The Brussels Post, 1889-4-5, Page 6THE BRUSSELS POS', APRIL 6, 1889
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TH DESERTED FARM
A TRAGIC STORY OI' OLD CANADA.
CHAPTER L—(OozTINum, )
" After some persuasion, M. Deejarniere
consented to his son's desire, and Felix, with
many kind wished on the part of his parents
and Louise, and many regrets that he was
to leave them, even for so short a time, set
orth immediately, half.regretting himself,
when the hour ot departure arrived, that he
would be so long parted from his betrothed.
"He had been absent but a few days when
M. de Lavigny, the lord of the manor, who
had nob visited his property for several years
arrived, with his nephew, M. le Capltaine
de Lavigny, a young French offioer, who had
lately come to Canada on a visit to his uncle.
"M, de Lavigny expressed hie intention
to remain at Sb. Claude for several weeks,
to enjoy the sports of hunting and shooting
with hit nephew ; and now a great diffioulty
arose as to where the distinguished vieitore
should find suitable lodgings.
" Certainly there was no accommodation
far them is any of the cabins of the small
farmers and fishermen, the eeigneur's ten-
ants. M. Desjarniers' house was the only
one, within many miles, where they could
find rooms, and M. Deejarniere held his fa, m
in independent poaeession. M. de Lavigny
hold no authority over him whatever. The
honest, kind-hearted farmer, however, no
sooner heard of the awkward dilemma in
which the two gentlemen found themeelven,
than he hastened to assure them bhab be and
his wife would be happy to place the beet
rooms in their house at their disposal, whioh
offer was thankfully accepted.
"My story," continued M. le Cure, whioh
has hitherto been all happiness, now begins
tc partake of sadness.
" Captain de Lavigny had hardly taken
possession of his lodgings, ere he was at-
tracted by the exquisite beauty and naive
innocence and simplicity of Louise. Acme.
tomed to the open coquetry and inane fri-
volity which at thee period prevailed
among females of the highest raps: in the
Frenoh capital, there was something irresis.
Obis to the young man in the manners as
well as in the appearance of the young
Canadian. He thought her the loveliest
creature he had ever beheld, and lost no
time in the endeavour to establish himself
in her good graces.
"The only son of one of the oldest and
proudest families of France, and bear to a
large fortune, he imagined that his aonquesb
of the heart of the nnsophistioated country
girl would be an easy one. In this, how-
ever, he was greatly mistaken. He was a
handsome young man, though far inferior
to Felix in true manly beauty. His gay
clothing, and easy, insinuating manners,
however, set off his natural good looks to
advantage and while Louise acknow-
ledged to herself that Felix was
taller and handsome, and better formed,
she could nr t help admiring him, and wish-
ing, in her secret heart, that her betrothed
husband possessed something of the officer's
personal graces, in addition to his own man-
ly beauty. Still alarmed at the youngFreaoh-
man's ardent, admiring glances, she sought
in every way to alma him, for several days,
and until at length Madame Desjarniers told
her that she was sorry to see her behave so
rudely to their stranger guest.
"Ah, poor, innocent unsupioious Madame
Desjarniers," apostrophised M. le Cure, " if
you had but had a little more knowledge of
the world, and had been aware that' this ap.
parent eoldnese and rudeness on the part of
your adopted child was bub the instinctive
modesty of youthful womanhood and the de.
fence against libertineone advances with
whioh nature has endowed the pure -minded
of the sex 1
"Madame Desjarniers, however," eon.
tinned M. le Cure, resuming tho thread of
hie narrative "was long past the age at
whioh female innocence and beauty nae to
dread the arts of the would.be despoiler;
and having, in her own original lowly sphere,
known no temptation, she bad no idea, in
her ignorance of the world, of the depravity
whioh could lead men to eeek the deetruo•
tion of her sex's modesty, nor could she
conceive it possible that a betrothed bride
could forget the ties by which she was
bound to her lover. She was herself pleased
with the manners of her youthful guest, and
she wished her adopted daughter to aid her
endeavours to render him oomfottable.
" The young offioer, too, perceiving that
Louise was frightened at his advances, as-
sumed a more retired manner in her pre.
senor ; and in a short time the young girl,
Toeing her fears, began to think that they
had been groundless, and to treat the
young man with greater cordiality.
