Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1885 — Margie's Locket. [ARTICLE]

Margie's Locket.

BY JENNIE S. JUDSON.

*Stop & minute, fairy,” cried Dick ngton, as Margie’s tiny feet danced K “Can’t you stop long enough to ■> the birth-day present I have laght?” C A birth-day present! Oh! Doctor ?k, do let me see it quick.” ‘Why so poetical? Do birth-days ng inspiration?” ‘Oh! never mind the poetry now, aw tne the present, please ?” ‘Did I say a present?” asked the i mg man, provokingly. “I fear I re made a mistake in the mode of ex- , «sion. I should have said, ‘Margie, : fair young friend, I have an article »e for which you may desire to make A some exchange,’ and then have kited in silence your reply. Imag£<ne as awaiting it now.” THow provoking you are,” said the lung girl, with a bewitching pout, “to lude me into thinking you intended to ©sent a gift, when really you only mted to swap things.” rWhat do you say to kisses for an exjange?” whispered Dick, slipping an bi about her willowy waist. “They & easily obtained, you know.” “Are they?” asked the mocking little itch, as she darted away. “Where do u propose getting them with so little •>uble ?” rVery well,” Dick crfmly replied, rebeing a jewel-case in his pocket and mplaeently surveying himself in the {rror opposite, “each one keeps his fa, and I dare say mine is the best “Will one kiss do, Doctor Dick? Just ,e?” asked Margie, stealing slowly jward him. “Behold towhat a skeleton her treatent has reduced me!” exclaimed Dick, .dressing his image in the glass, “and t, to me, a victim for years to her prices, a patient martyr beneath all »r toils, she denies a few cheap

■“Well, then, how many do you ask?” ■ “Just as many as you have years to ■by, and that is fourteen, is it not ? I ll ■lke them in installments; three a day Wktil we part, and only one right now. ■Hill that suit your majesty?” ■: Margie took one glance at the atK active jewel case, and concluded that ■he proposition was a fair one; then, H yth a laughing grace, raised rosy lips Kir the kiss. K One seal of the contract given, Dick, Kpe to his promise, opened the case Kid displayed a handsomely wrought I tain and locket. I “Oh! oh!" cried Margie, “is that tally, truly for me ? And is there a aHpicture in the locket of you, Doctor ffck?” By*Yes. I had one inserted,” he antlered, teasingly, “for you to kiss and y over when you go to boardingIfuiool. Now, you are my little capI. Fe!” clasping the chain about her E jarly neck, “and when I am far away Ej Germany, and you are at ‘that horrid E>arding-school,’ you must let this light bond sometimes remind you of ■ Wf captor." ■/“Ohl Doctor I>ick! dear Doctor I l$k!” she cried, as, the locket all for- ■ at, she threw her soft, white arms ■pout his neck and nestled her golden ■Wad close to his warm young heart, “I Mnnot —cannot give you up. Why does [Bunt Margaret let us go away, the only |rro she has to love her, her brother Ibid her little ward ? She will be so I Jty lonely, and how unhappy we all | ill be apart.” E ’■“But, Margie," he answered, looking lawn sadly into the tearful, pleading ■ yes, “we must sacrifice our pleasure ■hr the sake of an education; my pro- ■. lesion is yet to be obtained, and your liljegiate course to be gone through | itli. Only four years of separation, | ad then think of the happy meeting E “Four years!” sighed Margie, “ I Khudder when I think of it. It is an ■ je, an eternity. Oh! Doctor Dick, E Minot some change be made ?” I? “Hush, little one; dry your tears and I 0 to show ‘auntie’ your locket. Our ■ ©arts will be heavy enough at parting; it us not anticipate that sorrow now.” ■ “Perhaps I’ll have a home of my own ■Bien you come back,” laughed Margie Ikat night, in answer to fjome saucy re■Sark of Dick’s. if “A home of yofiFown," queried that ■bung man, an unmistakable frown on ■s brow. IK“Of course; isn’t it often customary l*r young girls to marry when they I save school?” was the innocent i'ellinder. ; f “Oh!” coolly, “now I understand. | .hall I bring my little German wife to / A startled glance showed Dick that Bia naughty question had hit its mark, fend, with an exultant laugh, he caught Kargie in his arms, saying: [“Promise me, little one, that no home Kai mine shall ever be yours, and I will flromise you, by all that is true, that Ifo other‘lassie “shall ever hold your lUace in my heart. ” And Margie gladly promised. i Four years and a half! and what Khanges had been wrought! g Dear Aunt Margaret had left her ■taH&ly home for one that was far more KL; “Doctor Dick" was far away over Ea treacherous sea, and Margie sat Enna in her splendid room, gazing with bournful eyes out into the thickenMHer thoughts were on the happy IL R t tmd sadly she compared the love Ebich surrounded her then to the half!|enrt«M>nH coldness bestowed by the [lieUni relatives (whose home was hers >

