The Red Cloud chief., 1901-05-17

cyes have said It,, and you dare not
deny It,"
IL do not love you" she said. an
grily, but her voice faltered. And l
do not respect ~you-what should |
think Of myself, clther-I would de.
spise myself even more than / do you,
If | could listen to words of love from
the man who is to marry my own dear
friend
But you love me In spite OF all
THAR he interrupted. tr~lumphantly.
ooh. don't think but | despise myself!
I have kept away from you that I
might not see your maddening beauty.
but your heavenly eyes have danced
before me. Your enchanting voice has
rung In my ears. Among q thousand
men and women I see but your face.
Among ten thousand sounds I hear but
your voice. Sleeping or waking l see
but you, you alone, only you, forever.
Hear me, Glare, and don't lie to me or
to yourself. You do love me-"
81 do not-I cannot love my friends
betrOthed husband" she said, family.
but he had started to his feet, and In a
moment he held her In his arms. and
In another moment l was beside them.
"He Is so no more: he is a free man,
and you are free to love him, Clare"
s~huddered at my own voice: l know
1t sounded like the voice of doom to
them.
Clare gave one quick. sharp cry. and
pushing him violently from her, turned
and fled away In the darkness.
Oscar said nothing. l was glad he
did not ask me to forgive him; 1t would
have seemed so heartless then, SO ter.
ribly cruel.
"Do not grieve." I said. at last. for I
saw that l must speak. ut Is 80 much
better that I should know now than
afterward. She will listen when you
speak to her again. and-she will love
you. Good-bye-be happy"
l don't know II he answered an.
thing: I didn't hear him. I found my
way through the darkness to the
house, and to my own room. When I
came down stairs In the morning
Clare was gone, and we never met
again.
But she wrote to me about n year
later. She did not marry Oscar Eek
strom; she married q man who had
loved her long and quite hopelessly.
She made him understand that his love
was no longer hopeless. On the day
she married him she wrote a last good
bye to me, for she was going with him
to India as n missionary. They both
died there within a few years. and It
was with a thrill of triumph hat l re-
allied how my W familiar friend.
though tried and tempted sorely. had
not after all been faithless to me.
When l next saw Oscar EckstrOm
he was n nobler and a better man; his
face was furrowed and his dark hair
was streaked with gray, and had
not grown younger. My dear mother
had died, and | was alone in the world.
and l had never ceased to love him,
and he knew II.
"And l never ceased to love you,
Ella" he said. meekly enough, but
very sincerely. Believe me. dear, a:
was IL mere ulluSuIuIueT InuuutSS, tnc
glamour thrown me by her beauty;
every moment of the time my soul was
true to you. Forgive me, dear one!
The years are going fast-let us waste
no more of them"
Well, l answered nothing much then:
but somehow Oscar got In the way of
coming MS he used to do, and n day
q poor woman came begging for wor..
and. as she could sew nicely and fit
dresses. l turned over the cedar-chest
In which l had laid away the wedding
| garments begun so long
The long neglected sewing was all
| uone at last, and In the springtime Of
the year-in the autumn of our lives
Oscar and | were married. The lilacs
and peach trees were in bloom, and
the robins twittered and sung. and,
| yes, l may as well confess it, in my
heart was beating the same old tune
we call Loves Young Dream,"-Wav-
| erley Magazine.