Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1894-12-20


Con-" he said, remorsefully. Il neve
meant to let our Little Mother thinl
IL
"Then I'll read it, papa" she began
interruptihg him, whereat he clappet
his hands to his ears. ''Well, at leas
you must see the picture" she cried
and, jumping up, she ran to the man
tel with a tintype, a likeness of tai
young fellow with downy mustacht
arrayed in cavalry scouting garb, will
prairie belt and holster, very pre-
sentable young dragoon, too, the sec
ond lieutenant of Manning's troop; but
the eyes of the first lieutenant thereof
looked less kindly on this counterfeit
presentiment than ever they had upon
the face of the original.
Where was it taken?" he asked
rather abruptly, feeling that he must
say something.
Mr.. Thornton says an itinerant
artist drove out from town and met
them at the first camp and took quite
a number and some groups. He had
two of them taken just like this, tc
send home, and dropped the odd one in
here, saying it was philopena and 3
BRIDE"
"Bribe? For what?' demanded Nor
gan. "Why should he bride my little
girl9"
"0h, there was no need, she laughed
blithely. "He-they all, he said,
wanted something your Connie was
only too glad to get and give. Nov
you must read it and see for yourself
papa"
But he would not. He was ashamed Of
the fear that for moment had possessed
him. that she had consented to a CORE.
spondence with Thornton without ask.
ing her fathers counsel-she, his little
Connie, his frst-born. True, she was
older at afteen than many town-bred
girls at twenty, for her childhood had
been nipped in the bud, and since those
slender shoulders had borne the care
and burden of woman for two long
years, was IL to be forbidden her to
know aught of woman's glory? Only,
had he been blind all the time? Day
after day had Thornton been their Wis
tor, yet never in all that time had the |
'athcr seen or suspected in the young |
officer any more interest in Constance |
than he displayed in Lot or Billy. |
True, she was almost always u silent |
attendant at their daily game, or an
absorbed listener TO their talk, rarely |
leaving them except TO 90 into the
other room to moderate the clamor of
the youngsters. who, being burly and
aggressive, were too often involved in
game of give and take in which they
were fairly matched. But Thornton's
manner to her, which was at first sim
ply kindly and jovial, as it was to the
other children, had certainly changed
to greater Difference as the winter wore
on. Little by little he saw how her IA
Their leaned upon the girl, how thought
full, how devoted she was He had
been reared a gentleman. He had
mother and sister whom he dearly
loved, and from earliest boyhood
he had been taught by his sol
der father the lesson of gentlcness.
and consideration. From
the other oficersin the regiment, most
Of whom had known her in pinafores,
her greeting was simply "Ilello, Conf
pr Morning, Connie; how's dad to- I
lay?' Thornton's impulse from the
first when he met this tall slip of a
girl in solemn black was to call her {
Miss Morgan" which made her blush I
Later on, laughed at by
he veteran sub, he had compromised
IN Miss Connie" but not until he had !
'een daily visitor for several months
lad it come to Connie Morgan !
lever knew how she had fled to her l
oom and nearly cried her eyes out the !
morning the battalion marched away.
I was after breakfast that Mrs. Woods q
lad come for her and, with other la {
les, had driven out to the butte south I
4 the post, from whose side the Mini h
l5a could be traced for miles. but to J
those summit Connie alone had been S
old and active enough to climb All a
e saw and realized now was that his &
arling had been pale and languid, G
lainly dropping for awhile, and then i
II on a sudden, at the coming of that \
title note, sunshine. gladness, graft a
1de. joy, all had beamed from her q
oeaking eyes; had bubbled from her z
irish heart in song lie had mourned q
he mothers loss before. but it was L
J nothing compared with the helpless a
earning that possessed him now. Who m
as there to counsel, who was there to NJ
Ike his beloved child TO her heart, Ia
nd with mother love and sympathy, g
it'll mother kiss and clasping arms, in &C
lie sure haven of mothers changeless CT
We win from the virgin soul its cher b.
he'd secret, then guide and guard and
unset as only mothers can?
Poor Morganl He would not read
e boys frank letter. That might inn
Y doubt of his little girl. He could
t consult such friends as Mrs Free
an; she had taken her babies and fit
away to the seashore for the sum
er. Mrs. Stannard. once his wife's
nd friend and adviser, had gone long
1nths before. when the major went
his new station. There were loving
'men, kind women, motherly women
the post, yet not those to whom he
nld speak of anything so sacred.