The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1897-02-10

2 N
n s ward from one po-
D k sition to another
until / occupied the
eTs..rT5-sz-.--.s,zSss<SrR responsible post of
EsS8ss3S - teller. Old Mr.. Day
.->Z1l liked and trusted
~ v me, and, as an es-
pecial mark OF his favor, was in the
habit OF inviting me to dinner on
Sunday afternoons, q favor shared
with Jerome Naylor, the cashier and
junior partner in the firm. Mr.. Day
was a widower, and his only daughter
and heiress, Enid, did the honors of
his table.
Beautiful Enid Day / shall never
forget, nor do I wish to forget, while
live, that afternoon of our first meet
ing. 1t was one of those dull, sound
less autumnal days, when the frowning
sky threatens storm and yet withholds
it, expressing the heart with a vague
sense of something evil to come, and q
profound melancholy which one can
neither define nor shake of.
Yet as l entered that parlor q swift
change to lnexplicable happiness cam Q
over me. Standing there, where the
warm hue from the half-drawn Grim
son curtains fell across her simply
clad figure, Bhe seemed to me like the
embodiment of all the song, perfume,
sunshine and exhilaration Of early
spring. She was very young, but her
form, despite its girlish immaturity,
was nobly developed. Her face, with
its soft, oval outline, its pallor. deep
ening in the cheeks to the tints of a
roses heart, the large, violet eyes-a
child's eyes in ktheir innocence, and
yet @ woman's eyes in their depth and
suggestion OF strong emotion-her
face, say, as saw it at that moment,
never again faded from my soul. AT
that first instant loved her; and it
was with q voice that shook and a
hand that, touching her little palm,
trembled as if guilty of sacrilege,
that greeted her.
jerome Naylor, standing by, wit
messed our first meeting; and as, by
some intuition, glanced aside at him,
saw look in his pale eyes that 1 re-
called long afterward. Then was too
confused, too inexperienced in lore OF
love, TO comprehend its meaning. But
there came day when 1 could inter.
pret only too clearly, its bitter malice
and hateful resolve; for Jerome Nay
lor had long loved Enid Day, as such
men love; had even offered himself
and been refused, and his keen glance
had already detected rival in the
laundering, stammering youth, whose
sole thought at the moment was hum.
BILE, almost unconscious, alteration.
Yes, it was more than simple love I; il
was wonder, reverence and devotion
such as, in the old time, the PROSTATE
worshiper felt for his divinity. As
time went on, and / saw her again
and again, my love grew upon me, un.
til it became the ruling principle OF
my life; and as I came to know my
own heart also learned how wild q
hope IL was that / nourished in my
breast. Even if so rare an example
of God shandiwork could have stopped
to love so unworthy man as knew
myself to be, how could salaried
clerk of the rich banker pretend tc
the hand of his only daughter and
heiress?
So day by day the gloom of deer
dependency darkened upon my life.
] grew silent and abstraeted. | PER
formed my duties as faithfully as ever
but 1 no longer laughed and jesteG
with my fellow clerks, nor Joined in
tba ap,ugapaanks of kba;. la;auvo I, a,,-,
Jerome Naylor was invariably courte
GUS in lis treatment of me, but
caught more than one sidewise glance
of his eye, that, had 1 been less alb,
sorbed in my own trouble, might
have startled me. But hopeless o.
the one thing which could have made
existence valuable to me, what had
TO fear from the worst his malice
could devise?
Latterly had absented myself from
the usual Sunday afternoon gathering
at my employers table. One day he
came to me where 1 bent over my
books, and clapping me upon the
shoulder, in his genial, kindly fash
ion, said;
| 1ISsSOttJ my bOJJ IL you uO uOl
dine with us tomorrow afternoon, you
will make. IAN enemy of Enid"
muttered something about moi
having felt very we'll OF late.
'That is what told my girl" re
piled MIR. Day. 81 said you were
looking thin and pale and generally
out of sorts. Whereupon she aston
ished me by getting very angry ant
accusing you of-what was it?-ego
tism, 1 believe, though why, why,
do not quite understand, Any way
she made it condition of her futur,
favor that you should take dinner
with us tomorrow. So l have deliv'
cred my message. You'll come, o
course, Naylor?"
Then l saw that the cashier haC
been standing behind Mr.. Day anC
had overheard our conversation.
'I shall be delighted, responded
Naylor, with peculiar glance at me
"And surely our young friend canno