The Newark Journal.
O. F. CRAIU, Editor.
NEWARK- - , ARKANSAS.
A GREWSOME
BRIDESMAID.
3 BY El El AY ((I IEEEH COUH.
George Hayden was really no
Bueli great villain after all.
l*iit baldly, he had merely flirt
ed with a girl of lower position i:t
life than his own, and left her.
Yet cireumstauees and the girl
had before long made the affair
seem a heartless tragedy, and for
two miserable years George Hay
den had been haunted by it.
There was no doubt that he had
made love, generally with gay
nonchalance, occasionally with
fervor,to Kate Moon, of Mossdyke
farm.
It was during that summer when
he was off fishing in Itevon, and
the weather was beyond reproach
-—except for fishing. The trout
would not bite, and Kate Moon
was beautiful, tall and black
haired, with a complexion of the
proverbial Devon milk and roses:
a magnificent, passionate, impul
sive girl.
Hayden dallied beside her day
after day; he liked watching the
proud droop of her lashes, and the
deeper color creep into and fade j
out of her healthy cheeks. It was
an artistic pleasure to him to see
her coming toward him in her lilac
cotton gown—sin* always wore li
lac cotton gowns unlike anyone
Else's, full gathered and dainty,
with a bordering of palest pink
round hem and waist; the effect
was one of lavender and roses.
To Kate it was more than an ar
fistic pleasure to see Hayden com
ing toward her; it was a tumult of
fierce delight. She loved this man
who looked at her w ith gay ad
miration; his very nonehalence
fascinated her, his compliments
were as vows of love, his moments
of fervor were ecstasy.
It was when the rector came
back after his holiday, bringing
with him his sister, his niece, and
-—quite by coincidence—a college
friend of Hayden, that tin* mis
chief began; and it began without
delay, for the college friend recog
nizing Hayden in the village, in
trodueed him to the rectors party,
and Hayden promptly fell in love,
genuinely and passionately this
time, with Sybil Dove, the rector s
niece.
It did not take Koto Moon long,
cither, to soo lior doom.
Hayden, it is true, was a little
troubled at tirst. but that was
merely an nova nee with himself
for the careless way in which ho
had talked love—“desecrated.”
he called it—-with a village girl;
but he did not dream of the man
ner in which Kate would take it.
Kate took it badly.
No one but Hayden and Kate
herself knew of t hat terrible night
of recrimination when the moon
shone down on the final meeting
in i tailing wood.
By the next night Hayden had
left the village; by the next Sun
day Kate Moon had left tin
world; she had drowned herself
in the river, where the trout had
fought shy of Hayden's rod and
line. And Hayden began that ter
rible two years with the sight of
the girl constantly before his
eyes, in her lilac gown, with the
rose pink bands about her waist
and hem, and with her last words
in his ears: “Tell her about me,
and see what she'll say to your
love! Tell her, I say, or I’ll curse
you to your very marriage day
aye, to your very death-bed! I'll
walk, and sit, and stand between
you, and you shall never bide in
peace!”
Then what seemed but a sum
mer's llirtation shocked Hayden,
as a heartless tragedy, and grew
and grew into his life till he be
came to himself a sort of banned
wanderer.
About two years later Hayden
rnet Sybil Dove in Home, and for
the tirst time the wretched trag
edy became less important, and
liis heart leaped. He could see,
too, that Sybil was happy to meet
him.
For weeks he sunned himself in
joy, and tried to banish Kate.
Then one day lie faced the ghost
and reasoned with himself in a
logical, sensible manner, and bis
state of mind became more nor
mal. and he asked himself why he
should not be happy.
Next morning, on the hill, he
broke into tin* first love words be
had uttered since he dawdled with
Kate by the Devonshire river.
“1 love you!" he cried out as he
and Sybil sat resting in the noon
Jay, "Sibyl, I can't live without
you! I have hungered for you
since 1 tirst met you two years
ago!’’
i 111 II
ryvmi uni noi retort:
wliy didn't you say so?” She hint
ed nothing of her own pain at that
linn*. Iior eyes were blind with
tears, which Hayden saw.
