Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1904-01-02

had. He was still in his youth and
with a sunny view of life. 1t was bet
ter that he should win her. l had new
er striven against him nor SAID one
word in my own cause. | had no eX-
allied notions of self abnegation. l
thought that this would be like other
sorrows, but somehow it isn't
They made great friend Of me, and
when it came to their childish folly OF
a secret marriage l was their sole con-
fdant. | tried to dissuade them, self
ishly, generously, / don't know which.
Perhaps the meeting of those storms Of
different considerations in my brain
may have had something to do with the
condition of it. AT any rate, If it hurt
me it benefited no one else. They were
married as a guarantee to Ellis that
old Christopher Hooper's opposition
should not wreck his hopes. The cere-
mony occurred in New York, where
Gertrude spends her winters with an
aunt who is so dull Of wit that think
the wedding might have taken place in
her own parlor and she have been none
the wiser / was the only accomplice.
It was some months later that l had
my letter from Mr.. Hooper. AS sat
down to answer it / said to myself: Il
must be careful. / don't know what
Pm about"
I had done my best with it, and my
best had been as bad as possible, for
those words had crept in:
Sc of
Rhode Island"-
The name of the state would Identify
the man, and as Hooper had once been
led to fear secret, marriage no lies,
though backed by all the resources OF
perjury that are known to a New York
lawyer, could repair the mischief.
Beyond doubt had arranged matters
so that Mr.. Hooper would not die with
out a will No direct advice upon the
point could have been half SO effective.
If he lived long enough to find bottle
of ink after reading my letter Gertrude
would be disinherited.
What was to be done? Upon this
point / tried to think clearly. There
must be way out Of it. said to my
self that if / could have ten minutes OF
real sleep-nay, but fve-I could think
my way through this difficulty. With
deliberatio l laid my heavy head
against ne cushioned chair and closed
my eyes lespite the force Of the springs
that held them open-springs that
pressed necessarily so that the orbits
OF the eyes were sore l saw many vi
sions-the old days at Sayville; Ger
trude, seventeen years old, upon a ten
mis- field shaking down the masses of
Der hair disordered in the game, the
picture of youth; the first time ever
saw her. But this has nothing to do
with the letter. / must think Of that.
Mailed about half past 10 of the even
ing, it had not yet started on its way
to Boston. Only one mail a day at Say
Vile I wrote a letter to Gertrude once
and beat it to Sayville by a full days
time If I take the fast express at 10
o'clock this morning l may be there in
time In that case I'll find some way
to intercept the letter. I'll bride a serv-
ant So that's all settled and off my
mind, and l may sit here in this chair
and dream of things that aren't true.
All that is good is a dream.
It is a comfort to ride in railroad
train. The engineer knows his way,
and the conductor, for consideration,
will put an absent minded passenger
off at the proper station. If he hap
pens to forget to render this service
why should the absent minded passen-
ger make trouble? Rather let him be
comforted by the thought that some
one else has lost his memory. However,
Boston is terminal, so there is no risk.
In Boston it is raining to a degree
that Noah never saw the like of. The
roof of the cab in which l cross the
city roars with the flood that is de-
scending upon it.
Beyond Boston the train seems like a
submarine boat Night closes in. and
the rain still falls We are late at
Portland, later yet at the junction where
I must change to the little branch road.
A man with lantern leads me to a
little inn that looms in an ocean of rain.
He takes it for granted that | want to
go to bed Probably he has never seen
a man who did not have that natural
inclination at such an hour Of the
morning.
Next day the weather had cleared.
The sun shone brightly. but the whole
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