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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1891-10-8, Page 2•Sarah, Adm. on the 1i:itch= table, whit her -e'er% ua- linishocloot, Sat Sarah Aim, intent upon tt, thrilling novel- ette. The baker owl the groeerman knocked londlY, but in vain; Then leicked the nelat all oft the deer, alid went away again. The flre went out. and tho light grew dim, but Sarah Ann read en, , Intent upon the ;fortunes of Lord Algernon, Fitzjolin. 'Whose proud and. wealthy father desig,ned his son and. heir For the beauty of the season, the Lady Maud. do Vero. She loved him, but Lord Algernon, much to his pa's distress,Disliked. the Lady Maud and loved a modest governess, She came to where the beauty accidentally o'er - hears This wilful lord. proposing to the geverness who fears She's unworthy of the honor, but she loves him as eer life, .A.nd will do her very best to make a true and worthy wife. She still reads on, and. as she neared the bottom of the page, She learned how Lady Maud became convulsed. with jealous rage, Forgot fierself, tine, maddened by the sounds of rapturous kissing. Sprang forward--Serah turned the lent the other page was missing ! -Nato York Sun. THE SISTERS "He will not leave the country yet," said Elizabeth. "What is it, Mr. Brion ? " "I think I see what it is," broke in Patty. "Mr. Brion thinks thab father was Mr. Yelverton's uncle, who was lost so long ago. KingKing-Mr. Yelverton told us the other day that they called him 'King,' for short -and he was named Kingscote Yelverton, like his uncle. Mother's name was Elizabeth. I believe Mr. Brion is right. And, if so—." "And, if so," Patty repeated, when that wonderful, bewildering day was over, and she and her elder sister were packing for their return to Melbourne in the small hours of the next morning -"if so we are the heiresses of all those hundreds' of thousands that are supposed to belong to our cousin Kingscote. Now, Elizabeth, do you feel like depriving him. of everything, and stop- ping his work, and leaving his poor starved costeronongers to revert to their original condition -or do you not ?" "1 would not take it," said. Elizabeth, passionately "Pooh !-as if we should be allowed to choose ! People can't do as they like where fortunes and lawyers are concerned. For Nelly's sake -not to speak of rnine-they will insist on our claim, if we have one; and then do you suppose he would keep your money? Of course not -it's a most Insult- ing idea. Therefore the case lies in a nut- shell. You will have to make up your mind quickly, Elizabeth." "1 have made up my mind," said Eliza- beth, "if it is a question of which of us is most worthy to have wealth, and knows best how to use it." They did not wait for the next steamer, but hurried back to Melbourne by train and cloacae and reached Myrtle street once more at a little before midnight, the girls dazed with sleep and weariness and the strain of so much excitement as they had passed through. a So they began to work as the bureau with solemn diligence, and a fresh set of ono - were evolved by that occupation, which counteracted, without effacing, those others that were in Patty's mind. She become absorbed and attentive. They took out all Mrs. King's gowns, and her linen, and her little everyday personal belongings, searched them carefully for indications of ownership, and, finding none, laid them aside in the adjoining bedroom. Then they exhumed all these relics of an olden time which had a new significance at the present juncture -the fine laces the faded brocades, the Indian shawl and laces, muslins, the quaint fans and little bits of jewelry -and arranged them carefully on the table for the lawyer's inspection. "We know now," said Patty, "though we didn'tknow a ew months ago, thatthese are things that could only belong to a lady who had been rich once." " Yes," said Elizabeth. "Dat there is another point to be considered. Elizabeth eigh ran away with her husband. secretly and m haste, and under circtunstances that make it seem most unlikely that she should have hampered herself and him with lug- gage, or bestowed a thought on such trifies as -fens and finery." The younger sisters were a little daunted for a moment by this view of the case. Then Eleanor spoke up. "How you do love to throw cold water on everything !" she com- plained, pettishly. "Why shouldn't she think of her pretty things? I'm sure if I were going to run away -no matter under what circumstances -I should take all mine, ff I had half an hour to pack them up. So would you. At least, I don't know about you -but Patty would. Wouldn't you, Patyt ?" Well," said Patty, thoughtfully, sitting back on her heels and folding her hands in here lap, "1 really think I should, Elizabeth. If you come to think of it, it is the heorines of novels who do those things. They throw away lovers. and husbands, and fortune, and everything else, on the slightest provocation • it is a matter of course -it is the correct 'thing in novels. Bub in real life girls are fond of all nice things -at least, that is my experience -and they don't feel like throwing