CHAPTER XXV. THE PLIGHTED TROTH.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 216, 20 August 1887, Page 8

CHAPTER XXV. THE PLIGHTED TROTH.

Walter waited tlu-ce days boforo eoing to Ruby again, curbing his love and impatienoo as best ho could, and loaving hor to tho vost and quiet which she so much needed. But on New Year's Eve he presented himself again before the door of that litble house in which bis hoarb waa centred,

Jane t*ib#*d Mm ittfoH'he $iglbtitr;;aWtbß> look on VSef goop-* l *^ l^ and n * went to caltftoerr young mi&ttfesfr t Ruby sow* came to> Him I}.,1 }., afiSU loolrirtjtf. pale, and vrtvw, veryYsad'itt* her' blab* robes ; but, a» she laid tier sttttM hand in' her lover's outstretched 1 palm j . att»d< his finders closed orerit> with a'tbtfchiaMiairof right and ownership, the rich 'colotff swept itTa crimson tide to the golden "ritf^afhW iljuig lightly upon Fier brow. j He had come determined to ' settle i&#ir rteSationa atonco, to remove every? baWJfer, and, »till holding hei-Isand, he benfe tbwttcd' her and 3aid, in a tone? that Was trenntlotftofrom very tendorness : " You know, my darJing, why I ain'here-to-night : know that I have come to as& you Ti question, the answer to which!' will* either make or mar my whole future 'life,', and 1 must settle it at onco. I must h&ve" some assuranco from you before I ean 1 be' satisfied. I do not need to tell you howclear you are to mo, for I must luive betrayed it in a thousand ways, and yet r you are all bho world to me. Kuby, do yoiu love me? Will you some time, when I am' in a position to claim you, be my wife ?" Ruby Gordon wa.s too sad, and the realities of life were too stern just then, for' anypiudish holding back, or for anything but a stiaightforward answer. She had known that she loved Walter for a long, lung time, and she knew that nothing; could comfort her now, in her sorrow and loneliness, so much as the consciousness that the great, true heart of this noble young man was all her own, and that .she could have it to lean upon in this trial and through all coming yeats. She lifted her <jim\ c sweet face to his, but the look in hi** oyo. was too much for her, and her golden hood drooped again, while Hip Hush upon hor cheek deepened, as she murmured : " You know that I love you." He dropped hor hand, and his arms were around hor in an instant. " And the rest of it, Ruhy— you will be my wife some time ?" he whispered. "Yes." Walter Richardson's face grew luminous with the great lovo and happiness that thrilled him as he caught this low-bicathed pledge. lhi drew her gently to a sofa, and, with his aims .still clasping her, seated her beside him, and laid her bright head upon his breast. "My own iarling, I may say it now, he said, " you have crowned my life with happiness. It is a sad time, I know, to talk to you ot happiness, and yet, dearest, I ti ust 'you are not unhappy in my love. At all events, you shall lean upon my strong, true heart, and let me try to comfort you." "You have already comforted me more than Icm oxpiess. What should I have done without you, Walter ? Estello has been ill, almost paralysed, and I should have been utterly alone through all this trouble but for you." Ruby murmured brokenly, while she lay still in his arms with a -en^o of perfect rest and content, and let the tears, which w ould not be stayed, rain over her face. I-lo wiped them jjenderly and in silence. He knew that nouoid?, however fond, could assuage her grief for her brother ; only time would sen c to heal the wound ; and yet he felt that she was comforted and strengthened by the simple knowledge of his love and presence. " I should not trouble you thus," she said, at length, trying to control her sorrow, and looking up with a pathetic attempt to smile, "but oh, Walter, my brother w as everything to me." •'I know it, darling, and no one can ever till hU place iv some respects. But, as far as may be, let me bo * everything ' to you in the future. I will work haul ; I will strain every nerve to make a position in life w orthy of you ; and I hope it will not he so vary longr before I can take care of you as I wish you to be caied for. You can never know, dear," Walter went on, "how I have rebelled against the hard fate that lias been your.-, durinsr the last few months ; and yet, Ruby, I never should have dai ed to break the seal that I had set upon my lips, if you had not lost your fortune." The young girl sat up and looked at him, a gentle su^pri^e in her beautiful eyes. " Why not ?" she asked. "Because of my own po\erly," Walter answered, (lushing. " You are very proud," Ruby returned, with a look that thrilled him ; "but you are not poor." "What can you mean by that? he questioned, smiling. "You have a Grand intellect and rare talent ; you are kind and noble ; you have energy and ambition, a brave, true heart, and, besides all this, au untarnished name and character. No man should ieel ' poor ' with such manly attributes, and any woman should feel proud to give her love to such a man." Walter's lace kindled, and bending forward, he kissed the lips that uttered such noble words. " Is that your feeling towaad me, Ruby ? he asked. "Yes Walter; I am very proud of you, and " " Well, dear, tell me all ; my heart is hunrrry for it," he pleaded, as she stopped and blushed. " And I have been very fond of you for a lony, long time, ' she confessed, with drooping lids. "How long, Ruby?" " Ever t^ince that first summer at Keuvillo ; I am not quito sure but it began that evening when we- sat beside the pretty, spring in the pasture near Mr Ruggles's house"; but I am very wre I found it out that day when I found myself slipping over that horrible precipice from the natural biidnv, and thought 1 was looking my last on your face. But you saved me, and somehow, ever since, I have had a feeling that I belonged to you." Walter's hoart leaped within him with ioy as he listened to this confes&ion, and he drew the slight form of his beloved closer within his embrace. " 1 have been far richer than I dreamed if 1 have had the gift of your dear love so long," ho said, tenderly. Then ho added : " But, Ruby, my love is a good deal older than yours." She lifted questioning eyes to him. 11 It was born on that day when you and I both took the car on the corner by your brother's house. Just think," he said, smiling " I saved you from a fall, and m retunryou stole my heart." "Well, since you have succeeded marrestino- the thief, I do not believe your loss is irreparable," Ruby returned, with a little glenm of her old pleasantry that oheered her lover immensely. " No, nothing remains but to pronounce sentence upon the culprit, and that we will reserve for the prssent. But, my darling, he continued, gravely, " I want to ask you about the near future ; do you know what Mrs Cordon's plans are?" ' "No, Walfcor, she has said but little as yet ; of ono thing, however, lam quite sure, she will not remain hero YoU ( know that ' Estello will bo quito rich -now." ' Ruby's voice faltered and broke over that i lust word. , "Yes," Walter returned, "I heard that Mr Gordon's life was heavily insured ; but wa.s it all made over to her ?" i « l Ye 3, Robert had tho matter attended to seyenl years ago."

