Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1909-12-10

his return. shs had written him that
1he had made plans for Christmas that
night detain her ct SUSSEX, but she
wished him . very merry Christmas,
wished that he might ind his heart
filed with Joy ct again being beneath
the old roof-tres, wished that this
Christmas might be the happiest Of
III the Christmases no had ever ex.
perienced. and lastly assured him that
she was sending him . memento Of
the season. which she hoped no would
cherish and love for her sake.
!. Parrish Morton repeated the words
sadly: FOR her sake! All. for her
soke!s
r she but knew what he would d
Tor her sake, were Il possible! But
mo, she was not for him. The violst
8 and the cosmos are homogeneous.
. Youth and late summer are not born
TO trip hand in hand ACROSS the fields
Elysian into Asapemone.
4. The bell rang sharply. He heard
sPhipps' soft tread upon the stairs. and
listened. Yes, It was she. There was
no installing the ripping cadence Of
that sweet-throated bird Of passage.
Turning, he pressed button and the
room was sparkling with light. At the
top Of the stair he stood hesitating,
striving to gain control of himself. At
the foot, she paused, made him mock
u courtesy" and held out her arms:
S "Oh, Par, dear old Par, have
brought you your Christmas present
instead"
n The attitude, the look in her eyes,
the irresistible enchantment Of her
beauty flooded him with impellinG
power. What did she mean? Was it
herself she was Offering? For q brief
moment he stood swaying to the
mighty impulse within him. Standing
supplied there, he remembered, a. she
bounded toward him! He must not
he could not
And then. ~ he was about to sweep
7 aside all the positiveness Of his duty,
IN the negatives and forbearances and
Give free impulse TO his heart, there
came . step behind her. She heard
oaa turning % she was about to enter
he yearning haven Of his eager arms,
!; cried:
], "0h, pardon me, Mr.. Norton, lot mo
introduce Marshall Marriott. He
Suddenly the stairs went black b.
1oro him. He realized now! She was
! bringing him . Christmas surprise,
( he man she loved, the
I Somehow he managed to greet the
4 stalwaSt young fellow with the frank
4 eyeo. In maze Of conflicting pain
and surprise he did the duties Of .
host, and when Verona and her e.
cort had been shown to their rooms to
dress, he slipped into the den and
east himself into the great arm chair
before the pulseless Goals Of the Are
place. ..-.
Lost! LOST" kept ringing in his
ears, and with groan Of anguish he
once more buried his face in his
hands and gave way to mans
grief. In vain he tried to reason
{. with himself that it were better so.
He should not have expected or even
dared to think it might have been
otherwise. He was too old for her.
She was sunshine, he was the somber
cloud-but, oh, how he loved her! And
for the moment he had thought she
meant to give herself. The misery Of
it all! The heartache Of it!
Suddenly. behind him he heard q
rustic, the frou-frou Of woman's
gown, and over the side Of his great
chair warm arm stole softly against
his neck.
"Oh, Par. what 10 1t, dear? What
have done? What"
1nstinctively in the darkness ho felt
the frightened rabbit look. the appeal
ing gaze. Summoning all his reserve
strength, he said, with scarcely q
tremor in his voice:
Nothing dear, nothing to offend. I
am glad-glad-for you, If he is
worthy. If"
: n-if-he-is worthy-oh, you
goose, see It all now!" In q fash
ne threw her arms about his neck.
6er face was close to his. How soft
md warm and soothing her flesh was!
"He-h he is my brother, lost that day
In the foothills of New Mexico. IL
have just found him. Thought you
would be glad-1 wanted to surprise
don't you want your
Christmas present." in desperation.
With mighty heart throb he
reached about and drew her to him.
Tenderly, tremblingly he clasped his
arms about her and as their lips met
In plighting kiss, tiny fame spring
ing as from the heart Of an ash-cov-
cred sapphire. famed up from the
CRATE and sent the shadows scurrying.
Phipps coming to announce dinner,
stood transfixed. Then, a broad grin
upon his face, he slipped softly away
chortling to his Utmost self:
"Lawd! Lawd! Dere sure am gwine