River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-07-30

mOIuCI btll LICN we're DUN ldlQ bldC
by side upon the hill, and then doing
for her brothers and sisters and all
the rest of her family, and when there
was no longer anything she could do
for them, she did for the poor and I'M
fortunate of the city, until her name
came to stand for all that was good
to them.
A busy life she led, and, supposed,
happy one, but nature like Caro-
lines could hardly be happy in sin
gle life. She was so essentially WON
anly woman and, with all her helpful
ness, dependent one in some ways;
in those ways, | mean, in which true
woman is meant to be dependent.
'And so it was that when my hus-
band went to England for his company,
to be gone whole year, and my Henry,
being only few months old, could
not go with him, that it was arranged
that Caroline should come and spend
that year with me.
"Well, she came, and we settled down
to a good visit, and Caroline devoted
herself to my babies with such good
RE was fairly fought for by them. And
how she loved those childreni All
her motherly traits blossomeG' most
beautifully and the half sad, heart
hungry look that her lovely face wore
when she first came to us began 10 dis
appear from it, and she seemed again,
to me, my schoolmate, Carrie.
GGXNhoY, he Nth al nuf
six months, there came to her one
day letter from Hiram Wight, one
of the old schoolboys. We used to
think, when we were boys and girls
together, that she and Hiram thought
a good deal of each other, but the
years had gone by and nothing had
come of it, and I had very nearly for.
gotten all about it when this letter
came to her. I could see that the con.
tents disturbed her not a little, al
though she said nothing, but when
only a few hours following his letter.
Hiram walked in upon us and an
nounced that he had come to take Car
RE back with him, she told The all.
"The dear old girl had loved that
ridiculous boy all those years, and he
had never come to his senses till now
/ do believe that he never would have
come to them if it were not that when
Carrie went away for so long he sud
denly found out what made life worth
living, and without losing any time
in berating himself for being such 9
"laggard in love-" he very wisely de-
II i l. o1,~
him try to gather up those lost years,
and let him carry her burdens, as he
used to her lunch basket, 'and per-
haps,' he said, I may yet live to show
the world that there is one worse fool
than an old fool, and that is a young
fool And so, my dear, they were mar
ried. Yes, right then and there, at my
house, and What is it, May? A Wis
itor? Dear me! it can't be anyone tc
see me, is it?'
"No, ma'am, it's Miss Amy, and he
would come right up"
A large, snowy overcoat brushed by
her, and two big, cold hands grasped
mine. ''Mr. McNair, this is Grandma
Gordon" but no it isn't, for grandma
went out with little Mary-but I must
say something, for those gray eyes
are full of laugh at sight of my dis
comfiture.
'Come up By the fire, tit is terri
BILE day-let me take that coat. You
should have let the maid brush the
snow off for you" And pile on the
wood and draw up a large chair be-
fore the blaze.
Not a word yet, only those dreadful
eyes following every move [ make
Why don't he-"Amy, won't you look
round and see if you can find FOOLS
cap for me, or, couldn't you fasten a
long pair of ears on me, or do some
thing that will serve to label me as
the most assinine of asses.
However, have let you slip through
my fingers these five years or more
without finding out that you were the
only person I could ever love-hang it
I did know it, but some people never
can appreciate blessing till they lose
it, and that's my particular idiocy,
but if you will come back to be my
blessing forever-O, the presumption
of me to ask it'll tell you, you just
marry me, and you will have the best
chance in the world to punish me for
being such a swine as not co know
pearls when they were cast before him
Will your"