" Suffice it to say that, in the oouroe of a
fort -night, the young Captain and Louise
became mutually pleased with eaoh other,
and thoughLonfee had not yet swerved for
one memento from her duty and offeotion for
her betrothed husband, she found a strange
fascination in the ofli:er's conversation, and
eepeoially in his descriptions of the perils
and dangers he had encountered (for he had
already eeen service during his brief mili-
tary career. Many of these perils might
have been exaegerated, or invented—pro.
bably they were ; still he showed proudly
the mar of a wound he bad received while
fighting at the head of his regiment ; and if
Louise did nob yet love him, she admired
him " for the dangers he had passed."
Simple and ignorant, however, as were
the villagers, they were not altogether
blind to the growing partiality of Lorisa
andtheyoung Frenoh Captain to each other's
society. Not that they imagined that any
great harm would come of it; bub they
thought it a pity that Felix, who was a
general favourite, should have absented him-
self at this especial period.
" All, however, were too innocent and
ignorant of the world's ways to anticipate
any evil; and so matters proceeded until
two months had expired, and M. de Lavigny
was intending to return to Quebeo.
" Matters, however, had prooeeded much
further than any one in the village had any
idea of.
"To do the Captain due jnstioe, what.
each may have been bis original intentions,
he had quite given up any idea of working
evil towards Louise. He had, in fact, be.
come perfectly faeeinated by her rare graze
and beauty ; and regardless of the jeers to
whioh he would expose himself from his
gay friends in France—oarelets ofthe oppose,
tion of his aristocratic relatives to ouch an
alliance—heedlleas of the world's opinion,
—be heel resolved, if possible, to make the
fair Canadian his wife, and had already
asked ber to accept his hand and share Me
fortune.
"Then Louise bad honestly assured him
that she was betrothed to her fosrer.bi other-
whem ehe sincerely loved, and that within
three months she expected to become his
wafer
' As yob, dee had not swerved, oven in n
thought, from her duty ; and her heart WAS w
stilt true to the absent Felix. a
"She.had, however, listened to the voioa
of the tempter ; and thus the young French
officer had gained an advantage of which he
I
was nob slow to avail himoelf.
"He pictured in glowing language the
numerouo charms and delights of the aris-
toaratio wieldy to which be sought to in-
troduce her, and to wbiob he, secured her,
she was fitted by nature to become olio of
its fairest and brigbteet ornaments, He pie.
tured, in oontrage, a life wanted, as he termed
it, in a remote district of a dependent colony,
in theeooiety of boors and hinds, with whom
ehe was 111 adapted to associate ; and thongh
lee might not have won her love, he fired her
latunb ambition, and awakened her inherent
love of admiration. Instead of shunning his
moiety, now that she knew his objeot, as aha
ought to have done, she nought lb more than
ever, and listened, with bell -tale blushes and
eparkliug eyes, to the flatteries with which
he assailed her. Wbab wonder, then, that,
at length, she succumbed to his flatteries ?—
for, alas 1 poor child, she had no ono to warn
her of the dangers to whioh she voluntarily
exposed herself.
'M. de Lavigny was ready to return to
Quebeo, but his nephew had made up hie
mind not to return with him, The young
offioer professed to have derived much
benefit from the pure air of St,
Claude, and expressed his i ntention to
remain yob a few weeks longer, promising
to rejoin his uncle at Quebeo early in the
autumn; and so blind were Monsieur and
Madame Desjarniers to the dangers whioh
threatened their domestic happiness, and so
much pleased were they with the young
officer's society, that they listened to his
decision with eatisfaotiou, and assured him
that they would do all in their power
to make his longer sojourn agreeable to
"'If Monsieur would but honour no by
remaining our guest untill the return of
our son, and would graciously assize at the
wedding of our dear Felix and Louise,' said
Madame Desjarniers, 'our satisfaction would
be complete; and the Captain expressed his
deep regret that the necessity of his return
to France before the winter set in, would
oblige him to quit Sb. Claude a few weeks
before the expected return home of M.
Felix.
"What need," continued M. le Cure. "to
be more explicit with my story ? Suffice it
to say, that within a few weeks of the dew.
tore of M. de Lavigny, hie nephew had suc-
ceeded in the accompliehmenbof his wiehee,
Louise, dazzled by the brilliant prospects
opened out to her in the future, and forgetful
of her vows before heaven, and of the duty
she owed her earthly protectors—heedless,
alas 1 of the misery she would entail upon
her more than parents, and her too trusting
lover and foster-brother—had promised to
become the wife of the high-born French
officer, and to return with him to Paris.
