Their college days were drawing to a close; And nearer came the day when these two friends Must each go out to meet the sterner life-- The one to fill the place prepared for him; The other, empty handed and alone. Their intercourse--to each a priceless boon-- Had ne’er been marred by shadow of distrust. A diamond careless thrown upon the sand, May change the gentle current of a stream. And so it chanced the even current of Their fellowship was broken. LOLA VAIL. Lola Vail,-- Her father, a rich planter, owned a vast Estate upon the banks of that great stream Which gathers up the waters of the land And sweeps them onward to the gulf. Half way To that strange southern land whence Cedric came Was Lola born--a schoolmate, friend and guest Of Dora Lee, and much like her; or as she Would appear with three more years of summers’ Sun to paint with ruddier glow the bloom of Health upon her cheek, and tint with deeper Gold her ample braids; in purity of Thought and loyalty, they also were alike. Lola’s mother died when she was young, and Her father, bringing home a Creole wife, Unwittingly neglected her; and thought His duty done when he provided for The child a nurse--an aged Octoroon-- A pious soul, who gave to Lola all The love she knew in her sweet childhood life; And filled the tender mind with holy thoughts And pure. And Lola daily gathered flowers And, weeping, laid them on her mother’s grave. When she was older grown, her father took Her to the north, she and her faithful nurse, To bide until she grew to womanhood. Her education finished, her father Called her home, but she begged to tarry, yet A few more days and visit with her friend. Thus it chanced to come about that Cedric Vaughn and Homer Lee met sweet Lola Vail And loved her, each in his own way--Cedric, With all the fervor of his sincere soul-- And Homer worship’d her, forgetting for The time his own betrothed. Cedric told her All, she sitting by his side in shady Bower, upon a wooded isle, their boat drawn Up below upon the pebbly beach. He Told the story of his life, as one a Painful duty would perform. “She must know The truth.” And keeping nothing back, he told Her of his birth and lineage--which was Equal to her own--his loss of home and Wealth; his lofty aspirations; high hopes Now partly realized, though penniless; But he was going back to that same land Where he had delved; and there would he employ The knowledge gained of placer, drift and ledge, And engineering, to locate and bring Forth rich treasure from the earth, and in a Few short years would he return with wealth and Build a costly home for her in some great City,--she might name the place. “Could she love Him? Would she wait for him?” She answered not By spoken word, but when she lifted her Fond eyes to his, he read the sweet response.