The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1899-05-26

tain sweet PARKWAY look she wears think
Of her as saw her then"
Il wonder II many women past their
first youth have much reserve funds of
sentiment to draw upon" he observed
dryly after they had walked on In silence
for awhile. Then he cleared his throat
and added unexpectedly, "What should
you say ift told you that 1, too, have q
romance that began and ended on this
hill?"
81 should beseech you to let me share
your secret" she responded gently, and,
though she did not turn her head In his
direction, the colonel felt the instant i'm
pulse OF a new sympathy toward him. sit
Is your duty as cicerone, sir, to relate all
the legends connected with this spot.
hope 1t was in the wartime. Does that
seem long ago to you, colonelp"
Every long ago." muttered Gordon un-
der his grizzled mustache, adding an in
audible curse at the folly of unloosening a
tongue he had held persistently for quar-
ter Of century. But the temptation to
impart, once suggested, was not to be re-
sisted, and presently he went on In rush
ing tide of talk, forgetting that he had q
listener and staring straight ahead at the
winding road, with it's checker of light
and shade.
1T was on a spring day that I met her
first, under the trees where we shall soon
be standing. People said she was beauti-
full, but l never thought about that
only knew from the moment laid eyes
upon her that she was the one woman in
the world for me. Some friends of mine
whom she was visiting had brought her
out to see the view-it was celebrated even
then. Did chance lead me here in the
course of an aimless ramble through the
woods? don't believe 1t. 1t was fate
fatality as / look back upon it now.
"Well," limited Ruth as he seemed
about to lose himself in silent reminis-
cences, land soY''
"Well, her home was In the south-in
Virginia. She and her sister were orphans
and lived with an uncle who was proud
and passionate and hot blooded, and ruled
them with an iron rod He had planned
brilliant futures for the two girls, and he
came hurrying north posthaste when he
heard that one Of them was getting en-
tangled with poor duffer, like me- I was
studying for the bar then. My family
was respectable, but plain, and had hard
ly penny to bless myself with. She loved
me. / knew 1t in thousand ways, and
we were drifting along from day to day in
the ecstasy of happiness that only comes
once in lifetime, each sure of the others
devotion, though not q word of lovemak
ing had been exchanged How could
speak to her till had at least some pros
poets to offerY But l knew she under
stood felt sure she would wait for me,
and every noble ambition, every pure as
piration that can lift mans life heaven
ward, awoke in me through her.
AT last there came an afternoon like
this, and we took the familiar path to-
gether by tacit consent We always felt
that this spot was full of tender associa-
tiqns, although we never talked about it.
There were so many things, so many
moods in which each understood the other
instinctively. l don't recall what we
chatted about that day. didn't know
then. Words were nothing. We were to-
gether; that was ALL But as we sat under
the great oak tree at the top of the hill
picked up an acorn from the ground and
handed it to her. In mock seriousness I
gave and she took but we both had the
deep underlying sense that it was a gage
d'amour, and our hearts beat in the still
ness until she said, with her low, sweet
laughter: L shall keep this forever in
memoriam of the day and the place and
the hour. l shall wear it till die, and
then 1t shall be planted on my grave.
These are the trifles we remember, little
Ruth, across the years The great excit-
ing events of life fade and grow dim, and
some one bright moment, some trivial
speech, is left as the most precious legacy
of the past"
! Again a silence. Ruth feared to break
the spell by any comment or question,
and held her peace till her companion
chose to resume.
THAT was the last time l ever saw her.
The uncle arrived on the scene that very
night and took her away without giving
her a chance to say goodby to me. like
to think she would not have willingly left
me then without word-whatever change
her feelings underwent later. l wrote to
her letter after letter. She did not reply.
In the meantime the war had broken out
and / had enlisted In the ranks. was
desperate, for I knew the difference be-
tween north and south was one more bar
rier raised between us, and determined
to see her once again or die In the attempt.
So got leave of absence from my regi-
ment and forced my way to her uncle's
estate in Virginia through great perils
and dangers, for the hatred against the
Yankees was SO intense that my very
speech made enemies for me wherever l
went.
1.-THE old man at first refused to receive
me- But persisted, and finally was ad-
mitted to the great rambling country
house, every fiber of my being tingling at
the thought that was under the same
roof with her, and glancing about eagerly,
hoping to catch glimpse of her somehow,
somewhere No; l was soon shut into a
gloomy library with the uncle, who scoffed
at my pretensions and presumption In
asking for the hand of girl so far above
me in birth and breeding, then declared
that she was promised to some one else,
which 1 wouldn't believe, and at last In
frenzy Of rage he ordered me out Of the
house.
"'I won't co. said 1, until get her
own assurance that she will have none Of
me-, and ! stood my ground with hand
on the pistol in my pocket until the one
man, who was coward for all his buster,
agreed to go up to his niece the admitted
she was in the house, and bring me line
from her to prove his assurance that there
was no hope for me. l demanded to speak
with her, but on that point he would not
I L.. "a