them away. Girls in novels would never let Mrs. Duff -Scott give them gown and bonnets, for instance -they would. be too proud • and they would barn a bureau any day rajther than rummage in it, for a title to money that a nice man, whom they cared for, was in .possession of. Don't tell me. You. are thinking of the heorines of fiction, Elizabeth, and, not of Elizabeth Leigh. She, I agree with Nelly -however much she might have been troubled and bothered -did not leave her little treasures for the servants to pawls. *Either she took them with her, or someone able to keep her destination a secret sent them after her." "Well, well," said Elizabeth, who had got out her mother's jewelry and was gazing fondly at the miniature in the peatoedged locket, "we shall soon kuow. Get out the books and music, dear." While this was going on, Patty, at a sign from Elizabeth, seb up the leaves of a little tea -table by the window, spread it with a white cloth, and fetched in such a luneheon as the slender larder afforded -the remains of "alre. McIntyre's (thicken and ham, scene bread and batter, a plate of biscuits, and a decanter of sherry-, for it was past, 1 o'clock) and Mr. Brion and Paul had evidently no inten- tion of going away until their investigations wero complete, The noel Was quite silent. Her soft steps and the brueli of her gown as they passed to and fro were distinctly' audible to her lever, who would. not so much as glence at her, bub re. mined sternly intent, upoe the triartuseripte before him. These were fond to be very intereeting, bat to have no More bearing upon. the matter in hand than the rest of -- - the relies, thet bad been overhauled ; for the met pe,et, they were studies in various Arts and emeaces prepared by.111r. and Mrs, King for their deatgliters =meg the process of their educatiou, and such odds and ends of literatore us weald be ,found in a clever Woman's common -place books. They had all been gone ever at the time of Mr. :King's deeth, in a vain hunt for testamentary docu- ments ; and Elizabeth, looking into the now bare shelveand apertures of the bureau,he- gsan to think how she could console her peters for the disappointment of their hopes. Cense and have seine touch," she said to Paul (Mr, Brion was already at the table, deprecabing the trouble that his dear Patty was taking). "1 don't think you will find anything more." The young man stood, em with his brows knitted over his keen oyes, and glanced askance at bile group by the window. " We have not done yet," he said de- cisively ; "and we have learned ' quite enough, in what we haven't found, to justify us in. consulting Mr. Yolverton'e solicitors." " No," ,she said, " I'l have nothing said to Mr, Yelverton, unless the whole thing is proved first." Never thinking that the thing would be proved, first or -last, she advanced to the extemporized lunch table and dispensed the modest hospitalities a the establishment with her wonted simple grace. Mr. Brion was acoommodated with an arm -chair and a music book to lay,across his knees, whereon Patty placed the tit -bits of the chicken and the knobby top crust of the • loaf, waiting upon him with that tender solicitude to, which he had grown =customer', but which was so astonishing, and so interesting also, to his son "She has spoiled me altogether," said the old man fondly, laying his hand on her bright head and she knelt before him to help him to mustard and salt. "1 don't know how I shall ever manage to:get along without her now." CHAPTER XXXVIL inS0oVratY. It was between two and three o'clock ; Mr. Brion reposed in his arm -chair, smoking a little, talking a little to Elizabeth who sat beside him, listening dreamily to the piano, and feeling himself more and more inelined to doze and nod his head in the sleepy warmth of the afternoon, after his glass of sherry and his recentsevere fatigues. Elizabeth, by way of entertaining him, sat at his elbow, thinking, thinking, with her fingers interlaced in her lap and her gaze fixed upon the floor. Patty, intensely alert and wakeful, but almost motionless m her straight back and delicately poised head, drooped over the keyboard, plying all the "soft things" that she could remember without notes ; and Paul, who had resisted her enchantments as long as he could, leaned back in his chair, wibh his hand over his eyes, having evidently ceased to pay any attention to his papers. And, suddenly, Eleanor, who was supposed to be washing plates and dishes in the kitchen, flashed Into the room, startlmg them all out of their dreams. "Elizabeth, dear," she exclaimed tremu- lously, "forgive ane for meddling with our things. But I was thinking and thinking what else there was that we had not examined, and mother's old Bible came into my head -the little old Bible that she always used, and that you kept in your top drawer. I could not help looking at it, and here "-holding out a small leatherebound volume, frayed. at the corners and fastened with silver clasps-" here is what I have found. The two first leaves are stuck to- gether -1 remembered that -but they are only stuck round the edges; there is a. little