The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1889-07-12

. ouiu u VIZ III ST Il Iuttt
For, cruel as remembrance is,
'Tis harder to forget.
"The strenmlct now is frozen, i
The niphtincalcs are fed,
The corn-ield5 are deserted, +
And cv'ry iogc is dead.
sit beside NJ lonely fire,
and pray for wisdom yet,
For oalmi,ess to remember, or
For courage to forget"
There was no sound in the room as
the last notes died away. l knew they
had gone straight to Marks heart, for
he left the group of ladies with whom
he had been talking, and went to one of
the great hay windows. The May sun
had set, and the light was dead in the
sky.
Lady Yorke's voice broke the spell.
She was asking for her favoritc, and
the words came readily to me-Virginia
Gabriel's beautiful song Ruby
~ opened the leaves of n book last night
The dust on lis cover lay dusk md brown;
As l held ii towards the waning light
A witi.crcd 1ow'ret tell rustling down.
Twas only the wrath of II Woodland weed,
Which u dear dead hand In the days of old
Had placed 'twixt the pages she loved to
read
At the time when my news OF love was told;
And memory sweet, but as sad as sweet,
swift flooded mine eyes with rcgrctiul tears
AS the dry linn Larebeil skinned past my
feet,
Recalling an hour from the vanished years.
'onco more I was watching her dccp-fringed
Den over the trasso upon her knee,
And the fair face biusling with sweet SUR
AT tho passionate pleading that broke from
All, Ruby, my darling, the small white hand
That gathered the hnrebell was never my
But faded and passed to the far-off land,
An 1 drcnmt by the pickering flame alone.
/ gathered the Hover and l closed the leaves,
And folded my hands III silent prayer
That the reaper Death, as he seeks his
Might hasten the hour of our meeting
there"
Was l dreaming, or did my W voice
die away in q wall Of pain-die in a
long-drawn bitter sob?
Lady Yorke was near me, and I saw
tears in her eyes.
'One more, Miss Chester" she said.
"Your songs are so sad and so sweet,
they take me out of this world. One
more, if you are not too tired"
l had forgiven Mark not very long
since; but the longing was upon me to
make him feel. TO pierce his heart with
some little Of the anguish which had
pierced mine. Never mind what | suf-
lered, if could send my words flying
like barbed arrows across the room.
l looked at him. The handsome pro-
file stood out clearly and distinctly. He
stood gazing though the long window
at the night-sky. All, yes, 1 would
sting him into feeling. And this was
nv song
'Down deep in my heart, in its last calm sleep
a dear dead love lies buried deep;
I Ii,S y. All / = ,na t.. ~ tn,N.. n,rI ,,,
Aud closed the eyes and yelled the face
l never again night sec.
brcGthed no word and l shed no tear,
But the onward years locked dark and drear,
AndI knew, by the tl;robs of mortal pain,
That n sweetness had fled which never again
Would in life come back to me.
And dreams of the past, like roses. still shed
Their fragrance around my cherished dead;
While tears that ever are falling unseen,
Like soft summer rain, kcepits memory green
As the turf of the churchyard sod.
And, weeping aud waiting. pray and wait
That an angel mny open tho golden gate;
For | think that the Ove of long ago,
Though cold and dead to mo here below,
VIII DO mine in the rest of God"
There was a little stir in the room
when my song was finished. The last
words rang through my brain-''Will
be mine. in the rest of God" I had
touched him. All those other men and
women We're nothing to me-only shad-
ows. They had no identity. l saw
me Mark was there alone.
/ saw a culver of pain pass over his
face. l had made him feel. Then, so
true. SO weak a woman was l that l
longed to cross the room and kiss the
pain away. The odor Of violets came
to me; Lady Severne was standing by
my side.
How exquisitely you sing, Miss
Chester! You make ME long for things
that have quite forgotten. How diff
ferently we should all live if we could
lead Our lives over again.
Tho brilliant face softened; the hard
metallic light had died from her eyes.
[ liked her better in that moment than
l had before. Then | heard Lady Yorke
asking Mark to sing. l remembered
the rich CHEEKY voice that had trolled
out many love songs.
you never refused to sing for me in
Italy" said Lady Yorke; why refuse
here?n
Lord Severne has a beautiful voice
and a perfect ear" Lady Severne re-
marked, turning to me-.
1t comforted me just a little to re-
member that I had known that long
before she did. An uncomfortable
trembling came over me, for Mark
stood by my side.
"Wilf you play Lord seyerne's ac-
comp Woh'S raihe said 1918 LSd ! yre YaTke'
II will" said Lady Severne; II like
to play for him."
Was he thinking of her or thinking
of me? Not of me. lie could not sing
such words to me now; for the song he
had chosen was Sullivan's beautiful
My Dearest Heart"
A the dreaming is broken through;
Both what is done and undone l rue,
Nothing is steadfast, nothing is true,
But your love for me. and my love for you,
My dearest, dearest heart!
"wten the winds are loud, when the winds arc
low,
When the roses come, when the roses 60,
One thought, one feeling, is all l know,
My dearest, dearest hearth
"The time is weary, the year Is old,
And the light OF the lily burns close to the
The grave is cruel, the grave is cold,
But the other side Is the city of gold,
My dearest heart, my dearest hearth"
The lights and the flowers, the fair
faces and jewels, swan before me. It
seemed TO me that / was faint and ill
from the odor Of violets. l went from
the piano to the other end of the room.
could sing no more that night. A tall
iar9iniere, filed with exquisite white
orchids, which stood near afforded me
shelter. and from behind the white fra
grant flowers / could see and hear all
that passed. Lady Yorke came to me
there and said that / must rest.
You musical people take Sc much
out OF yourselves" she said. You
throw your whole souls into your songs.
Look at Lord Severne. Who is his
dearest heart l wondar?"
Lady Sevcrne," / replied, quickly.
But Lady Yorke shook her head.
That isa marriage l cannot under
stand,n She said. slowly: 1tbut | begin