I **I wtfd»So»]kof ib fcowttlbaofc come' to ! yott," Walter s»3d, regretfsuHy. '. ' *•'! soWjMswJi^'llctd'ho^Wcw thftfc I should evw hßediife,. ffo^i had so nrwfo money of myawftitifo&ft'; $ii*i am glad! for Estelle, [for sfte'dbes-rii^sfeeih able to H>ear being j)ootf;. aftd' flow sifctt' Will bo very ceaafortable. Jtf.eeeiawliard,- tlwMjgii, that it c©u<H only tf&metfo'&fei« tln'ottftfy Robert's deaffti* '*'It''dcfl?? seem> htwd," Walter assonfced, " tttd'yet sfcwafr a 1 V*ise provision cm your broth 1 er'f-rpatftf,- and t have no doiihfr fcli.it Mr^Gowlbn itfill l klihj<S' liberally with you. I horte>sx),' at all! even ffr;" for, darling, 1 eatfriot ertdtire thY thought? of your toiling: \n that ssKool." " row- do ' notf consider it a— disgrace?"" Kiiby £*id,< tunning a sftnrtled 100k 1 upotti him. 11 No, indeed;" far' fkstii that. I have* 1 alvfay^ fe4fc r ' that ifcwas a very noble thing* tfedo 1 ; bu^you 1 at^S'not- tßie most rugged person in tne'worfld,. a"hc# I fear tho tax upon your strength.- '' *'lt can be no VAftrse • fbs"' me than for hundreds of others," IRu by I'replied,1 ' replied, " and it will be a merw to*me'Ttow^t\» h»ve constant employitjent, for 1 1 ooalfl*^ iftuniEly bear my sorrow if I had 1 to 'live* ail* iM& life. My grief 'would wear' irte odlu" " Oh,. how I wish'l w«fcro*iWs» position to warrant my taking 'you afc od«e to a homo of our own,'' Walter 1 MgKed:; '■'•biit I shall have to be patient 1 a"< liitle* fonger. Mr Conant is giving- m-cai ooiwftttiiasion this year, besides my salawry, -and as it has been, and promises still ti> bova»b«^ season, I am likely to do very well.'- Js<yxb year, if I deßire it, ho will give mo- •an* interest in the business ; then, my darling;. Be-.ka.il pass tho sentence of the law upon* you" fewfche depredations you committed' so" 7 irt^ ago," he concluded, with a fond twirls. " Whab a penso of power nsvJJ independence it gives one to feel' competent to take care of one's self !" Ruby said, .aaraaatedly. "I have enjoyed the feel-'hq? intensely during tho last few month?;»whjib"l can see that you have grown wondeifCilfysffilf-reliant since I n'rst became acquainted with you. ' " Thanks, dear ; I knovA thWhas been something of a chango in me in tlia/ ; i're3j>ect ; and, though I have seen soitms- r^ta^b times since my good friend Mr Carpenter died, yet, in the end, I know it will' prove the best thing that could have happened to mo to have been cast upon my own* resources. But I am afraid, Ruby, that' ev^ct at fehe bosb, it n\ ill be :i long time before- 1 enn give you such a home as >ou have alv«*.y<* been accustomed to." " An elegant homo isn't the mcO sssential thing in tlie woild, by any moans; I have been very haj)py hero in this huroblfe place," Ruby responded, glancing about the small room, while the tears rushed to heir eyes. Hosv little the loss of fortune and the elefmncies of life seemed to her compared with the greater loss that had 16£fc her ?o desolate ! '•'That is very true," Walter assented, '• and I have no doubt there is a great deal of unhappiness in the proudest homes. But by the way, ha-\ c you ever learned who wa<? the purchaser of your brothers-b eautiful lesidence?" " I only know that it was appraised and turned into the hand," of Robert's, creditors, and then was placed in the hands of a broker to be sold. I never liked to question Robert, for the loss of his home- into which he had put so much of his heart and brain - was the saddest blow in the world to him." " Well, then, I have some news for you," Walter 'said, smiling, "for our friend, Mr Buggies, has bought the place jtist as it stoocT on the day you left it. Not- a thing— not even a picture or an ornament -ha& been disturbed." "Can it be possible?" cried Ruby, her sad face lighting with positive- joy for a moment. " Yes. He did not, however, intend that it should be generally known that he was tho purchaser at present, but it leaked out, as such things will. Mr Ruggles is becoming a veiy rich man." " Do you suppose that he intends to come to Philadelphia to live ?" Ruby inquired. " I cannot say. 1 have seen him only once since he and his wife wero-herc, and then only for a few moments." Ruby sighed. She know thnb that "once" was on the day of her brother's funeral, when Mr Ruggles had come, w ith many others, to pay his last frrbute to a man whom he both loved ami i^-welod. {To be Continued.)