"Ib was arranged that their marriage
should rake plane ab Qaebec ; and a plan was
laid out, by whioh Louise was to follow the
Captain to that plane the day after his de-
parture from St. Claude.
"The day appointed for the departure of
the young ffioer arrived ; and amidst the
regrets and good wishes for his future wee.
fare of his simple minded host and hostess,
the young Frenchman embarked on board
the vessel which was to convey him to Que-
beo ; he, an bis part, promised to send a
handsome present to Madame Desjarniers
from France, as a mark of his regard, and as
a slight return for the many kindnesses he
had reoeived from herself and her husband,
"Little did they—poor, simple, honest
people—imagine that tbeir treacherous
guest was about to rob them of their great
eat treasure 1
"Louise had, for some time past, lost
much of her former cheerfulness, and her
foster -parents had noticed the change in her,
and had attributed ib to tndisposition, and
to the absence of Felix, They had sought
to console her by reminding her that the day
when her lover would return to claim her as
his bride was drawing near.
"'Poor child 1' said Madame to her hus-
band ; 'she is naturally anxious as the day
of her nose approaches. I remember how it
was with me when I was about to become
thy wife ; but when once the wedding is
over, our beloved Louise will be herself
again. What a pity ib is that our late guest
oould nob remain to mishit at the wedding
festivities V
" On the very day on which the French
offioer took his departure, a letter arrived
from Felix, in which he spoke of his expeoh
ed return that day week, and expressed his
ardent desire once more to embrace his
parents and his darling betrothed Louise,
and his longing for the day on which he
should olaim her as hie bride.
" Louise was on that day very dull and
dietreaoed. She did not seem to know what
she was doing, and when Madame Desjarn-
iera, after reading the letter aloud, plaoed
it in her adopted daughter's hands, the un-
happy girl buret into a passion of tears, and
hastened to abut herself up in her own
MOM.
"' Poor child 1' said the old lady, ' how
deeply she feels ! What love she bears in
her heart for our noble boy 1 But the youth-
ful pair will soon be re -united, and our
Louise will be all smiles and happiness
again.'
"Perhaps, even ab that late moment, had
Louise poaseaeed a confidante from whom
ehe mighb have sought advice and oonsola.
bion, the impending blow bad yob been
averted, and she might bays been restored
to her foster -parents and ber lover. Bub
ebbe alas 1 was not to be.
" All that day Louise kept her room,
complaining, in response to the anxious in
quiries of Madame D.,ajarniers, of a severe
headaohe, whioh, however, she domed her
foster -mother would no doubb be better on
the morrow. When, at length, Madame
Desjarniers was about to retire for the
night, Louise kissed her several Ohio, and
clasped her in her embrace ; and, contrary
to her usual habit, ehe also kissed M. Des.
jarnlera affectionately when he oam. to bid
ber good -night.
"The worthy, unsuspicious farmer and his
wife rose in the morning ab their usual early
hour. Louise did nob make her appearance,
and when Madam Deejarniere, fearing that
she was still suffering from headache, enter-
ed the young girl's apartment, she found
thab it woe untenanted. It was thought
that Louise had rieen early and gone for a
walk, and Madame Deejarniere, assisted by
her domestics, prepared for breakfast, anti-
oipating ber adopted daughter's return by
the time the meal was ready.
"Still, . mid came; not and supposing
that she had prolonged her walk, the farmer
and his wife cab down to their morning
meal. When, however, hours poised away,
and atilt Louise bad nob returned, her fader.parents began to feel some anxiety, and to
Wonder what bad become of her; and when
con. ay ked passed, and the young woman
as still absent, and the servants and never.
1 of the Villagers, on being queatio,ied, do.
olared that they had seen nothing of her, the
°noddy of the old folks wan changed into
alarm, though thin alarm took no definite
shape, since they could nob convolve that any
accident could have befallen their ohild, in
theuite village end neighborhood,
"M. Daojernlers, however, set forth in
search of her, and returned late in the after-
noon without having heard any tidings of
the absent one, and hoping bo find her al.
ready at home,
' When he dieoovered that suoh was not
the ease, he knew nob what to think, Het
room wee eoarehed, and it was seen that she
had gone abroad in her ordinary garments,
Nothing was mincing with bho exception of
a large clod cloak, which she would prob-
ably have wrapped around her if aboub to
take an crdinary walk et an early pour in
the morning. A starch was immediately
instituted throughout the night and the
greater portion of the following day, and
though every foot of ground for miles around
was oarsfully examined, ro traces of holed
Louise were discernible. No suspicion of
the truth entered the villagers' minds, and,
and, in their simplicity, they began to at-
tribute Louise's strange disappearance to
some supernatural oauoe.
