The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-10-22


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>SKEz5 T IS a very simple
~ s<1/1 story Ny name
az=-/ Il Marian Ray. and
S5 sS ss5 T ! sss5- neg g:
T5VN N COhassett where 4
81 was passing the
summer. We=my
mother and 1. who
com posed our en-
tire family cir
cie-had stray ed to this quiet place
because we knew that her lease OF
life was not for very long. and
grasped at any suggestion of possible
relief to her. even as the drowning
catch at straws. forgetting how fran
they are AID it was terrible to me
to think that [ must be left alone IN
the great. wide world-alone and
poor
We were always together-my
mother and for she was more like
an elder sister than a parent. and we
clung the closer now, for we felt that
the time was short
Therefore. I made her life as pleas
ant and easy as possible. and her
only anxiety was for my lonely. IN
protected future when we must leave
her out under the flow ers and the
dew, and l would be friendless.
But ], feeling very brave and con-
ident. as the young are prone to do.
smiled back courageously into her
face, and at last when my future be-
gan to be discussed. changed the sub
ject Of conversation
And so we lived on at the seaside.
and our two lives were very gray and
uneventful. until the time came when
a ray of sunshine slipped in; but. All!
when the sunshine Q oes again. I no
tice it IS always dark er than before it
came. We were strolling along the
beach one divine June morning. my
arm around my mother in a tender,
protecting way when she suddenly
started from my side. advanced a
few steps, and with a flush upon her
pale face, hel out her hand IN q cor
dial greeting CHANGING up in sur
prise, l met the Iau Ching brown eyes
Of Roger Dermott. He saluted me
with a courteous bow. insisted upon
taking my place beside mother. and
together we resumed our morning
walk That was the beginning OF
many pleasant days Days no longer
lonely. for he was ever with US; no
longer now was my heart filed with
gloomy fore bodings for the future
for Roger and I We're betrothed.
1t is wonderful what great strides
hearts viii make toward each otner
when isolated from society and sur
rounded by the wealth which dear
Mother Nature loves to lavish upon
her children.
Roger was a sailor and it was
strange how soon I learned to take a
interest in all that pertained to the
ocean We passed hours by the salt
sea wave, while he unfolded to me
the mys teries that lay hidden IN its
shining, deceitful depths 1 loved the
sea then; oh, how 1 loved It! But
now, when I walk along the beach. it
talks to me Of partlngs, of all dreary
things, and the sound Of its tumultu
Gus roaring comes to my ears like the
cries of soul IN despair.
One gloomy afternoon in Septem-
Der. with the sky threatening and
dreary, and the sun red and sulien.
sinking in crimson ball behind the
mass Of clouds lowering In the west.
I walked upon the rocks beside the
sea. Roger was to m eet me there
for he was to sail on the morrow for
the Indies, leaving me. with a heart
like a lump of lead. to await his re-
turn. could not endure the thought
Of this parting. But he would be
captain Of the vessel wneL he came
back. he said. and he must not lose
this chance in the world. He would
have taken me with him as his wife