piece in the middle that is loose and rattles, and, see, there is writing on it." The girl was excited and eager, and almost pushed the Bible into Paul lirion's hands. "Look at it, look at it," she cried. "Undo the leaves with your knife and see What the writing is." Paul examined the joined leaves atten- tively, saw that Eleanor was correct in her surmise, and looked at Elizabeth. " May I, Miss King?" he asked, his tone showing that he understood how sacred this relic must be, and how much it would go against its present possesor to see it tampered with. "1 suppose you had. better, said Eliza- beth. He therefore sat down, laid the book be- fore him, and opened his share) knife. A sense that soinebhinig was really going to happen now -that the secret of all this careful effacement of the little chronicles common and natural to every civilized family would reveal itself in thelong-hidden page which, alone of all the records of the past, their mother had. lacked the heart to destroy -fell upon the three girls; and they gathered round to watch the operation with pale faces and beating hearts. Paul was a long time about it, 'for he tried to part the leaves without cutting them, and they were too tightly stuck to- gether. He had at lastto naake alittlehole which to insert his knife, and then it was a most difficult matter to cut away the plain sheet without injuring the written one. Presently, however, he opened a little door in the middle of the page, held the ilap up, glanced at what was behind it for a moment, looked significantly at his father, and silently handed the open book to Elizabeth. And Elizabeth, trembling with excitement and apprehension, lifted up the little flap in her turn, reed this clear inscription- " To my darling shild,Elizabeth, • From her loving mother, Eleanor D'Arcy Leigh, Bradenham Abbey. Christmas, 1830. Psalm xv., 1 2.' There was a dead sileuce while they all looked at the fine brown writing -that deli- cate caligraphy which, like fine needlework, went out of fashion when our grandmothers passed away -of which every letter, though pale, was perfectly. legible. "This, added to our other discoveries, is conclusive, I think," said the old lawyer, sanding up in order to deliver his opinion impressively, and. rest- ing his hands on the table. At any rate,. 1 must insist on placing the a results of our investigation before Mr. Yea vertort-yes, Elizabeth, you nmst forgive me, my dear, if I take the matter into my own hands. Paul will agree with me that we have passed the thrie for senthnent. We will have another look into the bureau -be- cause it seems incredible that any man should deliberately rob his elefidren of their rights, even if he repudiated his own, and therefore I think there must be legal instruments Somewhere ; but, supposing none are with us, it will nob be difficult, I imagine, to simply what is wanting to complete our case fromi other soarc'es--from other records of the family, in fact. Mr. Yelverton hirnselfs in five minutes, would be able to throw a great deal of light Upon our discoveries. It is absolutely necessary to consult him." "Let us look tier that secret drawer, at miy rate," he said. "1 feel pretty certain there must be one now. M. Ring took great vete to peeYetzt identification (luring his lifetime, but, as rny father says, that is a very different thing from. disinheriting you. If you will allow' me, I'll take every moveable part oOt first." He did so while she watched arid essisted him, All 1:11e blase -handled dtawace, and sliaing shelvee, end, partitione were with- drawn flan their elbsely fitting eoekete leaving a number oi holea arta epaces, each lean diffaring size and shape from the rest, Then lie drew up a chair in front of the exposed skeleton, and gezed at it thozights fully ; after which he began to make care - hal measurements inside and out, to tap the woodwork in every direction, and to prise some Of its strong joints asunder. This work continued until 4 o'clock, when, nobs withstanndino the highly stimuleting ex- citement of tlie day's proceedings, the girls began to feel that craving for a cup of tea which is as strong upon the average woman et this time as the' craving for nolebler of whiskey is upon the -shall I say average mon ?--when the sight of a public -house appeals to his nobler ' appetite. Not that they wanted to eat and drink-. far from. ; the cup of tea wos the symbol of rest and relief for a little while from the stress and strain of labor and worry, and that was what they were in need of. Eliza- beth looked at her watch and then at Patty, end the two girls slipped out of the room together, leaving Eleanor to watch opera- tions at 'the bureau. Reaching their little kitchen, they mecha,nically lit the gas in the stove, a,nd set the kettle on to boil ; and theu they went to the open window, which commanded an unattractive view of the back yard, and stood there side by side, leaning on each other. Theta they talked by the kitchen, window until the kettle bubbled ou the stove ; and then recalled to the passing hour and their own personal affairs, *they collected cups and saucers