He had been to the next farm seeking sheep.
When he came in she said, 'Good evening, Waldo. Have some coffee!' AND SHE
KISSED HIM.
"All last night I heard nothing else but 'Have some coffee; have some
coffee.' If I went to sleep for a moment I dreamed that her finger was
pressing mine; but when I woke with a start I heard her say, 'Good evening,
Waldo. Have some coffee!'
"Is this madness?
"I have not eaten a mouthful today. This evening I go and propose to her.
If she refuses me I shall go and kill myself tomorrow. There is a dam of
water close by. The sheep have drunk most of it up, but there is still
enough if I tie a stone to my neck.
"It is a choice between death and madness. I can endure no more. If this
should be the last letter you ever get from me, think of me tenderly, and
forgive me. Without her, life would be a howling wilderness, a long
tribulation. She is my affinity; the one love of my life, of my youth, of
my manhood; my sunshine; my God-given blossom.
"'They never loved who dreamed that they loved once,
And who saith, 'I loved once'?--
Not angels, whose deep eyes look down through realms of light!'
"Your disconsolate brother, on what is, in all probability, the last and
distracted night of his life.
"Gregory Nazianzen Rose.
"P.S.--Tell mother to take care of my pearl studs.
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