Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-12-14
9ai19Rg eagle
BETWEEN THE TWO.

should be glad to forget; of which we are 81
much ashamed that we scarcely dare to thlnl
of them, and when we do, find ourselves hur
Tiedly muttering the words we imagine W.
ought to have said, or making audible apollo
gies for our conduct to the air; and yet thest
are not always episodes which necessarily in
vvlvc tangible sense of wrong done either
to ourselves or to others. Some such episode:
in commonplace life, such as must have
fallen TO the lot Of many men, we would
here reveal.
Once upon a time, to commence in an or
thodox fashion, a man and a maid lived anC
loved. On the wonan's part the affection
was as pure and generous IS ever filed the
breast Of maiden; on the mans rs warm as
his nature permitted. His love did not alb
sorb his whole soul; it rather permeated his
mind and cuored his being. Like most men
of his not uncommon stamp, his affection
once given, was given forever. His was not
a jubilant nature, nor did his feelings lie near
the surface, and his manner WIS uDdemon-
strative. The girl was clear-sighted enough
to sec that what love there was was pure and
true, and she made up for its scarcity with
the overfowinGs of her sympathetic nature.
She idOliZed rather than cOldOnCd She gave
in such measure that she could not perceive
how little she was receiving in return; or, If
she noticed 1t, her consciousness of its worth
seemed to her full equivalent. He was an
artist, and circumstances forced the lovers to
wait, and at the same time kept them apart.
Il couple Of days once a month, and week
now and again, was the limit of the time
they could spend together. This. of course,
prevented them getting that intimate knOWl-
edge of each others personality which both
recognized as an essential adjunct to the hap
pineSs of married life, though they did their
best to obviate it by long letters, giving full
details Of daily events and of the society in
which they moved. The remedy was an i'm
perfect one Strive rs they might, the
sketches were crude, and the letters had
tendency to become stereotyped. We only
mention these details to show that they tried
to be perfectly honest with each other.
While the girls life in her quiet country
home was one that held little variety i'll it,
it was part of the mans stock in trade
to mix with society and observe closely.
Whether he liked it or no. he was compelled
to make friends to such an extent as to afford
him an opportunity Of gauging character.
Unfortunately for the purposes Of my study,
he had 10 sympathy with pesslmlsm or pes
simists. He loved the good and the beautiful
for their own sakeS, and in his art loved to
dwell on the bright side of human nature, a
side which the writer has found so much
easier to meet with than the more so;nbre
cOloring we are constantly told is the pre-
dominating one in life. Like most artists he
was somewhat susceptible, but his suscepti-
bility was on the surface; the inward depths
of his soul bad never been stirred save by the
gentle girl who held his heart, and she was
such as to inspire a constant and growing
affection rather than a dcmOnstrative passion.
At one OF the many houses ut which he was
a welcome guest the lover found young girl,
bright, senSuouS, beautiful Unwittngly he
compared her with the one whose heart he
held ard the comparison was unsatisfactory
to him: do what he would, the honesty of his
nature compelled him to allow that this beau
tiful girl was the superior in a number Of
ways to her TO whom be had pledged his life
He was caught in the Circe'S chains Of golden
hair, and fancied, almost hoped, yet fearing,
lest like bands of cObwebS in the fairy tale,
the tolls were too strong for him to break
He could see, too, that the girl regarded him
with feeling SO warm that n chance spark
would rouse it into a flame Of love, and this
gave her an interest as dangerous as it was
fascinating. His fancy swerved. Day after
day he strove with himself, and 10y efforts
too violent to be wise, he kept away from the
siren uatil his iatiamad fancy forced him back
to her side.
To the maiden in the country he was par
TALLY honest. In his fctteTs lie faithfully told
her Of his visits, and as far as he could, re-
corded his opinions of the girl who had cap
tivated his fancy. Too keen an artist to DO
blind to her faults, lie dwelt on them III his
frequent letters at unnecessary length When
the lovers met the girl questioned him closely
about her rival, but only from the interest
she felt in all his friends, known and I'M
known, for her love for him was too pure and
strong to admit of jealousy, and he, with
what honesty he could, answered her ques-
tons uureServcily.
Little 10y little he began to examine HIM
self. Which girl did be really love: Should
he not be doing wrong to both by not de
cidingl The examination was dangerous, be-
cause it was not thorough. TIE premise was
true, hut incomplete. Yet we should wrong
him if we implied that be for a moment
thought seriously about breaking off his en-
gagemcnt. Even had be wished his almost
mistaken feelings of honor would have for
hidden it. The constant surface introspec-
the suhioo; bcen himself, lie would have des-
pissed and avoided, could have but one result.
an ohliquity OF mental vision. He had a ho,-
ror of being untrue, untrue to himself as I'M
true to his lass, and yet he dreaded causing
pain TO 4 bosom SO tender and innocent.
When he sat down 10 write the periodical
letters t. the girl to whom be was engaged
he found his phrases becoming more and
t,,aT,, .~Np,.ql r,,l tr,,o-,lal tool ,,c;,,.
not to let her know what he felt was
surrounding her, and the letters grew as IN
natural rs they had been The reverse They
Were descriptive of the man, rather than the
reflex Of his personality.
The country girl was quick of perception.
The letters were more full Of c1deaIing terms
than ever: they were longer and told more
Of his lfN, set between the lines she could see
that they were by ono whose heart was rot at
rest, and that sense of duty and not Of
pleasure prompted the ample details. Their
very regularity was painful; it seemed rs if
the writer was anxious TO act up 10 the letter
of his understanding. She knew that the
letters were often written when he was tired
out. Why did he not pat of writing. and.
taking advantage Of her love. let her exercise
her trust in kini Eagerly She. scanned the
pages to find the name Of her rival. and hay
ing found it, would thouShtfully weigh every
word Of description, Of blame or praise
When the lovers met She questioned him
more closely than she had ever done before.
lie was seemingly rs fond as ever, no ende;.r-
ing, no accustomed cares was forgotten He
spoke Of himself and his friends Is freely as
usual, and ali her questions were answered
without a shadow of reserve Yet the an
Sv-,rS V.Pr-p slower and his TY,a-,rar .f,-o,,+
and thoughtful. For a time she put il down
TO the absorbing nature Of his pursuits; but
little by little belief that she was 10 longer