sugar -basin and milk -jug and cat bred ana butter for the afternoon repast. just as their preparations were completed, Eleanor carne flying along the passage from the sitting -room. " They have found a secret &fewer," she cried in an excited whisper. "At least not a drawer, but a double partition that seems to have been glued up; and Mr. Brion is sure, by the dull sound of the wood, that there are things in it. Come and see !" She flew bank again, not even waiting to help her sisters with the tea. Silently Elizabeth took up the tray of cup's and sau- cers, and Patty the tea-pot and the plate of bread and butter; and they followed her with beating hearts. This was the crisis of their long clay's trial. Paul was tearing at the intestines of the bureau like a cat at the wainscot that has just given sanctuary to a mouse, and his father was too much ab- sorbed in helping him to notice theirreturn. "Now, pull, pull I" cried the old man, at the moment when the sisters closed the door behind them. "Break it, if it won't come. A -a -ah !" as a sudden crash of splintered wood resounded through the room, "there they are at last! I thought they must be here somewhere?' "What is it ?" inquired Elizabeth, set- ting down her tea-tray, and hastily.running to his side. He was stripping a pink tape from a thin bundle of blue papers hi a most unprofessional state of excitement and agi- tation. "What is itT" he echoed triumphantly. "This is what itis, my dear" and he began in a loud voice to read from the outside of the blue packet, to which he pointed with a shaking finger-" The will of Kingscote Yelverton formerly of Yelverton, in the county. of 'Kent -Elizabeth Yelverton, sole executrix." ClHAPTER XXXVIIL TEE Tran YoR AOTioN 'les, it was their father's will -the will they bad vainly hunted for a year ago, little thinking what manner of will it was; executed when Eleanor was a baby in long clothes, and providing for their inheritance of that enormous English fortune. When they were a little recovered from the shook of this last overwhelming surprise, Mr. Brion broke the seal of the document, and l formally and solemnly read it to them. It was very short, but perfectly correct in form, and the testator (after giving to his t wife, in the event of her surviving hirn the 8 sole control of the entire property, w'hieb was =entailed, for herlifetinie) bequeathed to his younger daughters, and to any other children who might have followed them, a portion of thirty thousand pounds apiece, h and left the eldest, Elizabeth, heiress of Yelverton and residuary legatee. Patty and Eleanor were thus to be made rich be- yond their dreams of avarice, but Eliza- h beth, who had been her father's favorite, 6 was to inherit a colossal fortune. That h was, of course, supposing such wealth P existed in fact as well as in the imagination a of this incredible madman. Paul and his 1 father found themselves unable to con- a calve of such a thing as that any one in K his senses should possess these rare and precious privileges, so passionately desired t and so recklessly sought and sinned for by 1 those who had them not, and should. yet f abjure them voluntarily, and against every w natural temptation and moral. obligation t to do otherwise. It was something wholly r outside the common course alum= affairs, E and unintelligible to men of business. a Both of them felt that they must get out t of the region of romance and into the s practical domain of other lawyers' offices s betore they could cope effectively with the P anomalies of the case. As it stood, it was Y beyond their grasp. While the girls, h sibting together by the table, strove a to digest the meaning of the legal h phrases that had fallen so strangely h on their ears, Mr. Brion and Paul ex. ri changed sotto voce suggestions and opinions P over the parchment spread out before them. vi Then presently the old man opened a second lo document, glanced silently down the first m page, cleared his throat and, looking over el his spectacles, said solemnly, "My. clears, Id give me your attention for a few minutes,tt th Each changed her position a little, and la looked at him steadily. Paul leaned back tr in his chair, and put his hand over his eyes. he "What I have just been reading to you," Pi said Mr. Brion, "is yourfather'slastwilland testament, as I believe. It appears that his sc surname was Yelverton, and that King was an only an abbreviation of his Christiau name ne ---assomed as the surname for the purpose ir of eluding the search made for him by his P isTow, certain circumstances have te come to our knowledge lately, referring, ho apparently, to this inexplicable conduct w on your father's part." He paused, coughed, in and nervously smoothed out the sheets be- ga fore him, glancing hither and thither over sq their contents. "Elizabeth, my dear," he th went on, "I think you heard Mr. Yelver- th ton's account of his uncle's strange disap- H pectranee after -ahem -after a certain un- Id fortunate catastrophe ?" ha "Go on," said the young man. "I will hi come back presently." m "BLit where are you going ?" his father pi repeated with