Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1902-08-21

ter, but when the heart would be most
eloquent the tongue is silent and the
pen refuses to be fluent. Thus it is
with my pen tonight. 1t will write
nothing but what has rung in my
thoughts long, long time; Mira, love
you, love you, l love you, over and
over again. Write to me- dear. and
tell me, If you can (and OH l hope you
canD. that have not been deceived in
thinking you not quite Indifferent to
me. Yours. for life, death and for
ever Caleb Thomas"
She had answered his letter. Yes.
she had answered it with words that
came straight from her heart. and told
him Of the love she bore him. and that
she would be proud and happy to be
his wife. And-that was all. He had
never written to her again. and when
he came back to Brentley they had met
as though his letter had never been
written and answered.
She raised her head YEARLY and con-
tinued her search. At last she found
a coat that had belonged to her brother
George married now and living in a
distant state), and several other gar
ments with which she could part. and
with one or two articles OF furniture
and various other things to the hall
where the tlmmage sale was to be
held.
1t was on the evening Of this bright
October day that tho sale was to COM
mence. The town had been ransacked
from end to end, little judicious ad-
vertising done. all the articles collected
and arranged, and now, with a sigh Of
relief and anticipation, the maids and
matrons Of Brentley stood and locke
moment on the work Of their hands
ere they went home to snatch a hasty
supper before returning for the open
ing Of the sale In the evening.
Among those who dropped In that
evening to ''see how the women folks
were getting along" was Caleb Thorn
as. He passed down the hall. exchang-
ance here and there and amusedly in.
speeding the heterogeneous conglOm-
Grafton Of donations until he came to
u counter presided over by the daugh-
ter Of an old friend, who laughingly
challenged him to pick from her stock
in trade the style which suited him
best. She had charge OF Il part Of the
clothing and merrily exhibited her as
sortment. commenting galy on each.
At last she held up coat in the style
Of twenty years ago. See" she said
gleefully, Miss Almira Hunter sent
this in; how old-fashioned it is. One
would think it came over in the May
flower and hadn't seen the light Of
day since; and. indeed. it must have
been laid away for ever so long, for
She"
I'll take It," interrupted Caleb short
ly. How much Is IT,"
Fifty cents" was the wondering
answer. The girl watched him with
perplexed. musing eyes as he threw the
coat over his arm and made his way
straight to the door. She wondered
il there was any truth in the gossip
she had heard but hardly needed.
which called him an old lover Of Miss
Hunters.
Meanwhile Caleb Thomas took his
way hOmeward. the coat pressed tight
ly to his side. Once in n while he
stroked it tenderly almost timidly-it
was something Mira had touched
Arrived at his bachelor home, he
spread his purchase on a chair and sat
down facing it. Somehow, the sight Of
something connected with her brought
thronging back the old pain. the old
question, "Why?" Why had she never
broken her proud silence?
With the question still echoing in h S
heart he took the coat and slowly put
| it on. 1t fitted well. He remembered
that her brother George had been about
his size. He ran his hand over it in
an awkward masculine way, patting
it ahstractedly. Suddenly. near one OF
the pockets, something rustled. He
felt in the pocket but there was moth
ing there. Still the rustliny continued
| Wnen ne touched tldt part .! tne Goa [.
1t occurred to him that there must be
something between the cloth and
| the lining. and searching carefully he
found rip and drew out--a letter.
sealed, stamped. but not postmark ed.
and addressed to himself in a hand
that sent a thrill along every nerve.
Slowly and wOnderngly he broke the
seal and glanced at the Gate. 1t was