The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-08-12
A r . M A c F.

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Grandmother had passed away. I
stood in her room before the great old
fashioned wardrobe from which she
used to give me dainties. On my BIRTH
days my presents came from this store
house. and l imagined it always full Of
delightful things and regarded grand
mother as almost a fairy.
With these remembrances in my
mind l opened it now. 1t was full of
fragrant linen scented with lavender,
except for a little. shelf at one side.
where lay several papers. l picked up
4 roll of yellow writing paper tied with
u pink ribbon and carried it to the
light. Had l any right to read the
pages? They were d~iscolored by age.
but l knew the writing. Could grand
would wish to keep after death? Even
as l debated l had united the ribbon
and discovered that l held u diary in
my hands, and the first words in it
were Of love, sweet, pure and tender,
the first love Of a young girl. l could
not resist, and I read the pages, as l
stood there in the fading light. which
laid before me the of my
grandmother.
1t was in the month of June, 1912, on
a beautiful evening. when even the
flowers exhale more strongly their SUBJ
tie perfumes and the human heart has
a desire to open. Here in the twilight
of the old garden grandmother heard
the first words Of love.
Beneath the deeper shadow of the
trees, wrapped in the sweet odor of the
flowers, two figures. Il young girl and a
young man. walked side by side with
slow steps.
Eyes. Clarisse, l am going" said the
| young man. 'And what difference does
it make? Suppose I never return from
the war? Who would care? l am alone
in the world"
"You have friends. Horace"
"None."
Sand II" said she very low.
"You!" cried he. You would care
least of any"
There was a long silence. The gravel
sounded beneath their slow tread. The
night fell little by little. Horace heard
a stifed sound and turned.
you are crying, Clarisse!"
you hurt me so" e
"Do you love me?'
She falteTed. and his arms caught her
and held, her against his beating heart.
| Unresisting, she raised her face to his.
and their lips met in a long kiss-the
first.
Horace left the next morning.
She waited long for him. The re-
mains of the grand army returned
without him. Still she hoped OF Years
passed. and the war ended. Many who
had been imprisoned returned. but still
he delayed. She pictured him buried
beneath the snow with numberless
| others who had dropped exhausted
! along the line of the terrible march.
Her parents urged upon her the duty
Of selecting a husband from the suitors
who surrounded her. She resisted as
long as possible, then yielded, van
pushed by their insistence and by the
certainty of his death. She gave her
hand to Count d'Estrarville.
It was ten years since the kiss given
beneath the trees. She was sitting on
a bench in the garden when stranger
approached her along the path. AS he
neared her she recognized him. 1t was
Horace.
He came toward her with outstretch-
ed arms. then stopped, as though sur
prised at the GOODNESS of her greeting.
at is too late," she said. 81 an al
ready married"
He explained the reason of his long
absence. Captivity, Siberia, the mines,
all the frightful sufferings he had gone
through, sustained always by a belief
in her love and her loyalty to the un-
spoken vow made in the twilight of the
garden. Never had he lost the hope
that he would some day return to find
her waiting for him-that their lives.
so long divided. would be at last united
forever. .
"You lied to me that night when you
said you loved me-" he cried. the bit
terness of his disappointment making
him cruel.
NO" she said. II loved you. and !
shall always love you. 1t is just for
that reason that you must continue
dead to me. l cannot trust myself with
you"
And he left her.
This was the story Of grandmother's
life as l read it from the old diary. !
remembered an old a who lived in
the ~neighborhood and whom we chill.
1 - ~. xNVro~a <Slo,,o - I i1onfi
fed him with Horace. When grand.
mother became a widow and when she
was an old lady to us. he came to live
near her. and they spent many long
hours together in the sweetest and
purest companionship. understand
that the two old friends We're dear &c