irritation. "Can't you wait of until this business is finished ?" pa "I think," said Paul, that the Missea of King -the Misses Yelverton, I suppose I to. ought to say -would rather be by themselves lie while you read that paper. It is nob just - b.,ke the will, you know ; it is a private ta atter--not for outsiders to listea to." tio Elizabeth rose promptly and weht to- ba rds him, laying her hand on his arm. ari we o you think we consider you an out- pro skier ?" she said, reproachfully. "'0t1 are ge me of us -you are in the place of otir wh brother -we want you to help us neve more the tie= we have ever done. Come and sit gro down -that is, of course, if you can spare ex time for our arairs when you have so many jIlti important ones of your own." the Ile went and sat down, taking,the seat by as Petty to which Elizabeth pointed him. out tha bro face he her hand% Her lover laid his z geutly on tlie baok of her chair, " Shall begin, my dear ?." asked lawyer hesitatingly. "1 &zzn afreid it n be painful to you, 1Dlizebeth. Perhaps, Paul say, it woeld be better for you to re it by youtsolves, 1 will leave it with y for a little while, if you promiee faithett to be very careful with it.' But Elizabeth wished it to be read as t will was react, end the old men, Kagn suspecting that she might be illegally gen 0118 to the superseded representative of t Velverton mune and property, eves glad keep the paper in his own bands, and p oeeded to recite its contents. "1, Kin cote Yelverton, calling myself John Ka do hereby declare," etc. It was the story of Kingscote Yelvertox tuifortunate life, put on record in the fox of an affidavit for the benefit of his childre 'apparently with the intention that th should clean their inheritance when he w gone. The witnesses were an old midwi long since dead, and a young Scripte reader, now a middle-aged and prospero ecclesiastic in a distant colony ; both whom the lawyer remembered as featux of the "old days" when he hi self was a new -comer to the out-of-the-wor place that counted Mr. King as its oldo inhabitant. It was a touching little doe mena in the sad story that it told and t severe formality of the style of telling i Kingscote Yelverton it was stated, w the second of three brothers, eons of a Ion line of Yelvertons of Yelverton, of wide three, however, according to hereditar custom only one was privileged to inher the ancestral wealth, This one, Patrick, bachelor, had already come into his kin dom ; the youngest, a briefless barrister comfortable circumstances, had married farnier's daughter in very early yont (while reading for university honors clurin ), in • a the as ad 01.1 Ily Imo ely er- he to ro- gs- 1,t3 u, ey as fe, re us of 'es 01 - Id st he t. as it a, a a long vacation spent in the farmer's house and was the father of a sturdy achoolbo while himself not long exnaneipated from the rule of pastore and masters; and Kings cote was a flourishing young captain in th Guards -when the tragedy which sha,ttere the family to pieces, and threw its vast pro perty into Chancery, took place. Braden ham Abbeywas neighbor to Yelverton, an Cuthbert Leigh of 3:radenharn was kin t the Yelvertons of Yelverton. Cuthber Leigh had a beautiful daughter by his firs wife, Eleanor D'Arey ; when this ilaughte was 16 her mother died, and a steennothe soon after took Eleanor D'Arcy's place , and not long after the stepmother came to Bradenham, Cuthbert Leigh himself died leaving an infant sou and heir; and no long after that Mrs. Cuthbert Leigh mar ried again, and her new husband aclminis tered Bradenbam-in the interest of th heir eventually, but of himself and his own children hi the meantime. So it ha,ppene that Eliza,beth Leigh was rather elbowed out of her rights and privileges a her father's daughter; which being the case her distant cousin and near friend, Airs. Patrick Yelverton, mother fo the ill-fated brothers (who lived, poor soul to see her house lefb desolate), fetched th girl away from the home which was hers no more, and took her to live under her own wing at Yelverton. Then the troubles began. Llizabeth was young and fair; indeed, all accounts of her agreed in presenting the portrait of a woman who must have been irresistible to the normal and unappropri- ated man brought into close contact with her. At Yelverton she was the daily com- panion of the unwedded ma,ster of the house, and he succumbed accordingly. As an im- partial chronicler, I may hazard the sug- gestion that she enjoyed a flirtation within ady-like limits, and was not without some responsibility in the matter. It was clear also that the dowager Mrs. Patrick, anxious o see her first-born suitably married and °Wed:, and placed safely beyond the reach of designing farmers' daughters, contrived her best to effect a union between the two. Bat while Patrick was over hexed and ears in love, and Elizabeth was dallying with im, and the old mother planning new fur- iture for the stately rooms where the queen was to reign who should succeed her, Kingscote the guardsman-Kingscote, the andsome, strong -wiled, fiery -tempered econd son -came home. To him the girl's eart, with