The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-03-12

failed her. and the pent up food burst
forth beyond control.
HE Is here-my prince-my life's
dear lord! Has he forgotten Or
does he remember still /? Alas! for
the happy days which have passed
away evermore!" !" she murmured
with her fair head bowed
upon the shabby little bed, beside
which she had thrown herself on her
knees.
The long months seem to roll back
ward, and she was again the simple
child whose Sleeping heart had Just
awakened to the thrill and sweetness
Of loving.
In those days CIeve Randolph SEEM
ed only To live and breathe for her {;
and to him she re ndered all the wor.
ship and trust Of her fresh young
heart.
The beautiful dream was not OF long
duration.
1t was In the late autumn, when
the last leaves were falling and dying
before the cruel frost, that they met
one day at the country house Of afriepd
whose guests they both chanced to be
at the same time.
The first spring blossoms were bud
ding when they passed out Of each
others lives, and silence and mystery
settled like o black and impenet etrabie
cloud between their divided lives.
Rilla had never been favored with
wealth and the blessings of parental
love had been denied her, and she
was bereaved Of both father and moth
er In her earliest infancy.
All her life she had lived in the
family OF an uncle, an honorable and
generous man, who had educated her,
aud lavished upon her every advant.
age and benefit his rather limited
means would permit.
It was with the hope OF bettering
bis fortune that he undertook the
superintendence Of q business house ip
far away foreign city. His wife and
son accompanied him, but Rilla, most
ly by her own desire, was consigned
to the care of the Darryls.
Until q few days before her depart
ure for her new home, Cleve Randolph
had sought her society constantly, and
with lovers eagerness.
But suddenly he came no more, nor
did he send any explanation Of his
seeming neglect.
They had parted last after q merry
party, when he had walked back with
her To her own door.
1t was a walk which would remain
vivid and thrilling In her memory un.
til her last heartbeat should be stilled
forever.
The old moon, an opal crescent,
swung low In the west. The big
white stars glowed like sparks Of liv-
ing flame. The subtitle smells and
sounds of spring were all about them.
And they loitered on their way, silent
with excess Of ecstacy; while the
stony street, with its walls of brick
and iron, was an enchanted path
through wonderland of delight.
At the end Of that rapturous walk.
for the first time In all that happy
winter, he drew her close within his
arms, and kissed her responsive lips.
my own, my best and dearest" he
Whispered.
And to Rilla, the most solemn be-
trothal vows could not have been
more sacred than that ki.s. She be.
Iieved that It had sealed them to each
other for all time.
And from that hour she had never
seen him and never heard from him.
Now. As she knelt there weeping In
the shabby little room, the memory Of
that kiss shsmed her to the soul.
or course he had never really cared
for her! Very likely he had been
amused by her simplicity In believing
that he was serious In his seeming
partiality for her!
Oh, how could she meet him again
and endure the agony of it? Would
he notice how changed she was ?
How mean ana shabby were the gar
ments which used to be so fastIdioIsly
elegant?
The pain Of meeting him might be
less acute II she could only make her
self beautiful and dainty in hiS sight
A girl could compel a man to
respect and admire her, even IL he
does not love her
She wondered ut herself tina. her
mind should recur to that trifiing mat
ter Of self adornment when her heart
was 10 tortured, her life's desolatiOn 70
complete and so bitterly realized.
She was learning, poor child, that
it IL tritles. that 1t IL the most frivolous
coucerns OF the world. which some
times lure us from our sorrow, and 80
keep the heart from breaking.
"He IL HOratia's lover now, and
suppose ! cannot avoid him entirely,
aud ! cannot let him see me looking
TOO shabby" she said to herself for
lornly. as she at length opened the
door TO her little closet which contain
ed her depleted wardrobe. but my
black silk gown Is nice yet, aud per-
haps / can evolve AL Easter bonnet
Out Of my own ingenuity and plenty
Of excellent odds and ends. My taste
in such matters isn't bad, If / do say
it myself"
a fragment of rich black velvet, a
scrap OF palest pink satin, and a
quantity Of expensive black lace, COM
pose the materials from which she
produced the urgently needed bonnet.
But it was q very creGitable work,
and Rilla viewed 1t with pardonable
satisfaction.
"Only I must have al aigrette, or
something Of the Sort" she thought