Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-02
do you suppose I was blind o, a f,olp

DO you suppose / was blind y a fools
These long. long winter evenings
dragged out as best I could alone, did
l not know how they were spent by
you? l was not going to Haunt myself
before the world as an insulted wife to
court the neigh5ors' pity for the Sights
put upon me by my husband. No;
sat alone amid all the show so hateful
to me, with unspoken curses in my
heart. What right had you to treat
me thus? Was | the only one of Us
two to grow old and wr'nkled? If oul
marriage was not blest with children.
the misfortune vas mine as we'll as
yours. These things rest with the AL.
mighty"
For a moment, q moment only, her
voice swayed to real feeling, as she
continued:
"Ihere was a time when life was
hard struggle to us and you behaved
kindly to me, I would have laid dowr
my life to make you happy. And ]
was ever a true wife to YOU, John-yor
can hot deny that. DO you remember
when we kept our little shop. how
used to sit up till past midnight ironing
your shirts and mending your clothesi
And, the first time you were summoned
to sit on q jury, l was so proud to have
you go. | never told you that I sold
my fathers watch-the very watch he
left mc-to buy your black coat and
turn you out like a gentleman. And
now" y
Yet one tremer more as she got ou'
the rest of the sentence: a
"And now, had YOU treated me with
the consideration due to a " fe. had
You cared for me at all. I should d.
the first to say to you on my dyini
bed: '.Do not fret, my dear; MARI
some good woman; try to be happy fd
my sake.'"
Then she did indeed look at him
penetratingly and with a startling fix
edncss that seemed to search his very
soul. Clenching her hand. as if Nc.
tween himself and her stood her dead.
lest foe, she added:
':Do l not know what will happen az
soon as l am put in my grave? In
spite of Your caution. I see well enough
who is waiting to take my place.
Marry that ungrateful girl we picked
out of the gutter. Ring the ioy-bells :
year hence at the birth of a son and
heir. No good will come of it. Con
science will crush your, unclean
heart, perjured tongue! You will
tremble when Death stands near YOU.
reckoning as he now beckons me, and
tremble in vain"
White as the dying woman the hus.
band leaned forward with q word Of
exculpation. an entreaty for pardon
on his trembling lips. But 1t was too
late. The force of ebbing life had
already spent itself. Mrs. Harden
fell back unconscious on the pillow. and
as he caught her in his arm, he saw
that the end had come. The faithful
Anna. hearing his cry for help, has,
tened to the bedside to find her mis-,
tress dead.
So enticing the warmth of that luxu.
rious fur-lined cloak, so soft and easy
the armchair in which her patron had
settled her that Constance Emery fell
ready to browse. But her brain was
too busy with the future to indulge il
sleep. She must, would keep awake.
in order to think out the future as it
opened to her charging gaze. Per-
haps the girl was not deserving OF
wholesale condemnation after all. Vul-
garity may be indeed be a piece of ILL
fortune as much as a wry nose or mis-
shapen foot; only to the rarely en-
dowed n is it possible to burst the
chains of custom. bringing-upNa and her.
edity.
In the midst of foolishly
dreams of silks and trinkets. carriages
and lackeys, boudoirs and fashionable
receptions, she was aroused by the
abruptest intrusion. Rising to her
feet. for she knew we'll who the intrud-
er must be, for she was fain TO clasp
his hand, to whisper an e%ndearing
word, to greet him fondly as she had
done surreptitiously many times before.
But, at a glance toward her patron,
her heart stood still. Clever she was
not, feminine tact she possessed in a
moderate degree; yet she realized in a
moment. without knowing the cause,
the nature of the transformation that
had come over him. She stood aghast,
not venturing to step forward, lacking
courage even SO much as to utter his
name.
He came close up to the table by
which she stood. holding in his hand a
small strip of paper barred with pink.
Constance" he said, in that brief,
hard. unanswerable voice she knew so
we'll, though now used for the first
time to her-''Constance, l can not
marry you. I shall never marry again.
Here is compensation for a broken
promise"
He turned up the lamp in order that
she might see what he had given her.
There it was plain enough-nothing
could be plainer-a check for f5.0 600.
The astonishcd girl was dumb. and
he hardly knew whether as yet she
fully understood the meaning of his
words. Something else he had to say,
however, Enthusiastically clear and to
the purpose also.
lit will be better for You not to stay
here any longer. Ihave ordered coffee
to be ready by six o'clock, and the
brougham at half-past. in time to catch
the early express. William will drive
you to the station and give you a first
GLASS ticket. Mind and be ready"
Still not a word from the scarlet
checked, mortified. trembling girl. Had
any one half an hour before assured
Constance En- cry that she should thus
stand silent and abashed in the pres