Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-05-11

OF tho worst dhyS IN tnc so"f >o'u tali
and a wind Ike the breath OF winter.
| I Ind never seen Courtney 30 rest
/ less. He fidgeted around unfii could
I have screamed with nervousness. and be
talked Of Alice incessantly:, he made one
I of the house boys gather all the late roses
/ in the ward and garden and bring them IN,
/ hundreds OF them, wet and cleaning with
| the rain. He put them eyerywnere-.out
on the marble lIall-tables in shallow edge
ware bowls, in the lovely psyche vases in
the library. among the ma@nzlhes IN the
dining-roonl-urtil l could not turn
/ hut NV glance fell on roses and
nv land touched roses. At last
he stopped, tired ont. with nothing left
! but some exquisite blush buds just open
/ inc their shell-tinted leaves. Courtney
! caressed them as it they had been sentient
things. Jenny" he SAID ;coannely,
won't you get me that old silvor bowl
the one that came from venice, You
known These are the most beautiful OF all
and must have something To SUIT them.
/ humored him az / would have humored
you. The bowl was at the bottom OF the
silver chest, and it took me some minutes
10 Get il. This time next year." !
thought, "she Will he mistress here-it viii
nil be hers" | took no pleasure IN
looking at the lovely thing, but car
ricd il back TO Courtney, carelessly, with
jealous pain ut my heart. lie
filed il with The roses and stood looking
down. half tlmldly at me, as L sat there
pretending to read.
Il am a great trouble" he said at last,
but will you do one more thing Tor me /.
/ want these n--her--room."
IFS 10 trouble ! answered, taking
them from him. six O'Clock; they should
be here soon. You had better ring for
more candles, Courtney" | put the
flowers on the dressing-;able in her room.
The draugbt from the open door made
them tremhle and whiten, and ! thought
of her facc. When / went back down
stairs the whole lower floor was brilliantly
liohted up. With the lights and the
flowers il seemed as if it were Just be
fore a ball The house had looked like
that so often before | married and went
away. For moment ! almost expected
to hear the roll of carriages and the greet
ings of my girhoods friend-only a mo-
ment, then l remembered, 1t was all for
her. As stood there holding by the BAN
lister, Courtney came out and put his
arms around me. Ills eyes were shining.
II am so happy. Jenny" he said under
his breath.
was torn two ways-my love for him,
my hate for her. ! could not answer, but
there was no need. for as he spoke we heard
the sound of wheels, and almost immedi-
ately the ball doors swung open and your
grandfather entered alone. He looked ten
wears older. haggard. aud worn. The sight
of his face made Courtney turn white and
put his hand to his throat. His lips moved,
but that was all. A terrible question was
III his eyes. Your grandfather looked au
him piteousy.
Not thati" he cried. answering tho I'M
spoken question. But she had gone. She
left Richmond on Monday" he said me-
chemically. Their plans had changed. !
could not get her address. No one seemed
TO know-my dear boy" Courtney tell
died away. A. he fell his shoulder struck
on slender table standing near and the
bowl Of scarlet roses on it slid of and
broke over the white mating. The petals
showered on Courtney's face like drops OF
blood. A great gust OF wind blew IN
through the open door and nearly all the
tapers in the chandelier tlared up and went
out. leaving u in darkness. shook like
some guilty thing and dared not 60 10
Courtnev. II was / who had put out the
light and ruined the roses. II was | that
had struck Courtney down like dead at his
fathers feet. Ill did not hate Alice
then. O. Crissy. | went down on my knees
in that awful silence and prayed God to
send her back.
But He never did.
No, Courtney did not die. We do not
die so easily, dear. We live and suber-as
he did. We could not find her. It, was as
if one had shaken drop OF dew INTO the
James. She was lost like that. We en-
ployed detectives. we advertised. II she
had been hiding consciously l suppose we
should have found her. but che had only
gone to her home. and we could not. She
had come to me from her friends in Rich
mond. She wrote the fewest letters, and
had never seen the direction on them
would not have noticed If mad. 80 we
had scarcely anything to. go by. Only
Courtney never gave up hope. tie was
very sweet and never reproached ne with
word or look; but knew how II hurt, now
the suspense racked him and made
him pale and tremble and lie awake
ut night with great fear at his heart. but
he ALWAYS hoped-he would have ed else.
IL was the spring Of 1858 before he was able
To reioin his regiment. He was with Nor
Gan in Ohio: you have read how Morgan
was taken how lie all but escaped; how
his men were shot down at the rlNer-DrinA.
Courtney was slot then. HIS horse
brought him across the river safely; ou5 ne
could 20 no further. They found him Oh
the hank next morning and he was sent
home. The old wound broke out. The
ola pain began. He was glad to die. lie
was delirious lust before. Her name was
last On his lips; he thought | was her; he
kissed me for her; IL was dreadful. Inc
remorse was like fire at my heart. 1t hurt.
Oh. my little one, how 1t hurt 1t was my
punishment.
but 1t was better for HIM to die.
Only a year from that time and ] was
clad that he was dead and wished that
were. too. o, Crissy the long June days
OF that summer of 1864 were blacker than
the blacklist nights. and through al the
land there was only Dead-Sea t1ult. 10 was
as If Gods awful curse had Numbered
down from Heaven and all the first born
in the land of Egypt shall die" 1t was
like that IN my beautiful valley; and the
verse that comes after rang through my
head for DAYS and days and through my
dreams at night-"and there shall be a
great cry throughout the land, such as
there was never like nor shall be like It any
more" That tells all-the horror, the desc
lation. the despair. But yOu can never
know. Only we that heard the cry The
valley was a grave and the mountains the
stones at foot and head.
Now YOU know why | let you marry
Philip without word of opposition from
me, although had other things planned
for you. NY pretty one. / hate To see ycu
poor, but I worked terrible wrong once;
and there are some words your grand
father said long ago: There are better
things in the world than pride. and aris-
tocratic lineage, and great estates. Love
is better" Take them TO your heart. II
| had | would be a happier woman now
Kiss me, dearest, and whatever comes re-
member that love is best-always. always
while lie lasts.
THE End.
-----...-----------
Author Harris on Congress.