Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1898-10-06

La
m<NJ ways counted on
~ " him as her champion
in all the difficulties that arose to
rufle the happiness of those child
hood days. As he grew older, he
used to picture to himself pleasant
home, and Mary's face and smile made
sunshine in it. The other lads seemed
to recognize that in some way, he had
an especial claim on Mary, and they
never thought of interfering between
them. Even the grown-up people,
seeing how much they were together,
and how little they seemed to care for
other society, used to say: 1T was
going to be match, and it is not at
all to be wondered at that Floyd felt
confident of the future, so far as Mary
was concerned. So confident was he,
indeed, that when he had grown to be
the man he had thought so much of
being, he did not feel it necessary to
say anything to Mary about his plans,
because he was not yet ready to carry
them out. He felt sure she under
stood all about them. He wanted to
get some kind of O start in the world
before he took upon himself the re-
sponsibility of home-making.
A chance came for him to make this
start in life in the West. He hesitated
about taking advantage of u, az nrst'
on Merv's oo1o7,rt lat ali his friends
sola MIN he would be doing very
foolish thing in letting such an oppor-
tunity slip through his fingers. And
Mary, when he came to talk with hel
about it, thought very much as all the
rest of them did. So it came about
that he went away from Brantford tc
make his start in the world, and he
went away, foolishly enough, without
any definite understanding with Mary
about the future. He understood how
he felt about it, and what his inten
tions were, and he took it for granted
that she did also. And in doing this
he made the same mistake that grea
many other young men make. Moth
ing should be taken for granted il
love or war.
Ofcourse, they correspondent with eacl
other, but their letters were not at al
love-like. Floyd Gray, was one o
those men who find it exceedingly
difficult to express themselves salts
factorily on paper He might think
beforehand, of a good many things ht
would like to say, and that he mean
to say, when he wrote his letter; bu
when the pen was in his hand, anC
the paper before him, waiting for the
record of his thoughts, his ideas
seemed to desert him, and what he
succeeded in writing was wholly lack
ing in sentimental colorless trans
cript of few formal phrases tina
might mean anything or nothing
Therefore, it was quite natural tina
the love he felt for Mary, in his heart
never found its way into the letters
he wrote her.
He had been in the West thre
years when q letter came to him from
his mother that stunned him with tn
news that Mary Dexter was soon t.
be married to a young doctor who ha'
ecently settled in Brantford.
Married NJ II could not be
she must know-that h
that he intended to MARI,
at he felt sure she under
his intentions were, an,
ID his willingness to wal
''get his start in life be
ntered into the partnership
ny.
a he came to think it over
When the ability to thin
ne back to him after tn
lect of the bitter news ha'
somewhat, he saw what
AXE he had made. HOY
know anything about hi
without being told of them
That she might think abou
lg as he said nothing sh
be expected to have an
owledge of his plans. Fl
hen it was too late, tn
ting things for granted.
ried. She had done well
wrote, in one of the letter
her shortly after the mar
lnd-bye, she wrote, that
airy had not done SO well
ing doctor had begun t
gipated life. He had re
habits formed before hi
which no one in Brantfor
7wledge.
81 His heart went out
for, though he had los
ID her still,
ter an irresistible longin