Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22


 What a wild. wonderful time 1t hao been. She recalled the slopes of shim- merlng gray olives, the groves of orange and lemon trees where she and Harry l had kissed, the long winding road up 10 Castellar, where they had often climbed hand in hand. the afternoons they had 1 fingered on the plateau where the myr tie grew among the expresses on the | heights above Gorbio.
 He would twist the orange blossom, In her hair and put myrtle in her hands and call her his beautiful bride. The somber expresses stood sentinel over them, and towering far above the eter- nal snow-capped hills mocked their lit l tie futile passion. But below glittered | the deeply blue unforgettable Mediter- ranean the dazzling sunshine was over all, and the intoxicating balmy airs of the south blew around them. oh, the wild spring and his chances l and dreams!'
 Days of youth and fire; gilden. pas sionate days How immortal 1t had seemed-how quickly 1t had died. She remembered those few subsequent meet. lngs In town when Harry had rushed 1 up from the country to take her to 1 lunch at Princes or tea in Bond street how he had chafed at the distance l that parted them-the gradual waning of his love-the final disagreement that had ended It.
 Malsie had destroyed his letters Oh l the night before her wedding two years l ago, with her own. which had been duly returned after the rupture. She keenly remembered that burning and how she had not dared read the letters l first because her wedding gown was ly- ing on the bed.
 These few rough copies were all thal was left. She opened the top sheet and recognized by the date that it was writ ten after their parting. It was one of those pleading letters be had never an swered, the memory of which constitut ed her greatest shame.
 "Oh, Harry, cannot lose you like this; you are twisted right around my 1 heart strings. If the end is to come 1t must come gradually. This sudden wrench, this frightful blank. its liter ally beyond my strength to bear. love you with such intensity and such l passion that l can't. can't shut you out i Of my life all at once"
 Heavens. Had she really written that-only six years agoi Her cheeks burned with shame. She turned the page. Something heavier than a letter l fell out of the packet on her knee. A l photograph. All the others she had burnt before her wedding day How l strange 1t was to see his face again.
 For long time she stared at the rather cold. entirely commonplace coup tenance. It was his coldness, his aloof- ness, and hint of reserve even In his most impassioned moments that had at tracted her so powerfully. She had ! been wooed by more than one warm hearted and tenderly sentimental young man. and the memory of these rather tiresome ardors had given to Harry's suit q spurious charm.
 She had mistaken 1 tor strength at the time. Looking down at the hard, selfish eyes, the thin lips, she knew 1t now to be merely shallowness He could not love or give He was one of the men that can only break the soil There was but one folded sheet left, and Maisie recognized 1t with interest | nT Shn bod l ten at Mentoue IL would be more amusing to read them than the letters. They would probably be funny. Some how her evening had not been so gay after all. There was an unpleasant savor about these ashes. Perhaps the verses would make her laugh.
 Funny; yes, they were certainly fun ny in one way.
 What trash" she said, trying to feel | light-hearted. And yet they are tragic enough in another sense." she added, catching her breath. How I must have felt them - Heavens. and I wrote that about your
 She tore the photograph across ana
 
 blazed up brightly, casting a momen- tary light on the picture of another man above the hearth. The woman leaned her arms on the mantelpiece and looked yearningly at the fine, clever face of her husband-the tender eyes. the strong, kind mouth.
 She put her lips to the pictured face lovingly. Forgive me, dear" she whispered. II did not know-then."
 The lights died down as the letters futtered to ashes but those dear, un- derstanding eyes seemed to assure her of forgiveness. A great peace fell on the woman's soul as she looked around the homelike little room. That passion ate vista of orange and cypress groves, southern glory and southern heat, had faded away from her mind. 4 croon- ing sound from the room above told of