HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Advocate, 1887-08-04, Page 6A
Memoriam.
To the Heroic' Engineer, H. Donnelly, who died
at ide post 111 the recent disastrous collision
ot Thomas:
Xo:the eadibeer audheo be all Praise 941d pr
due,
eteed firm, despising danger, to lilo Poet and
duty true;
With his hand upon the lever, firm the grand old
hero stocxl;
Just to eave the train he perished; tried his best,
did all he could,
Lifeje him was just as ewoot as our life is to us
all,
But he bravely stood and perished gave his life
at duty's call;
"Twee quixotic, rash and foolish "—thus the
bitter cynics say;
Such his praise, because to BONO them he had
thrown his life away.
-``Ile was half intoxicated"—such the words that
others use;
Bitterly they thus revile him; thus the dead man
they abuse.
Ohl thank God, that he is resting deep below the
crumbling clay,
Sleeping sound within his coffin, little reeks he
what they say.
Shaine upon the soandal-mougers, shame upon
their cowardly race;
They, if Donnelly wore living, dared not say it to
his face.
Take one of these base revilers, place the lover in
his hand,
Place him in the same position as poor Donnelly
did stand,
Lot us watch our noble cynic—see his coward's.
cheek turn pale ;
Little thinks he of his duty, little thinks he 01
the train,
Not like he who stood and perished—filled a
hero's noble grave,
All our cynic thinks is simply his own cowardly
life to saye.
Just because he did his duty, to WS 1,0St stood
nobly true,
Bitter words and harsh revilings are the perished
horo's duo;
Such his praise and such his honor,he who feared
not death and pain,
He who nobly, bravely, grandly perished in the
raging dame.
Thus his epitaph should read: "Lies 11 hero
underneath,
One whoa° noble brows deserved the victorious
hero' s wreath."
One who died upon his engine, true and faithful
to the last,
Calm and cool, as swiftly forward to death's
doom his engine dashed,
With his hand upon the throttle faced grim
death without a fear.
Oh I may angels crown with laurels the name of
Donnelly, Engineer.
GE°. T. PArenEE (aged 14),
G. T. B., Niagara Falls, Ont.
Sth, HUGH'S LOVES.
CHAPTER•X.I.
THE WEE WIFAE.
And that same God who made" your face so fair
And gave your woman's heart its tenderness,
So shield the blessing He implanted there,
That it may never turn to your distress,
And never cost you trouble or despair,
Nor granted leave tbe granted comfortless,
But like a river blest where'er it flows,
Be still receiving while it still bestows.
Jean Ingelow.
SO far, that my doom is, I love thee still,
Lot no man dream, but that I love thee still.
Tennyson's Guinevere.
"Shall we soon be home, Hugh ?" •
"Very soon, Wee Wifie."
"Then please put down that great
cracking paper behind which yon have
been asleep the last two hours, and talk to
me a little. I want to know the names of
the villages through which we are passing,
the big houses, and the people who live
in them, that I may not enter my dear
new home a perfect stranger to its
surroundings ;" and Lady Redmond shook
out her furs, and Settled herself anew with
fresh dignity.
Sir Hugh yawned for the twentieth
time behind his paper, rubbed his eyes,
.stretched himself, and then let down the
window and looked absently down the long
'country road winding through the stubble
land; and then at the eddying heaps
of dry crisp leavesnow blown by the strong
November wind under the horses' feet,
and now whirling in crazy circles like
witches on Walpurgis's night, until after
a shivering remonstrance from his little
wife he put up the window with a jerk,
and threw himself back with' a discontented
air on the cushions. —
"There is nothing to be seen for a mile
or two, Fay, and it is growing dusk now ;
it will soon be too dark to distinguish a
shagle object ;" and so saying, he relapsed
into silence, and took up the obnoxious
paper again, though the words were
scarcely legible in the twilight; while the
young bride tried to restrain her weariness,
and sat patiently in her corner. Poor
Hugh, he was already secretly repenting
of the hastystep he had taken ; two months
of Alpine scenery, of ,quaint old German
cities, of rambling through galleries of art
treasures with his child -bride, and Hugh
had already wearied of his new bonds.
