312 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



July 



AS THE SUN WENT DOWN. 



Two soldiers lay on the battlefield 

 At night when the sun went down. 



One held a lock of thin gi'ay hair, 

 And one held a lock of brown. 



One thou^'ht of his sweetheart back at 

 home, 



Happy and young and gay, 

 And one of his mother left alone, 



Feeble and old and gray. 



Each in tlie thought that a woman cared 



Murmured a prayer to God, 

 Lifting his gaze to the blue above, 



There on the battle sod. 



Each in the joy of a woman's love 

 Smiled through the pain of death, 



Murmuied tlie sound of a woman's name, 

 Though with his parting breath. 



Pale grew the dying lips of each. 



Then, as the sun went down, 

 One kissed a lock of thin gray hair, 



And one kis.sed a. lock of brown. 



—Town Talk. 



THE DEMAIXE DYE. 



"Tell," the girl pleaded coasiugly, 

 tvitb her soft cheek against his. 



"Ask jue auythiug but that and I 

 will grant it," answered her lever. 

 "That is a matter which concerns my 

 honor, and so not even for you can I' ' — 



"Oh," she interrupted pettishly. "I 

 am sick of hearing that cant about your 

 honor. You only promised your father, 

 and I am sure if he had known me he 

 would have told me, but you — you are 

 as hard as adamant. You can't care for 

 me properly, or you would do what I 

 ask you — the very first thing I have 

 ever asked you," she ended pettishly. 



Alan Deuiaine .smiled at the pretty 

 exhibition of childish wrath. Then he 

 said gravely, yet firmly: 



"It is no use, Elsie. You are causing 

 both yourself and me needless pain by 

 constantly teasing me on this matter. 

 Once and for all I cannot tell you, so 

 now let us talk of .something pleasant. 

 What is the last uevf gown like?' he 

 ended, smiling lovingly down at her. 



The girl looked at him, a curious 

 glance, half menace, half malice, then, 

 veiling her eyes, drooping before his 

 ardent glance, she allovv-ed herself to be 

 coaxed, flattered and petted into a seem- 

 ingly forgetful mood. 



"1 woncrer way me ntn© witcn is so 

 eager to know the secret — a trade secret 

 too?" thought Demaine to himself that 

 night as he smoked a quiet cigar. "A 

 childish whim, I suppose, or woman's 

 curiosity." 



And, so thinking, he dismissed the 

 subject from his mind. 



But he would not have dismissed it 

 quite so easily if he could have looked 

 into a distant chamber in anotlier part 

 of the house and seen a little fury ex- 

 citedly pacing the floor and murmuring 

 to herself: 



"I will get to know it yet, whether 

 by fair means or foul it matters little, 

 but I will get it, and then" — 



"I must be off to the works at once," 

 Alan said next morning to his mother 

 and sisters. "Tell Elsie, when she 

 comes down, that I am awfully sorry 

 not to be able to take her for a drive, as 

 we arranged yesterday, but something 

 unexpected has turned up, and J am com- 

 pelled to attend to it. No eye like the 

 master's — eh, mother?" he finished 

 laughingly. 



Mrs. Demaine looked fondly at her 

 sou. 



"You are just like your father," she 

 Baid proudly. "It was aye duty before 

 pleasure with him, but I'll tell the 

 lassie, Alan, and maybe you'll be 

 home by dinner time." 



"I can't say, mother," he answered 

 cheerily; "only wait for me." 



And then they heard the hall door 

 close and knew he was off. The day 

 wore away. Elsie declined Enid De- 

 maine's offer to drive her in place of 

 Alan and went off for a long walk by 

 herself. Enid and Cicely looked curi- 

 ously after her as she walked down the 

 drive, and then Cicely said half dream- 

 ily: 



"I do think there is something odd 

 about Elsie. I wish Alan had not fallen 

 in love with her. Do you know," low- 

 ering her voice to an aweslricken whis- 

 per, "I'm afraid she is not trust- 

 worthy. " 



When Alan came home that evening, 

 he seemed in uproariously good spirits. 

 He laughed and chatted and joked and 

 teased until his mother declared that 

 he was "fey. " After dinner he invited 

 Elsie out on to the terrace, to "see the 

 moonlight," lie declared mendaciously. 



Very fair and sweet tiie girl looked 



