peak when he said Goodbye Oh,
Nora, a man must feel very deeply when
he cries like a woman He made me
promise not to tell you till he was gone;
and he took that little gold heart out Of
your work-box. dear, and said. Il sup
pose | may keep this as a recollection OF
a happy time that after all vas simply
a mistake p"
Don't, Helen ~ | cried. "Oh, stop
you will drive me mad ~
Three long days came and went, and
l watched and waited for Harold's re-
turn ; for l thought he would surely
come back, when in a calmer moment
he had considered how little ground
there was for disagreement. Alas, |
did not know then the real reason that
had sent HIM away, and only fancied it
was a foolish lovers quarrel that a few
words would explain ! And so l
watched and hoped, and started at
every sound, every step, and longed for
the moment of his r~eturn-the moment
that never came.
"Here, Nora" said Tom, tossing a
letter across the breakfast-table to me.
''From Harold, who, l conclude, has
come to his senses. Post-maTk dublin
not so far off after ALL"
With my door locked, l tore open
the letter and read 1T all through to the
end in a blank numb sort OF a way,and
then sat still and tried to realize it all.
Goodbye |" ran the last words.
Heaven bless you and make you
happy My last wish is that we may
never meet again. Surely the world is
wide enough for us two !"
Tears of bitter shame and sorrow
coursed down my cheeks as | read and
re-read Harold's letter, and saw too
late the game of cross-purpOses we had
been playing o
Captain Warner, the officer In the
cavalry regilnenth-Charlie's regimentl
What did it mean
Again and again | read those last
words before | could fully understand
1t all-those last words 50 full of min
glej sorrow and reproach.
81 am going away" he wrote -
''away to the other side of the world,
and in all human probability shall never
set foot on British soil again. 1t was
accidentally that | heard Of your en-
gagement to Captain Warner. Nora,
think you it is such a light thing to
wreck a mans happiness-to blight his
whole life ? Does not your conscience
upbraid you that, while wearing n
mans likeness and being engaged to
him, you a lightly break that
and unreservedly give your heart to an
other? Who he Is / know not but,
from the bottom of my heart, | pity
him. Oh, Nora, you can never know
how | loved you, my first and last love
how blindly and fully l believed and
trusted in you Now that all is over,
all proved false, | feel as if l could
-. -. fnSNh - VgAnrr Fnnnnn ~.
child again ~
Hour after hour passed unheeded,
and yet each minute was bearing him
farther and farther away over the wide
blue sea, away to another country,
thinking l had been false, when all the
time my heart was breaking for love of
him. My engagement to Captain War
ner-what was it? A fabrication from
beginning to end Oh, why did not
Harold ask me? One word would have
explained 1t all.
Again and again did Helen piteously
implore me to let her IN ; but not even
my own sister could see me in the first
hours of my sorrow. Afterwards the
whole world might come but for one
day | must be alone to battle with my
grief and remorSe. and weep in solitude
over the grave of my dead hopes.
When the darkness came, | knelt down
and prayed that | might me day meet
Harold and tell him how he had mis-
judged me.
Ineyer told Tom and Helen the facts;
[ buried my sorrow in my heart, and
hoped that tine might make all plain.
Harold told no me not even his
mother-whither he was going : and
weeks heightened INTO months, and
months into years, yet no tidings came,
till at last Harold Broughton's name
ceased to be mentioned.
Make our house your home" said
Tom and Helen ; and 80 l lived on, as
people will live, in spite of all sorrow
and disappointment,
Five years have passed, and, at the
age of twenty-thTee, l am living on
with the vague hope that has never
quite died-the hope that L shall see
Harold before l die. Charlie came
home yesterday. He is the same dear
affectionate brother as of old and,
alone with him, | told him everything
lust as it happened, how l had loved
and lost. kissing me tenderly, he
softly quoted the words of the poet
IT'S better 10 hare loued rnd lost
Than neper to haze loved at alt
My heart grows weary and my hope
faint as the days glide by, with never a
word from Harold, who perhaps may
be in a lonely grave in some far-oa
land /; yet but for that hope l think |
should long ago have been sleeping in
the quiet ohurchyard.
1t is a glorious evening in the month
of may /; there are hustle and confusion
on the pier at kingstown. Thd even
ing sun is shining on the range of blue
mountains and making the deep-blue
waters of the bay glisten and sparkle
like diamonds and the mail-boat is
steaming in, with the sunlight dancing
on the foam and spray that follow in
her wake. Standing on the deck eagerly
scanning the shore, his face bronzed
aud aged, is Harold Broughton the hero
of Nora's love-story. There is the
light of anticipation in his dark eyes as
he springs on shore and hastily enters
the train that is standing by the plat
fonm. Leaning back in the carriage, he
folds his arms and seems lost in his
- INA 49,. 30 aAEta.1