The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1897-12-17

.his envelope -so-and write JOea
name across the back of it-ao-and
put a stamp on it-sol / wonder II two
cents would carry itl Yes. i think Il
would; a half penny Is very light
very light How easy Il would be 10
send III How hard 20 live up 10 It af.
terwardl But would il be 80 hard-ii
II we're with Joe? Didn't Joo's face
always light up the darkest days, aud
didn't Joe's presence cheer me when 1
was the most alone, II he but pre-
scented himself In the doorway and
looked at me out Of his kind eyes2 Oh,
but Joe glorifed theplainness aud gray
ness Of life, and made the very atmos-
phere luminousl
/ am weak and foolish 10 think Of
such things, now that / have set my
face steadfastly against them With
an the gilt and tinsel that Mr.. Finch
can put into my life, il is madness in
me 10 look back at the shining path
way that Joes honest love made for.
my feet.
What a weak, pitiful thing / am,
anyway! have always held my head
80 high, and never stopped 10 coquette
or triAe with men's love the way other
girls do, counting il beneath me, and
waiting until the one man came whom
Imeant 10 marry. / set my ideal and
laid my ambitious plans, and never
swerved-and for what? To step down
now 10 the highest bidder. Oh, who
knows the private demon that dwells
side by side with ones good angel in
the heart of a woman like me? Does
any one dream of the tumult in my
heart when ] carry such a proud front?
Who can tell what is going on in the
heart of any woman who is making up
her mind to marry?
said to a man last week, in the
sudden fierce bitterness Of my soul,
"Do men and women ever marry from
a belief that they are realizing the
grand passion of their liyes?' And
something in my tone must have
stirred him to a sudden honesty, for
he gave me a look as if he read my
soul, and he said, "Men do-always. "
My eyes dropped before his did
not want him to see, although he is
only a friend. He is one Of those men
whom women trust because he under
stands them.
turned away and thought what a
blessed thing it is that men cannot
read the hearts of the women they are
going to marry. l sometimes com
plain because men are not constituted
to understand women better, and be.
cause they blunder and are blind.
But it is a heavenly thing that it il
50, and / suppose God made it so with
purpose.
l know so many women who carry
an ache in their hearts which THEN
husbands never suspect; sometimes
for a love they have lost; sometimes
for one that never came; sometimes,
like mine, for one they dare not take
am glad Mr.. Finch cannot SEE
into my heart tonight. But I an
more glad that Joe cannot-Joe be
cause he would want me, and Mr.
Finch because he would not want me
Dear Joe! Why couldn't it hav,
been you who gave me this ring, viii
this beautiful red stone in it? AnC
why couldn't it have been you whc
was coming tomorrow for my an
swer? Dear Joe!
I might as we'll face the fact Mr.
Finch bores me, repels me, sicken
, me. If he had the right to come il
at that door and walk across thi
/ room and stoop over my chair, and
} had to sit still and let him touch me
t and not scream or strike him for dar
, ing to lay his hand on me, 1 think
l should die.
' And yet-outside the door, outsid
3 the house people would say-oh
' they would say all the things l wan
5 them to, and envy me, and copy m
/ clothes, and-Joe! Joe would sa
, nothing.
2 1t was so easy to rise to o highe
l plane when he was here that b
thought me greater than was. H
=? appealed to the best in me, alwayt
e My good angel came out of her ow
/ accord at his approach, and then poo
e dear Joe went away thinking was
} saint. He never knew the demon
n unrest aud ambition and vanity whic
. fought his influence step by step, III
[ til finally devil, dressed oil in reC
s came and flashed thisred stone befol
n my eyes, and 1 have put Joe and h
t great, kind love behind me forever.
t eff men wooed nobler, won the
t nobler wives" he used to say. Yet
% have proved that untrue. Surely
e wooed me nobly, and what did l d
IS wouldn't rise to his plane. 1 woul
It MT be as noble as he thought me.
l. laughed and hurt him, and he new
c. reproached me. He always said W
-, ILL., 49,. 10