Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-06-10
The Daily Short Story
IN AN OLD GARDEN.

The letter was dated from Chicago
and signed Sydney. 1t was Il passion
ate letter, a cheerful. earnest letter,
the letter of a man who loved deeply
and saw within his reach at last the
paradise for which he had toiled and
striven I'm exile. And the woman who
loved him read it for the twentieth
time with tender eyes and cheeks
aglow with happiness.
"A week after you receive this l shall
be with you, and them
She was waiting for him among the
roses, where they had spent so many
pleasant hours; where they had parted
and vowed, If all went well, to meet
again.
The girl sat down ON a rustic seat to
wait with n book which she had not
the patience to read. her ears strained
to catch the sound of familiar foot
steps. An hour passed-two hours.
At length n firm tread crunched the
gravel, and she started to her feet with
his name upon her lips.
Sydney at lastr'
mo, 1t isn't Sydney. my child"
Father The girl went white to
the lips. There is something the mat
ter. What is It? Speak,
He died on the voyage home"
Then like binding fash of light
her desolation came home to her.
Dead Oh, father" she walled.
He caught the slender, swaying
figure. He held it close against his
breast, and smoothed her hair.
Cry, little one. Why don't you cry?'
But her eyes We're wide and dry.
Her grief was too terrible for tears.
She felt as though the shock had
numbed her and that no trouble would
be great enough to make her feel
again.
Before two days Were over the girl
was tossing in the delirium of brain
fever. For weeks her life hung in the
balance, and then youth and n fine
constitution proved the conqueror. and
she rose, pallid. little ghost. with sad
eyes, to face the long years of loneli-
ness and regret.
she is young; she will forget" her
father tried to believe, and he said II
To the man. his nephew, who had loved
her since her childhood. But when he
suggested as much To the girl she
shook her head.
Il shall never forget" she answered,
''and 1 shall never marry another
man"
She meant her words, but fate was
too strong for her. The cousin was so
kind to her father and herself, and
they told her that her GOODNESS was
spelling his life.
But for his generosity / should be
ruined man today" her father said.
He is a good fellow; he is rich; he
worships you. Make him happy. You
have had a great loss, but you are too
young to sit down and brood over the
past for the rest of your days. 1t is a
wrong thing to mediate. You will grow
morbid, old before you are young.
Agnes. believe me that 1 have your
welfare at heart when L say that for
your own sake as much as his you
ought TO marry Ralph"
She was still weak from her illness.
She thought she had no interest left
in life, no desire save to please those
who loved her. So she listened to per-
suasion, and when her cousin spoke
one day she answered YES"
Il have no feeling for you," she ex-
planned, ''other than affection and graf
itude My heart froze when he died.
But if it will make you happy 1 will
be your wife when the spring comes"
My unselfish angel, will teach you
to care for me!' he said. Heat melts
ice. The fire of my love shall warm
you back to life"
She did not like to damp his ardor,
/. f,r1I 1T
hopes were.
When the day of the wedding dawn
ed, she knew more-knew how culpable
she had been in imagining that she
cared nothing of what became of her,
recognized in Il revulsion of feeling
what n mistake she had made. At
the last moment the cloak of indif-
ference with which she had envel-
oped herself fell from her.
Il can't marry him, 1 cannot! 1
was weak, foolish to consent. oh.
Sydney, my darling, why did you leave
me here aloneF'
But she could not retract her word
now. 1t would have been shameful,
cruel. She had let matters go too far.
or the events of the next few hours
she had only confused recollection.
She played her part in them mechanic
ally, and persons and things seemed
blurred to the miserable girl. distant
as they are i'm dreams, until, with a
shock of reality, she found herself walk
ing up the aisle of the church with her
hand on her fathers arm. The sound |
OF the organ grew tumultuous in her |
ears. hysterical longing seized her
to tear the veil from her head, to shrek
aloud before all those people that she |
could not. would not, marry this man;
that her heart was in the grave of sgd |
whom she had lOst-and
then
She awoke! The scent of the roses
was in her nostrils. the soft wind of |
stirred her hair. and her lover