Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Times, 1889-01-11, Page 6* lea* Or was it th'ht the girl wlhorti 1' d'1 could bay ; Elate, Elsie, Elsie, Elsieto - rtv@ him i that, to what lheteltts of poet I get back from. Paris, an h 1 Alt yea 1 Ile was young enoup poor 1i1'inffrea's last forgiving meg, he not yet attainWit ii �r Win► lied pohat dreallyS day yeti know ��,� � ��,� �����%rr 11'1 ' ? 1 life afresh if that were all. *Te t I face sr@1u+� him beghti all over a;, then 1. can fulfil of ono t, And that may be never all opposition, an I --- ._ 1 1 1 onsciottg I rtaSSiuger oottldn't stand ftp. and face I hardly 1 novo altar 1 ul writing, The. Float on tile Window lease, that ^ grief was the bonnie idea of beginning g three-year-old ¢ have some so dazed; but I11 meet dight • r • t out to him did . , Duro when, Patioeseus might he not ti to settle slight extent resemble tate begin , • d es inay 1 Tj 1 stn t fel ut you sage. myself what pinnacles of :glory mit It perhaps; andA y yet poise himself 1 Elsie, promise to her iu peracn, But not Elsie! That was a talisman t0 crush till then. t O :en t�esr.tite to prise T, t night monopolised his c n' thin afresh tor r- > I feel all doors. With 1+aleic's love, what Hess, His , u at the would be impossible to him fantastic figures dwell still fresh and green. Be thought •Mine 1 alone. or e mee h ver, statian at the hour you montioa the . Life floated in lt0w colnra before his What strangetime for rtrare. In great hsstr -toy ogre oyes. I1N dreamed (interne before and 'Upon the frosted window pane : mush of Elsie, and little nf. Winifred. ago to,gosaw visions, as he lay his bed d -We bore she flowers from fabs doll, Late .at ni1^ht the well favored land- And still the clock ticked and hand shakes with the slhc,ha still.., trwith steeple, forme area vans, carne up, courteous and. Italian, 'ticked on; and still it cried in the Yours, ever lovingly and devotydly, these goldenelayEarth was 'Corinthianwad pillars veto their en all respectful sympathy, in lti black silence of the night : Elsie, Elsie, Ef•sy,, those , fairer,enthan moments, ever deemed as Awl add a beauty,to the seeue. it. While soldiers asisrer bright uniforms gown and a utoureoo head dress, Elsie, Elsiol The revulsion was ltwful, Foe a The fervor of love and ambition and March past a silver queen, hastily donned, to becomes those who. At last day dawned, and the morn-' ° 1 failed to tele it Irate was upon him now in full foreN, Pale sunlight streamed .d 1 1 past He reeled, and revelled p Deeeec outin saver , thing and so recall her more definitely FRIDAY, dAN. II, 1880. before him 1 @e �vaardly knew ew; but t I" 1 what 2 Seltcah as he 's lose than natio, ing"to a brave Than, But for whom or ter w towas, Hugh hug broke. a @ T e in minute or two, Hugh a 1 in tie lenti- Ilere ferns display a beauty caro, pay visits of aondolenCR in whatever all In You cannot unt lin c l ' lversheen era capacity to the r,�e y at the one south wtndaw, e auto Seats at jump, The belief that rude of his own 'l l d heotitr Los>; forms of these are now seen h Asior flush himself, he worn hhsroudll U 1 t II o oonld do anything,. That long have faded been; 'The tulip, violet and the rose Are here though they one color are; A tomb which speaks death's palm repose Gleams in achurollyard cold and bare, nil bereaved, travelling suit of gray homespun, and the dust of his journerlay thick upon him. But he roused'himself listlessly at the laudlady's approach. She was bland, but sympathetic. Where would Monsieur sleep'l the amiable proprietress inquired in lisping French. Hugh started at the. inquiry. He had never thought at all of that..Any., where, he answered, in a careless voice ; it was all the same to him ; sous les toits, if neoeessary. The landlady bowed a respectful depreca- tion. Suddenly, he woke with a quo) c Bare She could offer him a small Elsie dead no longer she lead escaped room, a most diminutive room, unlit start. A knock at the door 1—a timid n that oneat had a capes. for Monsieur, in his present condition, knock. Somebody came with a mes • wasn't awful eveningad that was buried but. still a chambre de maitre, just sage, apparently. Hugh rose in baste It the namelessat gravelat Oat buried above Madame. She regretted she . and hold the door just a little ajar to Thepast was a liThe present ss. was unable to afford a better; but ask in his, bad Italian, What is it? The th@ presentwase. Elsieen the house was full, or, in a word, A boy's hand thrust a letter side- a o here, today, at Remo 1 crowded. The world, you see, was ways through the narrow opening. He buried his at Sanin hisRe hands and beginning to arrive at' San Remo for Is it for you, signor'1 he asked, peernever - the season. Proprietors in a health ing with black eyes through the chink wept -- t-- wept ptfase he wept had with frantic premises, n resort naturally resent a death on the at the Englishman. is life for Elsie recovered, premises, especially at the very. out Hugh glanced at the letter in pro- gladness his Elsie conceptions fed. them: P est of the winter; they regard it as tt found astonishment. 