The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1903-08-18
ON THE PIER.
ny JOHN III.

him, and ne did not hear her footsteps, but
started, dropping MS cigar into the water as
her shadow fell across his shoulders.
Its you, Frank" she said, her voice
rising sweet and clear above the roar and
murmur of the sea and wind.
God bless you, Gail" he cried, springing
up and taking both her hands.
'tNo, no. Not that" She struggled away
from him and sat down, smiling as she point
ed to the place beside her.
at is seven years, Gail" he said, his lips
slose to her ear.
1T will be seven to a day Tuesday night"
you have not forgotten anythingZ"
Nothing, Frank. Not even that you ran
away from me. 1t was cruel; you don't
know how cruel it was, Frank"
They were silent, watching the sea.
How did you know l was here?" he
asked.
Il saw your name on the register at the
hotel"
And you knew I'd be here in the old place
after SO many years."
Il guessed that"
Il have sat on this pier at night every
summer since we parted here"
why, Frank" gA
Il was hoping you'd come back"
And you still"
Il love you still, Gal. l have loved you
since first | saw you," he answered, laying
his great, brown hand upon hers. But she
drew it away and said: why did you leave
me like that. then?"
you have not heard2 Guessed? Come,
Gail, don't you know"
That you were married? Yes. / knew
that" tossing her yellow curls against the
breeze. But lie leaned over so that he could
see her face and said.
Yet you dared"
Dared: Yes, dared, and would have
dared anything. | loved you and you said
you loved me better than all the rest Of the
world. Was not that sufficiently You know,
at least you said you knew then, that there
is nothing else. Scandalg What did l care!
Your wife"
"sh-sh! She's dead, Gail" he wills
pered.
Dead? She was dead then, so far as you
were concerned. You did not love her. she
never loved anybody except, perhaps, her
daughter
And you knew | had a daughter, too?
Gail, Call"
Il knew everything about you, l tell you!
Yes, and | wanted you to run away with me.
l want you now"
"Nhat2 What is it you want, dear?'
Ait adS nUdtNC ! HaHcNpn % AAo manu-
sought hers again. But she thrust it from
her and cried:
No, no. Frank, l want you to tell me
why you ran away from me. Or did you lie
to me, as they have all done?"
Lie. No, no; ] did not lie, Gail. Yes, /
ran away because-it was the child, Gail. |
could not cruelty her that | migat gain my
own, best guerdon. She loved me, chung to
me, believed IN me. She was ten years old
then. ! gave up you, gave up the best
hoped or wished for, and, it seemed,
thought [ did well. 1t seemed manifest and
most unselish to do that, Gail. That's
why"
"And I? Did not | have children-two of
them? Was / not everything to them. Did
| not love them, Frank: They had no one
but me. Yet | would have made orphans OF
them, forgotten them. cut them out of my
hungry hearth For what: Why?"
because you loved me. CALI" he asked
her. But she did not answer, for her white
teeth pinched her red lip as she stared at
the full-sailed brig that bore across the hori
zon, blurred and baleful through the tears
that welled into her eyes.
Because you loved me, Gail2" he asked
again. She looked at him for a full minute.
wondering, silent, her mouth a-quiver and
her strong white hands elasped together.
, And your daughter?" she asked at last
striving to be calm.
she's to be married next month. She:
of age now"
And so she has repaid you, Was il
worth while to do for her as you did? Sh,
would have lived down that grief as she hai
outlived her need of you. But L: Can | out
live"
! Her voice trembled now and broke, ant
he gained her hand for the moment.
you do love me, Gall" he went on, try
! ing to draw her towards him, but she awok'
from the dream of the instant and said. verl
sadly and with a hollow note In her swee
voice:
''Too lates too late. Frank. Yes, I love yoi
better, if that were possible, than L love-
you then. But it is quite too late"
"Latel Nonsense. / am but 40; you lool
like a girl. / have come here wholly to fnC
you, to win you back, to take you away witt
me. You have COM back, too. | dom
know what brought you, but you love me
Come, smile with me, Gail. 1t is the YER
dawn and glory of our lives
She sat silent, her loose hair blown like
nebulous halo about her fine head, her arm
hanging ~listless by her side, her eyes fixed oil
the p~earl-pink granite of the island cliffs ia
out at sea. Then, iercely:
: And /? Must do nothing for my owl
0 childreng Because l lost you are they to b
S without homes Is a woman's year but
day, and is it only a week since you left m
here alone, starved at the heart, guessing
wondering. To hope Tor seven years, with
out a word, a line, a message OF a sight o
you, How did l know that one day you,
be free? And there is no answer now. 70
are free. What of it? | am not. You ar