The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-01-14

"Evefy Wofu nus lt5 own npifih
True or false, that never dies.
Every word your lips have uttered
Echoes In Gods Skies"
Imurmursd.
"Don't, don'tp' she cried. "That Is the
sort Of thing Paul would have said. Thank
heaven, Frank is t--transcendental.
asked her If she knew the meaning Of
the word, and she laughingly replied that
she knew It was something uncomfortable.
And then she suggested that we should
change the subject.
"And please tell dear old Frank not to
bother. II he wants the ring, he'll have
to saw off my finger to get it, and Isup-
pose he doesn't wish to do that.
From that hour we dropped the subject,
and cannot remember any further allu-
sion to 1T being made. lsuppose the young
people came to some satisfactory under
standing, for Frank never again asked me
to interfere in the matter, and was thus
spared any repetition of what is always
an uDgrateful as well as an unpleasant
task.
Time passed on, and the wedding day
p was fixed, and Ceoile, like most brides
elect, lived In whirl. Between dressmak-
ers and friends and bridesmaids and rela-
tiyes, not to mention Frank, she seemed
to be ION the go" morning, noon and
night, and began to recognize the truth
of one OF the unfayorahle remarks l had
heard. She was unquestionably extremely
delicate She seemed to grow thinner day
by day, and sometimes, when my eye fell
on the offending little ring with Its curl
GUS green stone, / would tell myself that
soon it would not be q question Of being
unable to take 1t off, but Of being impos-
sible to keep it on. However, notwith-
standing her thinness and her pallor, she
was in excellent spirits and laughed our
fears to soorn.
One morning, about week before the
day for which the wedding had been fixed,
! went up to Sayile row with the Longs
to see the final trying on of the bridal Co.'S
tune. Cecile looked lovely in her marriage
garment of soft, rich satin, the dead white
Of which was relieved here and there by
tho dark green of tho myrtle leaves with
which both the bodice and train were
trimmed. The whole strength Of the COM
pany was summoned from the atelier above
to admire their handiwork and its wearer,
who was all smiles and gracious respon-
siveness for time until suddenly, with
out a word or q sign Of warning, she
clutched hold of the chair against which
she was standing and fell back in dead
faint.
We were not long In restoring her to
consciousness, but before leaving tine
house learned, to my grief and dismay,
that this was not the first time that Co.
Giles strength had succumbed under a
similar strain.
but some young ladies never can stand
for long" said the graceful, fair haired
modiste, who looked herself ready to drop
with exhaustion. However, she added
quickly, sit cannot he helped. One must
stand fora certain time if one wishes to be
properly ltted.'
Zone muse suffer to be beautiful"
murmured sadly as followed Cerlo and
her mother down the wide, handsome
staircase.
The wedding day dawned dark and cold.
The sky above was one still, gray cloud,
but around us everything was clad in tho
white of freshly fallen snow-a wedding
garment or n winding sheet, according to
the mood of the beholuer. The wind,
which was from the east, howled dislnally
down the chimney the whole time l was
arraying myself for tho festiyity, and tho
sound filled ne with Melancholy | could
neither Danish nor ignore. 1t was like the
cry of woman IN pain.
When l entered the church, layislly dec
grated with white flowers and autumnal
leaves, the view was dulled and obscured
by tho brown mist which cane creeping
down tho aisles, bluning the lamps and
changing the pillars into shadows.
I lph IN win If httiU no CHI
passed up the aisle, and thought she Look
ed CHASTITY. Her ace was white, her trem-
bling lips were almost blue, and there
were purple rings round her largo dark
hazel eyes.
The service commenced, but could not
fix my attention to listen. My nerves were
on edge The air seemed dense, as if
storm were brewing. | looked without
seeing. listened without hearing Sud
denly my husband touched my arm and
whispered to me- GLOW nervous she isl
Sho is drawing off the wrong glove! Why
don't they toll hert"
Ihon heard tinkling sound, as Of o
coin falling on the hard mosaic floor, and
l saw the smallest bridesmaid stOop and
pick up something. Then came cry which
resounded throughout the church. do
zobGczonia, PAUL" / saw tho bridesmaids
fall back as Mrs. Long rushed between
them--and | remember no more.
When l camo to myself, was in tho
gchoolroom which communicated with the
church. My husband was with ne, as well
as Minnie Grey, my niece, who had otlci
ated us chief bridesmaid. She was very
pale and her eyes wero full of tears. l had
no need to ask the question. st is all
over" said. 81 know"
Minnie burst into tears. sit was in
Simultaneous the doctor told us, aunt. And
SEQ what Isabel picked upr' And sho
handed me the ring that ! had looked at so
often with doubt and regret. The center
stone-the euolase-had fallen out Inside
the banda broad one-I read, "Do 20
baczenia, Paul"
Only wordsl 1t was the spirit that had
given them life-and death. Exchange.
Ienbach. the Painter,