“Doctor Dick has forgotten me quite, ” she thought; “his long silence gives sufficient proof of that. Alice and her mother only care for my presence here on account of my wealth; Aunt Margaret is lost to me forever, and I am indeed alone. My heart cries out for affection, why should a mere childish promise debar me its warmth, its balm ? I will no longer delay; Donald Draxton shall have his answer to-night.” No queen ever bore a more regal presence than Margie, as robed in shining satin, diamonds gemming her hair, her arms, her breast, she stood alone that evening in an alcove of the library, her hands pressed to her heart, while its glad refrain, “He is here, he is here,” made music in her ears. “I am sure I saw her enter this room,” she heard her cousin Alice say, “so 1 will leave you to your fate. But make your salutations brief, Dr. Langton, as I shall call for you in a very short time.” Was it possible that this handsome, well-developed man advancing toward Margie could be the merry, boyish “Doctor Dick” of four years agone? How could she longer doubt when both her hands were clasped in his, and he cried, “Margie, Margie, have I found aou at last? is this indeed my little Margie?” “Just so sure as this is Doctor Dick,” was the joyous response, as she lifted sweet, welcome eyes to his, all remembrance of the sad six months of silence blotted out. “Do you know what a weary, cruel search I have had for you ?” he asked. “ ’Twas the merest chance that revealed to me your whereabouts. Why have you sent me no address ?” “You speak in enigtnas,” Margie answered proudly, withdrawing her hands from his. “Why should I have thrust my address upon you when my last two letters have met with no response?" “Letters!” he exclaimed. “I have looked in vain for letters from you. After the news of my sifter’s death I fell very, ’very ill, and as soon as able to travel, went to Norway, where I wrote time and again not only to you, but to your solicitor, but all to no avail. A month ago I came to America and since then ! have sought you everywhere. A few days since I chanoed upon your name in the society notes of this city’s paper, and straightway I came as fast as st am would bear me to see and talk with you once more. And now,” eagerly, “tell me all about yourself, and why this cruel silence has occurred.”

“No time now for an interchange of confidences/* laughed Alice, as with merry grace she took Dr. Langton’s arm; “for you are chosen leader of the german, Dr. Langton, and Mr. Draxton is looking for Margie. ” “A handsome pair!” remarked Mr. Draxton, as, after a moment s gay parley, Dr. Langton and Alice moved away. “I suppose you have heard, Miss Margie, the rom ntic story of their summer tour through Switzerland, and its happy result. It has been known for some time that Dr. Langton was Miss Alice's fiance, but I have never seen him until to-night.” Had a goblet of living water been held to Margies lips only to be rudely dashed away ? A moment before she would have sworn that the woids, “My little Margie,” uttered so caressingly, had sprung from a heart full of love for her alone, but now, oh heaven I—the bitter pain she long had known was lurking in her heart again, and this cruel certainty was harder to bear than her former suspense. Dr. Langton’s eyes followed her from afar all evening, only to see her always surrounded by a group of admirers, and prominent among them the handsome figure of Donald Draxton. Missing her once, he sought the conservatory, hoping to find her there, when these low fragments of a conversation were borne to him: “Margie,” said a voice he recognized as that of Donald Draxton, “I beg of you to listen to me once again. I can not bear to see the desolate look upon your fa«e that twice to-night has rested there. Darling, you are lonely; can you not trust your happiness to my keeping ? My love is ” “Mr. Draxton, ” came a low voice a moment later, “you are my dear friend, the one whom most of all I trust. Shall I ” And that was all, no farther clew was given to the answer on which his hope of happiness trembled.

