Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-05-18

clusion of the old church, when the light
streamed through the stained windows
and III Sovcrncss stood by; but before
.Ja1 hltriuc's kindness had encouraged
nina 10 Write little notes. and She had re-
piled To tacm. he grew bolder, and asked
her 70 stcal from beneath her fathers roof
10 meet him. She foolishly cons ntcd,
and when the infatuated young man told
her how dearly he loved her she owned
that She loved him.
Was it love, or was ii an ambitious de-
sire 10 raise himself far above his station,
which actuated him? No one ever knew,
and Thornton Cameron kept his secret. 1t
was "A base betrayal OF trust, q cruel fraud
lit was an objectionable deception, "A
most dishonorable deed--but he succeeded
in winning what the poor girl thought was
her love, and, after great persuasion, she
consented TO elopc with him.
She had been so badly trained. was so
young, SO wild in the flush Of girlish
spirits. that she thought little Of the con
sequences, The sensation that must fol-
low amused her. She enjoyed thinking OF
the fright, the search, and the emotion of
her stately father when he should hear
that she was married.
at will be stealinga march upon papa"
She said, with Il Kay, ringing laugh that
should have suote her companion like a
sharp sword. "lIe was so particular that
! should not make my dcbut until ] was
nineteen; what viii he say when he hears
tAatl ann marricd?'
There WAS no excuse TO bc made for her
save taGt She was charmed with her low
cr's handsome face, with his musical
voice, his eloquent words, his passionate
pleading and prayers. She was charmed
20 be the heroine OF a quasi-romance; IL
would be 80 amusing to appear in London
as Mrs. Cameron instead Of Miss Carls-
wood. The whole matter seemed to her
simply a delightful adventure; she never
dreamed but that her father, after pcrhaps
approaching her in IA stately fashion, would
again receive her with open arms.
NO Carlswood ever made n low mar
riage"-she had heard that expression Of
ten enough, but il never entered her mind
that hers was what would he callcs a low
marriage" Thornton Cameron was hand.
somer than, and quite as polished in man
ncr rs, the gentlemen who had visited
Bralyn. There was nothing about him
that could be called vulgar. much less
and katrine, although clever beyond
years, did not know much of the
woiIs.
Sac would have considered herselt max
ing q low marriage il She had promised 10
run away with "A footmaI or "A groom; but
an artist was TO her II gentleman. How
could a man who created snch grand
harmonir7. who gnve his whole time and
attention TO the cultivation Of the purcst
taste-how could such q man be low? She
considered him a genius, and genius, she
said 10 herself, levels all ranks. She had
read somewhere Of a king who stopped to
pick up the brush OF a painter. Was n
better than a musician? she asked
herself. Certainly not. If, then, n king
could honor "A painter, surely her father
respect "A musician. She had read
Of such great honors being paid to them
of kings and queens who had done HON
age to their genius, and r%eyerenced their
names.
Still Il seemed strange that n girl, reared
IN the very atmosphere Of pride, should
have forgotten the lesson Of her life: but
was the case when, one fine autumn
evening, she stole from the timc-hOnored
walls of Bralyn, and eloped with the hand
some young organist of Lynn.