Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-10-03

] her OWN uedTb III sympathy WIN e-iSA4
but never had she been SO impressed
with all that true happiness meant.
They saw that Carol had been crying
saw that, although the light of day hac
dawned for them, she was still cropping
through the darkness of night, and theiI
hearts were filed with pity such as can
only come from loving parents.
Carol, said the white-haired gentle
man, his voice vibrating like string OF
a harp, and as he spoke he held out his
arms, as if longing to enfold her in their
shelter, ''my child, can you ever forgive
me for the wrong have done you? adj
vance no plea; Twas crazy TO do as did,
and | thank God it all failed. Can you
| ever look upon me as your loving father
again? By the memory of the love you
| bore me, by the love of this dear woman,
your mother, who has forgiven all the
cruel wrongs of the past, | implore you,
my child, to have mercy upon me, TO
come to my arms and forget the dread
past in contemplation of the near fu-
hre."
For the first time in her life, Carol saw
her fathers pride humbled, as he stood
there, with outstretched arms, his face
showing the pleading of his heart.
She was overcome by the spectacle,
and with little cry she rushed into his
arms. Fiercely, as might lover, the old
gentleman strained her to his heart. She
had been lost to hSn, and was now found
again. He had suffered much during his
sventful life, but it seemed to him now
that he was fast nearing the harbor OF
peace.
Reconciled to these two-wife and
ehild-what had he to fear in the world?
For the time being he forgot that Capt.
Grant held a secret over his head--the
motive Of much of his action in regard
to forcing Carol into the union she alb
horred-and, when he did let his mind
rest upon The subject, with that eyasivc-
ness common to human nature, he kept
putting the dread responsibility away
from him, hoping that in the meantime
something would occur to relieve him of
this danger altogether.
Heaven had been exceeding kind to
him thus far, and he hoped on, taking
courage from what had already been
meted out to him.
He forgot the vindictive nature of the
man who held such a power over him,
and that he would not be apt to hesitate
at anything in order to accomplish his
ends.
Carol was happy for the time being in
the consciousness Of the fact that those
she loved so well had, by the interposi-
ton of Providence, as il were, become
reconciled, but she could not long forget
her own troubles, and her heart seemed
to sink like lead as she suddenly realized
how fate had parted Roger aud her for
ever.
A wan smile crept over her face
when her father, in something of his
old CHEEKY way, told her not to fret,
that he would fix all matters with
Roger
All there was time when this could
have been done, and all would have been
a. merry as a marriage bell; but now.
oh God help her, she had placed barrier
between them as high as the mountains,
as vast as mighty Niagara.
What would she not have given to
have undone the events of the past few
hours? II tears could have blotted
gut the record, surely she had wept
enough to have done it.
He had been so close to her his brave
arms outstretched, and she had repulsed
him, had driven him from her with
charges that it made her cheeks burn to
even remember While she drew breath
she would never forget how he looked,
standing before her with his white face,
from which her insulting words had
driven every vestlge of color.
She felt like one who had given the
death-blow to the man who loved her best
on earth, as If she had wounded fatally
some dumb animal that still crept to her
feet in its dying agony.
Remorse preyed upon her until she
could have cried aloud in her agony, and
yet she suffered in stony silence Wouki
he be mereiless when he confronted her
with the evidence OF his Innocence? How
his cutting, scathing words rang in her
ears:
"Some day shortly will seek you to
show you the proofs of my innocence;
seek you to prove all that ever claimed
to be; seek you to show that it was the
faint on my family name that | feared, |
not because / had ever done aught that
could bring disgrace upon myself or the |
lne ! loved; and, having done this, will !
throw your love from me like tattered
glove, for it was false-false /"
Terrible words
To her they were as the sentence of /
Heath declared by the Judge upon the con-
lemned prisoner, and she shuddered /
when recalling them.
Could nothing ever retrieve that fatal
step?
Sadly she reflected upon it. and then,
shaking her head, realized that such a /
step once taken could never be recalled. |
All now rested with Roger Would he
forgive? All had it been herself. would /
she not forget all when he asked it? |
Then the burning blush crept into her
ace again as she remembered that she
rad shown anything but forgiving ma
.ure when she accused her lover of such
rightful things.
Poor Carol