the irnmeznorial and incurable erversity of hearts, turned forthwith, flower to the sun ; and a very short fur- ough had but half run out when she was s deeply over head and ears in love with ingscote as Patrick was with her. Kings - 010 also loved her passionately -on his own estimony, he loved her as never a man oved before, though he made a proud con- ession that he had still been utterly un orthy of her; and so the materials for the ragedy were laid, like a housemaid's fire, eady for the match that kindled them. lizabeth found her position untenable mid the strenuous and conflicting atten- ions bestowed on her by the Mother and ons, and' went away for a time to visit ome of her other relatives; and when her resence and influence were withdrawn from elverton, the smothered emnity of the cabers broke out, and they had their first nd last and fatal quarrel about her. She ad left a miniature of herself hanging in er mother's boudoir; this miniature Pat- ck laid hands on, and carried off to his rivate rooms; wherefrom Kingscote, in a olent passion (as Elizabeth's accepted ver), abstracted it by force. Then the aster of the house, always too much in- ined to assert himself as tench, being ghly incensed in his turn at the liberty at had been taken with him marched to his brother's room, where the disputed easure was hidden, found it and put it his breast until he could discover a safer ace for it. They behaved like a pair of ill -regulated hoolboys, in short, as men do when love d jealously combine to derange their rveus systems, and wrought their own reparable ruin over this miserable trifle. trick, flushed with a lurid triumph at his mporary success, sbrolled away from the use for an aimless walk, but afterwards ent to a gamekeeper's cottage to give some structions that occurred, to him. The mekeeper was not at home, and the uire returned by way of a lonely track rough a thick plantation, where some of e keeper's work had to be inspected. ere he met Kingscote, sbriding along with s gun over his shoulder. The .guardsman d ,discovered his loss, and was in search of s brother, intending to make a calm state- ent of his right to the possession of the dun by virtue of his rights in the person the fair original, but at the same time ssionittely determined that this sort thing should be le= a stop There was a short parley, a brief but rce altercation, a montentary strugg,le on one side to keep, on the other side to ke, the worthless little bone of conten, n -and 11 was all over. Patrick, sent ckwarcl by a sweep of his strong brother's ; fell over the gun thathad been careleesly pped against a sapling ; the stock of the n, tlyitig up, was caught by a tough twig WI dragged across the hammers, and as man and tho weapon tinnbled to the toed together one hammer fell, and the ploded charge entered the squire's neck, b under the chin, and, passing upward to brain, killed him, It was an accident, all the fainily believed ; but to the hor of the misehatice it was nothing less n murder.no Was guilty of his ther'e Med he accepted tho portion l'atty looked up at hun wistfully, and then ed her elbows on the table ancl put her of Cain -to he A fugitiVe 414 vagabond on the face of the earth -In expiation of it. Partly with the idea of sparing pain end disgrace to his (believiog that the only evidence ayitileble would convict him of murder in a (mut of law), and partly because he felt that, if acquitted, it would be too horrible and impossible to teke an inheritance that had come to him by such means, in the overwhelming deepera,tion of his remorse and despair he took that determination to blob hhneelf out which was never afterwards revoked. Returning to the house, he col- lected some mouey and a levy valua,bles, and, unsuspected and unnoticed, took leave of his home, and hie name, and his place in the world, and was half ,way to London, and beyond recall, before the dead body in the plantation was discovered. In London Elizabeth Leigh was staying with an old Miss d'Arcy, quietly studying her music and taking a rest while the society which was so found of her was out of town; and the stricken 'nail could not carry out his resolve without bidding farewell to his be. loved, He had a clandestine interview with Elizabeth, to whom alone he confided the circumstances of his wretched plight. The girl, of course, advised him to return to Yelverton, and bravely meet and bear whatever might befall ; and it would be well for him and for her if he had taken that advice. But he would not listen to it, nor be turned frorn his fixed purpose to banish and efface himself, if possible, for the rest of his life ; seeing which, the devoted woman chose to share his fate. Whether' he could and should have spared her that enormous sacrifice, or whether she was happier in snaking it than she would other- wise have been, only themselves knew, She did her wornan's part in helping and sus coining and consoling him through all the blighted years that he was suffered to live and fret her with his brooding melancholy and his broken -spirited moroseness, and doubtless she found her true vocation in that