El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-15
RIIIII 20
: A BLIGHTED MIND :
urIIIIIIIIIIIlIII1IIIIlII 10

~ - u ] j ! ! ~
Yet, ali, that spring should vanish with the rose,
That youths sweet scented manuscript should
closet
Omar Khayyam.
AIwys did not assist in the parish.
There were so many women who did that
kind of thing-women who had once been
quite young.
Alan arrived. He was the new doctor
who had bought old ManselPs practice.
For brief throbbing period church work
ceased to be all engrossing to certain of
the congregation from whose waiting
hearts all hope had not yet faded, as
leaves on the decay of summer, for whom
all possibilities were not vet ended.
But from the beginning lakewood saw
only Afwys. He loved her devoutly when
first he beheld her one May evening in
the old church, sitting in an overcrowded
pew and dressed in black "a shabby black.
if he had noticed, with radiant eyes
fixed, it seemed to him, on the stained
window above the altar. 1t was poor
specimen of a stained Window senti-
mental st. Peter dragged an Impossible
net out OF a pale, dirty sea The half
trained choir droned with their own
cent, "'Owly, 'Owly, 'Owly! The school
master organist Numbered on the pedals.
as usual. Alan wondered much at the
fervor of the young girl, rapt as some
he had come only to be seen, which is
necessary for the country doctor.
Love grew like a flower in the sun
shine. They were intensely happy. and
Alwys' parents were pleased. 1t was a
complacent relief to them, for the child
was delicate and by nature untitled to do
battle.
And so the early summer passed. a glad
of SnpQdIn0
the joy in their hearts was overwhelm-
ing so that they marveled at their own
happiness. 1t was perfect.
But the time was short, for one day
as Alan rode out along the Northbank
road to urgent case of diphtheria in
a house beyond the town he met a gypsy
caravan creaking slowly along the road
to Hildon fair His quiet. old hack grew
uneasy and FESTIVE at its approach. WheD
the yellow painted van drew near, the
warm smell of the bears pelt and the
low vibrating growl sent Bruce mad
with panic. There was no holding
him. Half a mile farther on he crashed
into stone wall. Horse and rider were
killed instantly. Alan was carried back
to Hildon.
Alwys did not cry; only the faint color
left her cheeks, and the light died from
her face. The night of the burial it
rained, and then she wept for the first
time. She feared for him under the
damp mold.
Sometimes she would meet a villager
whose bright good morning" she passed
unheedingly, and sometimes little brown
birds would fiutter in her path, and,
cheeping. fly away unnoticed, for she had
eyes that saw not and ears that heard
not. At night she slept i'll, but sat
crouching in chair through the dark
hours, and when the birds sang early
in the morning she rose and went out
The fresh sounds of summer were q
vacant silence and the gladness Of the
day as nothing to her. Everything had
memory. And only a week before she
had been alive.
The man was coming toward her. The
way he vaulted the stie caused her heart
to beat more quickly. He came swiftly
to where she stood, trembling, irresolute.
care you not glad to see me?' he ask |
ed. His face was strangely white, though
not more SO than her own, and his voice
was thin.
"Alan!" she cried. starting forward on
a heart throb, and then drawing back. |
'tBut you are dead! They buried you
six-seven days ago!'
Il am not dead" he said in low voice. |
II am alive, and you see me. Are you
glad?'
She passed her hand vaguely across her |
forehead. puzzled.
"But you did die" she repeated in her |
shadowy monotone. You were thrown /
from your horse-don't you remember ?" /
She shuddered.
And you placed flowers in the coffin, |
the roses you love, from your garden. |
They were pale roses" He spoke al |
most to himself as he walked sound
lessly by her side. She turned toward |
him.
''Tell me the meaning of it, Alanv
She stretched forth her hands to touch |
him, but he quickly drew away.
''The time is not yet" he said.
"Are you dead?' she asked, her eyes
yIistening.
'.My body lies in Hildon churchyard
covered with moist earth, and there are
lowers planted on my grave-white roses
n the black mold. And l live
"And where are you and what do you
lo?"
Il am in the strange land" he said.
transparent silence fell between
hem. The next moment he had passed |
rom her view.
With quick, light step she ran almost !
o her home. They gazed in wonderment;
was as if she had been raised from
he dead. Eagerly she explained, and
heir expressions changed.
She persisted in her statements.
''Seei' she cried. You will believe me
low. Here is his handkerchief; he drop
ed it, and picked it up
In happy triumph she held out the OBJ
ect in her hand.
Good God!" said the gray haired Gu
ate. II
1t was fallen leaf
But afterward she saw him often and |
many were the sweet conversations they
ED They had taken her away from
he white village to a great brown house
there all treated her with pitiful kind
ess, and grave looking men asked often
fter her health Not hnSnldnr, har L