Wichita eagle., 1888-05-30

times she spoke very rapidly, and again Il ,ers
were long pauses and breaks in her sents nces,
but saw, as If she had painted herspos trait.
the young girl so cruelty ignorant life,
with all the illusions and dreams Of q sensi-
tive, imaginative nature. creature o warm
hearted and generous she clothed II 70 world
in rainbow colors and could not Sc beyond
the veil her fancy wove, l saw ht r full of
faith and hope and trust marrying putting
her all on the throw of one great stake-and
losing.
Yet be was not bad, this NJ an OF bis
wealth he gave her freely, and, Of such love
as be had; but who is willing ito take base
metal in exchange for golda A. nd as for the
rest, he did not understand In his narrow
brain there was no echo of her boundless
thoughts, his dull intellect t,uld not fash
back the lightning of her wit | could I'M
derstand all the miserable ,1if appointments,
the unending WEAKNESS ''When | first
realized" Mara was saying in still, level
voice, more pathetic than any sob could have
been, ''when / realized that all the compan-
ionship of which | had dres fmed could never
be- that the husband by N, side in his dull
sleep was more separated rom me than if
the grave had yawned betty Feen US; that all
what | loathed, / should ave died if God
had mercifully pitied my agony. There
were weeks and weeks in W hjch fought it
out, prayed it out, wept it out, this great
relentless truth. Oh, do ytsl believe we are
ever punished for our sins rs cruelty as we
are for our mistakes, l was SO young and
so ignorant | remember That it was sum
mer and that jessamine viz e climbed up to
b1,.u han Id
the room Even yet that OF or makes me feel
as if dead hand was laid Upon my heart"
There was long paus 3. The incoming
tide beat heavily on the b each, the dusk fell
and the wind moaned above us like an en-
bodied echo of sorrow.
Mara shuddered and J. took in mine the
hand that / held, dead last night, and that
was scarcely then less &C Id and white.
sit is SO sad a thing to be done with the
Joy and light of life TAT twenty" she said.
81 suffered until at las5 respite came, not be-
cause had ceased to are, but because there
comes time when the tired nerves are numb
and no longer throb an CULVER, and at last,
like many another wor nan, suppose, grew
Indifferent and learned to interest myself in
other things. y Finally, when / said
to myself that could suffer no more, when
/ grew accustomed to even golden fetters"-
her white hand burie itself in the loose sand
-''when learned to wear out restlessness in
constant excitement, there came another,
and learned anew all that life might have
held for me and all hat had missed
81 wonder if man y women's lives are like
mine" she cried pas ionately, "if they know
what it is to be heart hungry, to be as alone
in the midst of society as if they were the
only beings in cres ted space, to thirst and
yearn for a comPallionship they know must
always be denied them. Oh, it is cruel
cruel"
After awhile she again began speaking: 81
said there was another and that the time
came when L knew all tl,at life might have
been. l tasted the rapture of perfect COM
partnership and sympathy and congeniality.
saw my lightest fancy taken up and glorified
and felt my heart and brain thrill and re-
spond to subtser intellect than mine, as yon-
der stars grow brighter by the interchange
of their own mysterious light. Day and
night it was like cleaning star before me,
but where it led / dared not follow. Per
haps after all, one only hopes and believes
in love once in a lifetime, and so put it from
me. Perhaps had not courage to risk again
the shattering of my idolsv-
She ceased speaking abruptly and rose to
her feet, standing dimly siihouetted against
the dark sky, but the face she turned toward
me WIS luminous as star. After minute
she turned and walked along the sands, a
ghosly figure in the night, with wind tossed
hair and garments
The next morning was suddenly sum-
moned to a distant city, and 1 never saw
Mara again until last night, when looked
upon her dead lace.
We know not what lies beyond this world,
but for such as she it must mean peace and
rest, else death were clueler than life
Elizabeth M Glmer in New Orleans Plea
yuna