nature and possesses a golden heart,but she is a mere slave to her emotions, and the proof is the way shebecame interested in you, my boy. I do not want to be harsh onher--no--she has befriended me more than once; but, Edward, she has aright to cause her own misfortune, not yours. It was through anaccident of this kind that the doors of the stage were opened to me.I was young then, young as you are. I loved a woman, and she said sheloved me. I left everything to follow her on the stage, and the onlysunshine of my life was during the first few years of our marriedlife. But what is a couple of years of happiness when a whole life ofmisfortune is to follow? I will not tell you what happened," said theold man, feelingly, "but she tired of me. Her emotional soul made herheart beat for another, and we parted! She died a miserabledeath--craving my pardon, which I gave her, because she was not to blame.It was her nature, and her vocation was conducive to such things: I havenever told this story to another, and to-night, when I tell you, itis because I want to save you-for your sake, for your parents'sake--for your sweetheart's sake!"
Edward was stunned. He could not speak; he simply stared at thespeaker, who wiped his eyes.
After a moment of silence he said, "My God, what will I do?"
"Young man, what would you have done had you not met that woman?"
"I would have gone West," he answered.
"Well--go West now. Go, before she comes back and has you under herinfluence. Go, and you will feel all the better in time."
"But it would be dishonorable to go in this way, with her money,"said Edward.
"Ah! would it not be much more dishonorable to use her money to bringunhappiness to her and to yourself? And you can repay that moneylater--in fact, you will repay her much sooner if you go away than ifyou stay and go on the stage."
In his heart Edward felt that his adviser was right, and he thoughthe could bear the voice of Marie Louise saying, "He is right."
"I'll follow your advice," said Edward, shaking the old man's handtenderly.
"God bless you, my boy! I feel that I have done a good act in my latedays of life, and I know that you will thank the day you met me whenlater you think of this. Where will you go?"
"I don't know," answered Edward; trying to smile.
"I have a friend out in Montana who owns a big ranch. He is an oldclassmate of mine and I often go and spend the summer months withhim. I will write a letter which you will take to him. He will giveyou something to do; it may not be very fine work, but I willguarantee that it will be healthy and conducive to happiness. Do youlike horses?"
"Do I?" spoke up Edward, brightening considerably; "I should say Ido."
"Good! Meet me here to-night at eight o'clock," and the old manwalked out.
Edward lingered at the club for a short time, then went to hisboarding-house, where he found his friend Ben waiting for him.
"Ben, I am going to leave the city," he said, after sitting down.
"Going to New York, I suppose," answered the Russian, smiling, andthinking that Edward had decided to follow Nellie.
"No, sir, I am going West. I have decided to quit the idea of goingon the stage."
"What! Going West? What's the matter; Ed, are you crazy?"
"No, I don't think I am crazy, but I may have been," and then heexplained the whole thing to his astonished friend, who finallyagreed with him, but was sorry to part with Edward, and told him so.
"Never mind, old boy, we will meet again, when we have settled inlife," said Edward, beginning to arrange his trunk for his earlydeparture.
After supper he and the Russian walked to the Actors' Club, where theold man was waiting, with a letter addressed to
Mr. Frank Goodnow,Grass Village,Montana.
The three sat and talked until late. The Russian took a great fancyto the old actor, who in turn was favorably impressed by Ben. Thismeeting was the beginning of their friendship, and they visited eachother, finding much pleasure in their relations.
It was decided that Edward would leave the next morning, and the oldactor agreed to be at the station to bid him good-by.
