Middletown transcript., 1909-03-20
SOL DER STORY Y
BY ROSEMARY HOAR

| had not been able to fnd ID
] many years back, She mu.
come upon it recently and ker
the discovery q secret to hav
this done as a birthday surprise
Then many things happened i
which he had no part, Peopl
came and went, did things an
said things; but he only kne,
that she lay there cold and still
with her pale face gentle as ever
her hair soft and silyery, wearin,
the black satin dress that be ha,
bought her for, their silver wed
ding day. Only this Afternoon
they had taken her away and nov
he was alone.
The face of the girl with sunny
brown hair peeking out at hin
from the oval gilt frame had
brought back many scenes OF the
misty long ago, and tonight be
would live them all through
again No wonder Dick Heaton
loved her! Any man well might
and Richard was a good man, too,
good and generous; he proved it
afterward. But Martha never
loved Dick; she never loved any
one but him, common, ordinary
John Reynolds, with only a pair
of stalwart shoulders and good
heart and soul to recommend him.
Nothing of cleverness was there
in his makeup; why had Martha
Hadley loved him so? Impossible
TO tell; it might have been be-
cause her people did not wish her
to; they were determined that
she should marry Richard Hea-
ton. Dick was a good fellow, but
Martha did not love him. So
much was sure. But she was q
child Of strong and righteous,
people, inheriting traits Of self
denial and forbearance, reared in
the spirit of setting aside desire
for duty. She had all her life
yielded unquestioning obedience
to stern parents, and when they
had persisted q sufficiently long
time in their opposition to John
Reynolds, she succumbed, and, |
locking her rose of joy tightly |
within her heart, consented to
marry Richard Heaton.
And she did-so But to do JUS
lice to Heaton; he did not know |
not then. She, poor child, |
thought it possible to keep her
secret forever, and smile and be
lutiful to her chosen husband.
Keep such secret a lifetime!
What a task! OF course, he
guessed it, but she did not know
hat. After she blushed at the
he must have thought
ler when she smiled upon him
ally and suffered her caresses,
low should she know that he had
iscerned the truth when his ]
manner remained unchanged !?
'oor artless girl!
The unwonted dissimulation
zas beginning to tell upon her; &
ohm Reynolds knew 1t, for he saw 1
er from time to time as she went /
ere and there to the village 8
atherlngs with her husband /
nd his honest face burned and s
is good heart ached that she I
nould suffer the most of all.
Q hushed his own cry Of pain, j
nd even hoped that she 4nightl Q
'rget him, for her own sake, and j,
amp out his memory from her
cart. :
He pitied Richard Heaton, too, b
Y something told him, that the S,
an must one day awaken to the s.
nth. He would far rather be O
his own position, beloved as he b
new himself to be, than in Il
ick's, although Heaton was her b
lsband.. Some blessings are a,
70 fold IN value when doubled Il
quantity, but such is not true Il
all good things. That woman O
indeed rich who possesses the a
We OF an honest man; Martha, n
th the love of two, might as a,
III, or better, suffer dearth Of n,
ection, and the pretty timid th
% faded, too, as both John th
'ynolds and Dick Heaton OBJ. th
rved, but neither remarked it al
cept to his own heart. The
t-framed picture of the brown. be
red girl had brought it all m,
ek tonight. sb
Fhe log on the FIRE was crumb. an
g. He went to get another. en-
] as he did so be staggered a an
le. It might have been from pc
rigidity Of his long position, tai
thought; it could not be from otl
akness, for he was a strong bu
a. He had never been III in Ar
life, save after the wound at ha,