Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1893-10-26

perlence to some more practical use than
loafing in garrison towns for meager pay
and tardy promotion. My father was
extremely pleased with what he called
| the smartness of the young rascal, :"
and agreed that at so safe a distance a
correspondence might commence.
new happiness came into my life
ana when the travel-stained letters from
my literary warrior arrived from the seat
OF war, full of animation, of anecdotes
and sketches, and lastly Of trusting affec-
ton, my JOY knew no bounds. This
added new zest to my education. for |
was not yet finished" according to the
scholastic term-in fact, by comparison
with my talented lover | often felt an ig-
noramus of the most hopeless kind. In
details of the war, however, was quite
au lat. l daily road every word which
came from his brilliant pen, and in this
way hoped to improve my acquaintance,
not only with life, but with my sutton,
! of whom, perhaps, but for the opposition
of my parent, might never have thought
| again. Thus does the heat of paternal
ire often expand into blossom the i'm
mature shoots of love which might other
WiSc huOW 10 ucVelOpmeNt.
One morning, as usual. opened the
paper and at once commenced reading
the columns headed From Our Special
Correspondent. The account was more
exciting than usual--there was descrp
ton of Turkish artillery, of a march
under trying circumstances without food
or water, and many other adventures,
graphically told. l forget them now,
for what ! next read eifacea the immedi-
ate past from my memory forever
Under the head of special kilograms"
was one line;
Lieut.. Blount, our special cores
pendent, died yesterday of enteric
fever"
To very young person the word
death is but sound-a thing associated
with old age or infirmity if considered at
all. had never known any one who
had died, and confess to have been
utterly unmindful of such possibility,
when my lover started for the wars
The ominous line therefore conveyed no
meaning to me, more especially as, in an
adjacent column, the special correspon-
dents vigorous manhood displayed itself
in every word. For all that, the room
seemed misty as if enveloped in fog,
through which | could not penetrate.
was seated thus when some one
my father, think-came in and snatched
the paper from my hand. had read it
through, he was welcome to it,
| made no effort to regain it. He
smoothed out the sheet several times,
but read not word, fer great tears were
rolling down his scanned old face
Then.he opened his arms and took me
into them, and whispered many endear-
ing terms, some OF which | had not heard
since babyhood
What was the matter? Did he, too,
think Leslie Blount was dead9
| pointed to the brilliantly written
columns and smiled.
THAT letter was sent by post days and
days ago." he said in broken voice,
whose emotion | could scarcely under
stand. Then light began to dawn, or
was it darkness? Yes, chaotic black
ness that preceded the earthquake which
buried all the innocence and hope of my
jocund youth in oblivion
For whole month | lay occasionally
frenzied, occasionally despairing, weep
ing and praying God would have pity on
me, and save my taking up the thread Of
life again. But my prayers remained
unanswered. Then / arose, as we all
must, to face the dreary future. / had
had no experience of lovers joys in the
past, would have none in the years to
come. Art should be my only lover,
work my only solace now.
! A dreary little fl ure clad in black,
trudged daily to the South Kensington
|. Schools, and in one month produced bet
ter work than others did in six. Then
letter came. 1t was from the seat of war.
written by Red Cross doctor, who offered
to deliver up to me some relics of him
who was no more. From the School of
Art wrote, ''Come," and waited When
the campaign was over, he came.
The corridor was full of girls chatting
and giggling and preparing to leave for
the luncheon hour. The swing door fac
ing me opened and an awful sight pre-
sented itself. 1t was the figure Of man.
Such figure! Hercules come down to
earth, all bronzed and glorious from the
edSttTu sun.
Though there were twenty girls about
he extended hand to me, with look of
recognition, two honest blue eyes as clear
as the sky looked down upon me with a
reassuring smile. took the hand and
followed him out of the building into
the museum beyond.
Then he drew from his breast pocket
small parcel and handed it. knew what
its contents must be-. A lock of my hair,
some forget-me- nots and certain photo
graphs of my extreme youth, and an
other more recent one taken previous to
Leslie's departure, in all the pride of my
sixteen summers and long gown!
moved them one by enc with listless
fingers, scarcely recognizing them.
lone would imagine the sight Of
these would make me weep said with
dreary smile, ''but | cannot every
tear was exhausted long ago."
81 So see, he replied bluntly. "You
must be cautious lest your sight be af
fected Drawing all day with weak eyes
cannot be conducive to comfort.
1t was pathetic to know that the miser-
L - ~.