The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-06-19

Onsb tnoy MOutu BiSo MN HporV Wc-
come, and that he would find them un-
changed. No moro.
Therp was long silence. Then the
gentle voice Of Miss Josephine spoke
"sister, could we--wouid It be proper-to
Ito ask him to stay heref'
"Josephiner' Miss Sophia's tone WIS
STERN "Certainly not. The inn Is de-
cent place, Mr.. Dorkins will mako him
comfortable, and he can come and call on
US, and take tea with us, In the after
Moons.
So the hero returned after all, and when
next met the sisters o tall, sunburned
man walked between them, and In tho
face Of the younger shone great JOY.
Dear little Miss Josophinol like to think
of her In those her halycon days. How
gayly she laughed How merrily she
tripped about her work The little lady
was another creature; love and joy seemed
to have lent her new youth. What an In
terest we villagers took in the tiny cottage
that summer time! How curiously we
stared at the bearded stranger How we
smiled and nodded knowingly at the par
GELS the postman daily left in tho rose COW
cred pofchi When would the wedding beP
What would the bride wear2 And Miss
Sophia, how we pitied her future lOneli-
nossl What would she do without "tho
childf' a4. .- 3
mo, sister, not while ! am too old for
that" heard Miss Josephine say, as she
turned her blushing face from the heap OF
soft white silk the eager shopman was dis
playing--we had met in the only draper's
shop of which our nearest market town
could boast "Too old! Nonsense, child
Why, you're five years younger than l,
and am oldf' expostulated Miss Sophia.
But the little lady was firm, and in the
end they left with parcel of delicate
mauvo cashmere and tiny bonnet to
match. Tho shopman smiled as he opened
the door and glanced knowingly at me
the wedding dress
And so the wedding morning dawned,
and all nature seemed to beam upon the
gentle bride, who walked across tho fields
from the cottage to tho church, leaning,
half weeping, half smiling, on the strong
elder sisters arm The bridegroom had
left his little Lady week previously; they
were 10 meet In the church.
Would l could end my story here and
leave the sisters still wandering through
the daisied fields, their happy faces I'M
clouded, their innocent hearts all uncon-
soious of the cruel blow fato bad i'll store
for them. There was no wedding that
morning. My heart ached as whispered
words Of hope--m3self so bopelsss--to the
trembling, weeping bride, who waited in
vain for her bridegroom. One by one
those who had come to witness the cere-
mony went away, and the sisters and
Were left alone in the dark little church.
'rDsaysst Josephine, be will come. He
must come" eohbed Miss Sophia, as she
pressed the pale faeed bride to her heart,
but little Miss Josephine only shook her
head and begged to be taken home Where
WAS the dssertcr? Why did Miss Joseph
ines lover never appear to claim herr
Ihuss questions were answered few days
later by Miss Sophia.
Gaunt, palsr than ever, she sat Btitfly in
the eottnge pRrlOr and poured out to my
sympathetic ears the tale of her sister !
wrongs. "Ah," sho sighed, "all men arc
deceivsrsl Thank God, my Martin was
taken before ever he had sirMed as grieY-
ously Us Willie. This" ard she drew
letter from her pOckgt, dis nll the cxplana-
ton we have received; probably we shall
never knor more" l hastily read tho let
ter, which i,aEan thus: "FoHgtpe me, Jo-
sephinc for havisg re-cntered your quiet
life only to destroy it's peace. The writer
then went on to explain thHt during the
week in which he had been absent from
! his Detrothed he had become persuaded
that since the days when they had plight
ed their youthful troth their lives Ind
drfted 100 far apart for happy reunion
bel wron them TO lie possible, A parting
SEQ would, h" felt, to thtnful to beth,
| and he had therefore itgid'Si to start again
| for the cart wtEouG Il spoken farewell.
"But wii>,' h. concluded, repay your
kind lom with interest sbme day. what
docs he mem by "a loan" - asked. At
first Miss Sophia could only shake her
head and Rroan Indignantly; then she ox-
| planned that, unknown to her, "the child"
bad, few days before the wedding day,
nlado over the portion she had inherited
from her father, to her dear cousin Will
| hcr' So th0t was the loan
Did little Miss Josephine die of broken
heurtH Oh no; grief seldom kills. For
/ many years sho lived on, working in the
TRY garden and busying herself in the
village life. But when met her for the
first time after her wedding day l saw
that the pink color had left her cheeks,
her hair had lost its crisp waves, and she
had put away her bright ribbons and
merry smile. Little Miss Josephine has
become quite an old lady.-London Sun.