The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-07-30
SET IN DIAMONDS.

Miss Barthas niece, he was altogether
oblivious of his surroundings-Of the big
wicker chairs and the hammock half fill
ed with cushions; of the honeysuckle,
whose belated sprays of bloom filled the
air with subtle fragrance; of the ocean,
that dashed its waves on the rocky shore
not 100 yards from the house; of the tiny
crescent moon, that tilted itself lightly in
the deep sky just above the lingering glow
of the sunset.
Would She All, here she isl
He jumped up and stood before her in
all the attractiveness of his feet 2, his
broad shoulders, his handsome, dark, sun
burned face and his muscular slenderness.
''Alice, y he said in a tone that meant
whole love story as he held out his hand
She had on a pale green gown, cut mod
estly low about the neck. Her arms were
bare to the elbow Her fair hair waved
softly back from her face and was knotted
Just where Diana Huntress knotted hers,
which is Iaathematically and artistically
the place where hair should be knotted if
one has a straight nose, a good brow and
a finely curved mouth and chin which one
wishes to have set off to advantage.
''You are as dainty and as delicately
colcsR as a miniature of some old time
beauty You ought to be set in dia-
mOnds, he said, gazing at her with ador-
ing eyes.
She smiled up to him. Then she with
drew her hand from his, and instinctively
they turned toward the sea. They walked
slowly down the path toward the waters
edge. They threaded narrow way beneath
a cliff that sheltered them from view, and
there they sat down on a big rock and
looked at each other Not a very enter
tanning occupation. cynics may think, but
to them it seemed all sufficient.
Its fail, - said Alice at last, dragging
bpT. avnS sxVev and LOOKING across the wa
ter. The horizon was yelled in a light
mist that now and then gave vague
glimpses of a sail
Eyes, it's fall, - said FitE Gerald regret
fully, but it has been blessed summer"
fWhy2" she asked, turning toward him
and smiling at the useless question.
Because have spent it with yOu,'' he
said, and the answer, useless as the ques-
ton, made him smile too. But you
will forget me soon, y she said, drawing
down her mouth and assuming a general
ly woebegOne air.
"Never! Because love youP'
Why had he not told her before? Because
he knew that she knew without his telling;
because fate had decreed that this should
be the time and place.
He took her hand. Then his arms were
around her. From time immemorial new
" confessed lovers have kissed each other,
and these did not transgress the unwritten
law.
"And do you truly, truly love meP'' he
Whispered.
Yes, - she whispered back.
Why did they whisper, when only the
ocean and some sea urchins and a stranded
starfish were there to hear?
"And can you stand living on the ranch
with me? And will you like me in my
cowboy clothes?''
Il know that you look like a king in
A.
will L? would be so afraid of the cOwsP'
you never shall see a horn if you don't
want to. And when shall the wedding
be?"
"Oh, it's too soon to think of that, isn't
it''
mo. I've been thinking of it all sum
mer. Haven't you?''
Eyes, " she said unblushingly, rubbing
her cheek on one OF his hands that she held
in both her own. Il can't leave Aunt
Martha until her sprained ankle is well,
and the doctor says it will take fully three
months. Can't you wait for me that
Iong?"
IF Unjust, - he said ruefuIly. "But how
can be sure that you love me when am
so far away?"
She leaned down and picked up shell
that lay at her feet.
Il love you, she whispered into it.
Then she held it to his ear. do you
hear?' she asked. cit says I love you,
doesn't it? And as long as it says it my
love shall Last, and that means forever"
1t was December Great changes had
been effected on Fitz Gerald's ranch. A
wing had been added to the one story
frame, and as he was DESTROYS of laying by
all he could Fitz Gerald had done a great
deal of the work with his own hands. A
lawn had been fenced off and plowed and
rolled and planted, that the spring rain
might bring up q luxuriant growth of
grass Fitz Gerald in his minds eye saw
it always green and closely shaven. A new
artesian had been bored. Packages of
flower seeds, for May planting, were locked
up in one of the new closets, and just at
noon on a cloudy, windy day home came
Fitz Gerald, riding beautiful little black
horse. He was on a sidesaddle and had
a gunny sack fastened to tho pommel, that
its tapping and Shaping might prepare
the horse for the tapping and slapping of
a wOman's skirt.
''Any mail, Flynn?'' ne asked as he dis
and handed the reins to the man
who had come out to meet him.
Yes, sor; wan letter., said Flynn, with
a knowing and encouraging smile.
The letter was on the hall table. He
gloated over it for moment. Then he
opened it carefully. A dazed look came
over his face when he began to read. He
walked stiffly into his little study and read
it again. 1t said:
MY dear, my dearest, I couldn't help it.
I love you just the same Aunt Martha
made me do it. He is rich-odiously, over
whelmingly rich-and he is young and
never will die and leave me all his money
so that 1 can marry you. And I want to
marry you. Aunt Martha bounded me
into it. She talked all the time about how
she had taken care Of me ever since was
a baby, and she said that she couldn't live
alone; that she would have to go to Okla
homa with Us, and that the climate would
kill her; that the doctor said it would.
And she upbraided me with my selfshness
in letting her slave over me all my life