The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-05-15

aiAi tildt uUN, sHc silu. 4 tm yOui'
forever. But, Oh, come back to N,
quickly. Waking n sleeping, I shall b.
watching that pathway until you ar
returned
"And | shall be thinking Of you wht
are waiting for me here, he said. "Re
member that, ard be sure that I vii
come back to you
The last OF the birds had ceased from
singing when the lovers ! and omit
ted Rachel's bower among the woods
They trayerscd the pathway slowly ant
came at last to the terrace. Lustacc On,
tered and said goodby to Rschcl's father,
and presently the lovers parted. and tho
Young nan strobe ont ulder the trees oi
the drive TO the highway and 50 home.
The time which came after this part.
ing may be guessed a5 by all who know
how the war went. Rachel lived i'll q
perpetual fever OF expectation, fer the
region wherein she dwelt was at that
time isolated, and letters and ncWspa-
pers alike an to hand all too slowly.
She used often to visit the green glade
il the woods. and, though she main
tanned the outward serenity Of her ag-
pect, her father was not d little troubled
on her behalf, seeing, despite her efforts
at concealment, how love held back the
pendulum Of her life Until this man
should be returned who had gone for IN
indefinite period into a place where men
were dying daily.
II dreamed Of you last night" said
the distant lover il one Of his letters. II
dreamed that the day we are hoping for
had conne at last and that I was coming
down the pathway to meet ycu III tic
woods. J found you there, Of course,
and think you had grogTn mere beauti-
ful than ever. Do you wait in the
woods?:"
Eachel's answer wcs this: II am al
ways i'll the weeds, whether il dreams
q in the body. You could not come
back, though it were ever 50 secretly,
and lind me not waiting"
But there came 4 time when she hal
no need 70 60 down to the trysting place,
since it was certain Eussace could not
come to meet her there. The bitter win
ter that killed SO many had almost gone
from Cornwall, but in the Crimea its
grip was still uErelaxed. Eustace had
long since ceased to speak jestingly Of
the h~ardsnips suffered BY himself and
his brother officers, or Indignantly Of
those that fell to the lot of the common
soldiers. But, though he took refuge in
silence, careful lest he should arouse her
fears, the newspapers told her not a lit
tie OF what he was suffering, and she
dreaded the news that any IA
might bring.
Som verses she had found in a for
e1gn book We're always in her mind:
"All day, until the day s end, I await
the message that is to come, and every
footstep speaks Of death. Alright, Sleep
less. | say, What will the morrow
brings' and, in the morning, I think Of
al the days to come and wonder wheth-
er this day will be cursed or another.
But the days are silent, until the time
appointed. | await the message that is
to come"
J. The letters came internationally, and
was that in them-rsther Of things
vague than Of things said-that
Rachel often to the trysting place
up the valley. The spring came very
but the yellow primroses were
out, and amid green leaves the young
hyacinth had already a faint tinge !
Of blue. She spent hours in the verv
place where she had sat with Eustace
when they We're together for the last
time, and her heart followed her ewes
Town the woodland pathway and across
5he seas
For at last there were no more let |
-ers, and as these failed to arrive the
girl became every day more eager for
he newspapers, terribly afraid to
them because of the news thew
might hold. Her father watched her
With Q growing anxiety, and was for
seeking to allay her fears, while at
be same time he was exceeding loath to
ave them the support that a recognition
u their existence would have involved.
He was himself seriously afraid for
L~ustace, though there was no particular
'eason why he should be more unfortu-
tate than his brothers. The old man
anxiety and fear were telling on
us daughter; that from a healthy wom-
n she had become within a few days a
mere bundle OF nerves. One morning
known aftervard as the day when Fus-
ace got the wound that was to kill
lim) she suddenly uttered a loud cry as
he st at lunch with him, and it was
ons before she revived from the faint
ng fit which Immediately ensued.
From that hour Rachel's condition.
'ecame more and more acause OF solicit
ude. Her father was unhappy whenever
was out Of his sight, and that was
frequently, for something drew her to