The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-08-10

that they would give him n hearty wei
come, and that he would find them un.
changed. No more
There was long silence. Then tho
gentle voice Of Miss Josephine spoke,
Sister, could we-would IL be proper-to
to ask him to stay hcref"
"JosephineN' Miss Sophia's tone was
stern. Certainly not The inn Is n de-
cent place. Mr. Dorkins will make 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 4 tall, sunburncd
man walked between them, and In The
fnco of the younger shone great joy.
Dear little Miss .Iosephinol like to think
Of her in those her halycon days How
payly she laughed How mcrrly 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 curiuusly we
stared at the bearded stranger! How we
smiled and nodded knowingly at the par
GELS the rostman daily left in the rose coy
cred porchl When would the wedding be?
What would the bride wear? And Miss
Sophia. how we pitied her future lonel-
ness What would she do without 1.-THE
child"
"No, sister, not while I am too old for
that, l 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. "s'oo old Nonsense, child
Why, you're five years younger than ],
and am | oldE" eEpoStulated Miss Sophia.
But the little lady was firm, and in the
end they left with Il parcel of delicate
mauve cashmere and a tiny bonnet to
match. The shopman smiled as he opened
the door and glanced knowingly at me
the wedding dress!
And so the wedding morning dawnCd,
and all nature seemed to beam upon the
gentle BRIDE who walked across the fields
from the cottage to the church. leaning,
half weeping, half smiling, on the strong
elder sisters arm. The bridegroom had
left his little lady a 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 I'M
clouded, their innocent hearts all uncon-
scious of the cruel blow fate had in store
for them. There was no wedding that
morning. My heart nched as l whispered
words of hope-myself so hopeless--to tho
trembling, weeping bride, who waited in
vain for her bridegroom. One by ono
those who had come to witness the Cere
mony went away, and the sisters and
were left alone in the dark little church.
Dearest Josephine, he will come. He
must come" sobbed Miss Sophia, as she
pressed tho palo faced bride to her heart,
but little Miss Josephine only shook her
head and begged to be taken home. Where
was the deserter? Why did Miss Joseph
ines lover never appear to claim hers
These questions were answered few days
later by Miss Sophia
Gaunt, paler than ever, she sat stifly in
the cottage parlor and poured out to my
sympathetic ears the tale of her sisters
wrongs. "Ah," she sighed, 'all men arc
deceivers! Thank God, my Martin was
taken before ever he had sinned as griev-
ously as Willie This" and she drew q
letter from her pocket, sis all the expana-
ton we have received; probably we shall
never know more" hastily read the let
| ter, which began thus: "Forgive me, 10.
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 he had been absent from
his betrothed he had become persuaded
that since the days when they had plight
ed 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 to both,
and he had therefore decided to start again
for the east without spoken farewell.
But l will" he concluded, REPAY your
kind loan with interest some day" "What
does he mean by "a loan?' " asked. At
first Miss Sophia could only shake her
head and groan Indignantly; then she ex-
planned that, unknown to her, "the child"
had, n few days before the wedding day,
made over the portion she had inherited
from her father, to her dear cousin Will
lie!" So that was the loanl
Did little Miss Josephine die of broken
heart? 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 tho
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 quito an old lady.-London Sun.