The Wichita daily eagle., 1895-02-20

4 then the full address OF the writer, Mls
+; Louisa Lobstedt, 3 North street. Thi
| greeting elected few days later the fol
| lowing answer:
So there is really il the bright. happy worl
outside one kind soai who has thought t
| spare for us SEX ones! ] am the unfcrtunGt
! one who has received your greeting and hop
| that your kind wish will soon be gratifed an
that time not very distant / shall leave TIL
| place entirely restored to health. If yo'
! have ever been seriously i'll or have ever en-
| dured such pain as l am now suffering, yo'
| viii certainly heed the request of poor invc
! lid and not rest satisfied with the few word
| OF kindness which have made me SO happy.
! there were only some congenial soul here t
whom / could speak freely or with whom
might chat g little now and theni But jus
| now there is no one here who can help to pas
! away the long, weary hours and so beg yo'
again not TO let Inc nope in VAIN for an answer
| In the meantime, with kindcst regards, am
yours gratefully, BERTHA WILIlERs.
In this way correspondence was begun
which very soon developed into a most in
tercsting one for both young ladies'. i
brought ont lively interchange o
thought. Letters flew back and forth, il
which the two impaired 20 one another
unreseryedly their respective circum
stances and expectations.
Louisa I.obsteGt wrote her new frient
that she was quite alone in the world; thai
she had position, at small pay, in large
confectioner's shop, where, working from
early morning until late at night, Will
only short rest at noon, she was quite
tired out; that her employer made suct
unreasonable demands upon his help that
he was much dislike0. She wrote that She
had few acquaintance of her own age an(
no real friend, and she congratulated her
self that she had conceived the idea ol
sending that greeting through the news
paper and putting her lame to it, al
though that last was rather risky. What
if her address had fallen into wrong hands
She hoped also, she wrote in one Of hel
later letters, some day to find time to visit
Miss Bertha at the hospital and so to be
come personally acquainted with her.
Bertha Willmers in the meantime re-
piled to these letters in the same frank,
hearty way. She wrote that her home wa;
in H, and that three months before she
had come to B. for the purpose of earning
her living as teacher of music and the
languages. In the course of few week;
she had fallen i'll, and, at her earnest re
quest, the people with whom she boarded
had brought her here to the hospital.
How happy it makes me to think l an
soon to see you'll do not doubt that we
shall become the dearest friends, and ye!
am going to ask you to defer your visit
for little while. And why? You will
think me foolish, vain. Well, call it q
feminine weakness and yet before my ILL
ness / was always being complimented
upon my pretty, fresh, healthy looks, and
you can readily understand how five weeks
of severe illness would change one. Who
knows but you would be utterly disgusted
with me when want SO much TO make as
favorable an impression as possible upon
my new found friend. Just as soon as ]
am somewhat better and a little more like
my old self I will write you to come"
A week later she impaired TO Louisa the
delightful news that she hoped very short
ly to leave the hospital entirely recovered.
Her first visit would be to her dear new
friend, but before she could do this she
would have to make a very, very serious
confession. Amid protestations of the
deepest esteem and love On her own part
she begged Miss Louisa to promise her one
thing in advance-viZ, that, whatever the
confession might be, she would allow 1T to
make 10 difference in their relations.
Never was Bertha more surprised in her
life than at the answer which followed
Immediately upon this. Thus it ran:
MYDEAR, DEAR Miss BERTHA-With a hand
tremulous from anxiety and excitement write
these lines, for either they begin for Us boUi, q
new and happy life, or else all is over between
Us, and how can bear that God alone knows
For, oh, let me confess it, love you! Yes
love you with all the fire, all the passion of my
being. Following the impulse of Il wanton hu-
NOR, appended to nay name upon the news
paper which happy fate threw into your
hands the little word Miss" / continued the
joke IN my first letter, and by that time n y
interest in you had already become too great
TO allow mt to confess the truth. which would
not onlY put an end perhaps TO the correspond
ence which had become necessary to me, but
would also debar NE from ever meeting you
face to face. All, my dear Miss Bertha, do not
he angry with me. do not cast scornfully from
you the deep feryent love which fills my heart
Eternally yours, LOUIS LoBsTEDT.
In fever of anxiety he awaited an an
swer from the woman whom he had de-
ceived. 1t came on the following day and
ran thus:
DEAR SIR-Unfortunately cannot spare you
the disappointment which these lines will
cause you, as they will show you that, not
withstanding the deep affection you feel for
me- / can never be yours. Like you, out of
tender regard for the weaker sex, also took
refuge in little subterfuge. Hoping for a
personal acquaintance in the near future, I am
most cordially yours,
BERTHoLD WILLMERs.
From the German For Romance.