Page:The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses.djvu/117



Don't you remember that long, last waltz, with its sobbing, sad refrain? Don't you remember that last good-by, and the dear eyes dim with tears? Don't you remember that golden dream, with never a hint of pain, Of lives that would blend like an angel-song in the bliss of the coming years?

Oh, what have I lost! What have I lost! Ethel, forgive, forgive! The red, red rose is faded now, and it's fifty years ago. 'Twere better to die a thousand deaths than live each day as I live! I have sinned, I have sunk to the lowest depths—but oh, I have suffered so!

Hark! Oh, hark! I can hear the bells! . . . Look! I can see her there, Fair as a dream. . . but it fades. . . And now—I can hear the dreadful hum