St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-12-26

SlOT6 lOI uoIs AlCeE Vdlllly WdlliliS lOIlS
while for Paul to come back. she became
trif1e anxious and went in the house. She
pretended not to be looking for anybody,
but she had eyes for nothing ex-
cept to see him and be con-
WINGED that he had not done some desperate
act or made way with himself. A vague
fear oppressed her, but it took no we'll
defined shape. She did not actually believe
that any harm had befallen him, and yet
she was afraid that she had driven him to
do something which would fill her with re-
morse during all her life After she had
searched the house all over without finding
trace or hlm-DecOming more and more
excited as her disappointment increased
she burst into tears and sat down at the top
of the great hall stairway and had good
cry. She was certain when she began the
search that Paul would come out from be-
hind some door or curtain and suddenly
throw his arms around her and kiss her. and
then they would have good laugh together
and the clouds would disappear. But this
/ did not come to pass, and Minnie was filled
with disappointment and grief. What could
have become of him? Was he hiding some
where out in the yard just to tantalize her?
Why, of course. that was just what he was
doingl But she would ask the maid. Per-
haps she knew of Paul's plan to have a
little fun and play a prank on his sweet
heart. And Minnie dried her eyes and flew
down the steps, two at time, and rushed
up to Madeline all out of breath.
''Oh, Maddie," she inquired. with look
that denoted eagerness and happy expec-
fancy, ''have you seen. Paul? Where is
he?"
The answer that the girl made filled
Minnie's heart with gloom and apprehen-
sion.
He went out about an hour ago, ma'am,
with his satchel in his hand. He went
! toward the station, and he had time to
| catch the GAS express, ma'am. He SAID
never a word to me. nor l to him, but /
wondered all the same what sent him
away so sudden like"
1t seemed as if every drop of blood
| froZe instantly in Minnie'S veins. She was
| Mortified, and reeled as if some one had
struck her sudden blow. Then. her face
all white like ghosts and her hand CLUTCH
ing convulsively at her heart, she turned
and walked up stairs to her room, where
she sank upon the bed and tainted dead
| away. How long she remained in Stupor
she knew not. but when she awakened it
was told her that she had been at the point
of death for nearly two weeks. Her first
| inquiry was for Paul, and she went into
relapse when told that he had never been
heard of since leaving for the station. and
lowered between life and death again for
weeks. But she finally rallied and grad
ually began to recover. 1t was slow work,
however, the pangs OF rem0rse agltat-
ing her continually and making
it impossible for her to sleep without
the use of opiates After long
siege she became cOnvalescent. and it was
| during this period that she formed plans
for the carrying out of which she pledged
her life and fortune. She was possessed
of a comfortable sum of mOney-sOme
$40, OOO-and she proposed to devote every
cent of it, if necessary, to one purpose
the finding of Paul and the etfecting OF
reconciliation and ultimate marriage. She
hadn't the slightest idea which way to turn,
but she had an intuition that her search
would not be in vain. Paul had never
written line to any one since he went
away, and he had evidently buried himself
in some obscure place where he imagined
nobody could ever find him, and he could
live the life of a recluSe and cynic. Min
ME chided herself continually, and will
lingly took upon herself all the blame for
the unfortunate termination of that days
bantering on the river shore. Looking back
over the past now It was SO easy TO see now
foolish they had been. In spirit of reck-
lessness- without stopping to count
the eOst-they had considered it smart and
funny to be continually harping upon each
others shortcomings. One could not do
anything but that the other threw discredit
upon it, and each was constantly referring
in a sarcastic vein. to some act or expression
of the other. Beginning in spirit of fun
odt1oI I,-l oH-alOpod info il
and later into serious results. There are
examples of this in other directions and in
other stations of life. and regret comes
when it is too late to remedy the
damage done. A valuable lesson could be
learned from such examples if attention
wcaid only be paid to them. After Minnie
mad so far recovered as to be able to travel
she unfolded her plans to her mother, and.
of course, they reached her father. There