Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-01-09

first resolve-loved you for tap
plauded and cheered you; I will not
selfishly now, for the sake of my weak,
womanish apprehension, say one word
to withhold your arm"
"And you are STILL" said Butler,
that same resolute enthusiast that ]
found in the young and eloquent beau
ty who captivated my worthless heart
when the war first drew the wild spir-
Its Of the country together under our
free banner?"
1.-The same foolish, conceited, heady
prattling truant, Arthur. that first
took a silly liking to your pompous
strut, and made a hero to her imagi-
nation out OF boasting ensign-the
same in all my follies, and in all my
faults-only altered In one quality"
"And pray, what is that one quail
ity?"
II will not tell you." said Mildred
carelessly. "'Twould make you
vainer than you are"
1T is not we'll to hide a kind
thought from me, Mildred"
Indeed 1t is not, Arthur. And 80
will muster courage to speak 1t,
said the confiding girl with vivacity,
after a short pause during which she
hung fondly upon her lovers arm;
and then suddenly changing her mood,
she proceeded in tone Of deep and
/ 10
4 that short, eventful and most solemn
meeting, I have loved you, Arthur,
with feelings that I did not know un-
til then were mine. My busy fancy
has followed you in all your wander
ings-painted with stronger hues than
nature gives to any real scene the diff
fculties and disasters that might cross
your path-noted the seasons with a
nervous acuteness Of remark, from
very faint-heartedness at the thought
that they might blight your health or
bring you some discomfort. have
poured over the accounts of battles.
| the march Of armies, the tales OF pris-
oners relating the secrets Of their pris-
ons; studied the plans of generals and
statesmen, as the newspapers or COM
mon rumor brought them to my
knowledge, with an interest that has
made those around me say I was sad
ly changed. It was all because I had
grown cowardly and feared even my
own shadow. Oh, Arthur, I am not
indeed what I was"
The solemnity, force and feeling
with which Mildred gave utterance to
these words strangely contrasted with
the light and gay tone in which she
had commenced; but her thoughts
had now fallen into a current that
bore her forward into one Of those
bursts of excited emotion, which were
characteristic Of her temper, and
which threw peculiar energy and ell
oquence into her manner. Butler,
struck by the rising warmth OF her
enunciation, and swayed In part by
the painful reflections to which her
topic gave rise, replied, in a state OF
feeling scarcely less solemn than her
own
| "Ah, Mildred" and as he spoke, he
parted her hair upon her pale fore
head and kissed 1t, dearest girl, the
| unknown time TO come mas no cup OF
suffering for me that would not hold
a cheap purchase for one moment like
this. Even a year of painful absence
past, and a still more solicitous one to
come, may be gallantly and cheerfully
borne when blessed with the f1eeting
interval Of this night. To hear your
faith. which though I never dwelt up
on 1t but with a confidence that l
have held 1t most profane to doubt,
still, to hear 1t avowed from your own
lips, now again and again, repeating
what you have often breathed before,
and in letter after letter. written down.
1t falls upon my heart, Mildred, like
some good gift from heaven, specially
sent to revive and quicken my resolu-
ton In all the tolls and labors that yet
await me. There must be good In
store for such a heart as thine! and,
trusting to this faith, I will look to
the future with a bouyant temper
1.-The future" said Mildred, as she
lifted her eyes to the pale moon that
now sheeted with its light her whole
figure, as she and her lover strayed
beyond the shade of the beech, Il al
most shudder when I hear that word.
We live but in the present; that. Ar
thur Is, at least, our own, poor as we
are in almost all beside. That future
Is a perplexed and tangled riddle-a
dreadful uncertainty, in the contem-
plation Of which I grow superstitious,
Such i'll omens are about us! My faith
er's inexorable will. so headstrong, so
unconscious of the pain 1t gives me;
his rooted, yes, his fatal aversion TO
you; my thraldom here, where, like
poor bird checked by a cord, 1 chafe
myself by fluttering on the verge OF
my prison bounds: and then, the aw-
full perils that continually impend over
your head-all these are more than
weak imaginings: they are the reai-
ties Of my daily life. and give me. what
7 am almost ashamed to confess, sad
and boding spirit"
Nay nay. dearest Mildred! Away
with all these unreasonable reckon
ings!" replied Butler. with manner
that too plainly betrayed the coun-
terfeit of mirth. "Seclusion has dealt
unworthily with you. 1t has almost
turned thee into a downright senti-
mental woman. I will have none OF
this stepping to the verge of melan-
choly. You were accustomed to cheer
me with sunny and warm counsel;
and you must not forget it was your
self who taught me to strike aside the
waves Of fortune with glad temper.
The fates can have no spite against
one so good as thou art! Time may
bear us along like a rough trotting
horse: and our journey may have lts
dark night it's quagmires, and Its
lanterns, but there will come
ruddy morning at last-a smoother
road, and an easier gait: and thou, my