The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-01-08

which a love that she knew was stem
der and, true was offered to her.
Her lover did not presafor an an
swer, but waited hopefully, till seeing,
by her pale cheek end weary look,
that the indecision was becoming
equally and agony to her as to him
self, in a few gentle, yet determined
words, once more pleaded his cause,
adding:
IL must go to town to-day, but on
my return"
She caught at thereprieve, and MUIR
mered:
Eyes; when youcome back 1 viii tell
you"
II shall be back on the 28th. Oh,
that is the day of your garden-partyl
Well, with so many people, it may be
easier TO speak to you; and" lower
ing his voice, somehow l cannot fear
what you have to tell me-"
Te pressed her hand lingeringly, and
with a look of trust and love left her.
Nv.
1t was the morning of the 2Sth, a
morning grey and still, that ushered
in a perfect summer day, bright and
warm, and clondless, cooled by a soft
wind.
Elizabeth rose witha cheerful heart.
Her decision had been made; such love
and trust deserved but one answer,
and that one she would give, truthful
ly and without reserve.
At breakfast, amid the merry talk,
one voice rose:
"Who did you say, jamie, was COM
ing with the Hudsons2 Major who?"
"Maior Anson-a cousin, / think"
Never heard of him before"
"No; | think he lives at X, miles
away, and this is the first time he's
been here"
why, Lizzie, how hot you lookl"
"Do you feel faint, my dear?" said
her aunt kindly; "don't do too much
to-day"
"No-yes, thanks stammered Liz
zie, then, rather hurriedly: 81 think
/ know this friend of the Hudsons--at
least | did, if it is the one who married
q lady whose name he afterward
took"
"Yes, that's the man. Why, it is
funny you should meet here. Where
did you know him?"
"And what's he like2'
But further questions were checked
by the demand OF her eldest cousin
Tom for his sisters to come and mark
out the tennis-courts.
In n short moment, Elizabeth's
bright vision of the future was dark
ened; the u~nforgotten past rose up
with it's sad "reminiscences; and the
old torturing question that only that
very morning she had thought finally
settled, was reopened in all its uncer-
tainty. That both the two men who
most influenced her life should meet,
and at such a crisis in her fate!
She went to dress, feeling
helplessly unable to decide;
probably Major Arson would not
come, or if he did, they might not
meet, and he would have forgotten
her, and she need not see much ofhim;
and MI. Branksome-and then her
heart sank with a foreboding of the
wrong she must do him in any case.
To marry without love and wait for
it's coming afterwards, or to refuse
him now, after all that had passed be-
tween theml Her agonizing reflections
were broken abruptly by JAMES
voice.
care you ready? Come down; the
people have come. Why, how nice
you lookl You've put on all your
best things, / do believe, and that
color in your cheeks makes you look
quite prettyl',
For jamie, the "spoilt child" and
favorite cousin, felt privileged to make
personal remarks; and besides, in all
the pride of twenty, she thought
Lizzie's extra twelve years made her
quite old and long past the age Of
good looks.
In trembling silence Elizabeth fol-
lowed jamie into the room-but one
glance treasured her. The dreaded
moment was deferred, neither the
Major nor Reginald Branksome was
there.
Out on the lawn the people went;
games of iawn-tennis were made up,
the young people paired off-not al
ways to their own or other folks sat
isfaction-the elders at chatting, or
walked about the old-fashioned gar
den.
Elizabeth exerted herself to amuse
the guests, but whether from the heat,
or the subdued excitement, soon grew
tired; her head ached, and the noise of
the incessant chatter wearied her.
"Oh, for a few minutes restl'' she
thought.
She looked round; no one seemed to
want her just then, and, glad of a
chance of even ~momentary quiet, she
turned into a favorite path, shaded
by trees, and leading away from the
house. At the end was a rustic seat,
and on it she rested, leaning back
YEARLY with closed eyes. feeling al
most too exhausted to make any