Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1893-11-11

Gus n que ion Rays leaving her. She
look, a.. 4ituri so L:... then waited pa
tient.
"..y uncle IN New iorL, hay conun'
uod, "has mace me "A mot excellent otier
To represent a., house In the East Indies.
Iwunt u'".v and influence, and when
rc,urn in-n r ! want Ruth Linton for
my littie vii.
Ruth said blt little The news was so
sudden, and she would miss Ray so much.
"Only promise mo that you Will wait
for me, =" said Ray.
"Why, Of course will wait for you,
Ray, dear answered tho girl. almost
wondering that she should be expected To
promise thing which To her seemed so
natural and right. And so he left her Mt
his East Indian mission.
During the first year letters came fire.
quently--as frequently as possible, consid
ering the long distance, and the sailing
ships which in those days had TO carry
them. At the end of the first year Ray
wrote that his business would keep him
longer than he at first expected, but from
the tone of his letters Ruth could never
doubt her lovers devotion.
Two, three years dragged slowly along
for Ruth, and still Ray did not return.
Then the letters stol ped, ard poor little
Ruth had to bear her sorrow and disap
pointment a. best she could. But'she
never doubted Rays fidelity. Perhaps
he had met with an accident. Perhaps
he was coming home To surprise her. Per
haps he wu~-no, the possibility OF his be
ing dead fell across her soul like dark
shadow.
Ruth was 30 when her mother died, but
still she waited in the little cottage and
bravcly kept her promise Many admirers
had come, asking for her hand and heart,
during the 10 years, but 10 them all ltuth
said, "No."
Time went drearily on until 30 years
were numbered since Ray had sailed away.
Ruth was %, but she was still comely in
spite Of the care and trouble, the disap-
pointment and grief which had left their
marks upon her.
Thirty years! Did you ever wait In the
night for some loved ones returnS How
long the hours seemed! How often you
looked at the clookl How you strained
your ear for the familiar footstep-some
sign of his comingl And the disppoint-
ment when be DID not come! The watch
ing aud waiting, long after the lights had
been turned out and you had gone to bed ]
The broken dreams and the vague forbod-
ings Of danger! 10 Ruth IL was not one
night, but 50 years.
There was "A ringing step along the
street, IA stop at the little gate, "A click OF
the latch aud figure hurrying up the
gravel walk Was it Rayp Ruth trem-
bled so that she could scarcely respond to
the knock Mt the door Then she opened
it, and II man stood before her. He was
bearded, old and gray.
4 he
removed his hat
He went into tho little parlor and sat
awkwardly upon the black haircloth sofa.
81 have come from India" he began.
"You are not Ray2" broke in Ruth.
$40" said the stranger. ~ was his
friend"
"Was his friend" The man need have
said no more but he slowly and faithfully
told his story. Ray had died years be-
fore. SEQ To America" he had said to
his friend, land tell Ruth to wait for me.
We shall meet in some other world, bright
er aud better than this" The friend had
been reckless wanderer, but he always
meant to keep the promise made TO Ray.
Now he had done so.
Long after the me 'senger had gone,
Ruth sat 10y the open window. A slant
of light from the dying day crept through
ri1t in the rose bush outside the window
and touched the threads Of silver in her
hair. II fell upon her workworn hands
and upon the sad lines in her face. All
the light--the glad, eXpcctant light, which
had shone there for so many, many years
had gone out from her eyes. She did
not cry. But how dreary and lonely the
little parlor seemedl II was all settled
nOw-that her lover would never come
again, on this earth.
The bell in the spire OF the white meet
ing house down the street rang dismally
Ii was Thursday night. Ruth rose me
chanically, tied the ribbons Of her bonnet
firmly and squarely under her chin, folded
her dark, old fashioned shawl over her
shoulders and went to prayer meeting
Albert Hardy in Romance.