Neither asked t lie other why
1 his love should be declared and
received in litis passionately sor
rowful fashion.
"1 love you too!” she said, sim
ply. when she could lind her voice.
And Hayden held her in his arms
for a ra pturous moment.
When he glanced up, his arms
still about her. a girl was passing
along the hill below—a dark
haired girl in a lilac gown. It
w as, of course, merely a coinci
dence.
Hayden shivered and loosed his
clasp. The old haunted feeling
had returned. He had an impulse
to tell Sybil the whole wretched
story, but it would be a gloomy
beginning to the first hour of his
new happiness. liesides which
Mrs. Hove came into sight at the
moment.
Perhaps those who know hu
man nature best will understand
that Hayden did not tell the trag
edy to Kate Moon even after many
hours had passed. Vows were ex
changed, consent obtained; and in
time the journey back to England
was accomplished, the home pre
pared, the wedding day fixed.
And yet the tragedy of Kate Moon
had not been ment ioned.
Those were strange months.
1 those months of engagement.
There were hours when both Hay
den and Sibyl were wildly gay; but
’again there were hours when a
! thing seemed to be bet ween them,
i checking their words as if a third
jierson were listening. In himself
Havden could understand the feel
*
I ing, for even now. spite of argu
ment, spiti* of happy future, he
| could not throw off the sight of
Kate Moon and her despair. Ituf
the same mood in Sybil he could
not understand. Was the
drowned girl always to be be
tween them? Hayden groaned.
"Tell her. 1 say. tell her, or—•”
In desperation Hayden caught
up his hat. "I'll stroll down to
t he church." hi* mul tered, hast ily.
the evening before the wedding,
after hours of gloom in which he
had seen t he dead girl w alking he
t ween himself and his living bride.
"I'll see how the decorations art
getting on.” And he left the inn
where lie had been staying for the
last three weeks of his bachelor
hood. and went to the church in
w hich Sybil had been baptized and
was to be married to him to-mor
row.
It was a lovely old building of
gray stone, far famed for its mam
windows of stained glass, which
in a close line told in rich purples
and crimsons tin* stray of Joseph
and his brethren. The scent of
flowers was heavy on the air as
Hayden stole in unseen, and he
stood awed before the sight of the
preparations for his bride.
i )ne or t wo gardeners were bus\
j at the choir stalls; some girls tit liv
ing in subdued tones were gar
landing a pillar. Hayden watched
their deftness. Then, with a ten
der impulse, he turned his eyes to
j t he altar, where he would kneel to
' morrow beside—
A sudden horror clutched him,
the blood surged within hint and
deafened him. Bending at the
altar step was a dark haired tig
lire in a lilac gown with a pink
band across the hem.
Hayden groped with bis band,
and. clutching a pew door, closed
bis eyes in a despairing faintness.
His bondage was relentless.
When be looked again the figure
was gone. Tin* girls at the pillar
had turned from their work to
speak to another. I’nseen in bis
misery, Hayden stole out at the
porch,st uniicd and cold in the sun
shine.
Hayden never forgot tin* night
: which followed, as he lay, un
nerved and hopeless, waiting for
his wedding day, and facing in all
| their details the two years past
jand the many years to come, from
I the day when he played a Hum
mer’s game with the heart of a
girl, to all the days v.’bp i he
should live close to the he
loved, and feel himself > mur
derer.
it was foolish, :t was ong, la*
i argued, I«» count himself -o idame
i worthy. But lie had Vt choice.
. Kate Moon insisted.
Toward morning In' Aegan to
take a more ordinary view of the
; matter. This was his wedding
day. sunny, happy, glorious, lie
| had been in an excited, unnatural
state of mind yesterday. He had
brooded so long that his remorse
was abnormal. He had thought
and dreamed so much that tin*
poor drowned girl’s form was on
the retina of his eye. It had been
a hallucination.
