Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-02-24

silence OF nfteen years Ills secIet
died with him; and here / sat alone
when the grave had received him, pom.
dering, not upon his nobility of char.
acter, his great, manly heart, his I'M
dying affection for me-but upon that
unuttered secret. What could it be
IL
The hours went on till twilight:
sat absorbed in my thoughts. / paid
no heed to the servants when they
asked me to have some refreshment
Visitors had come to see me; when
their names had been repeated to me
had refused to see them. Last, q serv-
ant told me that DIR. ST. John was at
the door. He was my father, and /
was glad that he had come. Always
kind, ever compassionate to. the afflicted,
how could he be otherwise to his own
child in such an hour as this? Yet as
he talked to me Of consolation, of
chastened sorrow, Of trust in God, and
Of life eternal, my heart swelled with
the Impotence, the bitterness OF q grief
that would not be conforted; and /
cried out to him:
Dear father, all these things I be-
ieve; they will help me to journey the
rest Of the way without Charles. and
to meet him at the end of the Valley.
But O, tell me-what shall console me
for the dreadful knowledge that in
something / know not what he closed
his heart against me?'
MY fathers sensitive face was clouded
in an instant. / saw at once that he
knew my meaning; l saw that he, too,
had knowledge Of the secret. Never
had I spoken Of it before; now I urged
and plead to know it He tried to put
me off; he told me that my husband
had been good, and true, and worthy
Of me.
aDon't tell me that!" cried. .Who
knows it better than I? But see now
from your looks and actions that you
have known all the time what was
amiss with Charles. Tell me; I ,pill
know!"
Driven to compliance by my We
hemence-very unwillingly, but fearing
to withhold it my father, told me.
III
Il tremble," said my father ito tell
you the truth. I had hoped that this
hour might never come. I knew, and
your husband knew, that you more than
the existence of secret that
most deeply affected your welfare; yet
we hoped-foolishly, perhaps that
time would dull the edge of your quest
after that secret.
@You have forced me to betray my
knowledge of it, and I only confess it
now because I believe that to tell it to
you will be less injurious than TO refuse.
Summon your utmost strength, then,
my child, to hear it. If the strange
story accuses your dead husband, re-
member also that it accuses your living
father. We both did what we thought
was for the best; in the cruel extremity
in which We were placed, we acted to
the utmost Of our judgment. We de-
ceived you, but reflect, my dear child,
when have done, and decide if we
should have done otherwise.
AYou will nember.that Charles went
to Europe I - year before you were
married. You will recall that he wrote
regularly to you for six months, and
then came lapse Of three months in
which you received no letters from
him. though you wrote repeatedly.
3You will also remember that during
this painful interval Of suspense 1 did
my utmost to cheer and reassure you,
and that my faith and prophecies were
at last justified by the re-
sumption Of Charles letters,
and his return and marriage
to you soon after the close of the year.
Some satisfactory excuse was made for
his silence or miscarriage of
the mails.
"It was when six weeks had elapsed
since the receipt Of letter from
Charles, and when the fears that beset
you were wearing out your life, that
one came to me addressed in the
familiar hand but sealed with black.
Its contents were very lengthy and
threw me into dreadful CONSERVATION.
It was written, not by Charles, but by
his brother George his twin brother,
whom Charles had never named to us,
because they had been estranged for
years, on account of differences about
the family estate. They had met
at Heidelburg and renewed their
brotherly affection. The reconciliation
was timely; Charles was Frustrated by
q malignant disease, and expired in a
few days in his brothers arms.
Georges letter was full to overflow
ing, not only with sympathy and con-
dolence, (for Charles had told him Of
his betrothed), but he took occasion to
write me many particulars about him
self Thank God that we were recon-