All at once he had awakened from his brief
delusion with an agony of remembrance,
with a terrible heart -longing and home-
sickness, with a sense of satiety and
vacuum. Fay's gentleness and beauty
palled on him; her artless questioning
fatigued hire. In his secret soial he cried
out that she was a mere child and no mate
for him, and that he wanted Margaret.
If he had only told his young wife, if he
had confided to her pure soul the secret
that burthened his, child as she was, she
would have understood and pitied and
forgiven him; the very suffering would
lave given her added womanliness And
gained his respect, and throughthat bitter
knowledge, honestly told and generously
received, a new and better Fay would
lave risen to win her husband's love. s.
But he did not tell her—such a thought
never entered his mind. So dayby .daY
her youth and innocent gaiety only
alienated him more, until he grew to look
upon her as a mere child, who must be
petted and humored, but who could never
be his friend.
Yes, he was bringing home his bride to
Redmond Hall, and that bride was not
Margaret. In place of Margaret'sgrand
face, framed in its dead -brown hair and
deep, pathetic eyes, was a childish face,
with a small rose -bud month that WAS just
now quiVering and plaintive.
"Dear Hugh, 1 ani Eto very tired, and
you will not talk to izie," in a sad babyish
voice.
Will talking rest you, Birdie," asked
Hugh, dropping his paper and taking the
listless little hand kindly,
Fay dropped her head, for she Wa0
ashamed of the bright drops that stole
through her lashes from very weariness.
Hugh would think her babyish end fretful.
She must not forget she wag Lady
Redmond ; so she answered, without looking
IIP,
-" We have been travelling since daybreak
thie Merning you know, Hugh, and it is
all so fresh and strange to me, and I want
to hear year voice to make it win real
eoraehow '" perhaps I feel stupid bepause I
ara tired; but I had an odd fanny just now
that it was all dream, and that ; Phouid
wake up in ray little room at the cottage
and find myself again Fay Mord:mint."
" Is net the new name Prettier! a(Pir 2"
observed her husband, gently.
Fay colored ,and hesitated; and finally
hid her face in shy fashion on Hugh's
shoulder, while she glanced at the little
gold ring that phone go brightly in the
dusk.
"Pay Redmond," she whisperea. " Oh
yes, it is far prettier," and a tender smile
came to her face, an expression of wonder-
ful beauty. "Did ever name Found half so
eweet as that ?"
What is nay Wee Wifie thinking
about ?" asked Hugh at last, rousing him-
self with difficulty from another musing
fit.
Fay raised her head with a little dignity.
"1 wish you would not call me that,
H111,12.'
"Not call you what ?" in genuine
astonishment. "Why, are you not my
Wee Wifie ? I think it is the best possi-
ble name I could find for you; is it not
pretty.yeenoughtfer your ladyship ?"
Yes,but is so childish; and will make
people smile, and Aunt Griselda would be
phooked, and," but here she broke off,
flushed and looking much distressed.
Nay, give me all your reasons," said
Hugh, kindly, " I cannot know alt that is
in my little wife's heart yet." But Hugh,
as he said this, sighed involuntarily; as he
thought how little he bared to trace the
workings of that innocent young mind.
The gentleness of histone gave Fay
courage.
"1 don't know, of course—at least I for-
get—but I am really sure that—that—, The
Polite Match -Maker' would not consider it
right." . •
What 2" exclaimed Hugh, .opening his
eyes wide acid regarding Fay with amaze);
ment.
" The Polite Match -Maker,' deer,"
faltered Fay, " the book that Aunt Gribeldif
gave me to study when I was engaged, be-
cause she said it contained alt the nebes-
eery and fundamental rules for well-bred
young couples. To be sure she smiled; and
said it was a little old-fashioned; but I was
so anxious to learn the rules perfectly that
I read it over three or four times."
" And , The Polite Mitch -Maker " wOuld.
not approve of Wee Wide, you think P"and'
Sir Hugh tried to repress a smile.
"Oh, I 'am sure of it," she' retarned,
seriously; " the forms of address were .so
different." •
"Give me an example, then, • or I. can
hardly profit bythe'riale3/4i,•
Fay had no need td' consideF; but she
hesitated foe all that., She was never -sure
how Hugh would take thinge when he had
that look on his face. She did not want
him to laugh at her.
