Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1896-11-16
Dark DAYS
By HUGH CONWAY.
CHAPTER l.
4 PRAYER AND A vow.

,t.bon This story or my lie, or or such
,;ons of nv life as present any out
Uncommon features, is read, it will
ro,,pd thai ] have sinned not only
,,ur Int also against the law of the
In excuse | can plead but two
,:"rs-thc strength of love; the weak
ass Of human nature.
&c these carry no weight with YOU,
+be book aside You are too good
me. | am too human for you. We
.oot he friends Read no further.
= mood say nothing about my childhood;
! .,t;Hc about my boyhood. Let me hurry
~ Early manhood; to that time when
~ ,,onderful dreams of youth begin to
NJ ,,.' nnp: when the impulse which can
ai.o sober reason aside must be. in
lnJ j., strong one: when one has learned
e'" oomnt the cost of every rash step;
Lon the transient and ftful flames of
ho how have settled down to a steady,
living fire which will burn until only
ib"s are left. when the strength, the
orye the intellect. is ar should be at
s height. when i'll short, ones years
number thirty.
Yct what was / then? A soured.
norosc. disappointed man; without am
;.;on without care for the morrow:
';tbout A goal or object in life. Breath
ma eating, drinking, as by instinct
piGng in the morning, and wishing the
Iay were over: lying down at night, and
caring little whether the listless eyes /
rlOscd might open again Or not.
And why? All! to know why you.
mist sit with ne as | sit lonely over my
[jowing fire one winter night. You
must read my thoughts; the pictures of
ny past must rise before you as they
riSp before me. My sorrow, my hate.
Inv love. must he yours. You must, in
Heed. be my very self.
You may begin this retrospect with
trumph You may go back to the day
when after having passed my examina-
lion with high honOrs, ], Basil
North. was duly entitled to write
W y. after my name. and to set
to work to win fame and for
tnue by doing my best toward relieving
Tho suferings of my fellow-creatures.
You may say as | said then, as / say
how. a noble career: life full of in
ercst and usefulness.
You may see me full of hope and cour-
ace. and ready for any amount of hard
work: settling down in a large provincial
town. resolved to beat out a practice for
myself You may see how, after the
usual initiatory struggles, my footing
gradually grew firmer: how my name be-
came familiar: how, at last, | seemed to
be in a fair way of winning success.
You may see how for awhile q dream
frightened my life; how that dream
faded. and left gloom in it's place. You
may see the woman | loved.
No, | am wrong. Her you cannot see.
Only myself can see Philippa as l saw
her then-as | see her now.
HoovnnS' how fair she W0Si How
glorious her rick dark beauty! How diff
lprent from the pink-white and yellow
dolls whom | have seen exalted as the
types of perfection! Warm Southern
blood ran through her veins and tinged
her clear brown cheek with color. Her
mother was an English woman; but it
was Spain that gave her daughter that
exquisite grace, those wondrous dark
eyes and long curled lashes, that mass of
soft black hair. that passionate impulsive
nature. and. perhaps, that queen-llke car
rage and dignity. The English mother
may have given the girl many good gifts,
but her beauty came from the father,
whom she had never known; the Anda-
bsian. who died while she was but a
child in arms.
Yet, in spite of, her foreign grace.
Philippa was English. Her Spanish
origin was to her but tradition. Her
foot had never touched her fathers ma
tive land It's language was strange to
her. She was born in England. and her
father, the nature of whose occupation
have not been able to ascertain, seems to
have spent most of his time in this coun-
Try
When did l learn to love her? Ask
me rather, when did we first meet!
Even then, as my eyes fell upon the girl,
knew. rs by revelation, that for me
lie ard her love meant one and the
sane thing. Till that moment there was
NJ, woman in the world the. sight of
whom would have Quickened my pulse
by beat | had read and heard of such
love as this. had laughed at it. There
seemed no room for such an engrossing
passion in my busy life. Yet
all at once / loved as man has
never loved before; and as l
SIT tonight and gaze into the fire tell
myself that the objectless life l am lead
ny Is the only one possible for the man
VINO loved but failed to win Philippa.
Our first meeting was brought about IN
most nrOsaic way. Her mother. who
suffered from a chronic disease, consult
Cd NE professionally. NV visits, at first
nose Of doctor, soon became those OF a
.rend, and | was free to WOO the girl
20 me best of my ability.
rnillppa and her mother lived in a.
mail house on the outskirts of the town.
laey were not rich people, but had
RIoush to keep the pinch of poverty from
melr lives. The mother was a sweet,
gret' lady-like woman, who bore her sut-
trlhgS with resignation. Her health
VAS indeed, wretched. The only thing
~nlch seemed likely to benefit her was
,% ~. change of air and scene. AT.
WI W. attending her about six months, l
" @SS IN conscience bound to indorse the
~, psslo9 of her former medical advisers.
s ,rv tel her it would be well for her to
ny another change.
rio w! 44eart was heavy as | gave this adj
,N5 II adopted, it meant that Philippa
'q1 | must part.
n nu' why, during those six months. had
A nOI; IasSionately in love as | was. won
mo slrl heart? Why did she not leave
ii t as my attianced bride? Why did
me 4eF leave me at all?
Do tHe answer is short She loved me
vo MJl mat she had ever told me so IN
FAN hS | had never asked her in words
~Sbn er love. But she must have known
viii must have known! When | was
nina n nef, every look, every action of
en- li W, must have told her the truth. WON
oynm,,e not fools or blind. A man who,
Of Gs as | did, can conceal the true state
leellngS must be more than mortal.