El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-08
THE UNDEL|VERED LETTER

found a letter upon which was the faded
address Daniel H. Carter"
Why, it's to old Preacher CarterI'
said some one.
How do you know p" asked another.
"Why. it's Daniel H.. Carter and his
names Daniel Henry. 1t must have
been sent years before he went to preach.
ing Let's open it,"
Open it?' said the second speaker.
as that letter addressed to you? No,
sir. It's addressed to Daniel ii. Carter.
and he's the only man who has any right
to its contents. That envelopes got a
United States stamp on it, and L don't
care how long it's laid there. 1t means
protection to whatever it carries. That
stamp would hold good a day after judg-
ment."
The upshot of it all was that the letter
was sent across to the building which
had been fitted up and was doing service
as postofiice in lieu of the old one and
sent out by the carrier who had the Rev.
Daniel H. Carter upon his route.
The Rev. Mr.. Carter was an easy. good
natured bachelor and had been pastor at
Centerville for almost all the years since
he returned from creditable service as
chaplain of a regiment during the civil
war. 1t was true that he had passed by
all the religiously inclined spinsters and
charitable widows in the town, but in
spite of this almost objectionable offense
he was well loved and deeply revered,
and the church.. with the experience of
many years. bad grown used to its bache-
lor parson.
That morning when the postman rang
his hell he went to the door and received
his letter with his usual smile and
Thank YOU"
To him the envelope seemed rather
dusty on one edge and n bit old fashion
ed. he ina gined, but, then. some years
had passed over the Rev. Daniel Carriers
head and his sight was not so good as it
had once been. So, without curiosity. he
laid the letter down on his study table
and went down to breakfast.
The bread, butter and eggs were par
ticularly good that morning. and the tea
was just to his taste, so perhaps the min
lister fingered n little longer at his morn
ing meal than was usual. II was at any
rate n rather long time for n man who
had on his study table n letter which had
been on the way for nearly 30 years.
But at last the pastor made an end of
eating and again sought his study. He
picked up the letter and adjusted his
glasses with leisurely care He glanced
at the postInark and let his eye roam
over the address. but he did not seem to
see well, so he took off his glasses, rub
bed and polished them and set them on
his nose again.
He looked at the handwriting, and rs
his hand went up to smooth his brow n
fash of recognition came in. is eyes.
His hand dropped quickly, and he looked
at the postmark again. lien, with n
sudden gasp and the Precipitation stand
ing out upon his brow. he dropped into
n chair Only for n moment he sat there
staring into vacancy. and then with trenl-
bling fingers he tore the missive open and
devoured its contents with his eager eyes.
When he had finished it. the letter
dropped from his grasp. and he put his
hands over his face. His frame shook
with sobs and the tears trickled between
his fingers. When his paroNysm of grief
had about subsidized. his voice came muf-
fed from behind his hands in these
words:
Great God. l thank thee that thou
hast revealed TO me this thinCr'
He picked the letter up and read IL
again. Ii ram:
BELMONT.
My Dear D~aniel-what. Ashamed to come and
tell me yourself, 1imid hoyi Have you not seen
that I love you? 1t shames my motherhood to
write Thus: but. as you say. one can write 50
much more boldly than one can talk. Yes. l will
be your wife Come to me when you will: IL
cannot be too soon. ELIZABETH DEERISo-
Elizabeth. Elizabeth" cried the min
lister. How | have paid for my coward
ice, l thought you had met my proposal
" AAAl NttAb aAu tthlt ~ a Wy We i
of an answer. and l was glad to go into
the heat of battle and care for the suffer
ing and dying. to bury the dead and-tO
try to forget. But in all these years l
have not forgotten"
Then suddenly n thought occurred to
him.. and he sat bolt upright in his chair.
A moment after he had his hat on and
was out of the house. Had any of his
congregation met him as he went wildly
flying down to the station they would
have considered the ACCESSIBILITY of
retaining such n pitifully demented crea-
ture as the pastor. His hat was set far
back on his head. his hair flying and his
coat open wide and an open letter far
ing in his hand. He took the train for
Belmont. The two towns were so much
nearer than they were 80 years ago.
They had grown, and he was hardly
out OF the suburbs of one before he was
into the suburbs of the other.
In the middle of Belmont they set him
down. Could any one tell him where a
Miss Deerinc lived? He asked the ques-
ton with n trembling and failing voice.
1t had been past 30 years ago. you know
Miss Dcering-whati Miss Lizzie
Why. any one can tell you
where good Miss Lizzie Deering lives.
It's right at the end
But the interrogatcd Belmontain stood
staring at the man who had dashed off in
the direction pointed out before he had
had time to finish his sentence.
Who shall tell what subtle instinct
the minister to the right door? A
sweet faced, gray haired woman was sit
ting near a table sewing. At the unan-
nounced and impetuous entrance of her
she half rose and turned very
pale.
Elizabeth. Elizabeth" cried the
preacher. Il have just got your letter." !,
Miss DeerinC let lrr sewing fall