Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-03-23
The REVELATION
Or MISS STONE.


cording to report, hard and unrelenting
as her name
When we moved into our new home
on Greenwood Heights, we found a tiny
cottage at its SIDE which we learned was
tenanted by Miss Stone
My DEAR" tiuttered little Mrs Brown,
she's quite unapproachable, | assure
you. Don't think of attempting to make
up with her; it would only be a waste of
time"
Miss Stone was tall and straight. Her
face was lined, her lips thin and scorn-
ful, her expression detiantly stern And
yet when l saw her watching bevy of
little girls playing in the street, and her
eyes grew soft and wistful, and the stern
INES OF her face relaxed, and smile
tinged her lips, l wondered if the much
reputed grunness We're not largely ex-
ternal. l couldn't believe it came from
the heart.
1t was not long until, on a slight ex-
cuse, | gained access to Miss Stones lit
tie home. | found she was a woman
OF refinement, and by her soft drawing
speech, daughter of the south We
chatted for an hour or more and when I
slipped over into my own little nest. my
brain was busy planning Il certain course
OF home missionary" work
| pitted that lonely woman from the
bottom of my heart. | endeavOred to
show her that I felt friendly interest
III her. She was very sensitive. She re-
scented the OVertureS of strangers. be-
cause she imagined they We're prompted
by, curiosity Consequently she was diff
cult to draw out Of her stOlid demeanor.
After a while, though, | think she un-
dcrstood me; and when 1 brought her
over into our pretty home interested her
in my library, played and sang in the
twilight, and coaXed her to stay to tea
with Dick and me, it was good to see
bnl, f1a 1irhf and hn1. I'LL
Of Dick she was shy, and she ahrank
from strangers, but her trust and conf
dence III me was touching. ] felt graft
fed and happy, and more than repaid
for the little | had done.
l surmised there was story hidden
away somewhere in her life. and one
day she told it to me. We were up in
the attic room, where oaken chests care
fully guarded treasures of two decades
ago. treasures in which We're woven. in
termingled, the threads of JOY and sor-
row. She permitted me to examine them
all, paint heirlOoms, pictures, jewels and
gowns.
1t was the story of the care-free life
of young girl OH southern plantations
of a fortune swept away by the Civil
war, OF shattered ideal, man who
won Il wOman'S heart to cast it aside, a
brokcn-hearted woman wro could not
forget a woman who Stunned the world
III bitterness of spirit.
And as | listened, under the spell of
the soft, drawing voice. the dusty attic
among the ma gnolias in Dixieland. The
moon shed its silvery light over the old
plantations: the air was heavy with the
fragrance of jessamine.
A youth and a maid strolled along arm
in arm. A question low and tender; IN
answer so faint that only the ears Of Il
lover might hear. Though the story is
old it will always be sweet to the chill
dren of men. So was it sweet to the
youth and the maid. for there in the
moonlight he sealed her lips with the
kiss of betrothal.
But. alas! Time. with his fleeing
wings, dims even the memory of beau
teOus southern night and its whispered
love vows. Unfortunately, the day
dawnS too soon, the day that brings for
getfulness to one, awakening to the
other.
The Stone fortune was swept away at
bound. OF proudest lineage. the name
they bore had, through generations, been
kept stainless. Her father vowed he
would not be the one to mar its fame.
debt was paid. The old home came into
the hands of Il stranger. They We're
forced to go. She was left the support
of her aged parents. She obtained
position as governess at home where
she had often been feted guest. Her
mother dependent on another's bounty.
and to her lovers entreaty TO become the
bride came the answer: Il cannot leave
the old folks just now, Tom; we'd better
wait awhile
He grew impatient; later Indifferent, and
though he knew her heart was III his
keeping he courted and married another.
The girl was young: she bore up be-
meath the blow: but the poor old par
ents were broken hearted for their dar-
ling. 1t was not long until the father
passed into the great beyond The moth
er followed him before year had
elapsed.
The scenes which had been most dear
now held only anguish for her, and the
orphaned girl left the land of her birth
never to return.
Years have passed and she is old and
rray and friendless. With her nimble
fingers she manages to exc out an exist
ence.
And now some months later, | smile
to myself as little Mrs Brown tlutters i'll
on her way from Miss Stones and tells
me over and over again: My dear, she's
revelation to me, simply a revelation"
Boston Post.