" Of.course, it is old-fashioned, as Aunt
Griselda says; but I know the Match -
Maker ' considered Honored Wife,' or
Dearest Madam,' the correct form of ad-
dress." And as Hugh burst out laughing,
she continued, in a slightly injured tone—
"Of course I know that people do not use
those terms now, but all the same I am
sure Aunt Griselda would not think Wee
Wifie sufficiently respectful,"—and here
Fay looked ready to cry—" and though the
book is old-fashioned she said many of the
rules were excellent." ,
But, Fay," remonstrated her husband,
" doesit not strike you that the rules must
be obsolete, savoring of the days of Sir
Charles Grandison and Clarissa Harlowe ?
Pshaw !" with a frown, "1 forgot I was
gauging a child's intellect. Well," turning
to her," what is your busy little mind
hatching now ?"
"])ear Hugh," stammered Fay timidly,
"1 know I am very ignorant, and I ought
to know better, and. I will rook In the
dictionary as soon as 1 but I do not
know the meaning of the word obsolete."
" Pshaw 1" again muttered Sir ,Hugh ;
then aloud, "the term, honored madam,
signifies disused, out of date, ancient, anti-
quated, antique, iieglected and so on."
"Ah, Hugh, now I know you are laugh-
ing at me; but," rather anxiously," The
Match -Maker' cannot be all wrong, can
it? It is only what you call absolete."
"My dear child," answered Hugh,
gravely, "you can trust your husband's
judgment, I hope, before even this wonder-
ful book—in this matter I am sure you
can; and in my opinion the prettiest name
I could have selected is this 'Wee Wide.'
It pleases me," continued Hugh, his fine
features working with secret pain. " It is
no name of the past, it touches on no hope.
for fortune, and it reminds me of my little
wife's claim to forbearance and sympathy
from her extreme youth and ignorance of
the world. To others you may be Lady
Redmond, but to me you must ever be my
Wee Wide."
Fay clasped his neck with a little sob.
"Yes, you shall call me that. I know I
am only a silly ignorant little thing, and
you are so grand and wise; but you love
your foolish little wife, do younot, Hugh 2"
Yes, of course ;" but as Hugh
hushed the rosy lips with that silencing
kiss, his conscience felt an uneasy twinge.
Did he really love her? Was such fond -
flees worth the acceptance of any woman,
when, with all his efforts, he could scarcely
conceal his weariness of her society, and
already the thought of the life-long tie that
bound.thein together was becoming intoler-
able to him? But he shut his ears to the
aeousingvoice that was ever whispering to
him that his fatal error would bring its
punishment. Well, he was responsible,
humanly speaking, for the happiness of this
young life; as far as he knew how, he
would do is duty.
" Well, sweetheart," he observed, gleam.
ing enviously at Fay's bright face, now
quite forgetful of fatigue—how could she
be tired while Hugh talked to her 1-4, what
other amusing rules does this marvellous
book contain 2"
"1 do think it is a marvellous 'book,
though it is somewhat obsolete ." and here
Fay stammered over the formidable word.
"1 know it said in one place that married
people ought to have no secrets from each
other, and that waEi why I told you about
Frank Lumsderi ;" and here Fay blushed
very prettily.
Frank Lanigan," observed Hugh, in
scene perplexity; "1 don't think I remora-
ber, Fay."
"Not remereber what I told you that
Sunday evening in the lane—the evening
after we were engaged I How Mr. Lumsclen
wanted to tell me how he admired me, but
I pried endwould upt let him ; and he went
avvey op, unhappy, poor folic*, As though
; erlaid eYer haVegararl kr him," gontieued
Fay; with, innocent. Kern; aa she located up
hate; Ifughai handsome 'face, He was
ret'ecil,inegilleierweatsfeript;ievtetlyY, us then.
tkhne9nw. that—
lovely, no doeht, to her hey 10Vere. But
to him, with the meinorY Pf Margaret's
grand ideal beauty ever before,him, Fay's
pink and pearly bloom, though it as as
purelytinted es the inner celyx of a rose,
fadedinto mere color prettiness. And aa
yet the epell of those wonderful eyes, of
which Frank Lumsden dreamt, had
exercised no potent faseinatiOn over her
husband's heart.
"Hugh," whispered Fay, softly," you
have not kept any secrets from me, have
you? I know I am very young to share
all your thoughts, but you will tell your
little wife everything, will you not?"
