Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1895-02-02
d lover of Madeline Graham. Looking back

ts v - . wa VVath ~
ut 1t all now, after q lapse OF so many years,
1t still seems an incredible thing, unreal and
visionary; but raising my eyes from the pa
per wbercon these ines are written, / see to-
side me the sweet assurance that IL Is true.
When I began the story Of my iifc,f said that
IL was also the story Of my love. Ii has lasted
30 long; II will last, God willing, till death,
and after death.
is It not so, my drrlingy' She smiles,
and bends over me, to kiss her answer She
watches the pen as 1t moves over the paper,
and she waits for the last word, knowing my
tale Is almost done.
Love is by nature selfish; and la the first
flush OF my new Joy 1 almost forgot the sor-
row in our poor home. But when / quilted
my darling, and joined the little procession
which followed my poor uncle across the
heath, | reproached myself for having felt
50 happy.
The miners had procured q rude stretcher,
often used when accidents took place in the
mine, and the dead body was laid upon ii,
with a cloak thrown lightly over II, to hide
the piteous, digiigured face set In ITS sad,
gray hair; but one hand hung uncovered,
and this hand Annie held, as we walked
slowly homeward, four of the men carrying
the load. | followed, helping my aunt, who
was simply lieartbroken.
They bore him into the cottage, and wo-
men came to do the last sad offices. While
they were thus occupied, | spoke 10 Annie,
trying to console her. White rs marble, and
now quite fearless. she seemed like one
whose reason had bereft her, under the
weight Of some violent physical blow. But
when we went upstairs together, and saw
my uncle lying as II asleep, his white hair
deceptly arranged, his face composed, his
thin hands folded on his breast, his whole
expression one of mysterious peace, she
knelt beside him and kissed his cold brow,
and her tears again flowed freely. My aunt
stood beside her, weeping and looking on.
God has taken him!' | said, solemnly.
ale is happy now"
"Ay happy WI God" sobbed my aunt.
Forty years we ha' dwelt together = this
house, and he ne'er gave me angry look or
Grass word. He be GAVIN, where I'll soon
gang too. Walt for me, my bonnie man,
wait for me-wa!t for her that loves zee, and
10 ""min" to zee soon.'
Why should / linger over this scene OF
sorrow, why should | turn to other scenes
which followed il? Time and death have
healed all those wounds; to speak Of them,
Is to open them again.
CONCLUSION.
A year after the flooding OF the mine and
the death OF John ~Pendragon, | married
Madeline Graham. The ceremony took place
quietly In London, whittier we had gone
together; and when it was over, we spent q
brief honeymoon abroad. One spring MORN
Ing. as | sat with my bride in an hotel by the
Lake Of Geneva, | read In the Times an an
nouncement that filled my heart with sur
prise aud pain. Ii was an advertisement OF
the approaching sale by auction OF I;edruth
House, st. Gurlott's, Cornwall.
A short time before this the mining com
pany had passed INTO liquidation, and l
knew that George Redruih was q ruined
man. Little or no communication had pass
ed between the cousins. but when the crash
came, Madeline, with my full consent and
sympathy, had written 10 her aunt, Offering
her "A considerable portion OF her fortune for
George Redruth's Use and benefit. This Of
fer had been refused. The next thing We
had heard was that mother and son were
living together in London, and closely fol-
lowing or that had come the news OF the
mothers death, an event which filled my
darling with no little distress. To the last
Mrs. Redruth had refused to forgive her
niece. whom she u~njustly held responsible
for all the misfortunes which had fallen up
on her son.
showed my darling the newspaper, and
we forthwith determined to journey down to
Cornwall. Thus it happened that, about a
week later, we arrived in ~. Gurlo,t's, where
we found Annie and my aunt ready to re-
celve us at the old cottage. | then ascer-
tanned that George Redruth had left England
for America, where he intended to remain
Annie, who was my informant, tod me that
before leaving the village he had sought her
out to say farewell.
And oh, Hugh" she cried, she asked for
my forgiveness, and | forgave him with all
my heart. / think, il l had wished il, he
would have taken me with him as his wife,"
You did not wish it?'
She shook her head sadly.
mo, Hugh. After what has happened, IL
was impossible, and | know il was more in
despair and pity, than in love, that he spoke.
/ scarcely knew him; no one would know
him-he was like the ghost of his old self; SO
worn, SO broken, with the trouble and shame
which have come upon him, that my heart
bied for him"
ale is justly punished" | said, sadly.
"Annie, you did well. l an glad that he is
penitent, br.s never in this world could you
two have come together"
The reader already knows that, through
my darling's goodness, | was a rich man.
Now, Of all men living, perchance, l best
knew the capabilities of the st. Gurlott's
Mine. Reckless neglect and ignorance had
wrecked II, and IL was still to some extent &C
xka .ax., - tIa 49,, 49, n ~ .. $500
theory that more than one fortune was yet to
be discovered there. l spoke to Madeline
about Ii; we went into the matter con anore;
and the result was an offer was made by me
for the old claim to the official l~iQuidator of
the company. Things looked despairing.
and as my offer was a liberal one, 1t was ac-
cepted. Within another year a fresh COM
pany was formed with Hugh Trelawney,
ESQ.,, as protector, vendor, and chief owner,
large sums were expended IN the improve
ments which, II carried out, would long be-
fore have saved the concern; the sea was
gently persuaded to yield up possession; and
before long the old mine was tiourishing
prosperously, u source of prosperity to all
concerned in il, and Of blessing to the whole
population.
Another fact remains to be chronicled.
We bought Redruth House, and it became
Our home. There my aunt and Annie joined
US. dwelling happily with us. till. In due
season, my aunt died. Annie lived OH, and
still lives, a pensive gracious woman. full OF
one oyershadowing memory, and devoted 10
our children. The last time she heard OF
George Eiedruth, he was a well TODD mer-
chant, living In the far-away West.
Thus, through the goodness OF God, ] re-
NAMED in the old home, able to help those
who in time OF need had helped me. St Cur
LOFTS is now a happy, thriving place; my
dear wife is idolized by the simple people;
and I, in the fullness OF fortunate days, am
the Master of the Mine.
THE END.