Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-12-31

some tea. And she led the way to III.
dining-room. How he longed 10 say
Come Dora. | have stiinething to tel
You, and tiieii. having her all ID. him
self. pour out these miserable doubt.
and fears in her ear and 50 be free from
them. But no; here was this crowd o
chattering girls besides, she must no
know he had such doubts. Even if sh,
said. Il love you, could fe be SIRE shs
was not saying it because she believed
it 10 be her duty. And so he finished
the evening as best he could. and al
night long his heart tormented him with
ceaseless qllestionings.
Several days passed before he foant
an Opportunity "a speak alone with Dora.
The house was filled with Il Number 81
young guests, and Dora must be every.
where.
Fred Long was just now taking q
well.earned vacation. After wears Of
hard work and months Of illness he had
come back to the home OF his childhood
| 70 regain lost health md strength. He
had called this he happiest SUMMER he
| had Known, ,but now an untimely frost
had spoiled its beauty Among the
friends whom Bora was entertaining
her cousin Florence Freeman was the
| only one he had previously known Nat
hrally they drifted together during these
miserable days. With Dora he was
suddenly i'll nt case and restless; her
quick eyes noted the change, and she
looked about for cause. Those same
| quick eyes s6uii noticed the walks and
talks with cousin Elorefice. mo won.
| der She admires him. she said, with d
/ ahafp little Bang at her heart, mentally
contrasting till, handsome Florence
with her own little self.
Presently the flock of merry school
| girls took flight Only Florence. and
you, and |, J said Dora; '.iust as it used
10 be- But for both the old charm
was destroyed.
One day they walked together along
the river bank, and Dora said. Our
| plaxtitne is tlone.n
/ Yes be answered, Il must go back
to my law books and YOU must have
time for your painting"
A light came into her eyes. '.Fhen |
/ am TO 20 ON paintinggn
Yes he said sl6wl@. II am maxi
! ing this sacrifice for you. | do hot wish
you to marry me until you have finished
| this work you have set your heart upon.
/ 1t viii occupy your whole wimerpn
YES; perhaps fffore. Give ME a
year, 7 she said eagerly, quits treon-
scious of the pain her words inflicted,
and only anxious for time wherein to
prove whether, after all these years of
| devotion, Fred could be won from her.
/ az q
and steady No trembling in the quiet
tones to betray the hearts unutterable
anguish as it whispered to itself, How
! glad she is to be free even for Il year.
As for Dora. her heart was saying,
He does not care.
And then they talked of Indifferent
matters, these two foolish ones, and the
precious hours in which they might
have understood each other slipped
away and were gone forever.
Once more apart, their letters were ex-
changed at regular intervals Fred's
kind and loving. .'Of course said
Dora, sit is his duty while Dora's
Were a curious study had her lover but
/ known. Each one little cooler. a
little briefer than the last, until by the
time spring had dressed the fields and
woods in green again poor Fred had
well-nigh made up his mind that Flor
ence was right. Dora's heart was all in
her painting; she had grown quite
weary of HIM
This suspense is killing me-" he
would say: ssbut I'll wait-it is better
it will soon be over
And Dora, working herself to shad-
ow over her painting, would think:
| The end cannot be far of. He will
soon be free
Early in the summer Fred found him
self again in the old familiar haunts.
but, alasi the old joyous light was want
ing everywhere A shade. mist,
seemed hanging over everything, and
Dora was farther away than ever.
| There were no merry guests to divide
her attentions; but, SO absorbed, SO ST.
lent. did she seem, he could hardly be-
| lieve il was the same Dorahe had known
in other days
A week passed by-a week of mingled
paradise and torment. Sometimes he
would be on the point of SAYING to her:
/ loneer;'' but a faint hope still fingered,
At other times he eould almost believe
himself mistaken all these months a
| fearful dream when her eyes met his
so earnestly and seemed filled for mo-
ment with the old, warm light
They sat together one day upon
little rustic seat, chatting and resting
after a walk. Fred had taken some
letters from his pocket which he wished
TO show to Dora. A picture fell from
among them. Dora stopped to recover
it, cousin Florly." she murmured,
and Fred began making some common
place remark upon its correctness.
Then, glancing at his companions face,
he was startled at its deadly pallor.
''Doraw he cricd ''you are i'll. We
walked too far You must rest
mo, I'm not i'll she said almost
sharply. ..How lovely Florence is
'.Yes. indeed She is well-nigh per-
feet But there is only one Dora in all
the world. taking her little. cold hand
in his. without Dora the world IS
meaningless to me-
Dora eyes were scanning the dis
tant hills. She made no reply She
was steelng her heart against him
'I1e WANTS 10 DE tIut, sllt ilIOuSHt,
'.but / will have no such love
Dora, you are not happy"
She started. Not perfectly 50. What
mortal is9''
at seems to me would be if only
things could be as they once were be-
| tween us.
This was the first allusion he had
made to the fact that he had noticed
any change in their relations.
Dora realized that u crisis was COM
ing. She simply awaited it in silence.
She would neither strive to avert nor to
hasten it.
Il have sometimes feared that you
and / have been mistaken. That is the
word, ] think. If SO. love you too well
to ask you to keep promise which has
become hateful TO YOU
Dora rose from her seat: sudden
fire famed in her pale check She
/ held her hand out toward him-the dear
| little hand that wore his ring. Some
| thing in her air bewildiered him. He
| stood moment motionless, then seized
| the hand in both his own. She shook
him off impatiently and drew the ring
| from her finger. Now he understood.
without word, Dorapf he said,
struggling for self-command as man
might battle for life against the waves
| of sea.
What is there to say?" asked Dora,
her voice clear rs silver bell, while
| her eyes shone like two stars. And
| AGAIN he told himself that lie. s.She i