The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1893-01-13

Stella had when she left?" I asked, while
we were sitting at the breakfast table.
mo, she never said anything about her
self or her money. l remember when she
paid the housekeeper told her it was not
wise to pay Lord Waverland's debts. She
only laughed and said she could soon save
it from the housekeeping fund. / never
mentioned it again, neither did she.''
will Stella come back again?" asked
Myrtle.
81 cannot tell, my child" said mother
After breakfast rode to the village fin
ished my business, then turned homeward
CT anywhere. Life had lost its purpose.
AS was passing the little school house l
thought Stella might have stopped there.
I halted at the door and knocked with the
handle of my riding whip Mrs. Malcom
came to the door.
WAS Miss Everett here yesterday I
asked.
Yes, sor, she ware here, but she had
been weeping, bless her dear heart"
"Did she tell you she was going away?"
asked
NO, sor, but she said goodbye to all OF
u.s.
| Iroamed about with but one aim or OBJ
| iect To gain some tidings of my lost
| friend was my one absorbing thought.
searcned every paper, hoping she would
| advertise. / rode for miles in every direc.
| ton, hoping for some news. But all to nc
| purpose.
| What dreary old place Waverland had
become. 1t had lost all its sunshine and
lay in a deep dark shadow. Even my
] mother kept her room, and dinner and
breakfast were lonely times No more
duets. No more lively conversations and
| discussions. Sir Wren failed to find COM
fort in playing whist. Annie seemed as
| lonely as myself and only made short calls,
while Myrtle could not reconcile herself to
| live without Stella. When / came home
she would come hurrying out to meet me,
asking:
''Have you found Stellas" Then, with
measured steps she would return to her
| mother.
| One evening about a week after Stellas
departure, came home from long ride
| more sad and lonely than ever. After eat
| ing few mouthsful of supper | went to
my room, thinking / would form some
plan for leaving Waverland AS sat try
| ing to decide what course to pursue, l
heard Stellafs voice as plainly as l ever did
| not let my inheritance go to waste"
started from my chair and looked around,
1t seemed to me that she was near. But it
| was only a tempting dream. There was
no bright face with a welcoming smile.
| Only empty space But had been aroused.
began to think what she would have me
do. | made myself a promise that would
fulfill her wish and save my inheritance.
I stYiyn tn hp hIr of her
love If we ever met again. Then came to
my mind the words we had often sung to-
| gether:
''When shall we meet again?
Dear heart, the time is long;
| That brings this discord strain,
| Like minor in song.
''Some day the clouds will int
From OF my waiting heart;
And through the golden rift
Eun-llEhted beams Will dart.
| ''For on that day you'll come:
Your hand will touch my own
My heart, now sadly dumb,
Will speak for you alone
That seemed sweet promise for the fut-
ure, and / was comforted. believed that
Stella was SAFE and that sometime we
would meet again What a sense of rest
came to my mind, bringing by the aid of
memory all her quiet ways and pleasant
words back again, until / seemed to feel
her very presence / was anxious to do
some good deed to be worthy of her pure
love. Can mind take form and visit minds
Yes, / believe that sympathy of love can
unite as though distance may intervene.
But would she believe what my mother
| said, that Annie and were engaged? O,
mother, how could you tell her that! An
ME and | had been playmates but what
was my love for her compared with this
| strong, deep passion, thai filled my waking
| thoughts and visited my dreams? Ny
Stella was my queen, my life-star, and if
failed to find her felt that life would be q
failure.
Moving some furniture one day in Stel-
las room little blank envelope fell to the
floor. ] picked it up and found it was not
sealed. Surely here was the message had
longed for. / fastened to my room to ex-
anime the contents I had not doubt
that it was for me, until / opened it.
found a little square card divided into
thirty-siX equal parts. Twenty-seven were
closed and nine were open. Such card,
at college, the boys called grating. 1t was
used to decipher messages when great Sc
crecy was desired. What was the mes
sage Should read9 For a little while |
debated with myself then curiosity pre-
vailed, and tried 1t was addressed ITO
my darling" and contained the following
v ofds:
ldonra eoyeId
raaelp eroarn
iigSkt hdayre
l,ileree swmadt
roveak aWtee
yrfa0,n drefse
A.. L. T..
this shape But | had learned the use of
the grating years ago, when we had plan
ned midnight raids about the buildings
and grounds of the university. Icopied
the first row of words into squares cores
poadng to the thirty-six equal parts of the
grating. Then placed the card with the
| nine open squares over my letters, care
| fully observing the little cross on the np-
per left hand corner, which marked the
| top Is,en the letters revealed through
| the spaces were: d, n, a, /, &, n, e, k, r.