Cherry County independent. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 18??-1896, 1892-12-22
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people of our set. Do try and come
out Of your shell Of uncongeniality
for once"
"And shriyel in the hypocritical
glare of false friendship and hollow
pleasure?" he interrupted bitterly.
mo, sister. / thank you. but a quiet
corner for me. / am tired-I am
weary of all this show, vanity and
vain labor. Five years a drudge, five
more a cynical, lint-hearted money
maker, and what is the recompense?"
His sister stared at him in amaze
ment. The recompense. Was the
man going mad? Wealth, social emil
neace, a proud name! What heights
could possibly lay beyond that pima
Gle of earthly grandeur and success?
Excuse me for tonight" pleaded
Penrith. i am tired of it all. Oh,
if out of it all | could extract one
grain of comfort, n genuine emo
tion of Notwithstanding akin to
the old boyish ZeSt-something tangi-
bleI."
Something tangible. He dwelt on
the words at the stately dinner table.
They fingered with him as he tried
to settle down to a quiet smoke in the
library. There arose in his mind a
| picture of the past. 1t was poverty,
%obscurity then; but a thought Of the
bare-footed rambles through the
woods, of the real coziness of the lit
tie attic-room back at the old home
stead, of ambitions tinged with ideal
sentiment and glowing hopes, Jlori-
fed the years nov dead.
He glanced from the window at
the dying day. Mournful, inexpres-
sibly cold. %repellant, unlovely, seemed
the wilderness Of stately mansions
and stiff, precise equipages ol the
street without. How different the
dear cd village where he was born!
The narrow streets, its quaint homes,
its heart-warming people foated
across his vision now, and seemed
part of another world.
1t was not so very far away. That
little country town Nesting among
the hills was only an hours ride from
the great metropolis. Was he getting
sentimental? What was this strange
impulse that lured him to steal
thither like a thief ashamed, and try
to warm the frozen currents of his
dreary life at the ashes of a dead past?
All! the dear old town. How
natural it looked. The old red
school-house, the rickety depot, the
broad common-once again, for the
first time in ten years, Richard Pen
rith trod his native soil that night.
He wandered about the place like
an uneasy ghost haunting the Genes
of former experiences. He felt a
keen pang of actual envy as he peered
through the frost-crested windows of
the homely village store, and saw its
proprietor, happy, serene, all one
glow Of perfect delight owe the
gathering in of an extra few dollars
for holiday business. Why. a turn of
stock in the city often meant a for
tune for him, and yet scarcely stirred
a nerve.
All heart, all sympathy, all human,
simple felicity! What a paradise,
compared to the dollhouse, superb
cial life of the city! He paused as a
name spoken by a bent, old man,
passing with a companion, struck
his ear with a shock.
"It's all Miss Naomi's doings, sir.
Bless her dear heart! She's nursed my
wife back to health, she's got my boy
a situation, and we amt the first
that angel of charity has helped"
"Miss Hewitt is a great friend to
the poor; yes"
Naomi - Miss Hewitt! Richard
Penrith stood stock still on the snowy
street. A slight flush surmounted
his brow, his eyes grew larger, then
tender.
Strange how he had forgotten her
stranger still that after all these
years the sudden recurrence Of that
once treasured name could stir his
nature as it had not been moved for
nearly a decade.
He tried to smile at the memory Of
their boy and girl love, but failed.
Something choked him as he walked
on, and paused to peer through the
windows of a neat, pretty cottage.
Yes, there was the "beSt room"
brightly lighted, and old Mrs. Hewitt
seated knitting, surrounded by cozi-
ness and warmth. There was the
pretty rustic porch. How often he
had kissed Naomi goodnight under
the dew-spangled vines surroundingit.
All was the same, only the vines were
dead and dropping now, All was
the same. His heart gave a great
bound as the vivid lamplight showed
a little framed portrait or the wall:
his picture as he had been, treasured,
faithfully by the winsome
lass he had sacrificed to the cold,
cynical demands of gold.
He fell to wondering how Naomi
looked now. She was not visible
about the house, and he strolled re-
.luctantly on, and passing people
stared suspiciously at him. He fol-
lowed the concourse. All, another
reminder Of the past, the old church,
it's glowing portals a open welcome
to all the weary, and hungered, and
penitent.
He entered and glided to an OBJ
.cure new. 1t took him back ten