Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1885-06-13

AalA unSIy WILL AiinScn.
Surely he ought to rejoice that
Pearl would be happy, for Pugh was
in every way estimable, and was ris
ing rapidly in his profession.
Suddenly, however, about two
years before my story opens, his visits
to Pearl ceased, and he began vio-
lent Irritation with Claudia Cray.
Pearl did not die on account of it;
she did not even NOPE, as girls gen
orally do when crossed in love Her
manner was little more subdued--
her laugh came less frequently, but
she was not heart broken.
She put aside the sympathy Mrs.
Sherman would have offered her,
quietly, and gave her confidence to
no one.
Sometimes she met Frederick Pugh;
but they exchanged no words, not
even the ordinary ceremonious greet
ing of mere acquaintances; they were
as completely separated as if an ocean
rolled between them.
That evening, as Sherman sat
watching Pearl, and thinking of all
this, he noticed, with a thrill of pain,
that she was a little paler, a little
more quiet, than usual. He remem
bered that she had met Pugh at the
picture gallery that day.
Some magnetic influence in the
gaze of Will made Pearl look up,
She flushed under the serene luster
of those bright blue eyes, and her
fingers forgot their cunning, and
dropped the ball of wool she was I'M
winding. IT rolled toward the fire
there was bright fire in the CRATE
and, in STOPPING to recover it, her
light sleeve dipped into the blaze.
The flames leaped up-Will sprang
forward, caught her in his arms, and
crushed out the fire.
She was frightened, weak, and dir
zy, with remembering what she had
escaped; and, for moment. she
stood circled by his arm, her head on
his shoulder, her soft hair resting
against his cheek. All the love he
had SO long kept under, rose up like
an unbound tyrant.
He pressed his lips to hers in one
passionate kiss-he would have told
her, then, how dear she was to him,
but something seemed to hold him
back. He would wait little until
the excitement of her recent peril
should be over; would wait, and
think it over calmly.
All that night he sat up, thinking.
He loved her with all his soul; he
should never care for another woman.
But he was not quite sure of the con-
dition of her heart What if she had
still little tenderness for Pugh?
He feared she might have. He had
seen her kiss picture which he felt
MORALLY sure was Fred's. Would
he like his wife to kiss Fred Pugh's
picture? Would he like to think she
ever had kissed it?
Then he remembered how she
blushed sometimes when he looked at
her, and took courage. It might be
that the old dream could be forgot
ten in the new. At any rate, he
would know before he slept, he said,
with sudden resolution, aud after
breakfast he went out for a walk.
He belonged to the Roundabout
Club, and for the want of something
better to do, sauntered in.
There were only two or three pres
ent-idling over the morning papers.
AS he entered, he caught the name of
Pearl Cameron. Will Ashton, reck-
less young fellow, was telling story.
Sherman Redeemed at hearing her
name on Ashton's lips, and was about
striding forward, and calling him to
account for it, when Ashton's next
words arrested him and forced him
to listen.
''You see, Fred Pugh was dead in
love with herl Well, she is a charm