Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1896-11-12
|Before They Were Married.;
By HENRY c. PARKER.
By HENRY c. PARKER.


Amelia, have found that do love you
capable. !"
The doctor watched with not little
trepidation for the effect of his words
upon the patient Her color heighten-
ed percepubly and her eyes glowed
more warmly, but there was no indica-
ton of undue excitement
That means SO much" she said. Il
never dreamed that there could be 50
loyal and so true man y
Please don't" he exclaimed, under
his breath. you hurt me"
Why" she asked wonderingly.
Don't you like to be told what l think
of you?"
1T is very sweet; there's no denying
that. but canot forget how recently
L"
He halted, finding il difficult to eN-
press that that he believed degraded
him.
Il know" she interrupted, a little
sadly, but think of me. l too, was
uEedIllllS III StlulS.
There was Il moment of silence.
The doctor could not we'll have said
anything, for he knew of Amelia's love
for Starkweather only by inference,
and in his cogitations with character
istic stearnness he had refused to be-
consider her as affected by circumstan-
ces in mach the same way that he
was.
Il must tell you about myself" she
said presently.
Not too much now" he responded,
gravely. There will be many oppor-
tlnities in the future
Il know-tha. is, hope so, but just
this little so that we may understand
one another better. | think, perhaps,
that a woman is slower to love than a
man. | never loved anybody that |
can remember. ! had affection for my
teachers when they We're good to NE,
and | have a sincere affection for
Louise. A few weeks ago | would have
said that loved my uncle"
"Thiuk of him as little as you can, =
said the doctor soothingly. There is
no reason why he should again play a
part in your life"
And yet he is my nearest relative!
Well, I'd rather not think Of him, but,
of course, cannot forget him or what
he has done. In a way he was good
to me. He never spoke of me as a
burden, although ] was one. | wanted
to earn my own living, but he would
not have OF He said he had plenty,
though we never lived so much like
rich people until we came here, | think
lie must have succeeded with one of his
inventions"
She paused and fell to thinking.
Better talk than think" suggested
the doctor, gently Thinking is some
times bad for convalescents You are
progressing remarkably WELL but if
you will think shall give you dose
of something on the table yonder that
will make you close your eyes
"Oh, don't" she exclaimed. That
the more. Let me sleep naturally
Really | do not feel the least fatigue
or excitement. | am just resting and
you"
I'm not sure that it did" she re-
sponded gravely. II hadn't time to
find out when the end came"
What had you told Mr.. Stark
weather." asked the doctor after a
pause, during which his own thoughts
threatened to come to a high state of
tension that could not but be injurious
to his patient. He began to see q
vague suggestion of a possible pur-
pose back of Professor Drummond' S
crimes.
II told him the facts as we'll as
could" answered Amelia, II did not
reject him; how could I? He went on
to tell me that his material prospects
were Of the brightest. | inferred that
he was associated with my uncle in
rerfecting an invention that would
make all our fortunes, but asked him
no questions, for to me the one great
fact of Importance was his love for me
| couldn't understand it"
Love is the hardest thing in the
world to understand" remarked the
doctor, wisely.
81 think it is. We left it this way
Mr.. Starkweather and |. We were to
say nothing about it for a week, not a
word on either side. | wanted time TO
thirk and to study myself. He was
perfectly willing; he seemed so conf
dent Of the result. So we separated
We had been talking on the ledge back
of the house and next day"
She turned her eyes pitifully upon
the doctor.
Il know he said we mustn't talk
about ii longer"
Just one word more pleaded
Amelia You can, perhaps, under
stand my meaning now when | asure
you that Mr.. Starkweather. TO my
knowledge could not have had reason
for suicide He believed in his bust
ness prospects, and he had every rea-
son for thinking that he had won, or
would win, my love. In the first