The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1901-11-07

from the start. Indeed, everybody
considered us sweethearts. l never
asked her to marry me; we were
both too poor. But we have held on to
each other, and if it hadn't been for
this war l suppose we would have been
married in the end.
"But now that l have met IneZ,
and know what love is, feel that /
ought to tell Nelly the truth, espe-
cially as lately she has been writing
as If we were engaged"
There was silence for a moment,
and seeing he expected me to say
something, answered: eyes, I dare
say it is the best thing to do.
Its well to be off with the old love
| Before you are on with the new
Emlen looked reproachful. He had
big, brown eyes which could actual
ly talk, and answered sorrowfully:
"You don't understand. l have
never been in love with this girl, but
l really am fond of her, and l hope
we will always be friends. 1t is only
that she has taken too much for
granted, and it wouldn't be fair to
her to marry her, loving another
woman with all my soul"
His eyes had their effect. I was
sorry for him, in spite of myself; all
the more that hadn't bit of faith
in Senorita Inez.
'Oh, yes, 1 understand perfectly,
and I'll ship your package all right.
| I oil I'm hor "
way. Honesty is the best policy"
That was the last time ever saw
him alive. There was a skimish
that night, and he was killed, shot
through the heart, and, dying, the
surgeon said, almost before he knew
he was hit.
When the doctor told me, made
up my mind to deliberate lie and
breach of trust. 1 didn't believe Inez
would regret his death much, and l
knew that the Girl at Home would.
| asked the doctor to get me one of
Emlen's curls Che had beautiful
hair), for his sweetheart at home.
Had he a sweetheart at home?'
asked the doctor. "How about the
fair Inezp
Eyes, he told me all about her." /
answered. GAS to the fair Inez,
think we are all more or less atten-
tive to her, even the married men,"
The doctor laughed. He had a
wife at home, and he saw the point.
He got me the curl.
When I reached New York, !
opened the package Enlen had given
me and took out his letter to the
girl.
There was a ring in it, so I knew
that he had deceived me, and that
there had beer an engagement after
| all.
! | cut little hole in the corner Of
the envelope, and took out the ring
before l burned the letter.
| There was nothing else except a
| dozen letters, all in the same WON
ans handwriting, and a photograph
of one of the sweetest faces | ever
| saw.
Then l wrote the girl a letter, in
which l told her how sorry | was to
send her such tidings; that / had
! heard about her from Emlen; that
he had given me those things to take
| care of before he went into action.
and that ] had thought she would
| like to have a lock of his hair; every
| word of which was Gospel truth, so
far as it went.
l told her, too, what a fine fellow
Emlen was; how popular in the bat
talon, and reminded her. for her
| comfort, that since his death was in.
| Simultaneous, he was spared all suf-
| fering, telling her, also, the pain
| from gunshot wounds in a climate
like that of Cuba is something terri
| ble
Then | did up the package again,
| addressed it in my own handwriting
and shipped it to her by express,
knowing that l had betrayed a dead
comrades confidence and broken my
| word. Yet, / felt well satisfied with
myself, and | was still more so when
| received the girls letter of thanks.
You could see that she was heart
broken, crushed by her grief, but
pride in her dead hero was writ
ten between every line, and
felt that his memory was her most
precious consolation. 1t was easy
to see that the knowledge of his I'M
faith would have been worse to her
than his death, and so | shall always
be glad that / lied to her about her