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Show R1CHAHD HUHDIS. CHAPTER XLI. LOVE M~D REVEJ\'GE. "I slut!l finJ Lime; 1\' hcn you have took some comfort. I'll begin To mourn his dcoth ond scom·ge the tnurdc1·et·." T. llErwooo, 1655. TilE ending nnd beginning I had seen·-thc wl1ole of this catastrophe. \V e buried the poor maiden in a grove ncar the dwelling in wldch her feet lwd often rambled with him whose g rnve should l1ave been beside her. 'l'hcre wns nothing more for me to do-there was no reason why I should linger iu lUnrengo; :.md 1 resoh·cd once more to leave it. As yet, my error remained uncorrected in regard to ]Jury Easterby. I still deemed IJeJ' the al11nnced wife of J ohn Hurd is; and-some· tintcs wondering wlty he came not with her to the ch·elling of Emmeline \Vnlker, 1mcl sometimes doubting their alliance, fi·om little signs and circumstances, which now and tl1en occurred to my obsen·ation,-I was still impressed with tl1e conviction that tl1ere wns no more l1ope for me. I escorted Iter home after the Lurial of Emmeline, <md sad <tnd sweet was our conference by the way. 'Ye rode together, side Ly side on horscLnck, and we soon left the nninwls to their own motion, wltich was gratefully sluggish to me. J will not say whetl1er I thought it so to her, but, at least, she gave no syntptoms of impatience, nor mnde any effort to accelerate the movements of Iter steed. l t will n ot, perhaps, Lc 11ssuming too much, to supJJOSe tlwt, in some large respects, our thoughts and feelings ran togetlter in SH thdied compunionship. 'Ve were both deeply affected and ::;uLdned lty the cruel events to which we lu:td been witnesses. Tit ere wns a drcndful warning to ltope, and love, and youtl1, in tl10 snd history which has been written, and which we were forced to LO\'E AND RE\'KXG~ . ~85 read in e\'CIT stage of its performance. ~Te'·C'r could morality tenc!t more terribly to youth its own unccrtninties, nnd tiJC nwtntio11s ltnnging around that deity whose altar of loYe it is most apt to seck in worsl1ip. llow evaneRccnt to our eyes seemed then ull our imngcs of deligltt. The sunlight, which was bt·ight and beautiful around us-making a" bridal ?f cnrth and sky,"-we looked upon with doubt and appre!JensJon a!=> a delusion which must only woo to vanish. 'Vo spoke togctlter of these things; and what, it may Lc asked, was the conclusion of nil this sombrous reflection 1 Did it muke either of us for. swca1· the world and hope 1 Vid it make either of us more doubtful 11lld desponding than Lef01·c 1 No ! 1ts effects were sol'lening and subduing, not O\'Crtltrowing-not destrudiYe of nny of those altars, to wltich love brings wreaths that wither, and offer::; \'Ows that nrc rejected or forgotten. \V c lost not one hope or dream of youth. 'Yo gnse freedom to none of our anticipations. ]~ven the lessons t:wgltt us by the death of t!Jose who, loving in lifC so fondly, in dcatlt were not diYidcd, were lcssous of love. 'l'lte odo,· of the sacrifice made amends for the cousumption by fire of the rich olfe1·ings wl1ich were upon the nltar; and love lost none of ltis loveliness ei tlt CJ' in l1Cl' eyes or mine, because, in this instance, :1s in a t liousand others, it i1ad f tilcJ to rescue its votaries from tl10 grasp of a more certain, if not a greater power. Tile lesson wl1ich was tnught us Ly the fate of Emmeline 'Valkcr, mnde us esteem still more hig hly tiJc sacred influence, which could cousccrate so sweet and pure a spirit to immortality, and lead it, wit!Jout struggle or rcluc. tnuce, into the brazen jaws of death. \\rhat a triumph to youth, to fancy , to l'Cf!cctiou, w:ts the thought wllicJ, portrnyed a power so wonderful-so valuaL!c to tl10sc who more than love already. " I will sec yon before I leave _jiareugo, 1\fary," was my !lJ'Omise on leaving her that e,·ening. " \Vhat! you mean to leave us, <~gain, Uicl1ard ?" was her hn-oluntn1·y and very earnest demand. "OJ,! do not, Uichnrd -wherefore would you go 1 "~liy would you encounter such cruel risks as Lefelll)Oor \ Villiam 1 Stay witb us-leave us not again." 'Vitll lUI utterance nnd movement, equally involuntary, I took her hand and replied:- |
