Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-08-31
it would be so just before l died"

kIl alh a ~ 49, ~
n so young, suddenly broke off to cough.
Her sister threw herself on her knees be-
side her, and clasping her in her arms inn
plored her in broken accents not to talk or
diving. JEANNE drew Augustus golden
head down on to her breast and stroked it.
"Very well, Gussie, / won't say any more
about it." she said; but it is no good hid
ing the truth, dear. / am tired OF lighting
against it.; il is no ~good-none at all. Any
how, we have loved each other very much,
dear; and perhaps-somewhere else-we
may again" And the brave little heart
broke down, and overcome by the preset
ence of approaching separation they both
sobbed bitterly there upon the sofa. Pres
emily came a knock at the door, and Au-
gusta sprang up and turned to hide her
tears. 1t was the maid of-all-work bring
ing the tea; and, as she came laundering
in, q sense Of the irony of things forced
itself into Augustus soul. Here they were
plunged into the most terrible sorrow,
weeping at the inevitable approach of
that chill end, and still appearances must
be kept up, even before a maid of-all-work.
Society, even when represented by a maid
of-allwork, cannot away with the intru-
SlDu Vi uollcSllt BIlSiS, vi dhs oNntI GiAtiSi
and in our hearts we know it and act up
to ii. Far gone indeed must we be in men
tai or physical agony before we abandon
the attempt to keep up appearances.
Augusta drank a little tea and ate a
very small bit Of bread and butter. AS in
the case of Mr.. Meeson, the events Of the
day had not tended TO increase her appe-
tite. JEANNE drank a little milk, but ate
nothing. When this form had been gone
through, and the maid-of-all-work had
once more made her appearance and cleared
the table, JEANNE spoke again.
Gus" she said, 81 want you to put me
TO bed and then come and read to me ont
of Terminals Vow'-where poor Jemima
dies, you know. 1t is the most beautiful
thing in the book, and | want to hear it
again"
Her sister did as she wished, and, taking
down Terminals Vow ~Jeannie's olCn
copy as it was called, being the very first
that had come into the house, she opened
it at the part JEANNE had asked for II
read aloud, keeping her voice as steady as
she could. As a matter of fact, however,
the scene itself was as powerful as IL was
pathetic, and quite sufficient to account
for any unseemly exhibition Of feeling on
the part Of the reader. However, she
struggled through it till the last sentence
was reached. II ran thus: And SO Jemi-
ma stretched out her hand to him and said
Goodbye And presently, knowing that
she had now kept he- promise, and being
happy because she had done so, she went
to sleep"
"Ahl" murmured the blue-eyed child
xrha I;.@a,nI II x.;.b that 4 x,,o M good
as Jemima. But though / have no vow
TO keep l can say goodbye and i can go
to sleep"
Augusta made no answer, and presently
JEANNE dozed off. Her sister looked at
her with eager affection. "She is giving
up" she said to herself, land, if she gives
up, she will die. know it; il is because
we are not going away. How al i get
the money, now that that horrible man
has gomez How can / get it?" and she
buried her head in her hand and thought.
Presently an idea struck her; she might go
back to Meeson and eat her words and sell
him the copyright of her new book for one
hundred pounds, as the agreement pro-
vided. That would not be enough, how
ever, for travelling with an invalid is ex-
pensive. But she might offer to bind her
self over 10 him for a term of years as q
tame author, like those who worked in the
Hutches. She was sure that he would be
glad to get her, if only he could do so ut
his WI price. 1t would be slavery worse
than any penal s~ervitude, and even now
she shuddered at the prospect of prosti-
tuting her great abilities to the necessities
of such work as Nelson's made their
fhnnGon1g ont nf--yynrE npt IF xxhinh
every spark of originality was stamped
into nothingness, as though it were the
mark of the Beast. Yes, it would be
dreadful-it would break her heart; but
she was prepared to have her heart broken
and her genius wrung out Of her by inches
if only she could get two hundred pounds
wherewith to take JEANNE away to the
South OF France. Mr.. Meeson would, no
doubt, make a hard bargain-the hardest
he could; but still, If she would consent to
bind herself for a sufficient number of
years at a sufficiently low salary, he would
probably advance her a hundred pounds,
besides the hundred for the copyright of
the new book.
And so, having made up her mind Il the
sacrifice, with IA sigh she went to bed, and,
wearied ont with misery, to sleep. And
ever as she slept, a Presence that she
could not see was standing near her bed,
and a Voice hat she could not hear was
calling through the gloom. Another NOR
tai had bent low at the feet of that I'M
known God whom men named Death, and
been borne away on his rushing pinions
into the spaces of the Hid. One more hui
man item lay still and stiff, one more ac-
count was closed for good or evil, the echo
of one more tread had passed from the
earth forever. The old million-numbered
tragedy in which all must take a part had
repeated itself once more down to its last
and most awful scene. Yes, the grim farce
was played ont, and the little actor jean
ME was white in DEATH
Just at the dawn. Augusta dream ed that
somebody with cold breath was breathing
ON her face. and woke up with a start and
listened. Jeannie's bed was on the other
side OF the room and she could generally
hear her movements plainly enough, for
the sick child was q restless sleeper. But
now she could hear nothing, not even the
faint vibration of her sisters breath. The
silence was absolute and appalling; it
struck tangibly upon her sense, as the
darkness struck upon her eyeballs and
hileG her with a numb, u~nreasoning ter
ror. h slipped out of bed and struck q
match! In another few seconds she was
standing by Jcannie's white little bed,
waiting for the wick of the candle to burn