Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-07-05
ANNORA.

have stood by her grave often and thought
how little we know of life or of each other.
| have studied character a good deal am
o novelist, so It has become like second ma
ture TO me to analyze motives and actions. 1t
has been so through a long life. The habit
has only strengthened with added years; but
In Annora I studied nothing; could study
nothing.
A country town is very good place for
gaining and adding to knowledge of that
sort. The Inhabitants to an extent hardly re-
alized by people who do not know them, live
In common; mean, they have all known
each other and each others faults and feel
angs since they were children together; and
the feelings formed then, and the keen inter
est in each others affairs, last on through
middle age and the downhill part of life.
Every one knew Lucy Cherry. Every one
in the town liked her. Most Of the young
fellows-I was young then and one of them
did more than like her.
! When she came into church on Sunday
mornings a look Of agonized expectation
would come over about thirty faces in the
congregation. They all gazed eagerly at
Lucy, in the hope of one glance from her as
she went up the very short part Of the aisle
leading to the square pew where the Cherrys
sat Square pews were not gone then A
great mistake it was, surely, that they ever
did CO. Sleep during the sermon is what
most of US secretly wish for. Under the new
arrangement, though, who is bold enough to
take ite
Lucy would sometimes look up-not often
during those moments of her quick walk
behind her brother. On whichever side of
the aisle her glance fell, radiant faces were
spair showed itself Had they not been in a
place where private sentiments are rarely
manifested the relations between those gen.
tlemen would instantly have become ex-
tremely strained"
1t was not TO be wondered at. Lucy was
very pretty. Brown hair-just the sort
which most becomes a woInan-soft and
wavy; blue, dark blue eyes, and tail figure,
straight and upright as an arrow. 1t is
neither here nor there to say that never saw
a woman like her, and had l ever married
but how could when she never even gave a
thought TO mel Still the fact intensified my
feelings afterward when-but evidently
even the practice have had Is not able to
hinder me from telling this story confusedly
unless l take care. Wen, am growing old,
and it was terrible. l do not half like the
task have set myself
One Sunday came when both sides of the
aisle showed only disconsolate countenances
Lucy locked neither on one side nor the
other She looked on the ground to hide q
very pretty blush, and then fixedly on her
brothers broad shoulders, as be, good soul,
walked In front, thinking Of nothing less than
his sister
She was engaged TO be married-we had all
heard it in the week-to doctor, who had
recently bought practice in the town. He
had many friends and few enemies, and was
decidedly popular. Clever, he was most GER
tainly, strikingly handsome, and so pleasant
to talk with that every one who met him did
stop and talk to him.
This is a mans praise of a man, so 1t Is not
likely to be overdone, and it is hardly likely
that should have any reason for overprais-
ing the man who won the only girl l ever
cared for.
No; did not wonder at Lucy. No onedid
And they looked so well together-she so
sweet and womanly, he 80 thoroughly manly
and yet so gentle, to give the much abused
compound word its real force.
Lucy, perhaps In mercy to us-perhaps to
him-was content with only six weeks en-
gagement, and their wedding was fixed for
New Years day.
The weather that winter was unusually
cold and dreary, and on the last day of the
old year there was a terrible snowstor1n,
which lasted all day, and only ended Just in
time to let the clouds roll away from a fiery
red sunset. New people came to town in the
middle Of the snowstorm, people who had
recently taken one of the few large red brick
houses the town possessed-a really large
house, standing in its own large, old fash
toned garden But every one who knew her
and that was all the town-was so taken up
with thinking Of Lucy's wedding that no one
bestowed thought at the time at what
would at any other have been great excite
ment-the arrival of the new tenants, An
nora Masters and her husband. use the
words advisedly, for those two names could
go in no other order.
Not until next morning when /, with sew
eral OF my friends. who hardly felt II their
happiest day Of life, stood in church, watch
ing Lucy's sweet face and her husbands
handsome, manly figure, did / ever think of
the new people.
And then I thought of them because,
among the crowd III the body of the church,
] saw a woman whose face haunts me-win
haunt me til pothing earthly can trouble me
longer. Tail, dark; dressed entirely in black,
with black hair and yes which even through
her veil burned with 8 flashing sort Of light
II it had not been impossible 70 look at
Annora Masters for more than an instant,
should have been able TO know certainly if
there was really dull, red light in them, as
] fancied, like glowing fires in her white
face
She stood among quantity OF townspeople;
but, after had looked at her, IL seemed that
no one else but Lucy and the tall dark woEl-
an was n the church She was watching
Lucy With those eyes, and / thought, / fan
cied, that everything bridal about Lucy
seemed for that moment an ashen gray.
Then Lucy passed out Of the door into the
snow, which fell fast on her veil l came
out, too, and followed at distance, and as
.Annora Masters went up the High street and
IN at the garden door Of the long untenanted
house knew that must have seen the new
tenant.
The townspeople called on Annora Masters
Livery one said the same thing, or, rather, no
one gave any opinion of her, and only when
pressed, said
''She is strange, don't you thinkr'
Annora returned none of the calls but
Iucy's; and was only seen at church, where
she appeared with regularity which was
part of her strangeness, it struck me-so
utterly out of place did she look there
cannot say why; no one could; but the wo-
man was avts;Ar n IN utterly indefnable
manner, and peace and goodness seemed az
odds with everything about her OF her
Household and housekeeping no one knew
anything. Servants they had brought with