, 1886-02-26

tween them. He could scarcely believe
in her bright looks, everything seemed so
unreal his life was 30 shaken to its foun-
dations. 1t was only by a great effort
that he aroused himself to make some
place excuse.
Dora's first careless glance at his pallid
face changed TO one Of alarm. The light
from an open window fell upon 1t and she
saw It's deadly pallor. @Why, Fred" she
cried, you careless boyi You will be sick
again. Come and have some tea And
she led the way to the dining-roomv How
he longed TO say, ~Come, Dora, | have
something to tell you" and then having
her all to himself, pour out these misera-
BILE doubt and fears in her ear and so be
free from them. But no; here was this
crowd OF chattering girls-besides, she
must not know he had such doubts Even II
she said, II love you,n could he be sure she
was not saying it because she believed II
TO be her duty. And 50 he finished the
evening as best he could, and all night
long his heart tormented him with ceasea
less q~uestionings.
Several days passed before he found OPP
portunity to speak alone with Dora. The
house was filled with "A number OF young
guests, and Dora must be everywhere.
Fred Long was just now taking a we'll
earned vacation. After years OF hard
work and months OF illness, he had come
back TO the nome of his childhood TO re
gain lost health and strength. He had
called this the happiest summer he had
known, but now an untimely frost had
spoiled its beauty. Among the friends
whom Dora was entertaining her cousin
Florence Freeman was the only one he
had previously known. Naturally they
drifted together during these miserable
days. With Dora he was suddenly i'll at
ease and restless; her quick eyes noticed
the change, and she looked about for a
cause. Those same quick eyes soon no
ticed the walks and talks with cousin
Florence. NO wonder she adInires him."
she said, with u sharp little pang at her
hesrt, mentally contrasting tall, hand
some Florence with her own little self.
Presently the flock OF merry school girls
took flight. "Only Florence, and you, and
IT, said Dora; "just as II used to be- But
for both the old charm was destroyed.
One day they walked together along the
river bank, and Dora said, -Our playtime Is
DONE
@Yes,r he answered, Al must go back to
my law books and you must rave time for
your painting
A Night came into her eyes. "Then l am
10 20 on palntlnRr
YES he said slowly. Il am making this
sacrifice for you. lido not wish you TO
marry me until you have finished this
work you ave set your heart upon. It
will occupy YOU whole winter
ayes; perhaps more. Give me a year"
she said eagerly, quite unconscious OF the
pain her words inflicted, and only anxious
for time wherein to prove whether, after
all these years of devotion, Fred could be
won from her. A few weeks ago she had
asked for the length OF time simply be
cause she had undertaken some painting,
which she wished to finish, and had plans
to be carried out which she felt would be
sadly interfered with by the necessary
arrangements for a wedding. Now she
had this additional motive.
Every well, - came the answer, calm and
steady. No trembling in the quiet tones
TO betray the hearts unutterable anguish
ns it whispered to itself, allow glad she is
to be free even for a year.
As for Dora, her heart was saying, @He
does not care
And then they talked of Indifferent mat
tiers, these two foolish ones, and the pre-
cious hours in which they might rave I'M
derstood each other slipped away and
were gone forever.
Once more apart, their letters were ex-
changed at regular intervals-Fred's kind
and loving. "Of course said Dora, sft is
his duty while Dora's were a curious
study had her lover but known. Each
one II little cooler, a little briefer than the
last, until by the time spring had dressed
the fields and woods in green again poor
Fred had well-nigh made up his mind that
Florence was right. Dora's heart was all
in her painting; she had grown quite
weary Of him.
This suspense is killing me, " he would
say; but I'll wait-it Is better-it will
soon be over
And Dora, working herself to a shadow
over her painting, would think: "The end
can not be far of. He will soon be free
Early in the summer Fred found him
self again IN the old familiar haunts, but,
alas the old joyous light was wanting
everywhere. A shade, a mist, seemed
hanging over everything, and Dora was
farther away than ever. There was no
merry guests TO divide her attention; but,
so absorbed, 30 silent, did she seem, he
could hardly believe 1t was the same Dora
he had known in other days.
A week passed by-a week OF mingled
paradise and torment. Sometimes he
would be On the point OF saying to herr:
~Dora. | will stand in your way no longer;n
hAA q AAAAAA hRlN oAAAA AAAk1Atlf I'M IT'S
could not crush IL so ruthlessly. At other
times he could almost believe himself mis-
taken-all these months a fearful dream
when her eyes met his 80 earnestly and
seemed filed for a ome with the old
warm light.
Tho sat together one day upon "A little
rustic seat, chatting and resting after a
walk. Fred had taken some letters from
his pocket which he wished Ia show Ia
Dora A picture fell from among them.
Dora stopped to recover it. Cousin
Florry, ~ she marmured, and Fred began
making some commonplace remark upon
Its correctness. Then, CHANGING at his
companions face, he was startled at its
deadly pallor. ~Doral" he cried. "y.u are
Ill. We walked too far. You must rest y
~Nc, Pm not H. she said almost
sharply. aHow lovely Florence is"
Yes, indeed. She is well nigh perfect.
But there Is only one Dora in all the
world. r taking her little. cold hand in his.
without Dora the world IS meaningless
to me-"
Dora's eyes were scanning the distant
hills. She made no reply. She was steel
ing her heart against him. "He wants to
be true she thought, "but ! Ill have no
such love"
"Dora, yon are not happy
She started. Not perfectly so. What
mortal isfn
at seems TO me ! would be II only things
could be as they once were between us-T
This was the first allusion he had made
TO the fact that he had noticed any
change In their relations.
Dora realized that a crisis was coming.
She simply awaited it in silence. She
would neither strive to avert nor TO
hasten II.
II have sometimes feared that you and
/ have been mistaken. That Is the right
word, / think. II so, / love you too well
10 ask you to keep apromise which has