The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-01-29

fading flower from its stalk. / shall
leave you III the middle OF the Journey
OF which we shall have made the first
half together. That day is not far dis
tant, dear friend. The rose which
blooms one mornings the image ofmy
destiny. To love me do not wait till
you have lost me, for neither your
tears nor your regrets will bring meto
life again when | am no more. Make
haste! My hand is furnished neither
with the magic wand CIR the enchanted
ring, and have no ornament but the
flowers woven in my hair; but / will
load you with more treasures than ever
a friendly and prodigal fairy showered
on q royal cradle. | will set a crown
on your rowthatman a. king would
count himselfhappy to be able to pur-
chase with his own; / will gather for
you a retinue such as is rarely seen
In palaces or courts. Invisible, yet
present, | will follow you wherever
you go; you shall feel in every place
my faithful influence; l will embalm
your couch at night; | will give my
soul to all nature that she may smile
on you each morning whenyo awake.
Only, my child, learn to recognize all
these blessings which / bring you;
seize them before they escape; learn
how to touch them without with
ering them, how to enjoy them
without exhausting them; make pro-
vision out of them for that latter half
of the journey which you must make
| without me. My friend, / have told
you that / have little time to live, but
it rests with you to prolong my frail
and precious existence. / am like
those tender plants which must be
sheltered from the sun and the wind.
My feet are tender; do not weary them
with pursuing you. The brightness of
my cheeks is more delicate than the
freshness ofthe vine that creeps among
the hedges; if you wouldnot see it tar
nished in a day, do not expose me to
the heat, lead me only in the shade.
Watch, that no remorse may embit-
ter the regret, already too deep, that
my loss will leaveyou; let my memory
be q bright one, and let me still cheer
your heart with sweet recollection,
long after | shall have ceased to warm
and light your life!"
Then, like a guardian angelhovering
over q cradle, she bent her fair head
owe me, and | felt her lips on my fore
head, fresher and sweeter than the wild
rose that grows by thespring. Iopen-
ed my arms to clasp her, but the white
vision had already vanished like a
dream.
Was it not a dream, in truth? /
went on across the country running
like a mailman, and then throwingmy-
self on the grass and wettingit with my
burning tears, / held my arms to the
stars, and spoke my love to them. /
talked to the flowers and trees; / felt
within me a torrent of life which over
flowed on all sides and included all
nature. The dixie was broken; the
steeam had pierced therock. laughed
and wept. Twas swimming on a bound
less sea of nameless Joy.
When the east began to whiten /
seemed to witness for the first time the
renewal of creation. My heart swelled,
| inhaled the air with pride, / thought
for a moment that my soul would
leave the body to fly free and light
through space. From the mountain
top to which / had climbed measured
the horizon with a conquerer's eye;
the earth had been created for me, and
/ was her master.
was not yet thirty when she came
to me for the second time. 1t was an
October evening. / had left the city,
and was wandering aimlessly through
the fields, gloomy and downcast, with
out knowing why. For a long time
this had been my mood, and | sought
solitude without finding pleasure in
it,
The sky was lowering and clouded.
An icy wind was shaking h last
| leaves fromt The I'll ees. The melancholy
bowling of a dog from a distant farm
! ho1se, 3 thread q b5..tiiisht. snloke rising
through the branches were all that re-
vealed life in these desolate plains. A
few b~ewildered birds were fitting from
branch to branch, and some bands of
cranes were filing slowly through the
grey evening air.
walked on, sharing in my soul the
mourning OF nature. For some timeI
had been a prey to thatchilly sadness
| that comes with the end of the bright
| days. Seating myself at the foot of a
leafless tree, | saw walk past me two
old women, each bending under a bun
die of sticks, provision for winter,
which they were carrying home.
A strange memory! a fantastic con-
nection of thought! From the very
spot | was then sitting, / had seen
pass long ago, one May evening, a
band OF young girls, holding each 9TH
er's hands and singing. / was sixteen
then, and the hedges were in bloom.
/ hid my face in my hands, and re-
viawinptha DAVIS which had PASSED be-