Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1900-02-23

harness with proud Consciousness Of bearing away
the loveliest, daintest mortal that ever bore the
name OF Broxton.
All, my sweet one, pardon the exuberancc Of q
lovesick man yearning for home and you. Some.
times such wave Of longing to hold you In my
arms comes over me that feel as II could not
complete the term. 1911
Olivia, wait for me, trust me. take good care
| OF my beloved for me. Heaven has seen ht 10
leave me very much alone in my young days.
| All the love that might have been diffused among
father. mother, sisters, brothers, has centered
about one small, bewildering little woman. con.
cenration bcgetting fervor, until l wonder how
my heart can contain its longing without trans.
porting me to your feet. -"
don't know that sat down to my desk with
this letter in my mind. have been trying to be
angry with you. What's here set down Is never
absent from my heart. love you; have always
loved you; shall always love you, no one but
you. You are the only woman in the world to
| me, Olivia. Take good Of my precious one
| until come to claim her for my very own.
You got between me and my thesis today. You
! haunt my days; you consume my nights Per.
| haps now that have poured out all my love, all
my hopes, all my intentions. can get back to
the cold, hard duties lying nearest to me. Thanks
be to those who went before dear, will not
| have to wait for anything.
Oh, how the months lag! Already begin to
count those that still divide thee and me. Pres
emily it will be weeks, then days, then hours,
good night. Yours and only yours, while life
stirs the pulse OF your devoted slave. T. B.
Olivia, reading this letter through
rapidly-she had an engagement with
Mr.. Westover, and Clarence laid so
much stress on punctuality-smiled
and flushed softly. Homage is sweet
to every daughter Of Eve, and Tom
did make love charmingly. Presently
her little hands made sad havoc of
Toms ardent letter. She tore it into
small bits and sifted the bits reflective
ly through her fingers into her waste
paper basket. On one Of the fingers
through which Toms message Of love
filtered in scraps was big diamond
ring that had not been there when he
went to tell her goodby.
From smiles she had passed to
frowns. The letter was distinctly dis
turbing. Usually by the time she had
reduced a letter to fragments she had
forgotten it's contents.
But this letter Of Toms refused to
be erased so readily. From condem-
nation of his Stiffness and blindness
she passed to self questioning and &C.
cusing.
Had she ever let him suppose that
her feelings for him were other than
those of an aunt for a nephew, a
guardian for ward or anything else
safe and mature one could think Of?
She was sure, quite sure, she had not.
Tom had no one but himself to thank
for his misery. But, then, that he
should be miserable-that stung her
tender little heart to the quick. Tom
had had SO much sorrow already. Oh,
what hateful letter to have to an
swer! Now she would have to tell him
about Clarence and herself.
Mr.. Clarence Westover's step was
heard entering the veranda. and Tom
Broxton was resolved, by the Magian
touch of love, into fading myth.
Much more disturbing was the letter
written by Mr.. Matthews to his ward.
1t was much shorter than Toms to
Olivia, but it went straight to the
point with q brutal directness as eft.
fective as q we'll placed blow between
the eyes. It left him stunned and
j LFeathless.
Said the lawyer in his business let
ter
| NY Dear Thomas-As only a few moro months
| remain of your allotted two years absence
| think the time has arrived for me to make plain
| statement to you.
You will soon be coming home, man In the
eyes of the law, legally emancpated from all
guardianship-in short, your own master
| rejoice to perceive from letters that you have
made excellent Of your time and opportuni'
ties As / have told you before, l highly ap'
| prove OF your taking up electricity. 1t may
stand you in good stead in the near future.
And now it is my painful duty to inaict very
great surprise upon you. have known since In
my capacity rs your guardian have had to ex.
anime into your fathers papers, that he had
been led into some most unfortunate speculations
| and Investments
My most earnest efforts were directed toward
| drawing your funds out Of the rapidly sinking
| concerns in which he. with lack OF judgment
not common to him, had invested. After year
Of futile endeavor in this direction bent my en-
ergies toward rendering you self supporting should
the crash which fully anticipated occur during
your minority. 1t did occur, Thomas, and have
! known for five years that you would have barely
enough to finish good education upon and to
supplement it by carrying out your fathers cher
ished plan Of travel.
Toward this end l have toiled and husbanded
your resources to the best Of my poor Judgment
| A few months after your departure for Germany 1t
| became evident 10 me tnaC II you were " oe leAs
care free to pursue your course to its end Brox'
ton Hall must 60. feel confident that your
dear father would entirely approve my course.
The property has deprecated in value immensely
since your fathers death and since an unfortunate
prejudice against it has been raised in this neigh
borhood. l consider it exceedingly fortunate IN
der the circumstances that purchaser could be
found Obtaining an order from the court, with
out which, of course, you being minor, the
transfer could not have been made, l sold it to
Mr.. Standifer Westover, a man OF family and
means. The funds thus raised have been care
fully appropriated to your needs and will serve
to keep you from anxiety during the remaining
months Of your German residence and perhaps
until you get into something profitable on
this side, German correspondent or something OF
that sort in some large importing house, while
you are building up business as an electrician.
have not wished to be premature in this ex.
position OF your financial status, because wanted
your mind care free until your studies were con.
cluded, nor did want you to remain too long in
ignorance OF the fact that you will have nothing
to depend upon when you reach your majority
but your own head and hands, These have
conscientiously striven to prepare for the battle
Of life.
am aware, my dear boy, that this letter will
| como to vou in the shane ~ n most dsapreeable