Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1899-01-27

liz
took 1t very bard, and the younefr Of
them stood by tho window afterward
when he should have been at work, and
he looked the picture Of grief.
Yet tho girl was On hand ~ tho usual
hour the next morning and was the re-
cipient Of cordial greetings, though she
bad 10 ask the b~ookkAeper for his. In
the afternoon, when sho stood by the
open window for u few minutea, I
thought she looked quito i'll, aud, worse
than that, she seemed apprehensive. The
blight of melancholy was on her. 1
fancied her as one Of those unfortunates
who in youth are told that there will
be no maturity, that the seeds Of death
arc planted aud must grow.
Three days later fho was absent
again. Theu / saw her on three success
sive days, leaving out of account an in
tervening Sunday. Again she failed 60
appear, but only for q day, and the re-
mainder Of the week she was in her ac-
oustomed place.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
passed with no glimpse Of her. In the
later afternoon Of that last day a man
who could be known fer n doctor half a
mile away made q long call upon the
head Of the firm. They conversed very
seriously for a few minutes, aud then
driftod TO general themes and laughed
and pulled their cigars as if nothing
were wrong. That fixed my estimate Of
the gray haired young NAN at a very
low point in the scale.
There wa nc sign of her during the
week. On Monday l saw unusual sights
in the Office across tho way. First the
old bockkeeper came in, and while he
had tho Office TO himself he sat In her
chair, and / saw him shed tears. Then
the young man with the corn colored
hair appeared, and upon ry word /
was afraid TO see him stand by the open
window, with such a look upon his
face, lest he should cast himself down
to the bottom Of the gulf.
A little later the three clerks, the
gray haired man and an elderly person
whom 1 took to be the second member
Of the firm just arrived from abroad
for 1 had heard q rumor that one Of
them had been in Europe nearly u year
Assembled in conference ON a plane of
equality which only a mutual deep sor-
row could have justified. After awhile
two clerks brought in some large paste
board boxes, which contained flowers,
for though they were opened in a part
of the oficethat my view did not well
command l got n glimpse Of white bios
SONS aud green leaves.
/ think those mon were all sincere,
but not Il Of them-not even the old
bookkeeper-felt q grief that matched
mine. Nothing just like that has ever
come into my life. Perhaps l should
have found nothing sympathetic or at
t~ractive in that woman if l had met her
face to face, but when that meeting on
this side of the grave had become i'm
possible 1 pictured her in speech and in
heart and soul as all that her sweet face
had promised.
/ longed to share with those who had
known her the privilege of expressing
my sorrow at her early death-indeed 1
resolved to do so, even at the risk Of
committing an improperly. Therefore,
when l saw the pasteboard boxes dis
patched in the custody of the messenger
boys, l fastened to intercept them on
the street. 1t was easy enough to read
the address upon the boxes, but there
was no name--only n street and number
in Brooklyn
That was sufficient, however. I has
tened to a florists and gave orders for
such tokens as seemed to be appropriate.
And SO that was the end. Tho sight
of her at the window day after day a
feeling of cheer from her bright pres
nice neal me, and, then the sorrow for
the loss of one whose very name 1 did
not know. l missed her heartily in
those succeeding weeks.
Even so late as September l had by
no means forgotten her or the incidents
connected with that timo of strange and
fanciful sorrow. 1t was ON the fifth day
of that month when o man Of familiar
aspect, yet certainly not an ~acquaint-
ance, walked into my Office. He came
slowly up to me and laid two cards
upon my desk. Ono wal my own, and
the other bore the inscription, "John
NJ. Douglas, M. D."
The name was not familiar, but the
man himself 1 had certainly seen. All,
to be surel He was the doctor who had
como to the Office across the way, when
the end was drawing near.
"That's my card, and the other one
is yours, isn't itS" said he.
/ nodded.
"You sent it with some flowers TO
e11 De Vaux street, Brooklyn. Oh juno
26, didn't your"
Yes" 1 replied, 'they were for
her."
And / glanced across the way.
"Well, you probably have some
rational explanation for it," said he,
"but hang me if 1 know why you should
have sent that CARLOAD Of funeral en-
blems TO her ON the occasion of her we'd
ding. If you wished to intimate that
marriage to me was equivalent to death,
it was a bad joke, sir, and if you didn't
then what in thunder did you meant
I've carried that puzzle with mt 1000
miles this summer, on u wedding
journey, and now, by Luoifer, you've
got to tell me the answerp'
/ don't want to go any further with
this story. IL has come to a point where