He threw off his hateful night
thoughts, and prepared to meet
his bride.
“The prettiest wedding the vil
lage had ever seen." the people said.
I afterward. The church was a bow
er of trailing green and summer
blossoms. The pews were packed,
and a subdued buzz of comment
played about Hayden’s ears as he
waited.
He had not allowed himself
much time to kill; but, supported
by his best man, he took his place
about five minutes before the
bride was expected. His heart
was lighter than it had been for
months. He determined to throw
off useless self-reproaches and do
his best in t he future.
After the tirst moments of nerv
ousness he raised his eyes and
looked down the church. The
brightly colored crowd was an tin
distinguishable whole to him: but
at the end of the aisle was a shaft
of brilliant light; it streamed
through tin* porch, and into and
through it walked a double line of
beauty. They came on in the sun
shine and halted till the end of the
lines was inside tlit* door, when
thev widened the space between
thorn and lined the lower half of
■ t lie lit t le a isle.
Hayden gazed at them with ten
; del* pleasure and admiration.
“Her bridesmaids,” he thought.
“Sybil's bridesmaids,’’ and he
smiled.
The smile on Hayden’s face
snapped olf as suddenly as if
struck by a hand; his features be
came stiff and ashen colored; a
roar seemed to be tilling the church
and hurting his brain, the build
ing itself heaved about him.
But the figure on which his eye
had first smilingly rested stood
motionless. She stood nearest to
him. as tirst bridesmaid, her back
slight ly turned; a droAjwig hat al
most hid her feat tires, but she was
dark haired and splendidly poised,
and her gown was of lilac with a
j pink band about the hem. Lilac,
| among the white gowns beside
her!
This tim<* Hayden could not
close liis eyes: some power held
t hem wide and stal ing.
The lilac color seemed to deep
en under his horror, t lie pink hand
flowed as if it were living lire.
"-My < »od!” lie ut tered, hoarsely.
"(). m v God I'1
Then lie felt a hand grip his arm
firmly. “Keep up, old man, she’s
coming,” some one said.
Then a hush, then a stir tilled
j the church, and, between the wait
j ii^t bridesmaids, shutting from
sifht that terrifying form, came
Sybil toward him; and chilled,
horror tilled, as one in a dream,
he stepped to meet her.
MM
“Toll her, I say, toll her”—waft
in liis ears as the marriage service
began.
A strange vow mingled with
Hayden's marriage vows. “Tell
her?” "I will.” "1 will.” “1 vow
it.”
On Isis wedding day he would
toll her. If it was an {iwful story
to him, what would it be to her,
blameless and unsuspecting? Hut
he would tell her, and abide by the
consequences.
So* he told her.
There was no lilac gown among
I the bridesmaids surrounding her
when he took her away. I !e could
see no one like Kate Moon. Hut
lie told Sybil all the story as tliev
j drove toward their new life, and
j she listened with Hushed, averted
i cheek.
Bat wuoii no nau tinisneu, ami a
moment's silence like concrete
block of despair had followed, sin*
turned to him and wept upon his
shoulder. And “Now you must
both have suffered!" were her tirst
sobbing words. Hut bemuse sin*
was frightened by the new suffer
[ ing the telling of the tale had cost
I him, sin* did not say^hat she had
known tin* story all along, and
that the silence had been as an
avenging ghost between them.
One day, long after, when Hay
den and his wife strolled into the
old church, he noticed a curious
thing.
Sybil had walked toward tin*
chancel while Hayden halted by
the door, and as he stood a mo
ment in the aisle he saw her white
gown turn to lilac in tla* sunlight,
and a band of rose < olor fell across
the hem.
For a moment the blood Hushed
into his face, and all the miserable
past rose before him.
Then, as he looked, Sybil moved
forward, and her gown was white
again—and again as she moved it
was splashed with color.
Then, in a swift enlightenment,
he looked up at the famous win
dowed story of .Joseph, and he un
derstood.
