The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-17


that they wosld give him hearty wei
ooins, and that he would ind them IN.
changed. No more.
There was - long silence. Then tho
gentle voico Of Miss Josephine spoke.
"6ister, could we~-would IL DO prop0r-t0
Ito ask him 20 stay horef"
"JoscphiDei" Miss 5opbia's tone was
stern. "Ccrtainly not. The Inn IN de-
oent place, Mr.. Dorkips will make him
comfortable, and be can come and call ON
us, and take tea with US, I'm the after
Moons"
So the hero returned after all, and when
next met the sisters tall, sunburned
man walked between them, and In the
fac0 OF tho younger sbOne o great Joy.
Dear little Miss Joscphinel / like To think
of her In those her halycon days. How
gayly she laughed How mcrrily sbe
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 timci How curiously we
stared ut tho bearded strangerl How we
smiled and nodded knowingly at tho par
GELS tho postman daily left In the rose Gov
cred porch! When would tho wedding beS
What would the bride wear? And Miss
Sophia, how we piticd her future loneli-
pess! What would she do without "the
child"
"No, 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 diapers
shop Of which our nearest market town
could boast "Too oldi Nonsense, child!
Why, you're five years younger than ],
and am oldf" expostulated Miss Sophia.
But the little lady was firm, and In the
end they left with a parcel Of delicate
mauve cashmere and q tiny bonnet 70
match. The shopman smiled as he opened
the door and glanced knowingly at mo
the wedding drcss!
And 80 the wedding morning dawncd,
and all nature seemed TO beam upon the
gentle bride, who walked across The 6elds
from the cottage to the church, leaning,
half weeping, half smiling, on the strong
elder sisters arm. The bridegroom had
left his little lady week previously; they
were to meet IN the church.
Would could end my story here and
leave the sisters still wandering through
the daisied fields. their happy faces un-
ciouded, their innocent hearts all uncon-
for them. There was no wedding that
morning. My heart ached as whispered
words Of hope-myself 20 hOpele6k--to the
vain for her bridegroom. One by one
those who had come 70 witness the cere-
mony went away, and the sisters and
were left alone in tho dark little church.
dearest Josephine, he will come. He
must come" sobbed Miss Sophia, as she
pressed the pale faced bride to her hsart,
but little Miss Josephine only shook ber
head and begged TO be taken home Where
was the ,deserter? Why did Miss Joseph
ines lover never appear to claim her?
These questions were answered few days
later by Miss Sophia. e
0aunt, paler than ever, abe sat stif1y In
the cottage parlor and poured ont 10 my
sympathetic ears the tale Of her sisters
wrongs. "Ah," she sighed, "all men are
deoeivers! Thank God, my Martin was
taken before ever he had sinned a. griev-
ously as Willie. This" and she drew q
letter from her pocket, "is all the explsna-
tion we have received; probably wo shall
never know more" hastily read tho let
ter, which began thus: Forgive me, Jo-
sephine, for having re-entered your quiet
life only to destroy Its peace" The writer
then went on to explain that during the
week In which lie had been absent from
his betrothed he bad become persuaded
that since the days when they had plight
cd their youthful troth their lives had
drifted too far apart for happy reunion
between them to be possible. A parting
scene would, he felt, to painful 70 both,
and he had therefore decided to start again
for the east without q spoken farewell.
"But WILL" he concluded, "repay your
kind loan with interest some day." "What
does he mean by "a loanP' ," / asked. At
first Miss Sophia could only shake her
head and groan Indignantly; then she ex-
planned that, unknown to her, "the child"
had, a few days before the wedding day,
made over the portion she had inherited
from her father, to her ''dear cousin Will
liei' So that was the loan!
Did little Miss Josephine die of a broken
heartS Oh, no; grief seldom kills. For
many years she lived on, working in the
tiny garden and busying herself in the
village life. But when met her for the
first time after her wedding day" 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.