The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1897-02-18
L.-CoNTINuEp,.
RAND. MSNHLLr 6 CO.

NShANhh Aiis
1T is unreasonable" she said.
though not quite in the way you mean.
You had. 1 am sure, no thought but to
honor me, and / hank you in all sim
certify for your homage. But you have
acted in this without due considera-
ton"
He would Ia spoken, but she raised
her HAND to check him.
you did not reflect that we have
not. between us, all that should go to
the making of a marriage. You have a
mans strength and faith. an honorable
name. a career of promise-it is much
to bring; / rave beauty, wealth, and a
high spirit: these, too, perhaps, are
worth something; you love me. and
there is, l dare be sworn, no reason why
l should not love you. But where in
all this is the string that binds the posy
together-where is the guarantee of our
tranquil and continued friendship after
ward? sometimes think" she con
tinued, that an intimacy of a lifetime
is scarcely enough to warrant such a
risk; and you and L have but a yester-
days acquaintance on which to found
such perilous hopes"
He raised his head. II have known
~" " illCtIltiSy lit ohIuy anu al
of that time / have thought of nothing
else on earth
"All thai time in truth" she an
sTered; but Of what have you been
thinking in the thirty years before? |
do not know. have ridden and danced
with you. / have sung and laughed
with you; L know your favorite actor
II the minister in whom you believe;
but of yourself how %little!"
II am afraid there is little more to
KNOW" he said. 81 am like most other
men. But If you would set Sny great
love against my deficiencies the scales
might not weigh S o uneven as with
some"
II believe sincerely she replied,
that you love meas you know me:
nut l fear L cannot say, like you, that
: am of the common type of my sex;
my beliefs, my hopes, my work in life
are all singular: the very circumstances
cf my birth and nationality are unusual
though you hear it now for the first
time. So. Capt. Estcourt." she con-
tinued. rising to her feet, you see that
in your heste you have asked a woman
TO become you wife who, for all that
you know, has nothing in common with
- '"N ~ ShN Niiti oiN III
trivial interests of life"
He bent his head and said nothing
for a time. She looked at him a little
remorsefully.
rs 1t good-by, then?" he said, slowly,
like a man awaking from sleep.
She reflected, looking downward in
her turn.
II will grant you this" she said, lard
remember that it is no more and no less
han / would do for any man of honor.
/ will make no change for what has
happened tonight; I will meet you. if
chance so orders 1t, upon the old terms;
but you shall promise me one thing in
return" She paused for his assent.
II promise blindfold," he said, for
he first time in my life"
She nodded approval. Then I have
your word" she said. that you too
will make no change in your career;
hat you will follow your fortune where
ever and whenever 1T calls you without
allowing thoughts of me to hold you
back"
1T is hard" he said, for I have to-
night been promised an immediate COM
mand."
But o have given me your word
She held out her hand to him as she
spoke; he stopped and kissed it in ST.
lrnce.
Come" she said, II hear the music
scginning; this is my last dance"
T9ey passed down the staircase with
out another word, and entered the ball
once more. To Estcourt the dance
was ever more OF a dream than the first
oRe had been. To the thrilling influence
of her beauty and her touch there was
added that regretful consciousness of
the inevitable end which makes the
peaceful melancholy of autumn and
gives the last perfection OF pathos TO
the deep eyes of passion.
IL he had felt himself favored Of the
gods before, he was now conscious. in
Is exalted state, of an even greater
dignity-that given by the heroic endur-
aDce of a great misfortune. Among
the phantoms that fitted around him.
gibbering of their unreal joys, he moved
in a kind of funeral triumph, as one
with the grandeur of a tragic doom up
on him.. The whirling dance was the
chaos of eternity, and the music filled
1t with exquisite sadness.
But now the measure rose sobbing to
a final ecstasy. and lapsed again, and
died slowly away upon a single note.
He found himself standing by the door,
with the colonel's bland figure in front
of him.
IF 20 will pardon me- the latter
was saying. ut is time for me to AXE
my sister-in-law home; unless" he con-
tVIed. with a courteous gesture, you