Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-05-10

word of gratitude to the patient. worn
face that for weeks had tended him Sc
| faithfully He. weak as he was. at
tempted to dictate letter-and such
letter, fairly glowing with love and
undying affection-to Her, my former
owner; and poor Vita had to write il
all while he was clasping me to his
heart. Yes, me! whom formerly he
had so despised Well. l. too. re-
Tented. 1t is SO delightful to meet an
old acquaintance who has been as un-
fortunate as ones self!
BY his dictation I learned that the
note from him which had concealed
for forty-eight hours was of such a
tender character that He. receiving no
reply. took silence for dismissal. and
suddenly, rs we had learned. buried
himself in the whirlpool of frontier ex-
element.
After this letter was mailed he be-
gan counting the DAYS that must pass
before he could hope for reply; and
as he grew stronger. he'd sill up in bed
and talk for hours of Her to poor Vita
Finally, as his health returned. they
took long rides together through the
romantic paths on the reservation;
they attended Indian dances, collected
bead-work and carved pipes; at other
times whole days were passed on the
lake, under the impression that they
were fishing.
And thus weeks flew by. and the let
ter never came. Yes. they still talked
of tit was impossible to drop the
subject entirely. he had said so much
the first few days; but to me it was
almost amusing to notice that when
ever the expected letter was now men,
toned, what a far-away sound their
voices had. and then their voices would
fall upon them with a great heavy
thud.
/ soon saw, as time went on. that he
dreaded mail day; and what look of
relief would mount his features when
the mail arrived without bringing the
expected and now dreaded letter! And
Vita-well. it was evident she took
care not to be present on the arrival of
the stage.
No matter how animated CONVEX
sation they might be engaged in. just
let any one casually refer to the post
Office, apd how the light seemed to
fade-how dark and gloomy every
thing suddenly appeared! Even l felt
it.
1t was sunset such a sunset as you
can see in Dakota only. They were
seated on the ragged edge of home
made hammock, their hands were
rather mixed. and their eyes-well-
their eyes were not on the sunset, nor
on the road where neighbor was rap
idly approaching with letter in his
hand. The first notice they had of his
presence was when the letter was
tossed to Him. 1t was too late for
Vita to escape this time; she had to
sit there and see his trembling hands
tear the envelope-aworn re-directed,
much post-marked envelope. Evident
ly it had followed him from place to
place for weeks.
How.unconsciously she crushed me
in her hand as her frightened eyes
watched the letter as it gradually APP
peared l think 1 read it first, or at
least realized its full meaning before
they did. 1t was simply the wedding
cards of my former owner. She had
married her gallant rescucr, the Cap
tain.
When I had recovered from my sur
prise sufficiently to look at my COM
panions. they--well-to an unpredju-
diced observer, it locked as if Vita's
arms were around his neck. and to a
ear it sounded as if He had
kissed somebody.-WW Philip Hoop
er, in Demorests Monthly.