The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-10-20

he will ignore me, and then will be Oul
chance, Besides, how could we livef"
81 could work"
AYE, and could die for shame. No, ]
will first perfect my ideas; will continue
my investigations Out of them will come
a fortune, and, oh, that fortune means you,
dear. One little detail, and have the in
vention of the age. We are young"-
"And l can wait-wait and be faithful
forever"
but to be unable to see you, to speak
with YOU" murmured Matt, his spirit sub
siding to its natural depth. ave dare not
write Your father is postmaster and
bears the mail to and fro"
Eyes, bound with the same tarry rope
and stuck inside his tarpaulin for safety
l fear any of our letters would remain
there"
''Oh, if only could But / will; 1 know
will. Even now | seem to see that which
has been hid. Listen, Mary. You know
for what I've been striving-a means of in
accommodation by electric lights at
night. really believe l have finished my
solution of the problem. 1t was my love
for you that gave the hint. At least we
can try. | shall doubtless have the little
turret room of our house on the cliff. Fa
ther would choose it for me; it's the most
remote. will set up my apparatus there.
Perhaps, oh, perhaps At least come here
every night and watch, for believe shall
be able to signal to you by lights projected
on the sky-long and short flashes, like the
lines and dots of the Morse alphabet"
81 will come regularly at midnight"
'At midnight And alone? Oh, Maryw
"And why notS What can be safer than
the darkness9 could not well venture be.
fore, and how long do you think your
father would stand your long and short
flashes after he once saw them~
But the lonelinessH
II won't belonely, dearest, for shall be
with YOU"
The next day they parted-they who had
known no separation save that of sleep. a
week passed by, and then Mary began her
vigils. The walk to the bluff was tri1e
to girl Of her strength, and the darkness
was no hindrance, for she knew every step
of the way was an increasing comfort to
her, for it brought her nearer to her lover.
The late hour was their friend, for it rem
dered every one else unconscious and left
them the world to themselves. She was
not impatient when that night and the next
yielded no sign. Why should she be- when
she knew that his heart was signaling ev-
cry second, and knew well, too just what
it was sayingP And on the third her re-
ward came, as rewards will come to pure
hearts that are willing to wait. Against
the blue black sky of the western horizon
there were several distinct flashes, ineffec-
tual, yet distinctly as on the first great day
there were glimmers preceding the dawn.
Then, slowly and waveringly, there wero
spelled out four letters. ID" Mary read,
and her soul finished the word. "A, "R, "
"L"-the Others came in confirmation.
Then there was flicker, and the circum.
ambient gloom once more.
But that fragment of MATHS old familiar
endearment was sufficient for Mary. Her
deep bosom throbbed and heaved with pride
and alteration. Her lover had succeeded
and through her. All, she knew him so well,
knew how his genius was hampered by
timidity and sloth-twin brothers that are
seldom separated. In her love there was a
tenderness akin to maternity, and she hum
bly, gloried in her strength, for she felt that
some day it would be spent for him. He
had succeeded despite his environments of
loneliness and brutality. For the present
there would be this ecstatic communion;
for the future there was the hope-aye, the
certainty of happinessl When at length
Mary aroused from her revery and turned
her light steps homeward, the east smiled
promise in her face.
Thereafter MATHS mechanism worked
smoothly, and for a few moments each night
Mary read her lovers wishes and fears in
the sky. True, she could not answer him,
yet what had she 10 telli He knew her
heart-it long had been an open page to
him. AS for her life, it was uneventful.
Should the crisis arise for her to speak, her
deeds should be her words. His messages
were fragmentary, but Mary had an inter-
prefer in love that filled all interstices.
They told that he was depressed by circum-
stances, yet buoyed by probabilities; that
his father was morose and savage and
seemed conjuring some evil, and that when
he gave the signal then at once she must
come to him. Weeks passed by, and still
the horizon flashed "all is WELL" and Mary
began to smile at his fears, though her
heart kept stout against their realization.
But one night there came a change. There
was a series of vivid flashes, as if even the
electricity were nervous, and then Mary
spelled out the hating tidings: WARN
your father; he has been betrayed. The
revenue cutter will capture him on his
next trip-my father" The lights ceased
abruptly, as if heavy hand had fallen.
Mary waited, but the skies withheld the
condolences of love. And at length she
CROPPED to her home considering the mys-
FERROUS words. Mysterious they were, yet
memory sooI solved them. She recalled
shadowy incidents of childhood, bits of un-
needed conversation, her fathers long alb
sences, the fetching and storing of bales
and casks, his broad acquaintance with
those sailing to foreign ports, and so she
comprehended that the former partners
had been smugglers intercepting vessels off
the coast and receiving from them precious
contrabands which they dared not bear into
port. She remembered Reuben's sinister,
Vcowling face, and she perceived that he
would work his revenge, even at the ruin
of his own livelihood.
OF course she must tell her father and
save him from fine and forfeiture and i'm
prisonment. But how could she explain
the source of her information; or, without
so doing, make 1t crediblel Poor child!
Her nature was too simple and unassum-
ing to understand it's own strength. That
surly father respected her judgment as he
had her mothers, so when she warned he
believed.
"'Tis that young cub ye've heerd from"
he growled. "D-n him, with his dad, but
belize it's true. I'll not venture out this
week though there's Job with many a
dollar Oh, my day may come, and then,