No secrets from her ! Heaven help her,
poor child. Would she know—would she
ever know? And with a great throb of
nein his heert answered "No."
" Why are you so silent, Hugh; you
have no seorets surely 7"
" Hush, dear, we cannot talk any more
now; we have passed the church and the
Vicarage already—we are nearly home ;"
and as he spoke theySallie in sight of the
lodge, where Catharine was waiting with
her baby in her arms.
Fay sinned and nodded, and then they
turned in at the gate, and the darkness
seemed to swallow them up.
The avenue leading to Redraond Hall
was the glory of the whole neighborhood.
Wayfarers, toiling along the licind
dusty road that leads from_pingl to
Sandyoliffe, always pauilialaWleok through
the great gate. ,'itt" MI6 green paradise
beyond..
, It was like a glade in some forest, . so
deep was its ehadowy gloona, so unbroken
its reponse; while the arrowy sum -shaft
flickered patterns on the mossy footpaths,
or drew a golden girdae round some time-
woratrunk.
•/fere stood the grand old oaks, under
whose branches many a Redmond played
as a 'child in the days before the Restore.
tion--lort before the time when•Karma-
duke, fifth baronet of that nano, joined the
forces of Rupert, and fell fighting by the
side of his dead sons.
Here too were the aged beeches'; some
with contorted holes,and marvellously-.
twisted limbs, like Titans struggling in
their death -throes, and others with the
saP of 'Youth dill flowing through their
woody veins, as they steed clothed in the
beauty of their pain. Fay had often played
in this wonderful avenue. Sheremembered,
when she was a child, rambling with her
maractigige_Redmond woods, with their
Torgetreed and wild -rose thickets;'
and theirainy sylvan lawns,starred, over
with woodland flowers, dupla' as Spenser
would have peopled " with bearded 'lamas
and Satyrs, who with their horned feeCde
wear the ground, and all' the woody
nymphs—.the fair Hamadryades';" but
though she peered eagerly but in the dark-
ness, she could see nothing but the carriage
lamps flashing on SOMO bare trgra Or gaunt
skeleton branches.
"Dear Hugh," she whispered, timidly,
-0 how gloomy and strange it looks—just
like an enchanted forest." i
"They have not thought fit to cut down
the trees to give light to your ladyship,"
observed her husband, 'laughing at her
awe-struck tone. "Give me your hand,
you foolish child ; when we have passed
the next turning you will see the old Hall.
There will be light enough there '." and
scarcely,' had the words passed his lips
before.the Hl1 burstupon them—a long
low range of building,with its manywin4
dows brilliantly illuminated and ruddy with
&alight, while through the open door the
forms of the assembled servants moved
hither and thither in a warm background
of light.
"What a lovely old place," cried Fay;
*breathless with excitement. "1 had
almost forgotten how beautiful it was,
bnotrrIsh2111 see it better by daylight to.
naow
" Yes," he returned, with a sigh, " I
shall have plenty to show you, Fay, but
now let me help you off with those furs,
and lift you out." •
Fay shook herself free of the heavy
wraps, and then sprang lightly to the
ground; and with her head erect like a little
queen, stepped over the threshold of her
new home with her hand still in her
husband's.
The circle of men and *omen gathered
in the .great hall, with the housekeeper
and grey-haired butler at their head,
thrilled with a vague surprise and wonder
at the sight of the childish figure beside
their master.
" Good evening to you all," said Hugh,
trying to speak cheerfully, though there
was a huskiness in his pleasant voice
that was foreign to it. "You see I have
brought home your new mistress at last,
Ellerton. Mrs. Heron," shaking hands
with her, " you must give Lady Redmond
a hearty welcome."
"Yes, indeed, Sir Hugh," and the stately
housekeeper folded her plump hands and
looked complacently at the pretty face
before her. "A thousand welcomes both
to you and her ladyship, Bit Hugh, and a
long life and a happy one to you both."
But the housekeeper, as she ended her
little speech with an elaborate curtsey,
was marvelling in her kindly 'heart What
on earth had possessed her reader to bring
this lovely child ter be .the mistress. of
Redmond Hall.
