The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1898-06-24
HELEN'S TWO LOVERS.
NTAS he glad? Was he sorry? d.
w he feel triumphant? Did he e.
BY ANNA SHIELDS.

questions over ana ONcI, veal ms W
the repetition, and yet never able TO
end it by saying heartily that he was
glad and triumphant, OF bitterly that
he was CORY and ashamed. The plain
fact stared him ever in the face, that
Helen Raymond did not love HIM, ana
that Mrs Raymond had urged his SUIT,
and excrted her maternal influence ana
eloquence until Helen had consented to
be his wife, telling him very frankly
that her heart was in the grave OF her
lover, George Nanhorn, who had been
killed in n railway collision nearly one
year before.
Mother was never willing / should
marry George" Helen said, sadly, be
cause lie was poor, and we have suffered
all that poverty can inflict. lie was on
his way to Colorado, where his brother
has been successful, when he was
killed"
Will Spencer WINGED, for he was rich,
very rich, but then he put to the wound
that soothing salve, Il will win her love
when she is my wife" that has wrecked
SO many lives. 1t may come, this love
that will not be hidden, to Il man and
wife. after they are bound together for
life. but the risk is great, and Will
Spencer knew it.
Yet he cherished the delusiOn that
love in the end would win return,
and he knew his own love to be strong
ard enduring. He had stepped back
when George NanhOrn was met with
such a smile, for he could never win,
had kept from pressing his suit when
the name of IIclen's lover appeared on
the list of the killed in the account OF
the railway collision, but after the lapse
of several months he had won Mrs.
Raymond to his side, and SO, by proxy,
wooed Helen and won-what? cold,
reluctant consent to be his wife.
Yet she was not cold, this girl of 20,
whose heart had been crushed ever
aimee the day when George Nanhorn's
name was recorded as dead. He could
have told how her eyes could soften
with loves tenderness, her checks burn
with loves bMshes, her low, sweet,
voice tremble with loves whispered
words. lie had won what all the Spen-
Ger gold, the riches Of long generations,
could not buy.
Before that fatal railway collision she
was bright, beautiful girl, with large,
expressive brown eyes, a voice of
music, the step of a fairy, singing as
bird sings, from sheer joyousness of
heart, bringing jest to all the house
hold worries, laughing merrily over her
own blunders in the culinary depart
mcnt, turning old dresses, renovating
old bonnets without a complaint, living
on love and hope.
After that day she moved about slow
lv, her eyes were dull and weary, her
duties met with rigid mechanical pre-
cision, her lips compressed, her cheeks
pale, shadow Of her joyous self.
Mrs. Raymond was often afraid that
she would yet miss the golden prize she
had partly won, and heartily seconded
Will in his preparations for a speedy
wedding. 1t was Mrs. Raymond who
went with him to open the house that
he had bought to adorn for his bride.
who aided him in the selection of car
pets, curtains. furniture, and gave him
instructions regarding the kitchen de-
partment. OF whose needs he was as ig-
norant as most young bachelors. II
was Mrs. Raymond who received az
anonymous letter containing liberal
sum, which she quietly appropriated
for trousseau and suitable dress for
the brides mother
She was woman of rare tact. Hav-
ing won Helen's consent to be VIII
Spencer'S wife, she never bothered he,
by complaints about her listless indif
ference to her lover or her future pros
poets. She simply made all the ar
engagements for her, without once adj
hitting 4 possibility of change. The
betrothal was spoken of on all occa-
slons, the preparation of the house. the
selection of the trousseau referred to. in
matter-of-fact words that made Helen
1eel, as it was intended she should. that
she had walked into net from which
there was no escape.
And Will Spencer knew it all. and
Wrlthed under the knowledge. bein,r =
frank, loyal man, whose impulses were
generous and honorable, and who loved
helcn with all the strength of his heart
Often he asked himself how he could en-
dure life, if he found his wife faithful
slave, instead Of the happy companion
he hoped to make her
IF she never loves mel" he thought
bitterly. IF all my love fails to win
hers. what will my life be?"
lie did her justice. He knew that if
his love failed to win her heart, his gold
was powerless to make her happy. He
knew that if her mother died or could
not be benefited by her marriage, she
would rather beg her bread herself
than be his wife
While matters stood in this unsat-
lsfactory state, Mrs. Raymond made a
suggestion: Il want you to go away
for month" she said to him, land let
Helen miss the constant devotion that
she has had ever since your betrothal
Let her feel that a void has come into
her life, and how dull and chccrless il
would be if she lost you. The wedding
day is set for June 10, and this is April
Stay away until the 5th or 9th of June. -
1t seemed to him good advice, and he
had business in the west that would fill
his time proftably. 1t gave him the
first really happy moment of his en-
gagement, when Helen said gently, yet
with a shudder:
Il cannot bear to think of you on rail
way trains, VIII. Write often, that !
may know you are safe"
Her lips met his in a tender pressure,
such as loving sister might bestow,
but with far more affection than she
had ever before given him. Was he