The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1892-06-04

hammock gently. and continued o %
swing Il
rBuf yoa're not In earnest really, are
yeu. DellSv he asked At last was dy-
ing 70 get a sight Of his face. but
coaldnt without sitting mp.
~Of course I'm In earnest I re-
sponded readily. 'sTom and father are
In earnest; why shouldn't I be7-
rBut Tom and your father haven't
-me-to think Of"
~You great baby" 1 answered. laugh
ing. 81 won't stay longer thaa a year."
-You might sec some fellow you
would like better" said LOTUS, for
lolnly.
aOh. I think I am too old now to
change my mind" I was beginning 10
BE- a little amused at his resigncd, yet
wretched, manner.
II don't know that women ever get
too old 70 change their minds" said
Lotus, In the same reproachful tone.
"Do ren ever get old enough TO make
up fheirs2" was on the point of my
tongue 70 ask. but I have never been
sharp with LOTUS, and II seemed Q
poor time TO begin.
"You could come and see me once or
twice" / suggested. "It's a delightful
trip"
lawfully expensive, DEAR" said this
~exasperating man.
rsWell, II pay your way out you can
surely pay it back" I said, laughing.
but LOTUS did not laugh.
81 mightn't want 70 come hack" he
said, gently. Then there was q long
silence and the hammock went on swing
ing. Had ever woman such an aggra-
waiting lover and one so dearly lovable?
This was the beginning Of many such
discussions. We kept perfect friendli-
ness while opposing each other on
every point and our talk always ended
where II began. he demanded no
sacrifice, but, on the other hand, he
offered none. / felt that I was only re-
sponsible TO Lotus In so far as l de-
sired his happiness. I desired Il with
my whole heart for In It lay my own
embodied, but ! felt too deeply to be
anything but firm and proud. And so
the day came, the still beautiful, Oc-
tober day, and LOTUS walked TO the
train with as, and waved us a-good-by
from the platform as we rushed away
with q shrek and rattle from dear old
Pimley.
But first we had q moment TO our
selves on the shady side of the station,
with not q soul in sight but / don't
think Lotus would have cared If there
had been a regiment. He kept his
arm around me and never took his eyes
from my face. 1 was very, very miser-
able, but I smiled and chatted through
Il all. Lotus scarcely answered me; he
ground his teets% now and then, and
once the tears came down his face.
"You know that / belong to You.
wherever you are-you believe it-don't
you, Dell?' he said once or twice. And
then: "It's hard to let you CO." But the
whistle shrieked and father called:
Come. Della" and then poor LOTUS
kissed me with a smile and whispered:
God love you, Della. my wife, my
dear, dear wife" Those were the last
words l heard him say, and then ia
Their leaned across to close the car
window against the cinder showers, ard
Tom was putting on his big. loose. linen
coat.
We went to Chicago and STONED at
other cities along the line, and came
safe at last to beautiful Denver. but NV
heart STAYED in FINLEY. II was a great,
big. glorious world that the train had
traversed, vast stretches of prairie,
majestic heights Of mountain land,
busy, thriving towns, and active, splen-
did people. Pimley was a little, quiet
village among the New England hills,
and in ID was the one loved human be-
ing who made or unmade the world
for me.
He wrote to me often, nv dear.
strange LOTUS, but he never spoke of
coming, nor of my return. His letters
were full Of kindness and sweet, every
day~ affection, but there was a tinge of
bitterness In their tone, q feeling as of
one at hopeless variance with fate. I
used to cry over them and reproach my
self so bitterly-for what? Surely ]
need not blame myself when he had
not repoached me. If only once he had
written to me Dell, come back" or
"Den, ] miss you" or made me in any
way conscious of a nearer duty to him,
am sure I could never have borne so
patiently, nor at all, my exile. But, as
II was, Z could only let the days go pm
though the sweetness of my life seemed
going with them-and wait.
We had a lovely little cottage for our
housekeeping, father and Tom and l.
on the outskirts of Denver, and q view
Of valleys and mountain tops that were
a ceaseless wonder and delight. ! felt
the charm Of this grand; solitary ma
Cure in the intervals of pining for the
picket fences and dwarf orchards of NV
native heath" and used to rove about
in stout shoes and q big hat, getting
within restricted limits some faint idea
of magnificent distances" SO lavishly
spread before the v e One day / came
in before dinner, rather tired. very sun
burnt and dusty. and was about to dis
appear for half an hours seclusion and
hath vvben T heard n mans footsten
sound quickly on the wide piazza /
knew Il was not time for Tom. but
nevertheless Tom II proved TO be. He