The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1908-09-12
YES, IT WAS A BROKEN PROMISE.
BY JUDITH SPENCER.

They were sitting side by side OF
a bench in Riverside Park, under th'
now almost leahess trees. Her trou
bled eyes were bent upon the river
while his gaze rested on her white
wan face.
The two were old friends, and tht
young soldier of whom they had beer
speaking and who had met his deatt
in the gallant charge of our troops al
FL Caney, had been the young man.
chum and the girl accepted lover.
None had known of their short en-
gagement except this one friend
And it was he who had written hel
the dreadful news Of his comrade':
death, his brief letter ending with the
words, "God knows, / wish I might
have fallen in Toms stead !" A
wish which she had echoed in hel
heart.
He had seen her many times since
his return from the campaign. Again
and again he had graphically giver
her all the details of her lovers life
in camp, of his splendid courage and
his heroic death. He had made the
dead man hero in her eyes.
And now a silence had fallen upon
them. Her eyes were bright with
unshed tears, and her lips were tremb-
ling in spite of her efforts to steady
them.
"Violet," he said at last, "this
dreary routine of continual study and
teaching is killing you. You are
working too hard, you give yourself
no rest-except these short Saturday
afternoons, which I have fairly in
sisted on"
"There is no other way" she said
piteously. ''I am all alone, I must
live, there is no other way"
only Una make you see it. I hardly dare
speak yet, but 1 love you so-you
must have known it-as she started
suddenly. Let me take care of you
try to accustom yourself to the
idea. Try to think of me as one"
GAS one who is treacherous to his
dead friend p she said in scorn, ris.
ing as if to leave him.
He rose and faced her. ''I would
gladly have died to save his life, )" he
said, "but that was not to be. He
was taken and I was left. ! loved
my friend and 1 respect his memory
but I loved you before ever he saw
you He is gone now, and we must
live out our lives. / love you, Vic
let, and you need some one to care
for and protect you. I ask now only
for the right to take care of you-the
rest will leave to time"
"And time will only strengthen
my contempt for the man who has
proved false to his dead friend" she
said bitterly. "I believed in youl
friendship for him, and now that be
lief has been taken from me. Iought
to thank you for this self-revelation
but can't. 1 would have been hap
pier had you left me in ignorance o
your pitiful weakness of character.
have lost both lover and friend No
don't speak, will not listen. I wisl
never to see or hear you speak again.
His bronzed face slowly flushed
but he bowed silently, and turned
when she withheld her hand-ant
left her without word.
So she went back to her monoto
nous life of teaching aud saw him nj
more.
But she missed his friendship. sh'
missed those afternoons by the rive
and their talks together of the dea'
hero. Her life seemed a broken
dreary thing-yet she still cared t.
live. And while she hoped never t.
see his face again she was ever I'm
consciously looking for him as sh
went to and fro upon her way. An
her heart would leap when she sud
denly saw a tall figure among tn
crowd if it reminded her ever s
family of him.
But she never caught sight of hir
and the long months dragged wearil
away.
Then came day when she ono
more heard bis name. A terribl
railroad accident had occurred an
he was reported among the killed
She could not understand the emo
ton which overcame her then. Sh
had thought she felt for this ma
only contempt and scorn-yet now
Well, once he ha6 been her frienc
and Toms, and although he ha
afterward proved treacherous an
false, he had loved her. And no We
man could hear unmoved of the deaf
of a man who had loved her-eve
though his honor had been so stained
Two miserable, unhappy days pas.
ed by and then a letter came, fe'
words from a nurse in the hospit;
near where the railroad accident ha
been. 1t told her that the man n
ported dead was yet alive, but $
badly injured that he would snrel
die. He lay unconscious and th
only word he had uttered was th
name "Violet." And when the nurs
had found letter addressed to WI
man of that name, among the paper
in his pocketbook, she had hastene
to inclose it thus and send it on.
Tears almost blinded Violet as ST
took the inclosure up. The enve