Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1889-11-30

beyond a doubt.
In the morning we went with a merry
bathing party over the bay to the surf.
Mile waved her hand to us from her
seat on the porch, where Hartly, with a
brotherly kindness, had brought her and
crowned her with moist pond lilies,
which he must have walked u long dis
lance to gather.
After taking my bath l donned my
w~alking-dress again, and getting tired
of watching the others, in their pictur-
esque costumes, sporting in the break
erS, | wandered down the beach to a
point where the hulls of two Staunch
vessels, with crushed timberS half sunk
in the sand, eloquently told the story of
storm and shipwreck.
Seating myself on a projecting beam
| gave myself up to pleasant ~recollec-
tions of the eventful weeks Just passed.
| pictured my fairy boat sailing forever
over friendly seas and under ~cloudless
skies, until, life being done, it was safe
ly anchored in Heaven. | had no fear
for the future If one dear hand was to
guide me, II thrilling voice | had come
to know SO well was to cheer me.
How good and noble he is, | thought
with a swelling hear; how altogether SUI
perior to all other men | had known;
how worthy the love and respect of any
womanl ! had never been in love be-
fore. had seen a great deal of society
| AVID ro,oS ,-aj ua,pra1 aHnpe h,+ ,,;o
were eligible, and when mamma said
mo" had without a pang seen father
turn them away,
There was a step behind me'and my
heart told me who it was.
How did you find me?' asked, as
Mr., Brent pushed aside my dress and sat
down on the SAME beam.
Don't you suppose | have followed
those little footprints until | know the
slender tracks," he smilingly answered,
pointing to the impression in tho damp
sand of my high-heeled walking-boots,
isn't this scene grand? One never
tires of looking at the ocean, for it is
never twice alike
He was silent a moment. and seemed
more thoughtful than usual, gatherings
handful of the white sand and watching
it drift slowly through his fingers. At
length, recovering himself, he said:
'Sing something, please; you know !
always like to hear you sing, in season
and out Of season. The sea will be bass
and accompaniment"
| began the old, old ballad: ~ hree
fishers went sailing away to the west"
As my voice rose loud and full, swell
ing over the water with the melody and
dying away to the sounding monotone Of
the waves, ! looked at my companion.
His face was turned seward, and OVERT
was a softened expression, and in his
eyes a tender light | had never seer
there before. Though my heart ceased
beating, my voice was too well trained tc
falter, and the music walled on:
For men must work and women must weep,
Though the harbor bar be moaning,
The sad chord did not touch him; iOy
and faith and hope held possession OF
his soul. How his thoughts irradiated
his somewhat stern features! 1t was the
face Of the n man in the world for me,
but | did not know it could look SO
handsome.
When the last echo of the song was
lost in a retreating billow he turned,
and, taking my hand, in the courtly
manner that never forsook him:
THANK you. | did not know there
was so much music in that song. have
heard it often before. but never like
that. Your rendering Of it adds a hun.
drcd-fold to its meaning. and now | want
to speak to you on a subject had not
intended to mention when | followed
you here"
His bronzed face took on a ruddier
hue, and the firm fingers closed oyer my
hand in a nervous clasp, while, un.
noticed by him, lowered my sunshade
between my face and his.
II know ! ought to have waited until
you were at home, and | had meant to,
but something impels me to throw my
self on your mercy and find ont my fate
before you leave, | love your sister
Mile with all my heart, as ! never
loved any one before, and ] ask your
permission to tell her so. | do not
think she regards me wholly with in
difference. | will take and cherish her
as a precious flower. As my wife, time
and wealth shall not be spared, and |
am confident that somewhere NAV be
found a cure for her infirmity. viii
you interccde in my behalf if she hcsi-
tates to commit herself to my care?
Plead for me with the assurance that it
is love, not pity, | feel. Knowing your
great influence over her, ! want to beg
you, for the sake of our pleasant friend
ship, to use it in my favor"
A cloud was gathering on the deep,
the wave looked dark and angry and
fancy saw my love-boat reel from side to
side and then 60 down, swallowed up in
mid-ocean.
AT the call Of the company we Joined
them, and ! went home, as | shall 90
through life in daily sight of their hap
piness, with never a line on my face to
tell of my loss. Belle Barnard, in n.
V WaaE1v |