0 heavens, selves anew. His mind could only what is this? How incredible—how k • 11 • piecemeal, Bit by bit The ruins of a castle's walls Speaks of a dark decay, And Wh oh tell of feudal deserted day, se. halls The fallen drawbridge shattered lies, We see no bold knight here; And fancy teems with tragedies Of bloody fight or traitor's snare. Wi a gaze again, and now appears Apalace in its pride, Abower of love, no bitter tears Might down a cheek here glide, A home of art decked out so fair, A. vaunted shrine where genius dwells, Wherech, and rare sculptured o'er the heart theirlmagio spells. Isere towers a mountain to the sky In bright majestic power, And birds through frosty air here fly Close to a glittering tower. Now frosts break upon the view Splendid in bright array, a In dazzling splendor here review Their figures for a day. • We see a minstrel's silver lyre, Thoughfrom it wakes no sound, It cannot light the Muse's fire Nor throw a sweetness round; Perhaps this lyre a shadow is �� Of one that thrilled in "long ago, When first sang poet of love's bliss .Or Wales' oruel overthrow. Broken zolumns, ruined arches, Miuerets and glistening dome Start to view where "Jack Frost" marches, Where ha makes his sparkling home. Ever changing—rh?ueh the same— Nature's kaleidoscope thou art, Be .utiful when first thou came, Lovely still e'er thou depart. joint h roottiv h ivl c an • . a 'um , was bare—astill mere servant'sBleie was dead and buried at Oxford., imaginaion, , gapingHugh lay cracks and diethe ness,had grown so ingrained in the everything, anything. lie could move cranks that diversifiedfabric of his brain tlntt at first he mountains in hits fervent access of gaudily painted Italian ceiling. All suspected deliberate treaollery, Such faith ; he could win worlds in his mad ni for mowing, ge and fere@ntiy longed, P for the moxuitlg, and thought when things have been. He had forged delight ; he could fight wild beasts ut it came he would seize the first chance himself : might not Warren itelf, that sudden glory cf heroic temper. to rise and dress himself. Now it incarnate fiend, be turning hie own And all the while, poor dead Whit - had reallycome he lay there unmoved weapon—meanly—against him)? fred lay cold and white in the bedroom too tired nd too feeble to think of But as he gazed and grazed at dead below. And Elsie was Off ---off to stirring. Elsie's hand—dead Elsio's own hand England—with Warren Relf—that Five six half -past six— seven. unmistakably hers — no longer on wretch 1 that serpent 1—by the 9.40. himself) was ever half He almost dozed out purethe truth „new gradually of woari- earth (not even 1 so clever-- CHAPTER XLII: Fess eo nee. Hess• l r and clearer. Dead Etsie was That hint sobered him. Ho roused himself to actual action at last. It was now eight, and Elsie was off by the 930 1 Too many thoughts had crowded him feet. That single hour enclosed for klugh Messinger a whole eternity. Ile rose and dressed himself with all expedition, remembering --though by an after though.—for decency's sake to put on his sleek cutaway coat end his blackest trousers—be bad with.. him none black save that of his eye:. ning suit—and to approach as near to a mourning tie as the narrow resources of his wardrobe permitted. But it was all a hollow, hollow monkery, a transparent farce, a mere outer semblance : his coat might be black, but his heart was blytbe as a lark's on a bright May morning. He drew up the blind ; the sen was flooding the bay and the billsides with Italian lavishness. 1!lnwers were gay on the parterres of the public garden. 