Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1891-02-21

no doubt as to which of these men
she loved.
Kittie Lee was like most girls.
She loved to be courted. She loved
to have men worship at her shrine
of beauty. She had many good
traits, but position and riches had
strange fascination for her, and as
she looked again at Jacks broad
acres, and thought Of the honor of
his family, Raymond's face faded
away. Jack had won. She bowed
her head, and wept bitterly. The
sunbeams fade. The bees and birds
are quiet. The voices of the night
are hushed, and all the land is dark.
~ ~ *** ~
Four years after. Kittie and Jack
no longer appear upon the scene as
lovers. o the years have brought
so many changes! Death has been
an unwelcome visitor and Kittie has
lived to see her dear mother and
father laid side by side in the old
church yard on the hill. He young
heart has been made to feel the an
guish bereavement. Another grave
q wee one, is enshrined in her heart.
The little blue eyed baby girl that
bridged over the tide OF grief that
swept over her when her father died,
has been sleeping there by his side
for long, long weeks. How often
has she wished that she might be
there, too,-away from all the dross
and glitter, the anguish and pain of
her life.
Kittie is unhappy. Jack Rawley
has proven no.exception to aristo
cratic raising. The ever present love
for games and wandering, for fast
living, that has characterized the
"blue-b loodism' of the world, finds
no comfort, no inspiration in the
pure affections of woman, and the
flower, nourished with the most
chivalrous attention and plucked
with the tenderest grace is soon
thrown aside, to wither, to be bruis-
ed and die.
Not that Jack Rawley ever at
tempted to maltreat his wife. Not
that. She had the comforts of life,
as the wife generally has among
such people. Liveried servants at
tended her every want, and she was
privileged to spend her time in the
most congenial manner to herself.
Such privileges do not constitute a
woman's happiness. Will men never
realize that wife desires none than
lavished patronage, more than stud
led wants Will they never per-
ceive that it is their love and sym.
pathy that make weman's exis-
tence, and that bring into her life
its only real, true peace and happi-
ness ? Too many men adhere to the
old maxim: Marriage consummated
adieu to love-"
This warm June evening, she is
seated under the wreathing ivy,
looking up into the blue sky. Jack
has been to the city for several days,
and she is sitting in quiet reyerie.
The past returns. She is once again
preparing for her wedding. The
halls are garlanded with the choicest
offerings of autumn. Merry voices
are all about her. Friends are con-
graduating. Jack, tall and hand
some, stands smiling by her side. 1t
is over. The papers are full of de-
scription and detail. 1t is not the
wedding column which interests her.
In one part of the paper, short
item of news catches her eye:
Raymond Flood has resigned his
position with Sheer & Co., and tax
en- passage in the steamer 'Grayson'
for Australia, where he hopes to win
both fortune and name"
How her heart smites herl The
fortune and name that she should
have had hand in making, we're re-
| Gnquished for riches and family
name. And now brave, honest Ray
mond, with broken heart, was on
his way to face the dangers of a
foreign land. Too late she realized
that her choice had been fatal mis-
take, and in deep anguish she pushes
aside the paper and joins her friends
and husband.
! Taking up the threads Of her life
since then, she has made brave
effort to make Jack happy. Nature
is much like stream. For miles
the current is smooth and quiet.
Then, some rough, unexpected shoal
breaks its placidity and sends it in
broken particles to the sea. Please
him she could not. He halfsuspect-
ed she loved Raymond Flood, and
with the bluntness Of a fool, told her
so. BE sought to worry her into
complaining by inviting uncongenial
male friends to his home. He treat
ed her favorite servants with cruelty,
and in every way sought to-make her
life in his presence unbearable. Kittie
never resented his rudness, but con-
tinued the faithful wife she had obi
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