St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1896-01-17

He checked MS outpourlng rhap-
sody, for a glance had shown him
that the maiden was unconscious,
Recovering from her swoon she broke
the silence as soon as her strength
permitted:
my preserver! l am yours for,
ever! Heaven sent you to deliver me
from a fate more horrible than death! !
MAY it's mercy have granted you to
be my guide and my guardian through
life / am yoursin allhonor iorever!"
Adolph resumed his studies with
calmness and assiduity, if not with
the enthusiasm of his earlierd devotion.
Bertha gave her best energies alike to
book and toll; and Adolph had no
reason to complain OF her proficiency
in the former, no viewer he might have
wished that the lessons which pertain
to childhood had not been deferred to
this period. Yet it was not long be-
fore the student began to feel pain
full suspicion that all was not as it
should be--to suspect and accuse him
self of adoring his betrothed with less
intensity than he ought. Even before
a single month of their engagement
had passed, he had learned to feel far
less than rapture in her presence-less
than misery when absent from her
side. His visits were neither frequent
nor protracted; yet the conversation
often tagged for want of topics of
mutual appreciation and interest.
The silence of a few moments was
succeeded by feeling of constraint.
~ hear you are to be married, my
SOM" was the well,meant interrog-
atory of the Professor, as soon as his
greeting had been returned.
You hear it truly, believe" said
Adolph, coloring.
"And to young, uneducated peas
ant girl, from an obscure hamlet,
whom you have known but these two
months?"
Neither is that unlike the TRUTH"
was the cold response.
Are you not about to commit
grave error" was the still kind in.
quiry which succeeded, accompanied
by a searching, though a paternal
look.
II believe l have arrived at what
should be years of discretion" re.
turned Adolph, in the anne calm tone.
SAT any rate, the question comes too
late to be pro6tably pondered."
A new incident soon marked the
progress of Bertha's for some time
monotonous and tranquil life. A
youth of her native village, Albert
Korler by name, who had fed from
the ravages of the pestience which
bereft her of her last remaining par.
ent, had wandered to Gottingen, and
hearing that his former playmate had
found there a residence, he sought
and found her. The meeting was to
her one of lively pleasure, though the
memory of former joys and sorrows
eventually gave to this and their sue,
ceeding interviews more pensive in
terest. To him, alas! that meeting
was one of mingled rapture and des-
pair. He had loved her from early
childhood-at first, with a boyish
preference and admiration, which
grew with adding years into the wild
idolatrv of a doting lover. No word
of this had he betrayed to the object
of his intense devotion. But now,
when she met him among strangers,
after an interval most sad and event
full, she had grown wiser in the
knowledge of the heart, and the truth
flashed, though doubtfully, upon her.
Albert was in no haste to confirm her
suspicious. So long as he remained
avowedly but simple acquaintance
and a friend OF her childhood, she
could not deny him her presence with
out implying all that, were it true,
she would be most anxious to con-
ceal. And thus he tottered on in the
gloom of fast deepening twilight,
to find it's only consummation in
night of blacklist despair.
And Bertha, too, even had she
learned in her Utmost soul to fear, if
not to dread, the great event of her
life, now with rapid strides approach
ing. The intimate communion of
had taught her to respect
still more the lofty character of
Adolph and to esteem his many viz
tues. Yet her spirit was awed rather
than attracted by the greatness of
his intellect and the majesty of his
CONCENTRATIONS. AS brother she
would have gladly soothed his hours
OF depression and cheered him on to
labors of which she would know and
seek to know only that their aim was
even of him. AS lover, she
was chilled by a sense of his superior
ltv and sat mute and constrained in
his presence. How strange, how
painful was the contrast between an
evening shared with her lover and
one enjoyed with the admiring, sim
ple-hearted friend OF her childhood!
Bertha had instinctively concealed
rom Albert the day of her nuptials-
indeed, she had not trusted herself
nor allowed him to speak of the mat
ter at all-and when the thunderbolt
ell it announced that all was over.
The marriage had been privately
and the parties had
Immediately set off to visit the wild.
owed mother of Adolph, living at a
considerable distance from Coffin.
gen. Albert heard this, and sought