"Vain would it be for me to attempt to
describe the grief of Monsieur and Madame
Desjarniers, intensified as it was by their
knowledge of the agony of grief and diaoress
into whioh their eon would be plunged when
he should hear of bis betrothed bride's my
oterious disappearance.
"The search was oonbinued at intervals
for three days; bub on the evening of the
third day certain news was brought to the
village which threw some light upon the
matter.
"A fisherman belonging to a village some
eight miles distant along the river shore bad
been plying hie vocation near Cape St. Anne
on the night of Louise's disappearance; and
this man now oame on a visit to a friend at
St. Claude, Of course, he very soon heard
of the sad affair whioh was the almost sole
talk of the village.
" 'Three nights ago, do you eay ?' said he
to hie friend. 'That will explain something
which struck me at the time as being very
strange. Listen, old comrade. It woe about
three nights since, and I had lowered my
sail, and was lying to, under the Cape,
when I saw a schooner coming down the
river, close in shore. There was nothing in
that ; but when she arrived opposite Sb.
Claue, ehe was hove to, and a boat was
lowered from her deck, into whioh descend-
ed two Bailors, and a ball man, wrapped in a
large military cloak. The noab was pulled
to the shore, and the ball man sprang out on
to the beach.
" Ha, ba 1' thought I to myself ; ' this
is strange 1 Why should a passenger land
at St. Claude at this late hour ? Who or
what oan he be, I wonder ?' 1 thought the
boat would return to the schooner ; but no,
ib remained where it bad landed its passen-
ger. My curiosity was aroused. 'By Jove 1'
I exclaimed to myself, 'I will watch and see
the end of this.'
"Ib wasafairly bright moonlit night, so that,
though I was some distance oat I could see
everything that ocoured almost as well ae
though it had been daylight ; while, my boat
lying in the deep shadow of the cliff, I
could not be seen. Perhaps ten minutes
elasped, and then the tall man who had the
bearing of a gentleman, reappeared, with
a female, also wrapped in a cloak, banging
on his arm.
"Ab length the man partly led and partly
carried his companion to the boat, put
her on board, and gob on board himself.
As soon as he had taken his seat in the
stern -sheets, the woman hid her face in his
bosom ; and now I oould plainly see that she
waegreatly agitated andwasweepingbitterly,
while the man sought in every way to soothe
and console her. The boat was speedily
pulled back to the schooner; the passengers
and sailors climbed to the deck, the woman
being lifted on board by her companion, the
yards ware braced forward, and the schooner
returned up the river in the direction whence
she had come;
"'Some mischievous work going forward,'
thought I to myself, 'but ib is no business of
mine, and I couldn't prevent it if I would.'
My good friend, 10 shrikes me very foroibly
that this narrative hes something bo do with
the disappearanoe of the pretty Louise Dee-
jarniere.
"So thought the listener, and others to
whom the story was told, and gradually the
truth forced itself uprn their minds. They
recollected the friendly intimacy that had
existed between Louise and the military
offioer, and soon arrived at the ooncluaion
that Louise bad eloped with the young and
gallant Frenchman.
"I piss over the conflicting feelings of
grief and regret of Monsieur and Madame
Desjarniers, and the agonizing pangs which
tore the breaeb ot the unhappy, betrayed
Felix, when on hie return home only a few
days later, all eager to embreoe his betrothed
bride, he learnt how basely and cruelly he
had been wronged.
"Ib is enough to say that gradually, after
a time, his distracted mind became more
tranquil, all he thought of was vengenoe.
His very nature seemed suddenly to have
undergone a complete Mango.
