Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1897-03-01

L AAssI4 lublI L OtSu plcu tnc
T}Ss,17n----.-sssS1 TSs-1.7n,rss1 responsible post of
---.--=-ee.sEs -.--=:z--e.yEssssInS teller. Old Mr.. Day
Z1 liked ms an1 and i. trusted pu ted
pecial mark of his favor, was in the
habit of inviting me to dinner on
Sunday afternoons, favor l shared
with Jerome Naylor, the cashier and
junior partner in the firm. Mr.. Day
was widower, and his only daughter
and heiress, Enid, did the honors of
his table.
Beautiful Enid Day. shall never
forget, nor do wish to forget, while
live, that afternoon of our first meet.
ing. 1t was one of those dull, sound.
less autumnal days, when the irowning
sky threatens storm and yet withholds
it, expressing the heart with a vague
sense of something evil to come, and n
profound melancholy which one can
neither define nor shake of.
Yet as l entered that parlor a swift
change to lnexplicablo happiness came
over me. Standing there, where the
warm hue from the half-drawn GRIM
son curtains fell across her simply
clad figure, ahe seemed to me like the
embodiment of all the song, perfume,
sunshine and oxhilaration 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 Stheir innocence, and
yet woman's eyes in their depth and
suggestion OF strong emotlon-her
face, say, MS l saw it ut that moment,
never again faded from my soul. At
that first instant | loved her; and it
was with 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; AMI ms, by
some intuition, glanced aside at him,
| saw look in his pale eyes that | re-
called long afterward. Then [ was too
confused, too inexperienced in lore of
love, to comprehend its meaning. But
there came e day when l 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 Il rival in the
blundering, stammering youth, whose
sole thought at the moment was hum
BILE, almost unconscious, alteration.
Yes, it was more than simple love ii
was wonder, reverence and devotion
such as, in the old time, the PROSTATE
worsbiper felt for his divinity. As
time went on, and l saw her again
and again, my love grew upon me, un
til it became the ruling principle o
my life; and as | came TO know my
own heart | also learned how wild Q
hore it WAS that ! nourished in my
breast. Even ii SO rare an example
of God haudiworll could have stopped
to love go unworthy IL man as | knew
myself to be, how could salariet
clerk of the rich banker pretend tt
the hand of his only daughter an(
heiress?
So day by day tine gloom OF n deeI
dependency darhened upon my life
[ grew silent and abstracted. | ptr
formed my duties as faithfully as ever
but l no longer laughed aud iestet
with my fellow clerks, nor joined il
the amusements of their leisure hours
Jerome Naylor was invariably courte
Gus in l is treatment OF me, but
caught more than one sidewise glance
of his eye, that, had | 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 hnd
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 mo where | bent over my
books, and clapping me upon tht
shoulder, in his genial, kindly fash
ion, said;
"Irescott, my boy, if you do uot
dine with us tomorrow afternoon, you
will make.an enemy of Enid"
muttered something about moi
having felt very well OF late.
''Hhat Is what l told my GIRL" re-
piled Mr.. Day. 81 said you were
looking thin and pale and generally
out of sorts. Whcreupon she aston,
ished me by getting very angry and
accusing you of-what was it?-ego
tism, l believe, though why, why,
do not quite understand, Any way,
she made it u condition of her future
favor that you should take dinner
with us tomorrow. So | Iaave deliv-
ere! my message. You'll come, o
course, Naylor?"
Then | saw that the cashier hat
been standing behind Mr.. Day an(
had overheard our conversation.
81 shall be delighted" responded
Naylor, with n peculiar glance at me
"And surely our young friend cannoi