Thank you, very much," returned Fay,
timidly, and her sweet face flushed as she
spoke. " I trust we than soon become
good friends: I know how you all love my
dear husband, and I hope in time that you
will be able to love me too for his sake."
"There can be no doubt of that, I should
think, Mrs. Heron," returned Sir Hugh,
moved in spite of himself; and at his tone
the shy fingers closed more tightly round
his. Those who wore standing by, never
forgot Fay's look, when the girl -wife
teased her beautiful eyes to her husband's
fac`?An. a nOW, cantinued Sir Hugh, "you
ate very tired, Fay, but Our good Mrs.
Heron will show you year rooms, that you
may rest and refresh ?ourself after your
long journey. This ie yolir maid, I believe,"
turning to a fresh, 1•ight-looking girl,
behind. him ; then, pAl ay obediently left
What tithe will dinner be =yea,
EigAlcrttmla ?;
iarter to eig , Sir Iftigh."
"Very well; X hope ere are lights and
a fire in the study,"
S
WIF111.11.11.1111.MMIO
14 TOS, F4r, ,acigh, and in the depai*
drawing-0On as But his master
did net' epee to hear him, as be ypoo
PIPWly acreaa t1.10 bell On big! way to bis
dreeceng-room. •
OHAPTPli,
Ili Inn BLUM NESTIE.
. Tais perhaps waalove—
To have its hands too 1 till of gifts to give
For putting out a hand to take a gut;
To have so much, the perfect mood o lovo
Naiades, in strict conclusion, being loved ;
As Eden dew wont up and fell again,
Enough fer watering Edon, obviously
Se had not thought about his love at all.
The cataracts of hor soulhad poured theInselVeS,,
And risen eelf-crowit'd in rainbow; would she ask
Who crowIed her ?—itoullleed that she wag rown'd
.7:1. B. „Timm iny
Redmond Hall was a curious old house;
it had been built originally in Gothic style,
but an aspiringltedrnondavho was ignorant
of the laws of architecture and not possessed
with the spirit of uniformity, had thrown
out windows and added wings that savored
strongly of the Tudor style, while here and
there a buttress or arch was decidedly
Norman in its tendency.
To a connoisseur this medley of archi-
tecture was a groat eye -sore, but to the
world in general the very irregularity of
the grey old pile added to its picturesque
entirety, and somehow the effect was very
pleasing.
The various owners of the Hall, holding
all modern innovations in abhorrence, had
preserved its antiquity as far as possible
by restoring the old carvings and frescoes
that were its chief ornaments. The
entrance -hall was of noble dimensions, with
a painted • ceiling, and a great fireplace
surrounded by oaken -carvings of fruit and
flowers, the work of Gibbon, with the
Redmond motto, " Fideles ad urnam," in
the centre.
The walls were adorned with stag's
antlers, and other trophies of the chase,
while itnplemente of warfare, from the bow
and arrow to the modern revolver, were
arranged in geometrical circles round the
battered suits of armor.
The dwelling -rooms of the house, with
the exception, of the ,drawing -room and
billiard -room, were long and low, with the
balm painted ceilings and heavy oak-
earvinge ; and some of the windows,
especially in thelibrary and morning -room,
were furnished with such deep embrasures
is to form sinall with -drawing rooms in
'themselves, and leave the farther end of
the apartment in twilight obscurity even
on the brightest summer's day.
Many people were of opinion that the
aid Half needed complete renovation, but
Sii.Wilfred had cared little for such things.
In his father's time a few of the MOMS
had been modernised and refurnished, the
'damask drawing -room for example, a hand-
some billiard -room added, and two or three
bedrooms fitted up according to nineteenth
oeliturylaste.
But Sir Wilfred had preferred the old
rocime in the quaint embrasures, where
many a fair Redmond dame had worked
with her daughters at the tapestry that
hung in the green bedroom, which repre-
sented the death of Saul and the history Of
Gideon. • •
In these rooms was furniture 'belonging
to many a different age. Carpets and chair.
cushions worked in tent stitch and cross
stitch and old-fashioned harpsichord;
gaudy white and gold furniture of the
Louis Quatorze time naixed with the
spindle -legged tables ,Of the Queen Anne
epoch. '
At the back af the Hall lay a broad stone
terrace reaching from one end of the house
to the other.
