The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1899-08-12

stylish and expensive clothes. He was
very handsome and apparently refined,
and believing him wise and good loved
him and promised to be his wife. lie
paid me marked attention before every
one. When my old lover heard of it he
came at once to ing fathers house.
Taking me by the hand, he said: My
girl, they are saying in the village that
you have grown tired of me and that a
|.man has come between us. i have come
to give you your freedom. l am glad you
have chance to marry fine gentle
man, for was fool to think was wor-
thy of you. / hope you will be happy,
but l shall not forget you, lassie, and
1 wherever you may go to live remember
l shall always be your friend, for love
you with all my heart
II blushed before his honest eyes, but
could not deny the truth. / was in
love with the city young man and want
ed to marry him, so l thanked my old
lover for his kindness and babe him
good-by. i shall never forget his look
of pain and sorrow as he took my hand
and said 'Good-by,' and the real tears
in his honest eyes troubled me for many
day.
"Well, married my New York lover
and went to the city to live. At first ]
was very happy, but as the weeks went
by l found out that my husband had
many vices. learned with horror that
he was gambler, and was also dis
honest. The stylish clothes which he al
ways wore were not obtained honestly.
He drank and gambled good deal. He
was always in debt and trouble. / dis
covered with keen sorrow that the win
ter he had spent in the country was
while he was avoiding the law. He had
many disreputable companions, and
often was obliged to listen to fiendish
plots. l was heartsick and discouraged
and knew not what to do. Twice dur
ing the first year of our marriage he
struck me while he was under the in.
| fluence of drink. In less than two years
he deserted me. Deserted me for an
other fair young girl whom he had won
by fiattering speeches as he had won
me. He left me without penny, and
with baby girl only few weeks old.
God alone knows what l went
through then. i was u sad, broken
hearted woman, grown old in two short
years. / was weak and ill, utterly poor
and so terribly wretched that / prayed
earnestly for God to let me and my poor
baby die. But we did not die. A poor
woman who lived in the house with me
was kind to me and nursed my wee baby
for me. l could pay her nothing; she
knew that, but she helped me because
she was woman and knew what a
woman could suffer.
''Two months after my husband de-
serted me read of his death. He was
killed in a gambling saloon by man
whom he had robbed, and all the New
York papers published scandalous ac-
counts of it. How suffered then! But
had he lived should never have seen
him, for he had cast me aside as easily
as he would have cast aside suit of
worn clothing.
with no money or friends in New
York, j knew could only starve or beg
in the streets, so for my baby's sake
wrote and told my father everything,
and he came to New York and brought
me home, back here to the Berkshire
hills. How sorry / was that had ever
left the dear, peaceful old place!
'The news of my husbands disgrace
full death had preceded me, and every
one in the village knew that he had |
been a gambler and had shamefully de- |
serted his wife. 1t was an awful blow |
to my high spirits and pride, and to |
my old fathers, too, for all the towns
people had thought l had married SO |
well. The neighbors were all kind |
and good to me, and learned then that |
country-bred people are not the kind to |
love you in prosperity and hate you in
adversely. l found l had many good |
friends at home, and no one was more
true and loyal than my old rejected
lover.
"A year after l returned home my |
father died and his old place was sold
for the mortgage. Again my baby and
| were without home. Then my old
lover came to me, and, taking my hand,
he said: Il love you, my las3ie, the same
as ever. BE my wife and forget all the
trouble you have had. The baby needs
a father, and my home is all ready and
waiting for you both. win you Gomez?
''We were married soon after that
and came to live in this farmhouse.
fully appreciated then all my old low
er's manliness and goodness of heart.
loved him dearly then and 1 love him
dearly now. He has been kindness it,
self to me all these years and has made
me happy wife He has made us very
happy here and done for us all he could.
He has been so affectionate to my poor
little baby girl that she has never
known that he was not her own dear
father, and now she is a grown woman