“It was all for the best, though,"
lie said to himself at last, and in
unutterable relief lie followed his
wife, and stood again beside her
before the altar. — Iilack and
White._
WINTER FOOD FOR SEA COW.
Have to Cut Through Thick lc? to
Get at the Eel Grass.
Tin* man who fines the market
! ing for the aquarium's sea cow
lias had to do some lively hustling
this winter to keep that big ani
| inal supplied with food, says the
New York Sun.
The sea. cow is eight feet long,
weighs 800 pounds, and has a
i healthy appetite. In the first IS
I weeks after its arrival here from
Florida, on September 5 last, it
ate 00 bushels of eel grass, six
bushels of fennel-leafed pond
weed and two bushels of ulva, or
sea lettuee, making 08 bushels of
; aquatic plants in till in 18 weeks.
I or an average of about .Vk bush
j els a week, which is about its pres
ent rate of consumption.
The eel grass and other things
for the sea cow’s table are gath
ered in (Iravesend bay or the
1 waters i herewith connected. Ha v
meii say that the present lias been
the hardest winter hereabouts on
j the water in 25 years. tin manv
days it has been necessarv to cut
through ice ton inches in thick
ness and often through ice of live
or six inches.
Sometimes when the ice had
moved out with a shift of the
wind, leaving open spaces, access
to the eel grass would be easy;
but frequently the ice would have
• dosed in, and then it would be
necessary to cut holes in it to get
at 1 la* eel grass below.
Sfi t he work of supplying the sea
<f)w s table has been so far this
winter attended by more or less
difficulty; but there has u£ver
been a day on which the sea cow
has had to go hungrv.
Ignorance.
I have seen ignorance s<» mon
umental that it could only have
been acquired through diligent
application.—N. (). Times-Denio
crut, •
Generous.
"Mamma.” said the little one, “there's
■ girl in the next block that s a lot sicker
than I am.” . „ . . ,
"Vourc :k>t vi*ry nk'iv. 1 et. icplicu tn<?
mother; "not even in lied. Vou'il be out
placing acain in a day or so.
"1 know it, nnywMu. so uon t you think
ought to ilo something foi the littit;
gul that's so much sicker';"
"What would you like to do,
"I'd like to send her that liaslv medi
cine the doctor left for me. Ohicagj
Post.___
A Limit to the Division.
During a recent session of the house of
representatives Mr. Grosvenor, ot Ohio,
arose in his place and intimated that tne
gentleman who had the Hour tfas trans
gressing the limit of debate.
■ 1 thought it was understood,” said the
offending member "that the gentleman
lrom Ohio divided lus time with me.”
"True," responded Mr. Grosvenor, sim
ple. "but 1 did not divide eternity with
you! N. V. Ti ibmie.
The Most Common Disease.
York town, Ark., Feb. 29th.—Leland
Williamson. M. D., a successful and clever
local physician, says:
"There is scarcely another form of dis
ease a physician is called upon so often
to treat as Kidney Disease. I invariably
pre.-cribe Dodd's kidney Fills and am not
disappointed in their effect for they are
always reliable. 1 could mention many
cases in which l have used this medicine
•with splendid success, tor example, I
might refer to the case of Mr. A. 11. Cole.
"Age 31, greatly emaciated, some fever,
great pain and pressure over region oi
Kulnevs, urine tilled with pus or corrup
tion and very foul smelling and passed
some blood. ’ Directed to drink a great
deal of water, gave brisk purgative and
Dodd's Kidnev Fills. The pills were con
tinued regularly for three weeks and then
a few doses every week, especially if pa
tient felt any pain in region of Kidneys.
Cured completely and patient performed
Ins duties as farm laborer in four weeks. ’
Dr. Williamson has been a regular prac
titioner for over twenty years, and hin
unqualified endorsement of Dodd’s Kidney
Fills is certainly a wondertul tribute to
this remedy.
Nothing Serious.
“Is it true.'’ asked the Ludlow youth,
“that a woman insist* on having her own
way in everything?”