" 'It is too late now to think of redress,'
he said, moodily, to his sorrowing parents,
'f have torn the image of the unfaithful
Louise from my breast, Loathing has
taken the place of love, and I live bub for
revenge. As for her base eeduoer, he and
I cannot live upon this, earth together. One
or other of use mush perish. Louise I will
yet live to epend a long life of remorse and
misery,' "
"He declared his intention to go im-
mediately to Quebec, seek out the man who
had wronged him, and challenge him to
mortal combat; nor could all the entreaties
of his almost heartbroken parents swerve
him for one moment from his resolve,
"He made immediate preparations for
his departure, when, shortly after midnight,
on the very day on whioh he intended to em-
bark for Quebeo, a large ship, bound to some
port in France, Dame down the river, and
hove to for a few minutes opposite the vil-
lage, Several fishermen were plying their
vocation in the neighbourhood, and one of
bltese„men was signalled by the captain of
the skip,
"'I wish you, my good man, to carry two
lettere on shored the village of St. Claude,'
said the oaptain, as soon as the fisherman
stepped on to the ship's deck. "One is for
Monsieur and Madame, the other for M.
Felix Desjarniers, Doubtless you are am
quainted wibh the partied?"
"Everybody hereabouts knows those
good people," replied the fisherman,
"'Good 1 Then deliver these letters as
soon as possible. They are nob from me, but
from a lady.passenger of mine—Madame de
Lavigny. I am directed to recompense you
" The fleherman saw no paseengere while
he was on board the ship; bull he said after.
wards bhab he had no sooner quitted the
vessel's aide than a lady and gentleman
Appeared on the quarber400k, the former
supported by the letter, and the lady con•
tinned to gaze earnestly towards the elide
as long as the ship remained in sight of 80.
Claude.
These lettere were of course from Louise,
who was now, indeed, Madame de Lavigne,
They were very long, and eo blotted with
tears, bhab they were saaroaly legible.
" Louise wrote that she was lawfully mar.
rigid to Captain de Lavigny, wibhin two
hours of her arrival ab Quebec, by the bishop
of thea plaoo,—bho vast inflaenoo of M. de
Lavigny, the eider, having been ouffioienb
to oauoe all the preliminaries to be arranged
ready for the immealabe consummation of
the marriage ceremony. Yet, though she
was now the wife of a distinguished gentle-
man, she averred, with many loud protestat-
ions, that if all the wealth of the world were
zb her disposal, she would give ib all, freely,.
gladly, could she but blot out the past four
menthe from her exisbsnoe, and be moo
more what ehe was when ehe had bidden
her betrothed and betrayed foater•brother
and lover farewell, ere be sailed for Nova
Scotia. She vowed that ehe would have
gone baok home, even ab the lash moment,
if it had not been too late, and bad she not
been carried on board the boat by her tempt-
er, who, a000rding to previous arrangement,
had only proceeded a short distance np the
river after be hod taken hie departure from
St. Claude, ineb'ad of going directly. to
Quebeo, as M. and Madame Deejarniere
had supposed. It had been arranged that
she was to meet the Captain ab midnight cn
the day of his departure, and bhab she was
not to encumber herself wibh luggage, but
was to carry nothing wibh her but the
clothing ehe wore.
"Though she was now, in duty bound, to
love and honour her husband, sbo av erred
that ehe had never loved him, nor could
ever love him as ehe loved Felix, whose
memory, alae 1 ib was now her duty to
banish from her bosom. This, however, she
felt was impossible,lebher strive asshe mighb.
Even the momenb after she had given
the fatal promise to become the wife of Cap-
tain de Lavigny, she would have recalled io,
had ib been in her power ; but she was fasci-
nated—drawn, in spite of herself, by some
irresistible power, as a bird is fasainated by
the fatal gaze of the ssrpens, until she falls
into its grasp, and is lost for aver. She
prayed Felix and her beloved foster -parents
to forget that suoh a vile wretch as she—so
base, so ungrateful, so cruel—had ever ex-
isted; and then, with a strange iaconsie•
benoy, that they would sometimes think of
her as she once had been, and would not
altogether forget her. She begged that,
when their first righteous indignation had
subsided, they would, at least, remember
her in their prayers, as she would ever, ever
remember them.
"Though her lettere, in this portion,
were so blotted with tears, that it was dif-
fionie to trace a single word, ehe expressed
a hope that her ever -beloved Felix would,
in course of time, take to.himaolf a wife,
whose love and goodness would render him
happy, and who might herself live long to
enjoy the happiness whioh she had wanton-
ly and wiokedly cast from her. Her husband
she said, was kind, loving, and generous. He
had permibbed her to write as she pleased,
withoutaeking to knowwhatshehadwritten.