On oneeide were the stables and kennels,
and on the other a walled sunny garden,
with fruit tree e and a clipped yew -hedge
and et sun -dial, on which a stately race of
peacocks loved to plume themselves.
theBheYer°b11aded -garden, where in the olden time,
' a iviby the yew -hedge was
,
many a notable..house-naother, with her
chintz skirts hustled through her poeket.
holes, gathered sitnples for her medicines,
and sweet-smelling lavender and rosemary
for her presses of homeamun linen.
These gardens were walled and entered
by a curiously -wrought iron door, said to
be Flemish work; and below the terrace
lay a smooth, gentle -sloping lawn, that
stretched to the edge of a. large sheet of
water, called by courtesy the lake—the
•whole shut in by the background of the
Redmond wood.
Here through the sunny afternoon slept
purple shadows, falling aslant the yellow
water -lilies, and here underneath the
willows and silvery birches, in what was
called" The Lover's Walk," had. Hugh
dreamed many a day -dream, whose begin-
ning and whose end was Margaret.
Poor Hugh 1 he little thought as he paced
that vialk.that the day should come when
his wife should walk there beside him,
and look at hiin with eyes ;that were not
Margaret's.
When Fay, escorted by Mrs. Heron and
followed by Janet, had ascended the broad
oaken staircase, and passed through the
long gallery, the housekeeper paused in a
recess with four red-baized doors.
"Sir Hugh's dressing -room, my lady,"
she explained, blandly, ' and the next door
belongs to Sir Hugh's bath -room' and this,"
theointirniegisrooloemin, to the centraldoor, " is
h
"What," faltered LadyRedmond, rather
fearing 'from Mrs. Heron's manner that
.gthhiossrtosotmorym. ight be the subject of some
"The Oriel room," repeated the house-
keeper. still more impressively, " where
the Redmond ladies have always slept.
In this room both Sir Wilfred and Sir
Hugh were born, and Sir Marmaduke and
his sons Percy and Herewald were laid in
state after the battle."
It was well that Fay did not understand
the latter end of the housekeeper's speech,
but she shuddered notwithstanding with
vague discomfort when the door was opened,
and all the glories of the Oriel room were
displayed before her. It was so largo and
grand that a queen might have slept in it
and have been content, but to Fay's eyes it
was only a great gloomy room,, so full of
hidden corners and recesses, that the blaz-
ing firelight and the wax candles only
seemed to give a faint circle of light,
beyond which lurked weird shadows, hiding
in the deep embrasures of the windoWs, or
beaming against the painted ceiling.
The cabinets and wardrobe, and greteeque
table e and chairs, all of black oak, and,
above all, the great Oak bedstead with its
curiously twisted pillars and heavy silk
damask curtains—each projeoted separate
shadows and filled Fay's mind with dismay,
J.while from the panelled Walls the childish
figure wag reflected in dim old mirrors.
" Oh dear," sighed the little bride, " I
shall never dare to be by ruYaajf in this
rem. janot, you. must never leave ;
look how those shadows rnove."
" Its noteuite penny, my lady," replied
Janet, glanoing behind her at her naistress'a
word, " ut 1think I can mend matters a
little;" ana so saying, she touched the logs
so sr ertly that they epluttered and emitted
shoWere et eperks, till the whole room
gleamed *arm and taiddY with reflected
brightness,
" That is better, Janet," cried Fay,
delightedly : " but where are you going,
BIM Heron ?" for the housekeeper was
making myoterious signs that her lady
shonla foilow her to a curtained recess;
iudeed," she continued, wearily, " I am
very tired, and would rather see nothing
more." .
"Don't be too sure of that, my lady,"
returned Mrs. Heron, smiling, and her tone
made Fay follow he; at once,
But the next moment she uttered a little
scream of delight, for there, hidden away
behind the ruby ourtains, was a tiny
room—" a wee blue -lined nestle," fitted up
as a boudoir or raorning.room. The bow
window promised plenty of light, a cheerful
modern paper covered the wall, with one
or two choice landscapes ; the snowy rug ;
the soft luxurious couch and low easy-
chairs,covered with delicate blue cretonne •,
the writing -tables, and bookcase, were all
so suggestive of use and comfort. Two
lovebirds nestled like green blossoms in
their gilded cage, and a white Persiankitten
was purring before the fire.
