These are the wants ol mortal man—
I cannot want them long,
For life itself is but a span,
And earthly bliss—a song.
My last great wish —ahsori.ing all—
Is, when beneath the sod,
And summoned to my final call,
The Mercy of my Ood.
Jrlwt jlto.
A BURIED SECRET.
Even in the kindly shadows of the
gathering twilight, she looked older
lhaa he, this woman of rare grace and
matchless charm, whose eyes rested
so worshipfully on the face of the man
who had thrown hinrjelf on the oushun
at her feet—older than the years
themselves would warrant fox she,
Sydney Rood, was iu reality but six
years Georgo Winston’s senior. But
six years leave their impress when
their way lies over the burning plow
shares.
There were lines upon the lovely
face, and a sadness in the beautiful
eyes, no tims unaided could have
wrought. She passed her hand now,
Lalf-bewilderingly, across her brow.
“Issorrow for me really at an
end?” she murmured. “I cannot
grasp it I”
“At an end forever, darling, if my
strength avails anything to keep it
from your door, for to night you be
long for the last time to yourself—to
morrow you belong to me I" answered
the young confident voice.
He was but 22, this boy. She was
28, and a widow. Her married life
had been one of unutterable wretch
edness. Four years before her hus
band had deserted her. Two years
later she bad learned of his death,
which had taken place in a drunken
brawl in a far Western city.
