St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-11-28

'G am not going to marry Julia En-
mis- or anybody else. y
After that little more was said for
some time.
Once or twice Jennie, who felt that
she was the innocent cause Of the sud-
den silence which had fallen upon
them, attempted to start the converse
ton again by asking questions about
neighbors orssaffairs on the ranch, but
Erastus only replied in the fewest words
possible, and still looked straight in
front of him.
Jennie was half inclined to be offend
ed at this. She thought him angry be-
cause Lucy had engaged herself to a
man whom he did not like Could
she have seen his face she would have
known that some feeling deeper than
mere dislike for Annelsey was at work
within his breast.
As for Lucy, the assertion of Erastus,
that he was not going to marry Julia
Ennis or anybody else gave her a sud-
den start and momentary insight into
his true feelings.
Was it possible after all that he loved
her?
The thought sent all the blood rush
ing back upon her heart, and for a
moment she felt that she should suffo-
cate. Then came another thought.
Perhaps Erastus had proposed to Julia
and been rejected. This she felt could
not be unless Julia had suddenly be-
come enamored of some new admirer,
for certainly she had always shown a
preference for Erastus over the other
young men of the neighborhood.
Still the thought chung to Lucy that
such might be the case. and that in
stead of feeling bad because of her own
engagement to another, his silence was
caused by pain at being reminded of his
refusal by Julia, and her whole mood
changed, and she became as cold and
hard as he himself appeared.
AS they neared home she began talk
ing glibly of anything and everything
she could think of-the presents they
had brought for each member of the
family-toys for Johnny, dress for
mother, neck-tie for Erastus himself,
and silver tobacco-box for father-all
bought with money saved out of that
sent them for their own use; going on
from this to tell of their school, and of
a couple of girls who came on the boat
with them as far as Sacramento, where
their parents lived; and how these girls
were related to one of their own neigh
bors, and how, in answer to their in
quifies, Jennie and she had told them
all about this neighbor; how near they
were to their own home; how their
nh Ievx hnl
jured by the washings from the mines.
Here she came to sudden stop.
She had unintentionally run upon that
which they were all trying to avoid the
mention OF, and there came to her not
only knowledge of her blunder, but
an entirely new feeling-a feeling that
she was somehow responsible for the
losses and sufferings of this family and
every other family in the valley whose
homes were endangered by the opera
tons of the hydraulic mining compa-
MES at Gravel Hill.
At least she had arrayed herself on
the side of the companies; was engaged
to be married to one who was interested
in the continuance of the work which
was certain to bring more loss and suf-
fering to these people.
She was no longer of them or with
them; for from the moment she became
the wife of James Annelsey her inter
ests would be opposed to those of every
one she had known since they had set
tied in the valley.
Even her father and mother, and
Efastus, must feel that she had DELHI
erately chosen to desert them in the
hour of their greatest loss, and had
gone over to their enemies in order to
save herself from sharing in the hard
ships which might be coming upon
them.
All this passed through her mind in
an instant, and she sank down in her
seat with feeling of shame, and a
hatred of herself which made it impos-
sible to say word more.
mo wonder Erastus is SILENT" she
thought. s'He can not bear even to
selfish. Oh! why did I never think
of it in that light before? II is that
which has made him so cold to me ever
since Mr.. Annelsey first came. He has
thought all the time that was trying
to save myself from any suffering that
may come upon the rest of them. Oh,
if I could only dien'
By this time, however, Erastus had
partially recovered from the blow
which had fallen 50 suddenly, if not
unexpectedly, and was able to take up
the thread Of the conversation where
Lucy had dropped it; and Jennie, anx-
ious not to reach home in such q
frozen silence as to attract the notice
of their mother, also chimed in, thus
giving her sister time to rally again;
and when they stopped in front of the