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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1888)
a THE WEST SHORE. aide was it . i.i.a trarmrn t i ,.i iha rirint'-iikc ""- (.ftn' hTfjinp Morris grave. . i.. .1 imn ,f the mountain .l,iiLff llph the wow in many places , and the lillJlr,.M tinkling a .wiling protest agamB 11, icyUnv r, that w reluctantly let go their hold ujKn it It m Jt MfuiDR Vn I return! from town; a 11.1 !riw i-rvadl the atmosphere, and the tnit of c Imu U hung low aWe my mountain nest, bo that U Ut Man of the scene did not stand out itbdMiirlnww; M w I pl around the cabin, I f,ro Hrif. b Uko a IT at my lonely Damo c', I glared up at tb bank of the stream to where, only a frw j arid away, wan MornY grave. " Ah," I thought, M Maaon has indeed worked well in rny a!nM-r;r" A b.ly.built wall of atone, alwut two feet high, urrturjJl th grave, and the freshly-hewn surface of a runtic rr gleam! white in the twilight' I ml a littl cIiimt, ami bent down to decipher the i:rrij.tion, jaintod in lampblack, on the cross. At a f;rt glufirv I itartl violently, then shaded my t-y with the Udiof that thonc hitherto faithful orU bad deceived me. But no -there it was, in j lain blark and nhito- l;oY MA"ON, (irrat beavaa! Wm I dreaming, or had Roy Ma n d-v:dl to the sacrilegious coarseness of rtratinga jWt a!ve the lat resting place of a f mrawl ! In a wLirl of digutt and lewilderment I turned and tr.. into tho bmiiM Maann was Bitting by the M k ui. tly writing. He liftM his head and smiled m I rntrrcL " Ah ! )ou arc a little earlier than I exacted, or I would have U fiw tAiil, and the kettle boil. U f," be Without untieing bii remark, I walked straight to bun an I drrnatidol - " Mu.,0, ,!.t j,,, it ,,., . tblt bKr. t!.fo U0 j,r Miirrii?" " Ob. ) UB U) p,,,, ,,,,, ;"7U1 '!!. M.iiWt lifting hi eyee i . 'n. you ran rv, i )'o-can not have aue he ) to tav rV . i it ..uaereTraflBome- iiic.au . . ,,f i , , . ' uav( thing in their depths that checked my very thoughts. unt vh Blake? What is it of which you think I can not be capable?" There was a tremor in his voice, and a look in his eyes which went to my heart; but I answered- Forgive me, Mason, but if it be a ghastly jest, it is unworthy of you." He arose from his seat, and laying a hand gently upon my arm, said, slowly it j8 no jest it is a bit of necessary scene-shifting in one of life's tragedies." I was silent, feeling that the time had come when Roy Mason was going to reveal to me something of his past life. That the story would be one worth lis tening to, I did not doubt; the inner history of such a man, I thought, could not be otherwise. In a mo- " Sit down, Blake, and rest, while I make a cup of tea. After that, with your permission, I will have something to say to you." Half an hour later, when the lengthening spring twilight had settled into night, and the pine knots were blazing on the hearth, I sat within the circle of their varying light and listened to what Koy Mason had to tell me. " Blake, I know you like me," he began, abruptly. " In the first moment of our acquaintance, when you turned impulsively and grasped my hand, my trust went out to you, and I felt that In you I should have a life-long friend. I know that, week by week, ever since that first meeting, your liking for me has grown and strengthened, until now your heart aches, as does my own, at the prospect of parting. Knowing your feelings thus, and judging of their strength by my own, is it strange that I venture, in this last hour, to ask at your hands a favor of very peculiar nature, and one I could ask of no one else in all the world? " In silence, I held my hand to him, and in silence ho clasped it No words were needed. When he apoke again, the words came slowly, as if each was being well weighed before finding utterance. " Blake, I am going to ask you to leave that cross standing out there, with its inscription, and never re veal to living mortal that the name does not belong to the poir body lying beneath it" At these strange words I turned, with a nervous art, and scanned the speaker's face. He smiled, the wtot smile imaginable, and said- M.J ke' 1 am not Rented, though I do not Z y.0Uf for the thought I know that, from your but TD 'nmy r01Uest mQ9t 8eem an outrageous one; you will not refuse me, will you?" in, hSJ& bck b the d atd fac- Um2 10 read the meag in his eyes. 1 m06t 8Cemea 40 I could not have heard aright