The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1889-06-06

MS olory III d manly ldSnlon tnat Wo
instant sympathy.
Il have not come n beggar to ask 70
your heiress," he said, but to tell 70
my plans. My mothers brother, il
San Francisco, has offered me n situa
ton in his contingencies many times
My grandfather scofied at the idea o
my leaving him, but now | shall accep
the offer. In three years | will return
to tell you, If my prospects will satisf,
you, that can support q wife. NJ ay
see Lorna"
The last request, timidly offered, wa!
granted instantly, and the lovers part.
ed with Mutual VOWS OF constancy.
l must W that | was greatly sur
prised, when the interview was describ.
ed to me, that David Hillburn, loving
his child as he did. allowed Donald to
go. Surely, | thought, out OF his great
wealth he could establish his son-in-
law in some business neal home, and
see Lorna happy.
But six months after | understood
better why he was silent. Even in that
hour he was a ruined man. Specula-
ton after speculation had failed, and
he was struggling by still more desrer-
ate ventures to rctrive his lost fort
unes. When the task was hopeless he
took his own life.
Was it strange, in that time OF agony,
that |, his brother in love, If not in
blood, stepped forward to sustain the
heart-broken widow. the dcsolate
child? Without one selfish thought |
worked owe the ENHANCEMENT of the
estate, only to find debt inevitable-to-
tai ruin a certainty.
Mrs Hillburn, though her life had
been n Of perfect ease. was no baby,
to fold her hands idly, and though past
fifty years Of age, she accepted her
position with quiet resignation. The
handsome house on the outskirts OF the
city was claimed by the creditors OF
the estate, and one was taken in u good
locality, to be opened for boarders. |
was the first applicant, leaving the
| had called home for thirty
years to occupy two Of Mrs. Hilburn's
II | had loved Lorna as a child, as a
gentle maiden, my love took 9 new i'm
petus in due respect, as | watched her
develop in her hour OF
trial. She had borne Donald's absence
with a patient submission that was
very touching in Z whose whole life
had been flooded with sunshine, and
she took up her share of the new
burdens with courage and willingness.
Her proficiency in music was sufficient
for her to form n class Of pupils very
soon after her fathers death, and she
was thus enabled too add materially to
her mothers means.
But it cut me to the heart to see
how both mother and daughter dropped
under their burdens. In spite OF their
brave, patient resolve to live an indie
pendent life, earning their own up
port, they were utterly unfit for the
weary struggle. Delicate women,
in luxury, they showed plainly
the physical strain in their pale faces
and heavy eyes.
And while all this sorrow was still
n pawsnaD.r unr,ur,n r,,o,lad
he sudden death of Donald Ennis in
san Francisco.
We feared Lorna would die, in the
oAg, dangerous illness that followed
he reading Of this news. Her mother
ound her insensiblc, grasping the
PAPER, and she am out Of her long
.woon only to rave in delirious fever.
learned, in her grief, how strong
love had been. and wondered at
he cheerfulness that had covered a
leart SO sorely tried. But she came
pack TO life, a shadow Of her old
self, patiently taking up her
outline Of duty again, though pale and
ad as she had never been before.
For a year | watched her with all a
overs interest, seeing her hold upon
life weaken viSibly, until the family
MUSICIAN whispered to me that only n
peedy removal to a milder climate
'ould prevent consumption.
Then | spoke. Then for the first
inc ] told the love ! had hidden for
ears, and asked Lorna to be my wife.
told her frankly that | did not expect
er to give me the love she had given
or eve that she could forget
i'm. But | would be satisfied il she
'ould continue 10 love me as she had
one all her life, only giving me the
.ght Of a husband to replace her in a
ONE Of wealth, and take the necessity
bread-winning from her frail hands.
And she consented. Once betrothed,
grew so winsomely loving that my
cart filled with a delicious content it
I'd never known. 1t was as il the
dbiVuhc ollS ltlI W iit WAS
tile by little into love; true, wifeiy
we. And | believe then, and believe
DIV, that it was. 7 believe that as nv
lie, Lorna would have learned to love
Ic, and me alone, had we married.
The wedding preparations went for
ard briskly, for Mrs. Hillburn and I .
ere both anxious to have Lorna ready
90 south in September. and escape
ny danger from winter winds.
Upon the seventeenth we were to be
and the seventeenth dawned
and clear; a day to make the ,
glad. How glad mine was when .
greeted the sunshine can never be
l here. /
ter my engagement to Lorna had ,
,e known | had taken my old 8
~ tLa Il "