Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1901-02-24
tor himself was the "only innocent
man in town"

man in town"
But no more quickly do sunbeams shift
into shadows than do comedies deepen in
to tragedies; hardly could the onlookers
cease their laughing ere a great heart
drama was laid bare before them. 1t was
! going on for days before they knew it,
M but for the finale might nave been
always unsupported, buried deep in the
lives of the dramatis personae, as such
dramas often are while the world goes on
laughing.
No one knew how it all came about.
Charles King was sure it had begun with
him on the first day when Agnes gave him
the roses; from that moment with definite
purpose he had gone to work to shape the
end. With Agnes it was different; she had
drifted from the romantic titilation of one
meeting to the dreaded, but hoped for &C.
stacy in the next, while in the intervals
her conscience lay on the rack. She had
no time for thought of the future: she
could only tremble and fear, tremble and
hope.
1t was not until the day when Charles
first left her under the rose-vine and went
into the library to speak to her father that
she felt this uncertainty diminish: not un-
III lNtl ulu size IeSI QlIIuSeu through the
gentle wavering disposition inherited from
her mother something of her fathers
strong self-will. 1t crept over her slowly
at first, self-affrighted; but when she
watched her lover walk about the garden
before coming near her, it suddenly leaped
like liquid fire through her veins, stimu-
lating, electrifying. He read her promise,
for better or for worse, before a word was
spoken.
Heaven bless you, my darling" he said,
pressing her white hand to his lips: 1T
matters not what he says, you will marry
me. l see it in your eyes"
But what did he say, Charles?"
Too much. He refused to glance at my
uncle's letter: did not, would not, even
hear who 1 am. But 1t all AXE no diff
ference now: tomorrow we will be mar
ried.
They were wrapped in twilight, and had
no fear of interruption. All at once Agnes
became motionless, afraid to stir, afraid TO
breathe, and the tread of an old man ap-
preached the sheltered nook.
"Doncher git scared, honey; faint no.
body but yer Uncle Joe, an he lone seed
young doves er cooin' befo'. Jes' go on
wild yer kissin' an huggin-Uncle Joe dom
care, he bin er watchin' yer all de time.
Lord! but Use glad it's you, Marse
Charles; case l bin so dazed by all dem
blue coats er fyin' round dis chile wa I
done raised. dat I'us feared she'd git
fused an take up wild er yankee. OATS
right, chin; jes' go on wild yer foolish
ness; Uncle Joe gwine ter hep yer tie de
knott"
And he did. But for him one of the par
ty that gathered on the following after
noon as if by accident, at the church, "the
chile wa he done raised" would have
been absent.
One of the other servants, however, had
not been so faithful. At the moment when
the young minister began in a trembling
voice to read the marriage ceremony the
father had been Informed, and was walk
ing up and down his library floor in a
violent age. When the minister warned,
III any man can show just cause why
they may not lawfully be Joined together"
the father had ordered his carriage: w:sen
the minister questioned. who giveth this
woman to be married to this man?' he
was dashing along rapidly. yet urging his
horses to greater speed: and when the
voice of the young soldier spoke out con-
fdent an dstrong. with this ring I thee
wed" he was tearing at the little church
yard gate. AS the noise reached the ex-
pectant ears of the few friends, all sprang
TO their feet.
The old man came hobbling up the
aisle, shaking his fist at the officiating
priest. Stop, sir. Stop. You are over
stepping your authority
But the tremor had gone from the voice
of the young divine; he no longer hest
tated, but said looking sternly into the
eyes OF the enraged father, while he held
firmly the newly welded hands, Those