'Who could pretend to be slid at soul such a day like this, worthy of whitest chalk, when the sun shone and flowers bloomed and Elsie was alive again ? Let the dead bury their dead. For him, Elsie 1 for Elsie was alive again. .t' kle lived once more a fresh life. What need to play the hypocrite, here, alone, in his own hired house, In the privacy of his lonely widowed bed chamber 1 Ho smiled to himself in the narrow looking glass fastenedagainst the wall !. He laughed*hilariously. He showed his even white teeth in hie • joy i they shone like pearl. He trim - need his beard with unwonted care ; tor now he must make himself worthy of Elsie. if I be dear to someone else. he murmured, with the lover in Maud, then I should be to myself more dear. And that he was dear to Elsie, he was quite certain. Her loved bad suffered eclipse, no doubt : 'Warren Reif, like a a shadow, had flitted for a moment in between them; but once when be, Hugh, burst forth like the sun upon . Reif,, her eyes once more, Warren paled and ineffectual, would hide his diminished. head and vanish into. vacancy. ' (ro ns oon'rnuDD.) TSE TRD QP Lift, OR 'SUNSHINE and SHADE, slight on the sanitary reputation of the place, and incline to be rude to the deceased and his family. Yet nothing could be more charming than the landlady's manner; she swallowed her natural interaral chagrin at so untowed and event in her own house and at such an untimely crisis, with commendable politeness, One would have said that the death rather advertised the condition of the house than otherwise, Hugh nodded his head in blind acquiescence. Oa vous voulez, \1adame,'he answered wearily. Up stairs, if you wish. I'll go now --1 m sorry to have caused you so much inconvenience; but we never know when th ese unfortunate affairs are likely to happen. She is c',ead, the doctor answered. with professional respect, She died half an hour ago, quite happy. Her one regret seemed to be for your absence. She was anxiously expect- .ing you to come back and see her. Hugh only answered : I thought iso. Poor child. But the very way he said it— the half unconcerned tone, the lack of any real depth of emotion, nay, even of the decent preteuce of tears, shocked and appalled Elsie be - vend measure, She rushed away into Warren's room and gave vent once more to her torrent of emotion. Thehe painter laid his hand 6 y r •beautifttl hair. 0 Warren, slie cried looking up at him half doubtful, it .makes ins ashamed=—and she check- -ed !herself suddenly. Ashamed of what ? Warren asked her low. In the fever •of her overwrott,ht feelings, she flung herself passionately into Ills circuling arms. Ashamed to flank, she answered with a sob of ,distress, that 1 once loved him. mysterious 1 For a moment the room to a It a ku swam wildly around him; he hardly he set himself to the task—no less a task than to reoonstrant the universe. part how thetbelievea hise wildereyes. Was _Winifred must have known Elsie it of general bewilderment by was here. It was Elsie herself that things that seemed to• conspire 1 Winifred and he had seen yesterday. The landlady considered in her own mind that the gentleman's tone was of the most distinguished. Such sweet manners! So thoughtful—so considerate—so kindly respectful for the house's injured feelings 1 She was conscious that his courtesy called for some slight return. You have eaten nothing, Monsieur, she went on, com- passionately. In effect, our sorrow makes us forget these details of every- day life. You de not derange us at all ; but you must let me send you up some little refreshment. Hugh nodded again. She sent him up some cake and red wine of the country by the Swiss waiter, and Hugh ate it mechanically, for be was not hungry. Exiteinent and fatigue had worn him out. His game was played. He followed the waiter up to the floor above, and was shown—into the room next to War role's. HA undressed in a stupid, half dead - alive way, and lay down on the bed with his candle still burning. .Bat he didn't sleep. Weariness and remorse kept him wide awake, worn out as he was, tossing and turning through the long slow hours in silent agony. Strange to say, the sense of free- dom was the strongest of all the feelings that crowded in upon him. Now that Winifred was dead, he could do as he chose with his own. He was no longer tied to her will and her criticisms. When he got back to England—as he would get back, of course, the m',ment he had decently buried Winifred—he meant to put up a, fitting gravestone at Orfordness, if he sold the wretched remainder of Whitestrand to do it. A. granite cross should mark that sacred apt. Dead Elsie's grave should no longer he dateless. So much, et least, his telnorse'could effect for hitt, leer Winifred was dead, and White strand was bis own. At the price of that miserahle manor of blown sand he had sold his own soul and