" Oh, the dear room 1" exclaimed Fay,
in a perfect ecstasy, and then oblivious of
her dignity, her fatigue, and the presence
of the stately housekeeper, Lady Redmond
liat down on the soft white rng, and lifted
the kitten on her lap,
"1 had a Persian kitten once," she
observed, innocently; "but I took her
down to the cowslip meadow and lost her.
We called her the White Witch, she was
so pretty and so full of mischief. I made
Myself quite ill cryingoverher loss, we were
so afraid she was killed," and here Fay buried
her face in the little oreature's fur, as
she reeked herself to and fro in the fire-
light.
Mrs. Heron and Janet exchanged looke.
Janet was smiling, but the housekeeper's
face wore a puzzled expression; her new
mistress bewildered her.
The worthy soul could make nothing of
these sudden changes : first a tiny woman
rustling in silks, and holding her bead like
a little queen, with a plaintive voice
spealtingaWeet words of welcome ; then a
pale, tired lady peering into corners and
averse to shadows; and now, nothing but a
pretty child rocking herself to and froa
with a kitten in her arms. No wonder
Mrs. Heron shook her head rather gravely
as she left the room.
"What on earth will my master do with
a child like that ?" she thought; "she will
not be more of a companion to him than
that kitten—but there, he knows his own
business.best, and she is a pretty creature."
But all the same, Mrs. Heron still shook
her,head at intervals, for all the household
linefithat Margaret Ferrers, the sister of the
bliOdiricer Of SEindycliffe, was to have come
to the Hall as As mistress ; and the house-
keeper's faithful eyes had already 'noticed
the Hotta on her master's brow.
" Marry inhaste and repent at leisure,
that is what many a man had done to his
cost," she soliloquised, as she bustled about
her comfortable room. " Well, she is a
bonnie child, and he's bound to make her
happy ; 'she will be like a bit of sunshine
in thecld Hall if he does not damp her
cheerfulness with his gloomy moode.'
A little While afterwards, Ellerton met
his little mistress wandering about the
Hall, and ushered her into the damask
drawing -room. Fay was looking, for her
husband.
She had escaped from Janet, and had
been seeking him some time, opening doors
and stumbling into 'endless passages, but
always making her way hick somehow .to
the focus of light—the big hall; and feeling
drearily as though she were some forlorn
princess shut up in - an enchanted castle,
who could not find her prince.
(To be continued.)
A pplauded the Speaker.
While Senator Harris was speaking at
Cynthiana the other day, says the Louis-
ville Courier -journal, a half -intoxicated
Irishman, who had crawled upon the rear
of the platform, interrupted him several
times with remarks that were not quite in-
telligible. Finally Mr. Harris turned to the
man and said:
"Please don't interrupt me, my friend.
I am not much used to public speaking, and
if you want to talk, I'll have to quit.'
"Bless yez 1" said the Irishman, "it's
i
not after nterruptin' ye I am. I'm only
approvin' of what ye say. Faith, and I
didn't know it was in yoz to do se well as
yer doin."
The Senator from Madison was com-
pletely knocked out by this speech,but he
bowed his thanks to the Hibernian and
joined heartily in the laughter which the
latter's response had caused.
Discharged 'the Prisoners.
A constable recently brought a man be-
fore a Justice of the Peace in a Dakota
"no license "county charged with selling
liquor. .
" Well, Jim," said thejusticeeddressing
the officer, where's the licker he was sell-
ing ?"
"They had just finished drinkin' the last
of it, Your Honor."
"Hey ?" thundered the court.
" I say it was all gone 'fore I got there."
All gone before you got there 1 Great
Scott, where was you all the time? Do you
think I am goin' on with a case like this
without some licker put in as evidence for
the court to sample? Let the prisoner go,
and inebbyle'll bring some more to town.
And you see that you get around and make
your arrest just before he begins to sell,
and not after it's all been swallered by a lot
o'follers that ain't half as dry as the court 1"
—Dakota, Bell.
*bat Caused the Delay.
We are a little behind with the paper
this week, but ask to be excused for the
reason that we have liad to cciok, wash,
iren, milk the cow, do the press work, en-
tertain clistieguished peop/e and keep the
flies off With one hand while writing with
the other.-l-Bantet 4nn (Tex,) Enierprige.
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