Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1897-07-03

the question TO her-it's well ! didn't
She invited me TO the weddin'. II
nigh killed me, JOSH
Wal. consarn the @ l began, az
mad as fury at what seemed her iiirt-
in ways, but 81 raised his hand an
stopped me.
"Don't-not a word agln her JOSH.
he sed. FARM up. Remember. ! love
heri"
II Want In me to hurt his feelIn's.
an ! asked. consid'ably cooled down:
Does she know yer feelin's. si?"
He shook his head. Il didn't tell
her-I couldn't. She Jest looked on me
as a friend. l reckon. She must never
know. Josh. It might sp'ile her hap
pipess." he sed; an then neither Of us
could find anything to say for a long
time; Jest stood thare, a-lookin' at the
stars way of 'mongst the iyin' clouds
an tryin' ter swaller a big lump that
kept risin' In our throats. Somehow
81 never had seemed quite so near and
dear to me as he did In them silent mo-
ments o. mutual misery. / edged up
closer TO him an he to me an our
hands got together in a tight, warm
grasp that sed more than all the words
we could hev spoken in a lifetime.
1t must hev been mighty nigh mid
night afore we left the barnyard gate,
although we hadn't sed more'n a dozen
words. We Jest stood there a-holdin'
onto each others hands an tryin' to
think. but always losin' our reckonin'
in the heavy clouds o. sorrow that
hung ever us.
Don't take It too much ter heart,
81. Try ter be brave-try ter make
the best of ity' I sed to him as we
parted. He didn't answer me. He
tried to, but all OF a suddint he gave
my hand a powerful wrench and hur-
ried away with a pitiful look o. an
guish on his white face.
/ didn't see quite so much o. 81 after
that as afore. Every two or three
days. though, he'd come to the house,
a II seemed ter me hat he always
looked paler an thinner an more de-
spairin' every time we met. We didn't
often speak o. his sorrow. but we'd sit
sometimes fer hours a-holdin' hands
an lookin' In each others faces an un-
d~erstandin' each others feelin's bet
ter, l reckon, than IL we'd tried ter
put Il thots inter words. One day,
after we'd been sittin' in this fashion
fer quite a spell, 81 kinder reused him.
self up an sed:
Sally an Zeb are ter be married ter
morrow"
Yes" sed I. ~wonderln' why he'd
spoke of 1t.
Coin. l s'pose?' he added.
II reckon So" sed /.
"Then well go together" sed he, an
a look O. sharpest sufferin' came In
his pale face, which hurt me more'n l
know how ter tell.
"D'ye think it's best, Si?" I asked,
as gentle as / could.
YES" he answered, heavin' a sigh.
she might think it queer If l staid
away: besides, I'd like to wish her an
Zeb a happy life"
/ didn't say any more 1t would hev
done no good, an maybe 'twould hev
hurt him IL I argued against his goin';
so the next day me an 81 went to the
little meetin'-house together, jest as
we had done in our boyhood days.
when we used ter go to Sunday school,
though we never waz so silent an sad
an thortful in them days. We sat in
the same pew too, WHARF we used ter
sit years al years ago, an l thort as
l looked now an hen at Sis thin,
white face an droopin' fgger that I'd
eve seen him look quite so miserable
an hopeless like as he did that day.
Wal, after the cer'mony waz over
81 was one o. the first ter push his way
through the crowd SOS to reach the
bride and groom an offer his good
wishes. There waz, 1 noticed, a queer,
onnat'ral sort Of look in his sunken
eyes an a feverish flush on his bag
gard face, an when we at last started
fer home poor 81 waz SO trembly an
onnerved that he had ter take my arm
to keep on his legs.
Il hope they'll be happy, JOSH" he
sed several times as we wer' walkin'
SLOWLY dlOuB, Al Uuce Nc Seu, very low
an in a kinder choked voice: 81 hope
she'll be loved as well by Zeb as she
is by me-" That waz about all the
talkin' that waz done till we parted
at his gate. Then I sed:
Come over an see me termorrow,
ST."
II reckon sed he, after holdin' my
hand quite a spell, you'd better come
see me, Josh. l don't seem ter be
very strong O. late, an the walk makes
me tired like"
"All right" sed l as CHEEKY as I
could: 'Pll come"
Yes; I went over to Sis the mex day.
1t waz quite early in the mornin' an
| waz sent fer by his father an
mother. ST had calkerlated exactly
he waz not able to visit me.
They had found him in his bed a few
minutes before-dead: an the doctor
who arrived about the time / did, seq
he had died from heart trouble O. some
sort.
So he had heart trouble which
death alone could cure.-The Owl.
1874