Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-07-15
A Reflec tion.
[Original.l

10, that am to be free man. May
hap a dozen times the trees have shed
their leaves since | came within these
dingy walls, these rusting bars. have
been kept from despair only by the re-
membrance of the sweet young face OF
my beloved True. the waves have
rolled between us, but she has sent me
messages writ with her own hand to
tell me that her love can never be
quenched and that she longs for the
day when ] shall return to- my own
country to make her happy.
1t seemed that the clock of my life
stopped on that day I vas thrust in
here, falsely charged with being spy
of the king of England, one month be-
fore what was to have been my we'd
ding day. Since then there has been
but one long day of many summers
and many winters, one long day Of
horror. Barbara was seventeen and
twenty wonder how she looks
she blooms, while l have come to mid
die life Let me but have my freedom.
and will show that can still WELD
halberd or pike and am worthy OF
blooming woman.
Oh, the delight Of roaming in the
fields, in the woods, in the meadows,
by the stream. see the beautiful
world with the sunshine upon it and
listen to the lowing of cattle and the
songs Of birds. Every breath of air
seems to have been sent me from
heaven to invigorate me after breath
ing a prisons dampness. Oh, the ag
ony Of those long years!
there and sit on the porch while my
eyes feast on the glorious outward ex-
panse. Madam. will you permit me
to occupy this bench? What? Come in
and partake of refreshment? Hardly.
Your hall is spacious. and there is an
air of comfort in your rooms. | see no
moisture on your walls. and your floors
are soft to the tread.
"Who is that old man? There are
burrows In his face, his cheeks are
sunken and his eyes glitter. His hair
is white, and his figure is curved like
nv, Cru hnn
years have whitened the one and bent
the other"
Myself? I? That lettering old
man. That my reflection?
Its false! A dozen years agone
was straight like the arrow, not bent
like the bow. and my hair shone like
the ravens wing. No, l will not eat.
Let me go out into the world. l was
a prisoner; now 1 am an outcast"
She stood looking at me in wonder,
while l went-anywhere to get away
from that picture. Alas, l know it
was myself! Not young man think
ing of his wedding day, but Old, with
melancholy stamped on every feature.
Where shall 1 go? TO claim my bride?
Never. Fasten myself upon woman
not yet out of her twenties, l an old
bent, frost headed man? But what
message shall l send her? Thank God,
I wrote no letter telling her of my
freedom and that | was coming.
though late for the nuptials. l will go
to her-she will not know it Is land
tell her that her lover died in prison
of broken heart.
II have come, fair maiden, with a
message from one who dozen years
agone was to have been your bride
groom. Do not start. Do not shudder.
ted to come to you now he would have
been like an oak stricken by the light
ming, its branches withered and bear
ing no green leaves. But during those
dreary years he lived only In the re-
membrance Of your fair face. in the
fulfill his promise-to claim you for
his wife.
"No, no. no! l am not he. Unwind
your arms. They are round and white;
mine are withered. You are still in
your youth; am a stricken old man.
1 am the snow of winter. you the YER
dure of June. l came to bring you
message message that would turn
your thoughts from your bereavement.
that you might yet mate and be happy
tell you he, your lover. is dead-dead
to you, dead to the world, dead to him
self"
Years have passed since our belated
wedding-a wedding against which
protested in vain-and every year has
been a blessed contrast with the loneli.
ness, the sufferings, the heartache Of
those / passed in prison. I seem to
grow no older. While in prison my
body was worn three years for every
one. Now tender care seems to be tax
ing from my age. 1t is like stream
which, meeting the iavigorating tide
waters Of the ocean, flows back on it.
self.
And every now and again Barbara
comes to me to show me a new gray
hair that has come into her head or a