Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-02
THE MESSAGE,
The Change Wrought by a Dying
Wife's Admonitious.

1t was midnight, and two women
ava ted different messengers under ono
sroot. To the elder. the slow-paced
hours were bringing death; to the
younger, a bridegroom. The faded
mistress of the rich %parvenu's home
hal lain down to die, facing the doom
OF AL with the cold stoicism of the
neglected aud the unloved. Ready to
ta1e her place. impatient to clutch at
tie gauds the other despised. and to
parade Il triumph which should have
been her dishonor was the rival.
She was a young woman, of course.
Suotler feminine charms than bright
eyes, rosy lips always parting in a
smile. a slender figure, and audacious,
gtrlish ways, were hardly likely to fas-
cinate a man of John Harden's char
acter-a man who had riser from the
meanest ranks of life. spent his years
in money-getting. and summed rather
than sought good company IN the true
sense OF the word. 10 be put out of
c~ountenance by no one had been q
ACAuluN 1uuAllA VI Viz uOuCy.uldhCI y
career; whilst therefore surrounding
himself with all the glitter of %opulencc,
he remained the blunt. plain-spoken,
homeiy John Harden of early days.
He was just sixty; and the girl busted
with such affectation of occurrences on
some foolish boarding-school bead
work could hardly be twenty. Tho
pair sat opposite to each other by
the fire, only in~terchanging a word
from time to time. betraying nothing
of their secret thoughts to chance
eavesdroppers at the door. Yet, de-
SPITE such guarded speech, a quick OBJ
server must have seen at q glance how
it stood with both; the girls flushed
cheek and sparkling eye. the mans
look of suppressed satisfaction told
their own story. The dread messen-
ger. whose name is Death. as he passed
through the hhshed house. made way
tor q joyous successor whom under
various guises men call Love.
The hand of the costly timepiece On
the mantclshclf pointed to twelve. and
the mere sign seemed to chill the air.
MIR. Harden ros to make up the fire,
AS he did so letting one hand fall on
his companions. cit is growing late
and cold. Better go to bed, Con-
stance he said. in q voice of tender
concern.
The girl, allowing herself for a mo-
ment to be carried away by the i'm
pulse. leaned forward; her bright
brown curls just touched his scant gray
locks; her softly-rounded cheek just
came in contact with his own. lined
and corrugated with care. ''Should 1
leave you alone at such q timer she
whispered. He said nothing. but.
knecling before the fire. making it up
after mcthodical fashion, contrived at
me same time to transfer from his
wa stcoat pocket to her not unwilling
n'2ers a minute box of crimson leather
lined with velvet. Within CLEANED a
"e4ding ring, and, as Constance Emery
Eazed upon it furtively, her lovers face
showed exultation equal to her own.
10 this shallow girl the first glimpse
vi her w~edding-ring meant everything
shat bile itself could mean. She was
nothing. possessed. nothing; the ring
would give her all she set store by, and
telder her exactly what she wished
40 become. 1t would throw the respon-
eolity Of her own existence upon an
otner S shoulders; relieve her from the
oo'ous burden Of brcad-winning; al
iofu ease. luxury, SOFA power and the
ma OF way over an ordinary nature
mat by such women is made to doduty
.or affection. The ring. in short. was
oopen vide the portals OF a career
S1sef her WI heart. without it unat'