The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1909-06-29
THE WALL THAT
WAS NOT.
A Story Of a Girls TreacheFy to
Her Sister.
Rx HELEN RAMspELL

copyrighted, 1909. by Associated Literary
Press.l
In the rosy light of the setting sun
Miss Rachel the elder Of the two Bel
den sisters, was gathering her sun
flower seed Miss Emily, the younger,
sat on the porch watching her sisters
movements, her sewing lying idle on
her lap. Presently she ventured to
demonstrate.
"T'm quite sure, Rachel, that the
seeds are not nearly ripe enough to
gather and that you are only spelling
your next years crop"
every well In that case I'll buy
some new Ones" answered Miss Ra-
chel, cor perhaps we can afford to build
six foot fence on our side of this
one and grow it over with vines. Any
way, not one Of these seeds is going to
fall on their side"
Miss Emily rose and walked over to
the fence, speaking very softly.
II don't want them to hear us, Ra-
chel. It's like trying to quarrel with
them, and they've always tried to be
friendly. 1 really can't see why you
hate them so. You used to like Steve
once, and his wife is a pleasant, sweet
spoken woman"
"Sweet spoken-yesl l should say
that's how she got him"
Miss Emily sighed wistfully.
II don't see why you hate them So"
she repeated.
'sYou don't? Humph! Well, you
just once try being nice and polite to
them, and-you needn't be my sister
any longerw
At that moment girl some twelve
years of age came out of the house
hold thus condemned by Miss Rachel,
and both the sisters grew silent. They
had been speaking much too low for
their neighbors to hear what they
said, and in innocent ignorance the
girl called over, though timidly, as If
half expecting one Of the snubs she
so completely failed to understand.
aren't you gathering your seeds
awful early, Miss Belden? It's better
to let them get ripe They're the
finest sunfiowers we've ever seen.
We're sorry they've quit blooming"
To the girl Miss Rachel was silence
itself. To her sister she replied in
tones of unuttered Indignation too low
for the girl to hear.
It'll be six foot fence next year IL
/ have to live on dry bread"
''Oh, Rachel, how 1t would lookw
1--WE can cover our side with vines"
"But In winter the vines would be
dead, just the same as the flowers"
Without reply Miss Rachel gathered
up her apronful Of great staring seed
cups and assembled the stairs to her
room Here she went straight to an
old fashioned writing desk and, open
ing it. placed the package Of seeds in
one of its many compartments.
Once it was out Of her sight the hard
lines in her comely face relaxed, and
gradually as they faded her natural
expression returned, revealing tears of
suffering and of genuine kindness as
we'll
For long time she sat there alb
sorbed in her reverie. and as the sun
light died without new light touched
Miss RacheIs face from within, and
led by some touch Of previous mem
DRY, she opened a small locked drawer
and took out quaint old box Of faint
ly fragrant sandalwood.
1t had grown too dark to see it's con
tents plainly. but Miss Rachel did not
10 hn
line Of the faded letters that lay there,
every detail of the girlish forgetme-
not ring in its tiny box beside them,
every word of the newspaper notice
of death that lay beneath them, while
every feature Of the photograph that
lay on top was craven deeper in her
heart.
Tonight she went over it all once
again-her joy, her passionate, silent
grief, then her awakening from her
own bitter sorrow to find that her sis
ter was suffering also. Then she had
opened her eyes, so long blinded to all
save her own bitter grief, and looked
for the cause of her sisters to find
that Emily's lover. Stephen Loring,
came to see her sister no more.
Questioned, Miss Emily had replied
proudly, with swift flushing cheeks,
that she did not wish him to come,
and Miss Rachel probed no further.
Scarcely year later Stephen married
a girl OF a neighboring village, and
Emily, growing paIer and gentler day
by day, gave all the love left in her
heart to Rachel, which Miss Rachel
silently but deeply reciprocated, all
the more tenderly that Miss Emily SO
often seemed inwardly shrinking be-
fore her, as If In shame at her fate.
With true New England reticence,
mingled with Unborn delicacy, neither
ever spoke Of the others love and
loss, but when Stephen Loring some
twenty years later had come to live
beside them Miss Racheps wrath rose
high against this destroyer of her gen.
tie sisters happiness in life
RACHEL"
Miss Emily stood at the door peer
ing into the now dark room.
"Old Mrs. Clayton is dying, and
they want you right away"
Miss Rachel rose at once, not even
closing the lid on her little box of
keepsakes.
At the door she paused, speaking
gently:
''You won't need to go until morn
ing. You are too frail for such
things"
And before Miss Emily could reply
she was gone on this, one Of her many
deeds Of mercy.
Alone, Miss Emily entered the room
and went to the window, where she
could watch her sisters tall form
through the fast deepening darkness.
A lamplighter came by as she stood
there and lighted the lamp In the
street below, just in front Of the WIN
dow. AS she moved from the window
the audacious CLEAN Of light pene-
trated past her, falling directly on the
opened box Of keepsakes
Dreamily, yet half startled, Miss
Emily moved toward them. She knew
well enough what they were-the
package of letters tied with narrow
black ribbon were Andrew Arnold's
letters of love to Rachel; the little box
beside them held a well known tur-
ouoise ring, but the picture that lay
4. II ! ~