Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1895-05-04

les, am Qull companion 10.
night have such headache" she
answered, without even a smile.
A heartache she had come very
near saying, with the keen anguish
of the weary pain that sends blood
ebbing back from her face to the sad
heart that has never beaten one pull
| sation quicker tonight for all the
gay scene that holds such hollow
| mirth after all--such bitter mock
cry of happiness.
For hours after his wife had gone,
Mr.. Cameron worked busily at the
pile of papers before him, bending
over the table with deep knit brow
and compressed lips. He laid his
pen down at last, and laid back in
his chair and gazed up at the ceiling.
Such a haggard, worn face it was.
There is more than disappointment
written there now. In the eyes
| CLEAN something that is akin to de-
spair.
Presently the firm mouth CULVER
ed and tears coursed down his face.
He never raised his hand to wipe
them away; never stirred, but re-
NAMED leaning back in his chair till
the bitter drops dry upon his cheeks
and his mouth resumed its old stern
expression. Then weary, sobbing
sigh broke from him as if against
his will, and rising he paced up and
down, backward and forward, his
head resting low upon his breast.
The fire burned itself out long since,
but he paid no attention to anything,
still continuing his weary pacing to
and fro.
He goes back to the table ard is
apparently deeply engrossed in his
work when Mllly comes home. She
stood gazing at the fire and not at
her husband after she entered the
room, looking little paler, little
more tired, than she looked four
| hours before.
| add you enjoy yourself" he ask
ed, speaking as though he had spent
the long, lonely hours very pleasant
ly.
Milly shrugs her shoulders with
gesture of indifference and half turn
ed her face toward him, as she an
swered, at was not particularly
amusing" She faced him as she
spoke the next words, "Lady Cor.
don was asking after you |"
| Was she ~ he unused, continu-
ing his work without another word.
Milly's long lashes drop suddenly,
the diamond necklace rises and falls
a little quicker for few moments,
and then she is herself again.
81 am tired" she said, and her
eyes rested upon the papers on the
table. Are you going to stay up all
night, Jasper 2"
"My work is not yet finished" he
answered, as he gazed at his wife
standing before him in her rich dress
and jewelry.
She gathered her long silk train
over her arm and smiled a scornful
little smile. He is thinking, she told
herself, of the money she has brought
him-the rich dowry that has made
him the rich man that he is. The
bitter mockery of it strikes her. She
knows she loves him but will die
rather than permit him to discover
the fact.
| He raised his eyes and looked
straight into the face with the un-
wife-like expression in the deep,
beautiful eyes.
| They fall beneath his gaze and he
cannot see the slowly gathering
tears. In all the years they have
lived together he has never once
seen his wife cry-not even when she
kissed her baby's dead face before
the coffin lid was screwed down, as
she had turned away pale and grief
stricken to weep, mot in her husband 3
arms, but alone.
! One last attempt he makes, or
rather it is the first Jasper Cameron
has made in all the years of his mar
ried life, and as he spoke the blood
rushed over his wife's face in Grim
son tide.
"Kiss me, Milly," he said, and
| stood before her looking down with
his whole soul pleading in his sad
weary eyes. But she never looked
up. Milly misunderstood him to the
last, and if for second she leaned
her head upon his breast with a feel.
ing of intense happiness, she crush
ed the weakness directly and became
cold and calm as his arm drew ber
| tightly to him.
Fain would she have thrown her
arms around his neck and left wo
mans love have its way at last. but
the feeling was conquered even be-
fore. With calm smile she left
him have the kiss he asked for, and
then she drew herself from his em
brace with short mirthless laugh.
| They were nearer understanding
each other at that moment than they
had ever been during all the years
of their welded life. And now the
short, weak moment WAS over. He
= r.