Elsie's life; and now he would gladly get rid of it all if he only could raise out of its shrttuhen relies a monument at Orfordness to Elsie. Ii'or three long, long years, that untended grave has silently accused the remnants of his °onetime; he determined it should accuse his sou no tenger. The big clock ort the an :ng ticked constant shocks against his perfect sanity i Was he going mad, or was some enemy trying to confuse and confound him 1 Had some wretch been dabbling in hideous forgeries? For the envelope was addressed—O horror of horrors 1—in dead Elsie's hand ; and it bore in those well-known angular characters the simple inscrip- tion, Warren Relf, Esq., Villa della Fontana (Piano 3 0 ), Avenue Vittorio Emmanuele, San Remo. He recognized this voice from the grave at once. Dead Elsie 1 To.War- ren Relf 1 His fingers clutched it with a fierce mad grip. - He could never give it up. To Warren Relf 1 And from dead Elsie r Is it for you. signor 1 the boy asked once more, as he let it go with reluc- tance from his olive -brown fingers. For me 1—Yen;, Hugh answered still clutching it eagerly. For Inc 1—Who sends it 1 The signorina at the Villa Rosso,— Signorina Chaloner, the boy replied, getting as near as his Italian lips could manage to the sound of ()halloo. er. She told me most stringently to deliver it up to yourself signor, into your proper fingers, and on no account to let it fall into. the hands of the English gentleman on the second story. Good, Hugh answered, closing the door softly. '`That's quite right. . Tell her you gave it to me. Then ho added in Euglish with a cry of triumph : Good morning, jackinapes ! After which he flung himself down on the bed once more in a perfect frenzy of indecision and astonishment. For two minutes"he couldn't make up his mind to break open that mysterious missive from the world of the dead, so strangely delivered by an unknown hand at his own door on the very morrow of Winifred's sudden death, and addressed in buried Elsie's hand, as clear as of old, to his dearest enemy. What a horrible concatena- tion of significant oircurestances. He turned it over and over again unopen- ed, in his awe ; and all the time that morose clock outside still ticked in his ear, less loudly than before : Elsie, Elsie, Elsie, Elsie! At last, making up his mind with a start, he opened it, half overcome with a pervading sense of tnystery. And this was what he read in it, be- yond shadow of doubt, in dead Elsie's very own handwriting : VILLA, RossA, Thursday, 7,80, morn- ing. DaaItBST WAlirtl1N—I will be ready, as you suggest, bye the 0.40. But you tiettsn t go with the farther than Paris. '.Chat will allow you to get back to ladle and the Motherkin by the 0,39 Fresh thoughts poured upon hint in a bewilderiug flood. Ile was dazzled, dazed dnmbfounded with their number. Elsie was alive, and he bad something left, therefore, to live for. Yesterday morning that knowledge would have been less than nothing worth to hire while Winifred lived. To day, thank heaven—for Winifred was dead --it Meant to him than all the wealth of Oroesus. How , opportunely Winifred had disappeared from the scene 1 In the nick of time—on the very stroke and crisis of his fate! At the turn of the tide that leads on to furtuue 1 Felix opportunitccte moetis,. indeed 1 He had no regret, no remorse now, for poor betrayed and martyred Winifred. Winifred 1 W hat was Winifred to him, or he to Winifred, in a world that still held his own beloved Elsie? All's well that ends well. The Winifred episode had come and gond. But Elsie remained as permanent background. And how -strangely Winifred herself in her mad desire, had contributed to this very denouement of his troubles. I shall go to San Remo, if Igo at all, and to nowhere else on the whole Riviera. 3. prefer to• face the worst, thank you! The words flashed back with fresh meaning on his soul, If she hadn't so set her whole heart on San itemo, he himself would never have thought of going there. And then he would never have known about Elsie. For that at least, he had to thank Winifred. When I'm dead and gone you can marry Elsie 1 But what was this discordant note in the letter --- Elsie's letter -- to Warren Relf---Warren Relf, at the pension, then ? Had Warren Relf been conspiriug against him ? In another flash, it all same back to hint —the two scenes at the 13heyne Row Club—Warren's conversation with his friend Potts—the mistakes and errors of his hasty preconceptions. How one fundanientel primordial blunder had coloured and dietorted all his views of the case 1 He felt sure now, morally sore, that Warren Reif had rescued Elsie—the sneak, the eavesdropper, in his miserable mud - boat 1 And yet—if \'Var'ren Relf hadn't done so,tbero would be no Elsie at all for him novo to live for, Ho recognized the fact : and he hated hurt for it, That he should owe 11iai Elsie to that cur, that serpent, Discordant note 1 Wily, yes ---see this: Some day—you know when, dearest --I may face seeing him my. self, perhaps, But not till then. And CHAPTER XLI.