The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-11-24
By BEATRICE WHITLEY.

eve" Even to genuine country lover
the last days of October, amid dying
flowers, naked hedges, newly stripped
woods and cloudy skies, are depreSs-
/, ing and the thought of pavements, shop
windows and dry crossings and fresh
faces possesses a new and decided at
traction.
But if Helen ever sighed as she
trudged over the soddan leaves and
vaded through the muddy Merton
lanes no one heard her; if the univer-
sal decay and death of autumn sadden-
ed her, no one suspected that it was
so. How should they? She was the
life and soul of her home-an impris-
oned sunbeam in which they all re
joiced. If she smiled less easily, her
smile was sweeter and less swift; if
her spirits were no longer rampant,
they did not Overpower-they sustain
ed-the hunor of her neighbors. If she
was less ready of advice, less quick of
action. more diffident of the justice of
her Judgment more lenient, more SYM
pathetic and more thoughtful, she
was SOBER" they said, as though age
always wrought it's change thus.
One or two of Helen's girl acQuaint-
ances, who belonged to the conyen-
tional, egotistical, man-hunting sect
of whom the members IN converse,
manner, appearance and laInentable
! monotony of character res emble each
other as closely as do plimroses-de-
clared "she had grown stupid and did
not care for things (''things' meant
| their conversation, which, however,
both in purport and intention, far eX-
ceeded their dOingS.)
But before long Helen had good
| cause to be pensive; a justifiable cause
| for growing more sober and less child
| ish A sad event took place, an event
| at which remorse, sorrow and some
natural excitement were blended.
! Mr.. Flight, to whom she had been so
unkind-Mr. Flight, on whom she had
Dracticed her foolish wiles with such
unlooked-for results-Mr. Flight whose
very name turned her sick and cold
Mr.. Flight, of whom she never thought
without a stab of sharp pain-Mr
Flight had atoned for all his offenseS
| by death. He was dead!
Poor Mr. Flight! At last there was
no mention of broken heart as the
cause of his death. He had like many
heart-whole man, taken fever at
Florence, and, after a long and
severe illness, had succumbed to
| the disease His last words had been
| Of Helen; his last act had been to
make his will. by which he left her
everything that he possessed. She
found herself the owner Of f15, 900, and
forgot the satisfaction of her riches in
her anger with herself. She had never
so despised herself. She had been de-
spicably, pitilessly remorseless. Even
now she could not cast her warmest
thoughts to him; she could not grieve
for him; she could not wish him back
again.
She did not want his money ;all she
wanted was to tell him how bitterly
| she repented, and how we'll she under
stood now that she had laughed where
she had better have wept.
Regrets are vain emotions, as Helen
knew to her cost; useless encumbereTS
of the soul. Regrets must be stran2led
| if life is not to be a waste tangle OF
retrospect; for regrets, like all weeds,
grow apace.
Mrs. Milford was very tender with
the Girl at this time. and would watch
her furtively and unobserved with anx-
ious eyes. She had drawn her own
conclusion--a fresh and false one
| from Helens altered looks and ways.
Henry" she said one day, i'm
pulsively disclosing as women do the
secret which she had intended to keep
inviolate forever, Henry, Helen re
gretS that poor young man.
ITO be sure she does" the rector an
swered energetacally. II should think
very poorly of her if she did not Why,
we all regret him. His sermons were
above the average, and his kindness of
heart exceptional
"Rut, Henry, you do not understand
me- / mean more than | said. | mean
that she mistook the nature of her feel
ings. She really and truly loved him.
For a few seconds her husband re-
NAMED III thought; then he spoke
slowly:
mo. Honora, do not. Do you not
remember how | ScOlded her for sing
ing that ridiculous ballad to the poor
man:
" 1T is the most exceeding bore, of all
the bores | know,
| To have a friend who lost his heart a
short time ago?
Had her heart been touched those
words would not have occurred to
| her.
Il don't know that" said Mrs. Nit
| ford with an indulgent smile "A girl
will say or do anything from a sheer
love of teasing" Again, with a very
| thoughtful brow, her husband review
ed the past, then he spoke with de-
cision:
You are wrong, Honora. You were
always a most imaginative woman.
That poor young man had no attraction
| for the child I found her hiding in
the hay-loft more than once when he
calIod Az there was no chance of her