Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-05-17

MIN.
my sister babe me give you this"
she said, placing in his hand minia-
ture of an old man whom he remem-
bered having been with when he died
in India. "She wanted me to ask you
| if you couldn't come over to the cot
tage tonight. She is very badly. I'm
afraid" added the girl sadly.
Clinton Calorme followed her. With
out any preliminaries the invalid
said:
my uncle died in Simia in your
arms, Mr.. Calorme, and left in your
hands a will which you duly forward
ed to this country to It's proper exec
utors. My uncle was man of great
eccentricity, and that will, while it
put me in possession of this entire
property, contained a condition that
will cause this property to revert to
you in the event of my dying unmar-
ried and without natural heirs. In
case of my marriage and the failure
of natural heirs, the will permits me
to make testamentary disposition of
the lands, moneys and estates with
this singular stipulation, that l have
| in the meantime become your wife.
! Loving me, he would have wished me
| to become the wife of an honorable,
true hearted man only, and, believing
you to be all this, | have sent for you
tonight to ask of you the greatest
favor, it seems to me, that woman
could ask of man.
''In all the world | have no relative
or friend, save only my sister
Blanche l took her wee, helpless
babe, from our dying widowed moth
er's arms, and gave that mother my
solemn promise to make the child my
sacred care while life lasted.
"Only in one way can my last
hours on earth be smoothed of the in
tolerable dread for her future which
now Expresses them, and so l have
courage to throw myself upon your
mercy-to ask you to make me mis-
night your wife, thus giving me the
power to provide by will for my sis
ter's future, and then to go far awsy
from here until life shall have ended
for me and you are freed from the
shadow of bond that will have ex
listed only in name. 1t will be for
such little time"
He wonders vaguely at himself
being so much moved, but with "a
strong effort gathers his faculties and
says slowly, but with great earnest
ness: 81 will do all you ask. 1t will
not be for long, but, please God, this
good action shall bear its fruits of
Righteousness for you"
1t was a strange betrothal; but
marriage there was, and as Clinton
Calorme went out at last alone
through the dewy, fragrant garden
path, woman's kiss burned upon
his lips, and a faint, passionate whis-
per thrilled upon the night sir-the
strangest of all whispers to come
throbbing up from this mans heart,
and yet it came softly, reverently and
humbly tender, MY wife,"
Five years passed and Clinton Ca
lorme was still wanderer over the
face of the earth.
Once only in all this time he had
heard from the woman whose lips he
had once kissed in solemn acknowl-
edgment of VOW the letter of which
alone had been asked of him, leaving
the spirit all unpledged, and that
once the Paris physician had written
him:
THE case is not hopeless" And
receiving this he had gone his ways
out of civilization into the wilds of
Africa and far Arabia, until there
came day on which he steadily set
his face homeward.
At the little questionable bathing
resort he comes to a halt. 1t is noon
day, but he takes his breakfast. and
then walks down to the pebbly beach.
There are human sights and sounds
all about him, but Calorme sees or
hears nothing of it until the voice of
woman quoting, dreamily and low,
Barry Cornwalps THE Sea, the Sea,
the Open Sea-" cuts through his rev.
erie.
1t is she-his wife, His lips tell
1t again to the winds in softest whis-
per. He sees the sun CLEAN upon the
silver-white crown. He knows that
some sweet thought is mirrored in
the holy eyes looking seward. He
marks that the white hands are no
longer thin and wasted, and that
there is a delicate flush creeping
from the soft cheek to the crimson
tippit' ear, and then he walks across
the sands and says:
Il am come, Agnace! | had learned
to love you from afar before yafl
brought me to you and bound me witt
word. To you that nights mar
rage was only in the name-to me it
was the wedding of soul and spirit to
the one fair woman of all the world.
VIII you now, this day. give yourself
to me to love. cherish, and ptotesa
until death shall part us? Can you
do it, Agnace?"
Yes, Clinton"
Then Clinton Calorme kisses once
again tenderly and reverently this
woman's lips, and there is the re-
hgion OF lifetime in the tones of his
y0ipo ac 1rn1 - So. -