The fault was all hers,not his,sinoe he could
nob help the fatal fasoinabion with whioh he
had drawn her from the paths of love and
auty ; and she only wished that be bad a
wife who could love him more devotedly
that she could ever love him, and who
would be more worthy of him than she was,
or ever could be.
"Her letters abounded, in foot, with
evidently heartfelt expressions of fervent
love for her deceived and betrayed foster
brother, and for her kind foster•parents,
while ehe made no endeavour to spare her-
self, but was, on the contrary, vehement in
her denunciations of her own ingratitude
and cruelty. " But, indeed, indeed I" she
repeated, time after time, " 1 was bewilder-
ed—tempted—I was nob myself—I knew nob
what I was doing until I had gone too far
to retract. Oh, why didab Thou permit
these fatal strangers to come to our dear,
happy, and retired Sb. Claude at such a
time? Oh, my own, much -loved Felix, why
were thou absent when thy presence was
most needed? But why do I ask these
questions? Why do I endeavour to cash
blame upon ethers, when the fault is mine
—mind alone? May heaven forgive me !
And thou, my beloved Felix, and ye, my
cherished foeter•parents—my more than
father and mother—try, oh, try, in course
of time bo pardon your poor lost Lonnie,
and to think of her as ebo once was in her
innocence and happiness—now lost for
ever I"
"The letters ooneluded with expressions
of ardent affection, and thee addressed to
M. soliMadema Deejarniere oontained aoor•
tificate, signed by the Bishop of Quebeo, and
properly witnessed, of the marriage of
Captain de Lovigny, of Paris, France, to
Mademoiselle Louise Lsgris, of Sb. Claude,
district of St. Anne, Lower Canada.
"M. and Madame Desjernierewept bitter
tears over their letter, and that of their son,
which he permitted them to read,
"'My son,' ab length bbed forth Mad-
ame Deejerniers, ' heaven abh interposed to
prevent thy departure from Quebec with the
deadly purpose thou hadat In view. Let us
try to forgive our poor, lost Louise, For my
part, I most freely forgive her the sorrow she
has caused, and will oontinue to cause me,
for I cannot forget her. Let her and her
husband be in peace, and let us pray that
they maybe happy.'
" With a grim smile, Felix reoeived bank
hie lebter from his mobher'e hands, and
crumpling ib up, threw ft -into the fire. where
he watched ib in eilenoe until ib was reduced
to tinder. Then he spoke,
"'My mother," said he, 'you may forgive
Louise and her husband if you will, but I
cannot, It is true that a journey to Quebeo
would now be usefeoa. I shall go to lerauoe
instead. I shall never seek rest until my
project of revenge be consummated. Until
then you will nob ewe me again. Than, per.
hope, if I survive, I may return to St,
Claude. Never before.'
"It was in vain that M. and Madame Des-
barniers, with tears, prayers and entreaties,
eeoughb their son nob to laevo them doso.
late and alone in their old age, In vain that
Madame Desjarniers said tbab the loss of
oth her children would soon bring her gray
Gere to bho grave—bhab if Felix left her,
hough he returned aver so soon, he would
ot tend her living. Vainly they ensured
im thea the vengeance ho contemplated was
inked, and would recoil upon his own head :
o was as if his heart bad been turned to
clamant. Nothing oould move him from
is stern purpose.
"Equally in vain did the distressed
arente call fn Monist Ligny, the then ours
f St, Claude, to their aid. In response to
he observation of the cure bhab vengeance
one belonged to heaven, the young man
aid impiously, ' Ay, good fabhor; but
damesvonggean0e is too elow ter foe, The
songs I seek mush, and shall, if I live, be
b
h
n
well for your trouble1"—and as the captain b
spoke, he placed five gold Ionia in the fisher. w
man's hand. b
" De ightod at receiving suoh an abundant a
reward for suoh a small servicethe fisher. h
man faithfully promised to deliver the let.
tors, with his own hand, ab daybreak ; and p
thanking the captain of the shag, and send- o
ing hie grateful thanks to the generous lady t
he returned to his boat. The ellip s yards al
were immediately braced forward, and ehe a
went on her way towards the tread At. , h
lanbio, r
initiated by my awn hand. I will be the
inetrumenb in the hands of heaven.'
