The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1889-08-30

Some time passed Dc1Ore Roger real-
lied this mistake on her part, and then
1t had gone so far that he decided to let
things take their own course, though he
would not say single word to add to
the deception she unwittingly practiced
upon herself.
There was no agreement to meet again
and yet tacit understanding seemed to
rest between them to the effect that at
certain hours Carol was wont to frequent
this place, and that he should find her
there.
That night Roger Darrell, pacing up
and down the avenue of elms smoking
became SO abstracted as to allow his
cigar to go out, thing that had never
happened with him before.
He was thinking of the young girl,
and trying to picture her in his mind,
but, although her image had left an in
delible impression on his heart, he could
not bring her face before his mental
vision.
All he could remember was O pair OF
lapis lazuli eyes that seemed to flash
with the sunlight of the soul within, and
which had played SUCH havoc with his
~
aught again, unless, as an old writer has
it, the commodity in question could pos
sibly be used for a housewives sieve.
Far into the night he strolled up and
down the avenue, while the moon in the
eastern heavens walked in glory.
| A score OF times his head was turned
in the direction Of Richmond Terrace,
which possessed a new attraction to him
now. Every little while his lips would
let fall sentence, and the general bur-
den of his thoughts seemed to be of Carol
and the great change she had already
made in his life. .->.-.
One would think from his manner, and
the style of his mutterings, that he was
deciding a weighty question, and that
this was indeed SO the events OF the near
future proved beyond doubt.
81 am a william, If 1 seek to gain her
love with this shame upon my name, this
secret in my life. How the good people
here would shun me if they only knew
the truth. I am sorry came now, sorry
ventured to be so rash, but, having
ri5ked al, am not the man to turn back.
I shuId3r to think what would be the re-
lit, if exposure came, when had won
her love-had grown to think dearly of
her myself. Heaven prevent it."
A few more turns up and down, and
then he again apostrophized the moon.
"You are indeed coward If you do
not flee from this place; weak coward,
Roger Darrell. Something seems to tell
me that the future holds the life of that
sweet girl close to mino. Too weak to
break away, you will remain here and
perhaps bring sorrow upon her golden
head. If that be SO, then may oil the
pain fall on you. 1t is hard to tear away
from the one glimpse of sunshine in o
clouded life-hard to put happiness
away with stern hand when 1t seems to
be within grasp"
AS the steward Of the great estate,
Darrell Chace, the young man, wooed and
won Carol Richmond.
She had led somewhat lonely life,
and he had dawned upon it like the
prince In fairy-tale. To her, he was all
the world. Her love was not demon
strative, but it would live through time
to eternity. Changes might come, bring
ing sorrow in their train, but the love Of
Carol Richmond, once gained, would last
forever.
Roger Darrell should have been the
happiest of mortals, as, standing in
Gods temple, the forest, he and Carol
plighted their troth In the sweet hopeful
future it should be "each for the other
through time and eternity"
Although he had decided that the past
must not come between him and Carol,
yet there were times when fearful dread
seized upon him with such force as to
make him shudder.
What if she should learn the truth In
some way; would she not hate, despise
and loath him? Was ever man placed in
such a fearful dilemma? Duty lay on
one side, love on the other. He closed
his eyes, and blindly rushed on to his
fate.
1t was in the latter part of July, and
for the time Of the year the weather was
delicious.
Roger and Carol were seated on an old
log in the picturesque forest, watching
the antics Of little Fido, and looking
through the green aisles of the romantic
woods.
They had been engaged over a week
now, and on this very day Roger had de-
cided to disclose his personality to his
betrothed. He had often pictured her
incredulity and delight when she learned
that he was the master OF Darrell Chace,
and not the steward, as she had all the
while believed, having misunderstood his
name in the beginning in some unaccount-
able manner, but the thought that she
would see anything to horrify her in the
acknowledgement had never occurred to
him.
Seated there, they talked of the future,
and how happy they intended to be, lit
tie knowing or realizing what a shadow
was hanging above them, even at that
moment.
With Carols love had come trust that
was boundless in its dimensions, and
this is what struck home more keenly to
Rogers heart, whenever he thought of it. |
When he looked into her lovely eyes 1t
made him think of tho feeling that comes
over man whom he gazes into the orbs
of a gazelle, at which his rifle is pointed,
and yet Heaven was witness that it was
only the choicest blessings that Roger
wished for Carol, even though no loved
her with love that was to prove like
unto the death-lantern of the swamps.
which leads tho traveller to destruction In
the quagmire.
While Roger and the girl he loved with
heart and soul sat thus upon the old log,