Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-07-10
Wells. Alas. T thought of that miserly

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old man as u only means of help.
Then they all three talked together in
a low tone of voice. 1 could only I'M
derstand a word now and then OF
uncle's tremulous voice. Putting it all
together, l know he meant this: Joe
must not be sent to the P~enitentiary;
that would kill Aunt Margaret. The
farm-the old homestead know was
30 dear to him must go before that
should be done. Would Mr.. Wells adj
vance the money? Taking uncle's arm,
he drew him aside, so near by the cur
tain beneath which I stood concealed |
thought they could almost hear my
breathing; his voice was low, subdued
to a whisper, but 1 caught the name of
Nellie; something should be done if
Nell g would consent. Great Heavens!
L thought and shuddered, can it be pos
sible he will ask for Nellie's hand in re-
turn for that? Will uncle sell one child
to buy another!
81 a not tell; it shall not be unless
h is willing" Uncle said, and left the
room. 1t seemed like an age to me
that l stood there trembling withindig-
nation and horror. If she is willingp
Will they let her be the sacrifice to save
themselves, and then say that she is
willing; but then l thought of poor
Aunt Margaret, with bowed head and
broken heart; something must be done
for her. Yes, after all, it would be a
noble thing for Nellie to do.
just then she entered the room with
her father. l caught sight of her face
she knew it all. 1 had never seen her
look like that before. I am sure uncle
did not realize the extent of the sacri-
flee his daughter was about to make. L
would not wrong him by surprising
that he did. ?
'She is here to affirm that she is t1ill-
ing" uncle said. The stranger looked
up in bcwildered p~erplexity. Mr..
Wells came forward to meet Nellie,
saying:
"You have been made aware of the
Importance of this step. I suppose
there is no time for needless harangue
about the matter; if Joe is saved your
father must go tomorrow morning
with the money. OF course I have no
need of the place and do not want it,;
but it you will consent to an early mar
riage-and here the old man WINGED a
Little, perhaps because he couldn't en-
tirely forget the strangers presence
am willing to make you q dowry of the
amount, in cash, the value of the farm;
understand, however, that the wedding
shall take place Immediately"
81 am ready" vas all Nellie an
swered. Oh how her white, wretched
face and hollow voice smote upon my
heart. l thought l could scarcely wait
until the stranger, who had now &C
complished his mission, was ready to
depart. Then Nellie, with both hands
up to her face. ran out of the room. A
few minutes later uncle went out, fol-
lowed by Mr.. Wells, the latter saying
something about returning with a min.
lister.
My blood fairly boiled. 1 rushed out
of the % into the yard-I wanted to
breathe the fresh air; I was almost
stilled with indignation and anger.
Scarcely conscious of where I was 60
ing, I wandered among the trees some
distance down toward the gate. When
coming suddenly out upon the drive I
found myself directly in front of Mr..
Wells, who was slowly driving out. Po-
litely lifting his hat, he stopped his
horse for me to pass. but I found it ut
terly impossible to nov a step without
first giving vent to some of my angry
feelings.
Sir" I said, marshaling my cour-
age and endeavoring to appear undis-
mayed, sis it indeed possible that you
are so lost to every manly sentiment of
regard for the esteem and respect of
your fellow beings as to compel a wom-
an to marry you, and that when you
know she abhors the very ground you
walk upon? You know as we'll as 1
can tell you that Nellie and John love
each other dearly, and if she were
married to you . thousand times she
will always love hin just the same"
With that i was satisfied. and with
out waiting for a reply I rushed back
into the house. Uncle and Nellie were
bending ove Aunt Margaret, who had
swooned away. When at last she re-
turned to consciousness, it seemed as if
she would break her heart with weep
ing, first about Joe then about Nellie.
But Nellie kept up so bravely and tried
hard to appear as if she didn't think it
would be much of a sacrifice after all.
that gradually we all grew calm and
began to make ready for the wedding.
What a mockery it was, / thought, but
something must be done to make
things look a little cheerful. 1
gathered some fresh flowers for
the vases and arranged things about
the house with as much neatness and
care as my dropping spirits would per-
NIT of. Promptly at eight o'clock
there came a knock at the door. We
were all standing around in Aunt Mar
garet's room looking as wretched as
possible, Nellie, dressed in aplain white
muslin, trying to look cheerful, but
making a miserable failure-when, to
our great surprise. Mr.. Wells, unan-
bounced, walked into the room, ac-
companied by his nephew, John Ather-
leigh.
"Miss Nellie" he began, without
waiting to be spoken to, "my feelings
have undergone a great chang e since 1
saw you this afternoon, partly owing
to a certain little affair. You can ask
your Cousin Margie here about it some
time. But my feelings have been so
greatly changed that I should not ven
be willing to marry you o Of course
1 haven't been blind to the fact that
YOU and John have loved each other all