Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-02-14

oS SHO
her terrible tongue had wounded 9th
ers just as theirs did now. Her heart
was very bitter and her parents lives
were not a bed Of roses just now.
The artist had sketched nearly every
girl in the village, every child and
every spot, but Eva was left religiously
alone, and perhaps this was the keenest
anguish of all, for she had always felt
herself so immeasurably superior to all
the others, that this slight on her
beauty and attractiveness was the pro-
foundest of all.
She tried to do something that would
call forth n word, or even glance of
appreciation from this man, but to no
other purpose than to be ridiculed.
His insight into her motives YVES little
short of marvellous. He read her like
an open book.
At last, one day he met her as she
was on her way to do something she
had never thought of doing before, and
that was to go and carry a few deli
cacies to an old woman who lay bed
ridden in her little cottage just across
the bridge. On the bridge he met her,
and stopped to speak to her. The keen
frosty air had brought the blood to her
cheeks, and in her dark blue hood and
cloak she looked a very picture. He
kept hold Of her hand, and his face took
on a tender look that Eva could not
bear. He bent over her bowed head, as
he said:
"Do you know, Eva, that you might
tempt Satan, yes, an angel, to-day. I
never saw you look so beautiful. Eva,
I believe that you would care a little if
1 should go away from here tomorrow,
would you?"
What could the poor girl do but
stand trembling in a great gush of
happiness, and give him one glance
from her lovely, dewy eyes? And he
bent down still more and said:
"lf you do care for me, little Eva,
will you kiss me?"
And what could she do but do so, for
her heart and pride and &ill had all
passed into his keeping. He kissed
her, and perhaps twenty persons saw
him do it, and then he gave a little
nervous laugh, as he said:
Good by, little one, until tonight,
at Mrs. Barret's," and he hurried away,
leaving Eva overwhelmed with a mix
ture Of joy and shame, fear and happi-
ness. 1t was an effort to sit still and
hear the sick woman's sorrows, and she
longed for evening when she hoped
to see the man she loved again. And
the hours dragged slowly.
However, evening did come, and she
was in the fever Of conflicting emotions.
These few hours Of reflection had shown
her that while she had been made to
avow her love, he had not even pre-.
tended that he loved her, and very soon
she discovered that everybody there
knew that he kissed her on the bridge,
What she suffered none can tell. He
kept away from her, and for once merci.
fully ceased from singing her with his
barbed words, but she could neither get
hear him nor even get a glance from his
eyes.
Finally, in a momentary lull in the
conversation, q little child seized upon
a locket which he had on his watch
chain, and asked to see what was inside.
There were q lady and a little child,
and in answer to the question as to who
they were, he answered gravely, and
loud enough for every one to hear:
"That is my little boy and his mother"
This announcement created a futter,
for deliberate deception Of a young girl
was not considered a manly action in
this benighted town, and it was known
to every n present that he had kissed
Sis, and they felt a just resentment,
though non liked her.
While the guests were crowding to
see these portraits, poor Sis had
given n qulverlng sigh, and sunk to
the floor without apparent life or mo-
ton, and lay there like I. lilly struck by
a gale.
When they found Sis, she was raised,
but before any one could do more,
Wheelock threw himself on his knees
beside her, saying:
Il have killed her. The sweetest
and purest and proudest Of women. Sis,
Eva! My little one, awake, %listen,"
and he kissed the cold little face a
dozen times before she revived, and
then she looked at him with a wild re-
proach, and then her lips quivered and
tears gushed from her eyes. EVA,
listen one moment. My wife has been
dead four years. and 1 love you dearly,
and have wanted you for my wife,
mother to my motherless boy, even
since the hour 1 first saw you; but your
pride and sarcastic wit made me tremble
for your future, and [ only tried to cure