A pallid face, he scarcely knew as his own, confronted him in a mirror as he turned to leave the room. And when Margie met him a half-hour later all the old boyish brightness had died from his manner, leaving him a coldly elegant man of the world. A thin veil of reserve grew up between the two after that, as slight and intangible as the cobweb which barred the enchanted princess from freedom, and as difficult to breathe through. Margie' grew paler as a week wore on, and a passion of pain often filled her lovely eyes as she saw Ahce and Dr. Langton constantly together. One day, at a gav May-day gathering, her temper broke l>eneath the strain so ruthlessly imposed upon it. In passing under some low-drooping boughs her necklace was caught, and all her efforts to extricate it proved vain. “Permit me to unfasten the chain for you, Miss Margie.” said Donald Dr axton, springing to the rescue. “Do not hesitate to break the limbs, Mr. Draxton; the chain has been so long a source of annoyance that I will gladly be freed from its hateful fetters;” “Oh! that mysterious chain,” laughed Alice, “locked and the key lost. Would not some absent lover be rejoiced to know that you were compelled to wear his picture night and day?” “I fear I shall hart you if I break the links,” said Donald. “Is there no other way?” “I have no such tender scruples, Mr. Daxton, provided Miss Stratton can only be relieved from what she terms these ‘hateful fetters,’” said Dr. Langton, as, with a white, set face, and a stifled “permit me,” he wrenched the chain in two. Margie turned swiftly away, and the glittering gold of the necklace shone on the green sward below. “I shall appropriate it tempoiarily,” 4

! said Dr. Langton, and, stooping hastily, he picked up the chain and attached it to his vest, with the jesting remark, “There! Miss Alice, do you not consider it immensely becoming?” An hour later he had left the gay company and strolled away in the woods. There he gave himself up to painful thought. “Day after day,” he communed with himself, “have I w-aited for some slight but positive clew to her answer to Draxton on that eventful night. Day after day I have borne tortures in silence, but this morning the climax was reached when the necklace once so cherished was tauntingly left at my feet. And now Margie’s lips and not her manner shall decide my fate for me.” But what sound was this breaking upon the stillness? He raised a startled glance, and there, as if in answer to his thoughts, he saw Margie advancing toward him. She was quite oblivious to his presence, and walked with a slow and meditating air. All pride had left her beautiful face. The lashes heavy with unshed tears, the droop of the lovely lips, lent a child-like grace to her perfect features, and as Dr. Langton gazed at her all trace of resentment left his heart. “Margie,” he quietly said. “Do not be alarmed,” noting her look of startled fear. “I had hoped to have an interview with you to-day; chance has aided me. May I speak with you now ?” A look of proud, quick pain met his burning glance, as she replied, “Dr. Langton, I may be familiar with all you have to say. Rumor sometimes forestalls the deepest confidences. Perhaps in this case it has spared you the trouble of communication. “Rumor!” with pained intentness. “ What can you mean ? Heavin knows I have borne a terrible weight of suspense for the past few days, but I did not know I had so worn my heart upon my sleeve that others had noted and commented upon it.” “I referred,” coldly, “to your engagement with my cousin, Alice Montcalm. ” “My engagement with Alice!” exclaimed Dick, a great light breaking in upon him; “are you dreaming, Margie? A Dr. Langley is your cousin’s choice; but, natural as is the mistake, how -could you think I could so easily forget a promise made to a beautiful, goldenhaired child who had nestled in my inmost heart?” Had she, then, been cruelly mistaken ? Was the light breaking in for her, too? Too agitated to speak, she turned her radiant face away; but this restless suitor would brook no silence. “Margie.” he cried, “why do you not speak?” Then, seizing her unresisting hand, he added, impetuously: “One thing you will tell me straightway, for I will not bear this torture of suspense another hour. Has Donald Draxton a claim upon your heart? Oh! darling,” with indrawn breath, “how could I bear to give you up ?” Margie lifted a shy, happy glance to his and whispered, “Do you forget that some one else had made a promise, too ? Was she more likely to forget than you?” “My dearest," he cried, as he clasped her close to his breast, “have you then loved me all the while ? My heart was tern with anguish because I thought you had forgot.” “Doctor Dick, may I have my locket back?” was Margie’s shame-faced request a moment later. “I have had such a pain at my heart since I gave it up.”

“Oh!” with a happy laugh, “and yet how short a time ago its fetters were so ‘hateful.’ Confess now, sweetest, were you not a little jealous when you made that remark?” “Perhaps,” conceded Margie; “but my face did not half so much resemble a thunder-cloud as yours did. Please,” she whispered, “won’t you give me back my locket ?” “Yes, willingly,” he replied, “provided it be redeemed on the original terms. Give me one kiss, darling, and the locket shall be yours.” So Margie, as once before, raised tender lips to his and gave the kiss which not only won back her locket but bound her for life to “Doctor Dick.”