"1 don’t know,” replied the Cummins*
ville >.ige. "hut even it it is she changes
her mind so often that it breaks tiie
monotony.”—Cincinnati Enquirer.
Salzer's Home Builder Corn.
So named because 50 acres produced so
heavily, that its proceeds built a lovely
home.’ See Suker's catalog. Yielded in
1903 in Ind. 137 bu., Ohio 169 bu., Tenn.
ps bu., and in Mien. 220 bu. per acre.
You can beat this record in 1904.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THESE YIELDS
PER ACRE?
120 bu. Beardless Barley per acre.
310 bu Suker’s New .National Oats per A.
SO bu. Sak.er Spelu and Macaroni Wheat.
1.000 bu. Pedigree Potatoes per acre.
14 tons of rich Billion Dollar Crass Hay.
60.000 lbs. Victoria Rape for sheep—per A.
160.000 llts. Teosinte the fodder wonder.
54.000 lbs. Suker's Superior Fodder Corn
rich, juicy fodder, per A.
Now such yields you can have, Mr.
Farmer, in 1904, if you will plant baker's
seeds.
.irST SEND THIS NOTICE AND 10c
in stamps to John A. Suker Seed Co., I.a
Crosse. Wis., and receive their great cata
log and lots of farm seed samples. [ K. L.J
M «s (iaussip—“i understand that you
are as good as married to M s* Huxley.”
Mr. B.icholler "Just as good and even bet
tetter. I’m not going to be married to
any body.”—Philadelphia Press.
TORTURING, DISFIGURING
Ilumorn, Erirmai, Itchlnus, Inflam
mntionn, llnrnlnKS, ScallnB* und
Ckafiniin Cured by Catlcura.
The agonizing itching and burning of
the skin, as in eczema; the frightful 1
ing, as m psoriasis; the loss ot hair and
crusting of the scalp, as in seal led head;
the facial disfigurements, as in pimples anil
ringworm; the awful suffering of infants,
ami anxiety of worn-out parents, as m
milk crust, tetter and salt rheum—all de
mand a remedy of almost superhuman
virtues to successfully cope with them.
That Cuticura Soap, Ointment and Pills
are such stands proven beyond all doubt
by the testimony of the civilized world.
Many a rich father has discovered that
it is easier to get a daughter off his hands
tli.in to keep a son-in-law on hi» leet.—
Philadelphia Record.
Millions ot Vegetulile*.
When the Editor read 10,000 Plants for
lGc. he could hardly believe it, but upon
secsond reading finds that the John A.
Falser Seed Co., La Crosse, Whs., than
whom there are no more reliable and ex
tensive seed growers in the world, makes
this offer. This great offer is made to get
you to test Fulzer's Warranted Vegetable
heeds.
They' will send you their big plant and
seed catalog, together with enougU seed
to grow
1 000 fine, solid Cabbages,
2,000 delicious Carrots,
2,000 blanching, nutty Celery,
2.000 rich, buttery Lettuce,
1.000 splendid Onions,
1,000 rare, luscious Radishes,
1,000 gloriously brilliant Flowers.
AI.L I OK IU T ltic POST VGL,
providing you will return this notice, and
if you will send them 20c in postage, they
will add to the above a package of fa
mous Berliner Cauliflower. [K. L.J
The man who keeps too attentive an eye
on the future niisses a good many thugs
tii *t relieve the monotony ot the present*
-Puck. •
To Cure n Cold in One Ony.
Take Laxative Bromo (Quinine Tablets. All
druggists refund money it it l'^isto cure. 25c.
A big head has no show against a big
heart. Ram's Horn.
T am sure Pise’s ('lire for Consumption
save 1 my life three vear.-. ago. Mr-. Taos.
Robbins, Norwich, N. Y., Feb. 17, 1900.
\\ here the speeh is corrupted the mind
is also.—heneca.
Economy is the road to wealth. Putnam
Fadeless Dye is the read to economy.
Borrowing is not much better than beg*
! gmg.—Lessing.