The national leader., 1889-05-18

that she was very young, so that there
might be no temptation on Fred's part
to change the scope of his letters. She
was schoolgirl, eighteen years OF age,
home now for her vacation. As she
had meant, he got the impression that
she was much younger, mere slip OF
girl That was just the thing. He
could write freely about himself to
amuse her. and her letters and her
sympathy would be none the less pleas
ant because of her youth.
Now, 1 am bound to confess that the
correspondence which followed was not
in any way very remarkable. In look
ing it over [ have been, perhaps, as
much interested in the handwriting,
the faded letters, the dates as in the
little glimpses Of personal history and
character which it reveals. 1t does not
greatly concern our story to follow 1t.
Rapidly it changed, both as TO form
and substance. 1t came to be "My
Dear Miss Lille" and "Dear Mr.. Ray
mond" It was no longer general and
formal, but personal and sympathetic.
Had they fallen in love with each other?
That would have been very absurd in
him, seeing that she was only little
girl, as he supposed. Can people who
have never seen each other really fall
in love?
Can people fall in love with each
other through the medium of letters
alone? What is that process through
which we have most of us gone-some
of us, despite the poets and novelists,
many times? Is it not in oil cases the
ideal conception which we have, rather
than the person to whom we attribute
it? Two elements always enter into
this ideal. The one is the physical per-
fectness of the beloved object. Beauty
of form or feature, grace in action,
manly strength-these are what we see.
But so blind are we, that anything short
of monstrosity may, under some cir
cumstances, strangely delude us. Ger
tain mental and moral qualities must
also always seem to be present, and
| here the chances are that q truer con-
ception may be gained by correspond
ence than by personal interviews. In
any case, the conception is likely to be
wrong. The physical ideal might, of
course, be SO grossly absurd that it
would utterly and instantly disappear
upon acquaintance. The other may
also disappear, but much more slowly,
fading gradually through long years.
So, while neither had intended it and
as yet were unaware of it, they had en-
! tered upon state when only a touch Is
needed to change their warm personal
interest into the deepest and tenderest
passion. Thus a few weeks passed,
| D. ;+4o1 +A HI
regiment.
But while he had only sought to
tighten the weariness of hospital life in
the beginning, he now found these let
ters none the less adapted to the bright
ening of camp life, and they were still
continued. But as his regiment was
often on the move and the mails were
regular i srA WIZ With the the M battlo Of chicEa- M
mauga they came to an abrupt end.
Lilies letters were returned, with the
sad intelligence that Raymond had been
killed in battle If she had heretofore
deceived herself with regard to her in
terest in this soldier whom she had
never seen, she did so now no longer
1t was in the spirit of widowhood that
she 'mourned her dead hero and king of
men. Foolish it may have been, and
unreasonable, but when has love reas-
oned? Nor was this loss alone. Peace
has it's vicissitudes and It's tragedies, as
well as war. Her father sickened and
died. The mother had gone years be-
fore. Overwhelmed with her sorrows,
Lille went to live with an aunt, in a
neighboring state. Her father had
once been well-to-do, but had lost his
property, and there was but little left.
Until the estate was settled that little
was not available. She did not want to
feel dependent on her relatives, and so
engaged in teaching in the village She
often thought of offering herself as a
nurse, but now she felt quite unequal
to the work. With a good constitu-
ton, lively disposition, and in perfect
health when troubles came upon her,
she now grew listless, thoughtful and
sad. Thus had the gold become dim.
Raymond was not killed. A shell
had burst near his head, and the tre-
mendous conclusion had felled him to
the earth, where he lay long time un-
conscious. None of the fragments of
the shell had touched him. When he
finally recovered his senses so far as to
sit up, he looked around, bewildered.
He only partially recalled what had oc-
Cured. The battle had ebbed away,
but the thunder ragged and roared in
the distance. A blind instinct led him
to try to regain his regiment. He
stood up dizzily at last, and with his
musket for a support started in the di-
rection of the firing. He had no idea
of his bearings, and did not know that
his regiment and the whole line had
fallen back, and he soon ran into
group of Confederates and was captur-
ed