Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1901-01-12


self, and her father, and one other,
had ever known it. That other wa.
Tom Grayson, the overseer's son. Miss
Aurelia's mother had died when she
was born, and she had grown up on
the big planta ton, with few other play
mates but the big, strong, handsome,
passionate boy, whose hand, to her, was
as light and tenuer as a woman's, and
whose voice took on cadences Of gen
tleness when it spoke her name Out
of these childish associa tions, out OF
common memories, and dreams
dreamed together love had sprung az
naturally and as inevitably as a rose
out of the heart of the spring, and
when the boy lover had opened his arms
and called her to them, she had laid
her head upon his breast as confident.
ly and simply as a bird flies to the sheh
ter of its nest. Hand in hand they had
gone to her father, and then
In an instant their paradise lay shat
tered about them. The old, bitter caste
spirit, the naughty pride of the arts
tocrat famed up in the old man In sud
den wrath. He haunted the boy with
his humble origin, fayed him with
scorn for trying to steal a silly girl,
love in order to raise himself, and the
boy, goaded to madness, flung himselt
out of the room with a curse.
TON, Tom" she had cried, az shall
never love anyone but you. Come
back, come back!" but he was toC
young and too hurt to heed any pair
but his own, and he never even glanced
back at her pathetic little figure.
The next morning he was gone, anC
TO the girl it was as IL the tomb &C
swallowed him up. She ate out heI
heart in fruitless longing and anxiety
but no word came, and she did not
know whether he remembered, OF
whether he had forgotten, until after
her fathers death. Then in going over
some papers she found a letter ad
dressed to herself. 1t was from Tom
telling of how he had battled with fat,
TO make place worthy of even her II
the world, of his success, and Begging
her if the old love stiu lived in hsl
heart to send him one word or token
1t was dated three years before, ant
Miss Aurelia, reading it with tremblin,
hands, knew that twice had her father
closed the door in the face OF her happi
ness
1t was this story of her life that sh,
wrote, aud because she dipped her pei
in her own blood, and blistered the pa
per with her tears, and told the thing
that was, just as she knew it, the story
was sweet as love, and beautiful az
hope, and touched every heart with it:
tender pathos. But to Miss Aureiia II
seemed shameless thing, and she was
not even comforted when it won tho
prize, and made some stir In the world
of letters.
why, Miss Aurelia," said one village
oracle, ''it's just wonderfudi To read
II anybody might think it's something
that really happened; but, as said &c
John, why, we've known Miss Aurelia
all her life, and she never even had q
beau, let alone being in love. How
could she know what love Is like, 50
well?'
"Of course not" answered Miss Au.
relia, family, "how should / know
what love is like?"
Even as Miss Aurelia was enjoying
the first flush of her literary triumph
two men were lingering over their cot.
fee and cigarettes In a library In q
northern city.
II tell you, Tom" enthusiastically
II have discovered a genius. Won our
prize story competition, you know
You must read it. Anything 70 fresh
so tender, so human 1 haven't seen m
many day. Listen to this description
of the boy and girl lovers"-and he be-
gan reading a paragraph from Miss
Aurelia's story. He had read only a
few lines when the other stopped him.
who did you say wrote it?'' he
asked, in a tense voice.
"oh, nobody you ever heard of-s
woman - Aurelia Darlington - down
south somewhere"
But Tom had snatched the magazine
from his hand and was racing through
1t in feverish haste. When he had fin.
ished he turned to his friend with an
expression on his face none had ever
seen there before. Forgive me-" he
said, simply, ''but I'm in rather a
hurry. 1--we got message to go
back home, and leave for the south in
half an hour"
Two days later Miss Aureha, sitting
in the dusk in her dim old library.
hooked up to see Tom standing before
her as if he had been the spirit of her
thoughts.
'tAurelia," he said, lets go back and
rewrite the old story, and give it a
happier ending?"
Miss Aurelia has written no more
stories. The editor still laments her as
a genius lost to the world, but she
knows she is doing something better
than imagining romances. She is liv-
ing one.
Why They Were There.