The Bemidji pioneer., 1900-07-26

n Il . <
II have startled you by my yeho-
i mence," he continued, taking the hand
4 that lay upon her lap. i feared lest
/ this announcement might seem abrupt,
i but the steamer sails at FIVE o'clock,
4 and last night obtained Evelyn's per-
mission to bring you to see her off.
i She owes you debt OF gratitude for
4 your sisterly care OF my lonely and
i graceless self She loves you dearly
already, as you will her when you have
4 had one glimpse of her face. You re-
! minded me of her the first day OF our
meeting. / have travelled with her and
4 her sick father for three months, and
| at parting more than limited at my at
! tachment. With candor that would
4 have driven me to desperation had It
I been less mournful, she declared her,
/ intention not to marry while her father
lived. He needs my constant care,
she said. Without 1t he would die in
! a week. He will never be better. The
kindest service you can do me, as the
wisest you can do yourself, is to forget
/ me. I have been steadily disobedient
4 to her advice told her as much when
1 found out by chance two months ago
that she was in the city. She was very
resolute for a time, often refusing to
see me when called, and again begging
me, even with tears. TO dismiss all idea
/ of making her my wife. 1t Is now
/ fortnight since her father unexpectedly
announced his determination to return
/ to Europe, and, In the anticipation OF
1 our second parting, acknowledged that
my love was returned. Our engagement
would be an unsatisfactory one to most
people, but she is the earthly imperson-
alton of the angel Of patience. and
can surely wait a few months, or even
/ years, for gift so precious. Hsr fasher
! is afflicted by complication Of disor-s
| ders, the most serious being an organic
! affection of the heart. She is the only
| living child 1t would be sheer barbar-
!! ity to separate them, and with an in
| yalid's obstinacy he will not hear Of
taking up his abode in his daughter's
house should she marry. My poor
Evelyn, my gentle love; she Is a martyr
| and can do so little to tighten her.
/ burdeny'
ut is very hard" He had paused and
| Constance must speak,
| Too pre-occupied by his own refiec-
tions to note her thick articulation and
| studiously ayerted face, Edward took
up the word warmly. Hard What
| could be harder for both Of us?'
| She interrupted him by an impet-
nous gesture. 'sYou are talking Wild
| ly--wickedly! Think what you would
suffer If you loved without hope Of re-.
| quital !" .
He absolutely laughed. AS IL that
could be. Affection. full and fervent as
mine, holds a witch hazel that never
errs In pointing to the fount Of answer
] ing love. Why. Connie, we were made
for one another Eva and / +
Was no scalding drop Of bitterness to
! be spared from her cup |? Whose, then,
| was the fatal mistake which had opened
the sluices Of that other fountain that
was drowning her soul with cruel hui
initiation and anguish?
Drive us near to the steamer as you
can, joint! called Edward from his
window, and in the appreciation OF the
truth that the sharpest ordeal was yet
before her and fearfully near at hand,
| Constance submitted to be handed from
the carriage to the wharf.
Through bewildering haze she saw
the noisy crowd, the smoke-stack of
the monstrous vessel, stumbled along
the gangway connecting it with the
shore Yielding psssiseiy y the nlpo$s
| Of Edwards arm and regained sight,
hearing and consciousness Of brain
| when she stood in a handsome saloon,
! a small hand warm as hers was icy,
| fiuttering, in her grasp, and a pair OF
dark; thoughtful eyes fixed upon her
| face.
'You were very good to come" said
low voice, fraught with emotion, yet
steady. ALLOW me to present my
father, Mr.. Pynsent. Mrs, Withers,
father
/ She looked up and spoke the lady, and
| her father arose from his diyan, sup
porting himself upon a cane, and sa-
| luted Mrs. Withers with stately polite
ness. Both were high bred, but it was.
/ not Evelyns beauty that had won her
\ lover. her eyes anu uloulll Wsles lisl
only really good features. Constance
knew herself to be the handsomer OF
the two, but the persuasion added to
| the hopelessness of her ill-fated love,
The qualities that had knit to this
girls heart that of the man who had
seen the beauties OF two hemispheres,
which had kept him true to her and her
alone. although opposed by absence, dis
couragement and the wiles OF scores
of other women, lay beyond her power
OF analysis and counter-charms. She
! began to understand how 1t had come
TO pass when she had commanded her
/ wits so far as to talk FIVE minutes with
4 Edwards betrothed; owned reluctantly,
| that had she met her as new acquaint-
ances generally meet she would have
been irresistibly attracted by her win
! ming ladyhood and the countenance
that united 50 much sweetness with
sense and spirit.
/ There was time now for little beyond
| tba kindly common nlacas silitabie to