Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1903-10-21

crossed the border into fairyIand out
Of which the Prince is TO come. She
waits; someone comes-she was expect
ing the Prince-this must be he"
The light on the mast Of the distant
boat had disappeared, and she was lean
ing forward, her chin resting on her
hand, looking into the geraniums that
clustered at her feet
And she was expecting a Prince" he
repeated, making wreaths Of the smoke
that came from his parted lips.
she thinks be Is the Prince. Her
engagement is announced Her mother
Is delighted and her friends look on With
envy; everybody is pleased. Then she
marries and steps out Of fairyland, and,
10! she finds the Prince but a thing OF
clay. He is no prince. she shrinks from
him; his attentions annoy her: bis
Establishments disgust her. With the
full realization that she Is tied for life
to q mar with whom she has nothing in
common, she grows melancholy, In time,
III. She longs to get away from this
daily life Of p~retense. One day she slips
away to a quiet summer hotel by q lake
In the mountains. She is happy Just to
be free. She feels SURE she will not live
long-an inherited heart trouble gives
her reason to hope for release. and her
only positive desire Is to die before she
Is found; before she must say to the
world that she can never go back to a
man whom the law says she must own.
but who in her spirit is moi her bus
band"
"And the mani"
1T is sad for him. There are many
worse men. He loves In his way, and
he has consciously done nothing to of
fend. l am sorry for the man."
Good night" she said, rising.
Good night" he answered, ~absently,
and sat on smoking.
The s was over. Guests had been
leaving every day, till the house was de-
serted, the parlors cold and gloomy. Still
they stayed-he and she. She had grown
more fragile, and the sharp pain at her
heart came often, though she did not let
him know. The autumn frosts we're
painting her pale cheeks with an un-
natural flush, that, man-like, he failed
to understand.
Then the day came when they were
the only guests in the great hotel and
they were told that the house was to
be closed for the winter. This brought
the first realization that an end must
come, and like startled children Just
awakened, they looked into each others
eyes, read life's meaning and looked
away again.
Il will not go for a walk this morn
ing" she said, fa~lteringly, and turned
from him and passed up the broad stairs.
She assembled the stairs, entered her
room and closed the door. Then she
sat on the edge Of the bed, ~shivering.
And 50 the end had come-and they
must go away. Strange the way life held
on! She coughed and drew her cape
closely about her. She wished there
was a IRE, that she might be comfortable
on this last day in the mountains-with
him. A sudden new desire came to her
q desire to tell him, before they should
part, Of her great love. She would write
It, all-and then slip away before he
should return. In feverish haste she
opened the desk and took up her pen.
How should she address him? They had
given each other no names; but n
word came to her.
my husband" The words once writ
ten unlocked the full flow Of her COM
fession. This VIII startle you" she
wrote on. you cannot know all the
fullness in that word to me. I have never
used 1t before. but oh. you are my hus-
band! my ALL my own! Have you
thought me cold, feelingless? How little
you know a woman's heart! How little
you read a nature such as mine, for I
am weak and human and we have been
so happy together l say have been
for I have already put you out Of my life
and you seem so far away, you and those
days of long talks, of long walks. Of
long silences. Oh. my husband You are
my Prince! You are my King! There
is none otheri And yet I must go alone
the long. long way. But you viii come,
my own, and you viii find this after /
am gone. and you will know-you will
know. What will you do when l am
gone forever from you. my own? VIII
you often think Of me? VIII you re-
member the long walks, and the long
talks and the long s~ilences?
(" My husbandl how I like to say IT.
those words I have spoken in my heart
to no other man"
The pen trailed on in a scrawI. She
fell weakly back on the bed, letting the
loose sheets fall about her. The maid
raped, bringing g tray Of luncheon.
She told the gfrl to place It on the table,
she would eat directly, but the tea
cooled, forgotten.
II will rest q little longer" she said to
herself, family, then / must finish my
letter-and-and 60" She looked down
at the white pages. There wa 50 much
more to be said. 20 much-so muchs-but
she would feel stronger after awhile. She
drew the covering more closely around
-. sha ehivarad frnm head n foots