Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-11-15

Sue looked al MIN with a nall
ing smile
You do not know, Randolph; you
have not been told SO much about then
as l have Then her beautiful face
frightened with laughter. do yoJ
not know" she said, that you are moi
| agreeing with me? That will never
do We NUT love and dislike the same
| things. If I cry, a bas les aristo
crates you must repeat the words"
She wondered why his face dark
ened. He knew that in uttering those
words she condemned mother, sisters
relatives, and himself
You will not repeat it?" she cried
"Ah, well, in time, when I have told
you all the things my aunt has told me
you will think as I dol"
For a moment a sudden deadly fear
came over him. What if, when his Sc
cret were known to her, and she found
that she had married one Of the race
she hated-what if she resented it,
and ceased to love him? He turned to
his young wife, whose exquisite face
glowed with the fervor Of her own
words.
Il wish, Violet" he said, that /
could persuade you to be more toler-
ant. | do not see, even if there must
be difference between classes, that
there need be such bitter prejudice,
such hatred"
Il do she replied resolutely. ct
Is because the vices OF one class de-
mand it. It seems to me, in review
ing the history Of the world, that there
has always been a class set aside who
have demanded the wealth and the
services OF their fellow men as a right,
even from the very olden times down to
these, when an Irish landlord racks his
tenants for rent and spends the money
in England"
He looked at her with new alarm in
his face, such alarm as would at any
other time have made her laugh.
Why, this is worse than ever. VIC
let! | hope you will not turn out to
be Fenian and Home-Ruler, as well
as perfect Democrat"
IT am not quite sure if I understand
the term rightly" she said; but
and she gave him most loving glance
II hope 1 shall always be a Home
Ruler in the proper sense of the word >
The beautiful eyes were so eloquent.
10
things, that he forgot everything else
for a time but his love for her.
He took her wherever she asked to
so. He showed her the site of the old
Bastile, where so many hundreds of
innocent people had undergone all the
fortunes of long Imprisonment and
death; but he showed her also the
grand old Abbey Of ST. Denis, where
sleep the most chivalrous race of men
- Kings of France. He showed her
all the trophies and monuments of the
people; he also made her examine all
the ancient glories OF royalty spread
over Paris. If she saw one side, he
said to himself, she should see the
other
But her heart turned invariably
from the trophies of kings to the an
nails Of the people.
Il wonder" she said to him one day,
with a thoughtful face, II wonder,
Randolph, when the great difference
between man and man began. They
must have been equal for many years"
Il do not know" he replied; 81
hardly think SO. Tsshould imagine
that, SO soon as men began to under
stand one another, the strongest and
wisest began to rule the Others"
4 can understand that" she said,
her face Frightening. Il could yield
reverence to an aristocracy of strength
or virtue. l object to an aristocracy
whose claim consists only in birth or
wealth. No man has the ruling of
| where he shall be born, in what class.
Why, therefore, should he be either de-
spised If he be lowly, or exalted if he
be what the world calls create"
So she puzzled him at times by ques-
tons that amused him by their sim
! plicity, and again with questions that
he could neither like nor answer.
But in the meantime he tried to edu.
| cate her, to incline her to what he con-
| sidered a more just and impartial mode
| of thought. He found that, right or
wrong, Violet was perfectly consistent
Any revelations Of courage, of nobility
of character in one of the people, would
draw forth expressions OF admiration
| from her, just as the sight of coro
net would draw from her derision ana
scorn. By degrees these things forced
themselves on his mind, and he stood
appalled,. He said to himself that be
fore he told her his secret he mus
bind her heart TO his so closely, Sc
| tightly, that nothing could ever detacl
it-so firmly that her predudices would
all die in the light OF her love.
That evening, as they sat In one O
the beautiful saloons that look over tn,
gardens Of the Tuileries, Violet san,
to him, and this was the song sh
chose:
, I wonder where we two shall meet
wonder if old love still lives,
Ii years must pass err one forgets,
| If years must pass ere one forgiyes
If fate will lead our footsteps on
; Until the waiting hours be past
: When truth shall lend her golden Iigh
And heart shall beat for heart a
last!
) Sometimes. sometimes thus I wonder