Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-16

iov;na W. Lank.ey, quiet put cheery:
for all, some bit of inquiry after an ailment
OF piece OF work, or suggestion that would
heiP In some new e%ndeayor. They never
tired OF watching her, this quiet, peaceful
but powerful woman, of whom they knew
so little. and on this day, more than ever
before, there seemed u fascination aboa1
her That charmed them. The evening res
vealed the cause Of all the pounding and
hammering, for Miss Dorothy treated
them to a trip to New York with the aid
OF a magic lantern. She showed them the
miserles OF lower life there, its want and
poverty and crime. She described the diff.
ference between life in u tenement house
ana on the heights of the mountains; in one
place all the earth II could hope to own
was their last resting place, while on the
other vast acres could be held by the poor
est. Then she old them of high life in the
clty-lts hollowness and hard-hearted-
ness, and contrasted this with their own
life. All this made them feel proud and
glad to be living simple, honest lives apart
from these rushing, seething centers of
civilization, and when they broke UP and
started on their different roads ~honeward,
the full moon never shone down on a hap
pier group of mortals; yet not one, except
their hostess, had ever seen a railroad, or
travelled farther than Il mule could carry
them.
1T is all over, Pose, and 1 am glad"
signed out Miss Dorothea, as she closed
the door after the last guest. "I'll rest q
while, Dinah, while you s~traighten up"
She drew her own easy-chair before the
dark fire place, and proceeded to rake the
embers together and Goa them into a
blaze. A knock startled her. At this
hour it must mean sudden and severe sick
ness. She arose and opened the door to
find a stranger standing there. He was
unlike those h lived near her, and his
dress bespoke city-life.
Miss Langley, l believer"
His tones were musical, and startled
Miss Dorothy by a suggestion of a voice
she had once known. She replied, how
THAT is the name 1 am known by"-
"But not your real namew
She was offended at this, and would
have closed door, had he not stepped
inside the threshold, glancing at the fire
that was now blazing.
ny GU seem warm and comfortable: could
| rest a few moments? Ill not detain you
long, for it is getting late"
sit is already late, and l am very
weary, but you can sit a moment.
Dinah, bring forward a chair"
Dinah did as she was bid, but fingered
voice that she was annoyed at this unusual
call.
The stranger was tall, and what could be
seen OF his face was handsome, tut a heavy
growth of hair covered all but his bronzed
cheek bones and brilliant eyes. His fore
seated himself with the air OF one quite at
home, and looked around the room.
SIT is very like you," he said.
She started. Who was this that dared
trouble her in her retreat? She only
said:
''What do you know of me, sir?"
SHORE than any one in the world,
Dollyw
The tones were tender now, or she had
tainted.
"Can it be you bring me tidings of
the lost? Your voice is strangely like
his"
Again he said Dolly" but this time it
was uttered in tones so unspeakably low
ing, that she could only cover her face
with her hands and murnur:
'How dared you to open a tomb so long
time closed, Arthur Preston? Ihave bur-
led you and all the past in a deep grave,
Il am happy in my new liie.o
because love you, Dolly. Because ]
ave searched the world over for you. I5e-
cause | Can not live without you. Why did
you ever fee into this wilderness and give
me no token"
why did YOU break your vow to me
and marry awoman at the Pacific"
been some great mistake, Dolly. There
was a man il the mines whose name was
Preston; it vas he hat married. | had u
long, terrible fever; when l came to my
! self, 1 received no letters from you. 1
said to mystlf: SHE is true as steel,' and
went farthe- into tho mountains. At the
end of six months L went again to the
coast. In all that time | had heard moth
ing from You. | could not leave then, for 1
wanted money to make you happy. I
struck luck, and became a rich man. Then
l came back, to find you had fed into some
~ WV WV, ,.,pinr-rn,n l.rnu. 1uhffhnr Tl,,
only trace | could find was through your
banker, and l followed the clew hat led
me here. Last night l watched you frolic
with your dog. She does not care, she has
forgotten me- l said, n l cursed the cap
that covered your pretty brown hair. To-
people in the county, but l saw, too, that
your face was sad. l knew then that you,
too, were wretched, and 1 could not wait
till morning to tell you l was near"
She had been more than woman to have
listened to his ~pleadings unmoved; and
give her a night of unrest, with ~ide-open
eyes, bordering The question OF duty or
happiness. He settled it for her next
morning.
"You are mine, Dolly-mine alone. At
ter all these years OF waiting, to whom
else do you belong; but this mountain life
that you have learned to love, l shall live
also; and every year l promise you we
shall come back to Nemesis to celebrate
the beginning OF the years as Miss Doro-
thy's Day."
When She had gone, and a wall of LAM
entation went up from the fountain over
their loss, Simon Gravitt said to his wife:
''Never tell me what's going to happen
again, Susanna, for you don't know"
"Howsomever, I was right after all, for
the times will never be the same again,
and we shall never have another genuine
Miss Dorothy's Day. More's the pity
AIRS. MWyuret 3. I'eake, in Chicago IN
terror.