thorny path of love. (To be Continued.; Speedy Scotch. )tarriage. The Rev. Joseph Yair, of the Border parish of Eckford, Roxburghshire, who is now defying his Presbytery, has always been a man of strong will. To those who knew him in earlier days, it is no marvel that, although 90 years of age, he should claim to be quite able, with the assistance of a probationer, to attend fully to the spiritual wants of his parish. As illustrating his decision of character his marriage may be referred to. The parents of the young lady of his choice were greatly averse to the match, and, when the wedding day came, had her securely locked her in her bed -room. Mr. Yair was denied access, Turning to the peewits with a plaintive tone he pleaded that he might be allowed at least to shake hands with her and bid her good-bye. This was granted, and the bed -chamber unlocked. No sooner was this done than Mr. Yair seized his bride by the right hand said, "I take you to be my wife"; and she as swiftly. replied, "I take you to be my husband." The parents were dumb with astonishment, aud the Rev. Joseph forthwith bore off in triumph his blushing bride, and, it may be added, the hardly -won wife proved an ad- mirable helpmeet. The spirit that is baffling the Presbytery now is the spirit that baffled the bride's parents then. The old man xnay not be wise, but he is courageous. A Solid Knock -down Blow. The whale blows water while at play; Trees blow in every clime; The sweetest flowers blow in May, But wind blows all the time. There's lots of blowing in this world. Sufferers from catarrh blow their noses, and quacks blow about their "cures." Dr. Sage' si Catarrh Remedy is the only infallible one. Its proprietors back up this claim by offering $500 for every case they fail to cure permanently. This is an unanswerable blow at humbuggery, corning from men of sterling reputation and ample capital. Nasal Catarrh cannot resist the potency of this Remedy. It stops discharges, leaving the senses acute, the head clear, and the breath normal. Of all druggists, 50 cents. The Tanner and Kis Ducks. The followingstory was told by one of Chicago's prominent lawyers. No other proof of its triithfulness could be desired: It was when I used to practice law in a little town near the centre of the State," said he. "A farmer bad one of his neigh- bors arrested for stealing ducks, and I was employed by the accused to endeavor to convince the court that such was not the case. The plaintiff was positive his neighbor was guilty of the offence charged aga.itist him, because he had seen the ducks in defendant's yard. How do you 'know they are your ducks.' I asked. Oh, I should know my own ducks any. ' replied the fa.rmer, and he went into a:description of their clifferentpeculiari- ties whereby he could readily distinguish them from others. 'Why,' said I, those ducks can't be of such a rare breed ; I have seen some just like them in my own yard." That's nob at all unlikely,' replied the farmer, for they are not the only ducks I have gad stolen lately.' Then I called the next witness." SZIZEININITiZtOMZIMMILM976411=23 Mrs. Sarah M. Black of Seneca, Mo., during the past two years has been affected with Neuralgia of the Head, Stomach and Womb, and writes: "My food did not seem to strengthen me at all and my appe- tite was very variable. My face was yellow, my head dull, and I had such pains in my left side. In the morning whenI got up I would have a flow of mucus in the mouth, and a bad, bitter taste. Sometimes m3r breath became short, and I had such queer, tumbling, palpitating Sensations around the heart. I ached all day under the shoulder blades, in the left side, and down the back of my limbs, It seemed to be worse in the wet, cold weather of Winter and Spring; and whenever the Spells came on, my feet and hands would turn cold, and 1 could get no sleep at all. I tried everywhere, and got no relief before using August Flower Then the change came. It has done Inc a wonderful deal of goocl during the time I have taken it and is work- ing a complete cure," CI G. G. GRN, Sole Man'fr,Woodbury, NJ, UV TUBER Teo 800Ne A fitp Tatiti PhYffician Who W1hc ie.11a4 Kent quiet Longer. A certain Well-known Gorman- PhYsierm of the .00110 4d0, 81.V13 the St, Louie Republic, was'. the 'victim of his own. previoosness " the other day. He Jura suocessfally treeted a wealthy lady's daughter for diphtheria and the lady was extremely grateful for it. When the ehikt was thoroughly well mother and daughter oppeare4 at the pleyeician'a office. Tho little girl shyly handed the physician a, neat knit purse), while the lady went on to say: "For having saved my child, doctor, I want to present you with_ this purse." "list," said tho physician, after an eal- barressing peuse, I have sent you a hilt for 3O0."8 The lady flushed, then said quietly, "Let, me heve the purse, please." She 'took two 8100 bills out of it and re- turned it to him, with the remark "There . are $300 in there now, so your bill is, paid," and left the room. Now the donor is cursing his chunsy 'tongue for the bad break it made. , Tha4 little speech coat him just 