Morris tribune., 1902-06-21

0aYO eyes.
She flushed again.
do you mean thst peopaes-~ she be
gan anxiously.
mo; / am not people, have eyes
and my eyes have been opened"
'Opened|
"Yes, by love-"
Then l told her openly how weeks
ago | struggled with my heart anG
mastered it, for / saw it was vain tt
, love her because she loved a better
man, who loved her in return. She
looked at me shyly and said:
Il am sorry"
Don't worry" I said cheerfully. 81
didn't break my heart, you know.
stopped it in time"
"Oh! she said, slightly disappointed
Then her lips began to witch, and she
went off into fit Of hysterical laugh
ter.
Forgive me-" she said humbly, ''but
you speak as if it had been a fever"
Fever is nothing to it," l said SOL
EMMY. 'It was a near thing"
at "AASA SuS WSuL Ou dS5d4us was
glad to see her laugh. 1t gave me time
to recover my equilibrium, and it re-
heved her intense emotional strain. So
ratified on some nonsense about Craig
and myself till l saw she was giving
no heed, but thinking her own thoughts,
and what these were it was not hard to
guess.
Suddenly she broke in upon my talk:
'He will tell me that must 60 from
him." '~.~s=c
II hope he is no such fool" I said
emphatically and somewhat rudely, l
fear, for confess l was impatient
with tie very possibility Of separation
for these two, to whom love meant so
much. Some people take this sort of
thing easily and some not 50 easily,
but love for a woman like this comes
once only to a man, and then he car
ries it with him through the length of
his life and warns his heart with it in
death. And when a man smiles or
sneers at such love as this 1 pity him
and say no word, for my speech would
be in an unknown tongue. So my
heart was sore as I sat looking up at
this woman who stood before me, over
flowing with the JOY of her new love,
and duly conscious of the coming
pain. But soon found it was vain to
urge my opinion that she should re-
main and share the work and life Of
the man she loved. She only answer
ed:
"You will help him all you can, for it
will hurt him to have me CO."
The culver in her voice took out all
the anger from my heart, and before 1
knew 1 had pledged myself to do all I
could to help him.
But when 1 came upon him that
saw he must be let alone. Some bat
Ties we fight side by side, with COM
rades cheering US and being cheered to
victory, but there are fights we may
not share, and these are deadly fights,
where lives are. lost and won. So
could only lay my hand upon his Shout
Ter without a word. He looked up
quickly, read my face and said, with a
groan:
"You know?"
81 could not help it. But why
yroanw
"She will think it right to CO." he
'aid desperately.
''Then you must think for her. You |
must bring some common sense to bear
lpon the question"
81 cannot see clearly yet" he said.
The light will come"
MAY l show you how l see it,"
sked.
"Go on" he said.
For an hour talked, eloquently, even
'ehemently, urging the reason and
light of my opinion. She would be do
ng no more than every woman does, no
more than she did before. Her moth
had a comfOrta bic home, all
hat wealth could procure, good serv-
nts and friends. The estates could be
without her personal super
ision After a few years. work here
hey would go east for little Marjorie's
ducation. Why should two lives be
roken? And so l went on.
He listened carefully, even eagerly.
"You make a good case" be said,
nth a slight smile. 81 will take time.
'erhaps you are right The light will
ome Surely it will come. But" and
ere he sprang up and stretched his
rms to full length above his head, Il
N not sorry. Whatever comes am
OF sorry. 1t is great to have her love,
ut greater to love her as do. Thank
od, nothing can take that away. l am
-illing, glad, to suffer for the joy of
wing her."
Next morning before was awake he
as gone, leaving a note for me:
My Dear Connor-I am due at the Land
lg. When I see you again, l think my t
ay will be clear. Now all is dark. At !
mes 1 am a coward and often. as you r
ometimes kindly inform me, an ass, but
hope may never become a mule.
I am willing to be led, or want to be at {
ny rate. I must do the BEST not second .
est for her, for me. The best only is r
DDS will What else would you have?
e good to her these days, dear old fellow. {
ours, CRAIG.
How often those words have braced 2