The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-12-11

! ought 10 have known Ii was coming,
! because / have understood for quite a
I long time that young George was get
/ ting to dislike me more and more.
/ Somehow, I've never been able to get
hts friendship; he's always had latent
distrust of me-or something like dis
! trust-and perhaps that's made me
sometimes a little awkward and diff
dent with him. j think 1t may be he
felt from the first that 1 cared a great
deal about you, and he naturally re-
sented it. / think perhaps he felt this
even during all the time when l was
SO careful-at least / thought / was
not to show, even to you, how i'm
mensely / did care. It's perfectly COM
prehensible TO me, also, that at his age
one gets excited about gossip. Dear
Isabel, what Pm trying to get at, In my
confused way, is that you and | don't
care about this nonsenSical gossip, our
selves, at all. Yesterday thought the
time had come when l could ask you
to marry me, and you were dear
enough to me to tell me sometime it
might come to that Well, you and l,
left to ourselves, and knowing whc:
we have been and what we are, we'd
pay as much attention to talk as we
would to any other kind Of old cats
mewing! We'd not be very apt to let
such things keep us from the plenty of
life we have left to us for making up
~ oil al
mistakes. But now we're faced with
not the sIander and not our own fear
of ii, because we haven't any, but
someone elSe's fear of it-your sons.
And oh, dearest woman in the world,
know what your son is to you. and it
:r;Sh:eHs nc! Let lie explain little:
/ don't think he'll change-at twenty
one or twenty-five so many things ap-
pear solid and permanent and terrible
which forty sees are nothing but dis
appearing miasma. Forty can't tell
twenty about this; that's the pity Of
1t! Twenty can find out only by get
ting to be forty. And so we come to
this. dear: VIII you live your own life
your way, or Georges way? I'm going
a little further, because it would be
fatal not to be wholly frank now.
George will act toward you only as
your long worship Of him, your sac
rifices-all the unseen little ones every
day since he was born--will make him
act, Dear, 1t breaks my heart for you,
but what you have to oppose now Is
the history of your own selfess and
perfect motherhood. i remember say
Ing once that what you worshiped In
your son was the angel you saw In him
and l still believe that is true of
ship she may not see that the will In
her son should not always be offered in
cense along with the angel. grow sick
with fear for you-for both you and
me--when / think how the will against
us two has grown strong through the
love you have given the angel-and
how long your own sweet will has
served that other Are you strong
enough, Isabel? Can you make the
fight? I promise you that If you will
take heart for it. you will find so quick
ly that it has all amounted to nothing.
You shall have happiness, and, in a
little while, only happiness. You need
only to write me line-I can't come
to your house-and tell me where you
will meet me. We will come back in
month, and the angel in your son
will bring him to you; promise 1t.
What is good in him will grow so fine,
once you have beaten the turbulent
will-but 1t must be beaten!
"Your brother, that good friend, Is
waiting with such patience; should
not keep him longer-and 1 am saying
too much for wisdom, l fear. But, oh.
my dear, won't you be strong-such a
little short strength 1t would need
Don't strike. my life down twice, dear
this time I've not deserved 1t.
EUGENE"