8200, Wisdom Frani Kansas. The Lord hears lots about the faults of husbands from over religious wives. The trouble in love affairs is that the parties to it love too mlich te love long. A man can't love a woman he does not trust; women love men every day they can't trust aoa, There are none against whom men need protection so much as those whom they int- plicitly trust. A friend's help in your troubles never travels beyond the point where hotfoots his own interests. It not unfrequently is the case that one friend makes a man more trouble than twee enemies cause him. The best loved inan is he who gives the most ; he is also the one least regarded when he stops giving. That men are different from women is considered by the men as a sufficient war - rant for all their follies. "1 wish Iwas a man," said a woman the ‘ other day. It is always fashionable for them to be comfortable."-Atehison, Glo5e. The Fools are Not All Dead. A lazy man, whose horses and cart were stuck in the mud, prayed to Jupiter for help. Jupiter answered: "Fool get up and put your shoulder to the wheel, and de not call on me when you can help yourself." Foolish people buy medicines hap -hazard, blindly trusting to promises made without et guarantee. Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical. Discovery is guaranteed to cure colds, coughs, all lung affections, and even Con- sumption, in its early btages, It puts to rout all stomach troubles, purifies the blood, gives healthful action, to the sluggish liver, and drives blemishes from the skin. It is an honest medicine, and an invaluable health insurance policy which should never be allowed to lapse. All druggists keep it Cure For Corns. An absolute and permanent cure for corns is the rest cure, says a New York Times writer. If you can go into a fortnight's seclusion, giving out that your ankle is sprained, and keep the corn foot in a stock- ing and wool bedside slipper, without pressure, and useing only when walking about the room, the corns will disappear and will not return. All inflammation sub- sides first and the corn becomes loose an& easily detached and that is the end of it. For soft corns the constant wearing of a bit of old linen saturated every morning with sweet oil is said to be a sure cure. From the beginning the pain of the in- fliction ceases, and after a time the corn it- self loosens and falls out. Both these remedies are from good authority', and will bear trial; the first one, perho.ps, being rather difficult of accomplishment, since many of the acids and corn salves sold, irritate and produce soreness, and the knife of the chiropodist is apt 10 afford merely temporary relief. A Big Plant. According to R Leader Williams, Engl.,- neer•in-Chief of the Manchester Ship Canal, England, the plant used on that work con. - sided of 97 steam excavators, 8 steam dredgers, 173 locomotives, 6,300 trucks and cars, 228 miles of single track railway, costing about $3,150 per mile, 124 steam cranes, 192 portable and other steam en- gines, and 212 steam pumps of all sizes. The maximum laboring force was 17,000 men and boys and 200 horses. The. coal consumed amounted to 10,000 tons per month. The total excavation was shoat, 46,500,000 cubic yards, including 10,000,000 cubic yards of sandstone rock. Dealing in Futures. "You have been a grain speculator, I believe," said a solid looking business man as he entered a, broker's office and without ceremony took the first chair he was waived to. "Yes, sir, I have been a speculator, bat I am out of the business, thank goodness. It's hazardous, sir, very hazardous." "Yes. Well, then, I take it from thab that you don't believe in a young man deal- ing in futures." No, sir, I do not. It is a reprehensible practice, air ; very reprehensible." "What would you do with a son, if yor had one, who persisted in dealing in fu- tures ? " "Why, if my son -and I've got one - should deal in futures, Ishould wrestle with him awhile, and then if he persisted I shoul& fire him out of the house." "Alt right. Your son is coming to see my daughter nearly every night in the week, and last night I overheard them. talking about how much they thought I was worth. If that isn't dealing in futures, I'd like to know your advice before I fire That Accounted for it. Eminent Personage -May I ask whether you are related to the Mr. Smith whom L met at Venice last year? Mr. Smitla-I am that Mr. Smith, sir. Eminent Personage -Ali 1 that accounts for the remarkable resembla.nce.-Bostoit. Globe. The einevitanee Tax. New York Harald : Mrs. Hicks -When. will you ever learn, Henry, to tax 3rocur memory? , Hicks -I presume I shall start in this fell --if McKinley gets there ia Ohio. Mrs. John MoLeen vvrites, from Barrie Island, Ont., lelareh 4, 1889, as follows: "1 have been a great sofferer from nettralgia for the last nine years, but, being advised to try St. Jacobs Oil, can now heartily en - done it 218 being a most excellent remedy or this complaint, ae I have been greatly* benefited by its A (gusto of dates weighing 18 pounds and comprising 1000 dates is on exhibition at. Phenix, A. T. near which &tee they we#0, grown,