When they returned to their room, Ben went to bed, but Edward satdown writing letters until late in the night. Among these letters,one was difficult to write satisfactorily, and he wrote many beforehe was satisfied with the one he was to send to Nellie. He baddecided not to let her know his whereabouts; this, at the suggestionof his friend, the old actor. The letter he decided to mail toNellie, read as follows:
"DEAR AND KIND FRIEND NELLIE: After much thinking, I have come to theconclusion that I was not born to be an actor, and furthermore, thatit would not be right for you and me to carry on our little romance.Life is not a dream, and while I have greatly enjoyed our little tripin dreamland, I foresee the day when we would both have to face lifein its reality, and I feel that bright as life has been with you thusfar, the day is not far distant when we both would see the clouds ofunhappiness accumulate over our heads--and I know it is better topart in sunshine than in the shadow of unhappiness. I cannot findwords to express how grateful I feel toward you for your extremekindness to me. I leave it to your kind heart to imagine thegreatness of my gratitude, and the immensity of the sacrifice I nowmake. The moments spent in your presence were the happiest of mylife, and my soul never knew how much a human being could enjoy thehappy dreams of life until I came under your influence. I will alwaysremember you as the brightest star in the firmament of my life, and Iwill pray that you may never know the bitterness of misfortune. Witha last loving kiss, good-by, and forgive me! My friend, Ben Oresky,will some day pay you back the loans you made me."Yours, with best wishes for your future happiness, EDWARD."
He could not help but shed tears as he sealed this letter, but at thesame time he felt satisfied. He felt like a man after accomplishing ahard duty; but it was done and he was almost proud of the fact.
The next morning, at the station where Ben accompanied him, they metthe old actor who, true to his word, was there to bid him good-by.
Once more Edward was carried to an unknown country, but this time hefelt easy. He was strong with the feeling of having sacrificed muchfor the sake of his duty, and already there seemed to be much moreroom in his heart for Marie Louise, of whom he could not thinkwithout blushing. After a day and a half of fast traveling he arrivedat Grass Village where he was met by Mr. Goodnow, to whom he hadwritten. This gentleman was a real western type, and Edward waspleased with the cordial manner in which he was received. Afterbeing taken to the house, Edward gave Mr. Goodnow his letter ofrecommendation from his old friend, and went upstairs to a room towash himself. When he came down, he met the whole family, and felt athome from the first.
While Edward was getting acquainted with his new duties, his letterto Nellie had reached her, and as she read it, she felt hot tearscome to her eyes, and for an instant her heart felt as if pierced byan arrow. She had never realized until then how much she really lovedthat young man. As she eat holding his letter in her hands, she sawher dream of anticipated happiness crumbled to pieces, and such adespair as had never before entered her soul came to her. "My God! MyGod!" she said, and then closed her eyes.
The heart of a woman is a strange thing, and Nellie's heart was oneof the strangest. Having never before known what love was, she hadall at once felt her whole being infected by a mighty passion, apassion such as no human being can feel twice, and now the object ofher love had vanished. He was gone without even saying where. Hersorrow was almost as great as her love, and from this time NellieKing was a different woman. She broke her engagement in New York andcame back to Chicago, where she tried in vain to learn where Edwardhad gone. The Russian had promised Edward not to reveal where he was,and he was true to his promise, hard as it was to refuse Nellie, towhom he owed his situation.
For twelve months Edward had lived on Mr. Goodnow's ranch, and hisreputation as the best and most fearless rider on the ranch, as wellas the most graceful, was a recognized fact, and that was enough tomake him popular. His little mare, a perfect type of that class ofhorses, called
"bronchos;" was the prettiest and swiftest on theranch, and he had named her "Nellie," and indeed, any woman wouldhave been proud to give her name to such a beauty. There were twelvecowboys on Goodnow's ranch, and every week, one of them had a dayoff, which was spent at his own discretion.
Cowboys as a class are a queer lot of men. They are fearless andbrave to excess, and being isolated from society so much, they areoften eccentric; but their eccentricity has its charms.
The fraternal feeling which exists among these men is of the genuinekind, and they are exceedingly generous in helping each other in caseof misfortune. They practice all sorts of manly sports, and the featsthey can accomplish on horseback are wonderful. It is an easy matterfor some of them to lean on one side of their saddle while going at agreat rate of speed, and pick
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