Connecticut western news., 1892-05-12
THE ROSE TREE MINE.

'The birds are going south, Antoine. and it is 30 earlyr'
 Yes, Angelique. the winter will be long,"
 There was a pause, and then. An toine, heard child cry in the night. and could not sleep"
 1t was a devil bird, my wife; it flies slowly and the summer is dead"
 Antoine. there was a rushing of wings by my bed before the morn was breaking"
 "The wild geese know their way in the night. Angelique. but they flew by the house and not near thy bed"
 "The two black squirrels have gone from the hickory tree"
 They have hidden away with the bears in the earth. for the frost comes and it is the time of sleep"
 "A cold hand was knocking at my heart when 1 said my ayes last night. my Antoine"
 "The heart of woman feels many strange things; cannot answer. my wife"
 "Let us go also southward. Antoine. before the great winds and the wild frost come"
 "l have love of thee. Angelique. but cannot go."
 'ls not love greater than all?"
 ''To keep pledge is greater"
 Yet if evil comeY'
 There is the mine."
  find ity" >..
 He said to me, my wife, Antoine, will you stay and watch the mine until 1 come with the birds northward againY and said I will stay and Angelique will stay: will watch the mine.'"
 This is for his riches, but for our peril. Antoine"
 Who can say whither 8 woman's fancy goes? 1t is full of guessing. It is clouds and darkness today and sunshine 80 much-tomorrow. l cannot an swer."
 Il have a fear. If my husband loved
 There is the mine." he interrupted firmly.
 When my heart aches so"-
 AngeIlque, there IS the m1ne.
 ''Ah. my Antoinel"
 And so these two staid on the island of Saint Jean. in Lake Superior. through the purple haze of autumn into the white brilliancy of winter. guarding the Rose Tree mine. which Padding. the Englishman. and his companions had prospected and declared to be their Ophir.
 But Saint Jean was far from the ways of settlement. and there was little food and only one hut, and many things must be done for the Rose Tree mine in the places where men sell their souls for money: and Antoine and Angelique, French peasants from the parish of Saint Irene. in Quebec, were left to guard tho place of treasure until, to the sound of the laughing spring, there should come many men and much machinery, and the sinking of shafts in the earth and the making of riches.
 But when Antoine and Angelique were left alone in the waste. and God began to draw the pale coverlet of frost slowly across land and water and to surround Saint Jean with stubborn moat of ice, the heart of the woman felt some coming danger. and at last broke forth in words of timid warming. When she once had spoken she said no more, but staid and builded the heaps of earth about the home, and filled every crevice against the inhospitable Spirit of Winds. and drew her world closer and closer within those two rooms where they should live through many moons. The winter was harsh. but the hearts of the two were strong They loved. and love is the parent of endurance. the begetter of courage. And every day. because it seemed his duty. Antoine in- spected the Rose Tree mine: and every day. also, because it seemed her duty, Angelique said many ayes. And one prayer was much with her-for spring to come early, that the child should not suffer: the child which the good God was to give to her and Antoine. In the first hours of each evening An toine smoked and Angelique sang the old songs which their ancestors learned in Normandy. One night Antoine's face was lighted with fine fire as he talked of happy days in the parish of Saint | Irene, and with that romantic fervor Of his race which the stern winters of Can ada could not kill, he sang "A la Claire Fontaine. the we'll beloved song child of the voyagers' hearts. | And the wife smiled far away into the dancing aames9sfar away, because the fire retreated. retreated to the little church where they two were wed: and she did as most good women do-though exactly why. man the insufficient can not declare-she wept little through her smiles. But when the last verge came both smiles and tears ceased. An toine sang it with fond monotony: Would that each rose were growing | Upon the rose tree gay. | And that the fatal rose tree
 Deep in the ocean lay. | lily a longtemps que je Jaime | Jamais je ne to- lierai- | Auueliuue's heart grew suddenly