The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1904-05-12

u
feared, was there not some way in
which she might, before It was too late.
4 wipe out the false impression she had
made tonight? She could not bear
the thought that he would think bit
terly of her-afterward. Surely it
would be some comfort to him to know
| the truth then. Yes, he must be told.
She would write letter and confess
all. .. If she. lived, it would be de-
! stroyed; II she died, It must be deliv-
cred. 50
a have sent you away from me" she
wrote, f"and am now breaking my
heart because i will never look into
your face again. David. tonight
acted a part to you. forced myself
to be cold and false. made myself
a. fright to prevent you telling me Of
your love. I knew that if>you did SO
I would not have the strength to resist
you. 4 did not want you to guess that
I cared. wanted you to think me q
heartless flirt-to Ndespise me-any-
thing, rather than you should regret
or have heartache.
To-day my doctor told me that I
must go under the knife within the
next few days. He said that there was
slight chance, but in my heart / know
that, if do live, will be weak sick
ly woman. But don't believe. there is
a chance, SO + want to tell you how dear
you are to me before 1t is too late.. l
love yo,r as only woman can love
the man who represents everything
that is good and strong and true to her.
For nearly two years have waited to
hear you say what you said tonight
Six months ago prevented you be-
cause was not quite sure; L thought
it would be wiser for you to wait until
you returned. l could not realize that
the glory of your love should be show
cred on mel thought it fair for you
to see other women before you offered
your life to me.
David want you to understand how
desperately hard it was to refusesto
listen to you tonight. 1t was the
| greatest sacrifice have ever made in
my, life, and 4 prayed for strength to
do it. Ny whole being reyolted atfthe
part9I set myself to play, although /
FELT It was best for iyoai--now and after
ward. Can you forgive me, David? ~
She then rang for her maid, and,
after explaining about what was to
happen to her, she gave her the letter
and said what she wished her to- do
with it. 81.
t. mo surgeon can ever be quite certain
to what length a disease has spread
until he starts to use the knife, and
.oftentimes he finds it more or less seri-
Gus than he anticipated.
So it was that when DR.. Sanders
commenced to operate on Elizabeth
Trent he was agreeably surprised to
find that, instead Of her case being
most complicated, it was merely an
4 ordinary one. s.
She will be all right now, nurse -
4 the great surgeon said after the oper-
i alton. fortunately, at has not been
so serious as we feared. It is a de-
cidedly interesting case, and she will
pull through splendidly with careful
nursing.' SIS I. T 5fs'
It was two weeks later when Eliza
beth asked her maid if she had de-
stroyed the letter she had given to her
on the eve of the operation.
Destroy it, Miss Elizabeth" the
/ woman answered. Il thought you said
| to post it If you lived"
/ "Oh Harmon! You surely have not
sent that letter." 1 s
eyes, Miss Elizabeth, / have. I
thought you wanted me to- destroy it
if anything happened to you, and to
post it IL you got safely through ~
operation. waited until last night to
make sure that you did not have a re-
lapse, then thought it was time"
/ Before Elizabeth could answer q
nurse came in with florists box in
her hand and bright smile on her
face.
"This is for you, Miss Trent" she
said. "Shall unfasten it?"
Elizabeth cried out in joyous sur
prise at the wealth of beautiful flowers
with which the box was filled. But
her eyes went beyond them to letter
that lay partly hidden in>their leaves.
at is from David" she whispered,
softly, as she gazed at the dear, fa-
miliar handwriting AS she opened it
with quick, trembling fingers, the nurse
and Harmon quietly went out of the
room. s
"My darling Elizabeth read, II
have just received your letter. Only
half an hour before, met Mansfield.
and he told me of your illness. I
thought he must be mistaken, but he
said his wife had been to see you at
the hospital yesterday. My first inn
pulse was to go and beg them to let
me see you, but remembered that you
would not care to have me. Feeling
deadly miserable, went back to my
rooms, and there found your letter
waiting for me. Oh. Elizabeth! 1t
seems too wonderful to be true-that
you should love me like that. Why,
my dear, you were never more lovable
in my eyes than you were that night.
You looked ill and tired. and longed
to have the right to take care of you
and shield you from all annoyances.
When remember the hard things