--R1iDIVIVA I Hugh sat that evening, that crowded .evening alone. in his dingy, stingy ro'in with his dead Winifred. Alone with his weary, dreary thoughts --his thoieehts, and a corpse, and a ghosty presence! Two women had loved him dearly in their time, and he had killed - thein both—Elsie and Winifred. It wee a hateful night — hateful and ;g'tastly ; for in ehe bedroom at the side the attendants of the death, despatclted.by the doctor, were already bosy at their gruesome wogs: perform- ing toe last duties for poor n;artyred Winifred. :leo had offered her up on the altar of his -selfish remorse and regret far poor martyred Elsie. The last victim had fallen on the grave of the first. Slee, too, was, dead. And now his house was indeed left mute him deso lute l4rymrllow, as he sat there, with Whi 'iu brain attd heated brow, on ire in soul, he thought of Elsie far more than of Winifred. The new l it a seethed d accentuate the seller( that may a never. ' Anvecn 'ro Atornsas.-Are you disturbed at night and broken of your rest by a sick child suffering and orying with pain of Cutting Teeth.? If so send et. cnce and get a bottle of " Mrs. Winslow's Soothingg Syrup" for Children Teething. Its valuers incalcul- able. It will relieve the poor little sufferer immediiatcly. Depend upon it, mothers; there is no mistake about it. It cures Dysentery and Diarrham, regulates tho Stomach and Bowels, cureswind Collo. tone and Q energy totl reduces wole system non, bits. Vim d gives. e slow's Soothing Syrup " for children teething is , pleasant to the taste and is the prescription of ono of the oldest and bolt female physicians and nurses la the United States, and is for sn1e by all druggists throughout the world. Price twenty-five cents a. bottle. Be sure and ask for "Mas. Win ow's. SooTnixo SYaur," and take no other kind, on Saturday evening.—I wish I could 1 That may be never I 0 precious have waited here in San Reno till words I She was leaving the door bereavement, giisuch as was, 1 ,after dear Winifred's funeral was over; half open, then for her poet, t,/ nicked an aceerl tta t t' 1 d but 1 quite see•with you !how danger• Poet! Itis heart leaped up a►;, the 9 Was it that 't�"ittifrecl'w 1 1 d" . ;+ thought, 1`'era vtatan�Iald vistas of the Diel one,g ion of Elsie . monotonously, EnNih swing of the our such a course Tnight prove. Lvery long ht, cirriled—•opened out afrnits wild belief th her reco,tlit dayin the street had roused once pendulum stolid bis him afresh; for 'ed rinen moment of stop exposes unexpected ct de to the meeting. in long perspectiv0 boforce Tilsit; Ay, thattvibh such d fottat of In lir .oil Ili triune the ptet80 of Itis lost tovt'� all, d a►a.td to heart in measured rase rli it:rat so viiit',y in his mind ? .011E Ss I: cried es plain a* `'voids tau lxtu+tt Can on C O wlaelt r>tt What will Happen? Mr. Grant Allen, a well know Canadian author, has recently publish- ed a work entitled ., Force and Energy," which will probably be the subject of considerable criticism ite acientificcircles. The point aimed at,ia to advttnce the theory that the earth is forever parting with its energy ilt every shape ; that it is slowly aggreIt - gating with the sun and fixed stars, and is losing its orbital and axial motions, By internal cooling and 4 subsidences, by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, by radiation from lava and hot springs, it is getting rid of the proper separation and motion inherent in its own meas. Solar energy is counteracting for a while its total aggregation; but this same solar energy ants as aliberating agent. Consumption Sorely Cured. To tine !Wren ;w•l'lertso!dem your readers that I. have a positive remedy for the above named disoess, fly its thiecly 1188 thousands et hopeless cases have booty cured, 1 shell bo glad to send two bottler of my rnnledyq vnsii to any of your readers who have, consumption rine ne it they will send me thetf Band P. (i. addrear, Respectfully, Ds. T. A. W.QC•Ukt. Y7 TOtni(4 tit., Termite, uht.