" Felix Desjarniers speedily embarked for
Franco, having previonely taken a fond
farewell of his heartbroken parade, and
registered a eolemn vow to heaven that he
would never return be Sb. Claude, nor hold
any eorreepondence with any one in S0.
Claude, until the vengoanee he oonbemplat-
ed had been fully and completely wrought,
What was the nature of this vengeance, if,
indeed, he had yet made np hie mind on
that point, he kept a scarab in bis own
bosom.
"The words of poor Madame Deejaraiers
were, sloe, bub too prophobio 1 Deprived of
both bar tenderly loyal children, she fell
into is state of utter despendently ; and,
within six months of the date of her eon's
departure she was laid in her grave,
Her husband, thus left alone in the
world, after many years of happiness and
prosperity euoh as are rarefy accorded to
mankind, sank into a condition of apathy,
from which all the cfforts of his friends were
unable to arouse him. lie lost all interest
in his farm, and in the affairs of the village
and pariah ; was seldom seen abroad, exoe
on the Sabbaths, when he never failed ink
attondaaoe at mase ; and the once active a
energetic farmer henceforth lived the sealu
ed life of a hermit."
Here Monsieur le Cure, who had balk
long, gave himself a brief rest, and re.fille
his gboos.
"Perhaps, monsieur, I have wearied you
he said, le is a story that cannot be told
in a few words, and the most exciting por-
tion has yeeto come. If you feel weary,
say so, and we will postpone the narrative
of the concluding portion of this affecting
history until our next meeting 7"
"On the contrary, monsieur," I replied ,
"I have become every momenb more
interested in your narrative as you proceeded
n•
with it, and 1 will willingly listen to its co
olusien. It is you who must feel fatigued,
therefore if you wish to pozep000 the conclu-
sion to come other day, I must rest content;
but I confess that I would rather hear it now,
if you are nob too tired to proceed."
By no means," returned the ours ; ib
shall be as Monsieur witches. I have too cel.
dom a friend, with whom I can converse
on equal terms, to wish to get rid of him.
Help yourself to some wine. Yon find it
good, eh 7 'Tie the beet I oan procure. We
will sit quiet awhile and refresh ourselves,
and then I will continue my story."
(TO BE 000015051).)
TELEGRAPHIC TICKS.
Russian detoobivea have boon Bash to
.`Switzerland bo negotiate for eke extradition
of Niblliete,
Mn. John Bright is dead,
A dieae:roue collision ie reported on the
Taku and Tienbaien railway, iu Ohl:" re.
dieing in many deaths.
Tho ldnporor and lenpreoe of Austria
have abandoned the usual Maunday Thurs.
day ceremonies owing to the illness of the
Empress.
Taseobt, the Chicago murderer, has burned
up again, this time in Arkansas,
Voting on Stood Act repeal will take place
in Leeds and Grenville on April 26,
Great satisfaction is exproosed in Mont-
real over :he capture of "Father" McDonald,
ebo., captured iu Toronto. His real 1204110
ie
Clarke, and ho formerly lived in Montreal.
The directors of the Union Pacific Rail-
way Company have decided bhab is nob
expedient to resume the payment of divl-
pt donde
15 I James McKelvey, who was charged wlbb
nd praotieing medicine without,a cortificate,
d- has been acquitted in So. Catharines.
ed
d
,
Egyptian Women.
In youth the women of Egypt generally
have lovely forms, plump, supple and ele-
gant. Au excess of flesh is rare among them.
Graceful curves, an upright carriage and
finely moulded hands and feet are common
characteristics, Their faces, too, are usually
pleasing and often beautiful, with the richly
tinted softness of the South. So sweet is the
expression of these fade, so bewitching are
the glances of their dark eyes, that an ex-
perieneed traveller declares they are the
mod perfect women in the world.
The ayes of nearly all are large, block and
almond -shaped ; their soft expression, still
further heightened by long lashes and the
universal use of "Kohl•' who whioh they
blacken the edges of the lido. They have
oval faces, sometimes a little broad, and
clear olive complexions. The lips are nen-
al'y quite full ; the nose is etraighb, though
a little wide. Glossy black hair, with eye-
brows that form a lovely arab complete the
features of these sirens, famed since Cleo-
patra for their beguiling beauty.
They dress the hair iu an elaborate fashion.
Ib is cut shobb over the forehead, bub on
either side of the face hangs a full look,
often curled or braided. The rest of the
hair is arranged in aumeroue braids, usually
from 11 to 26, but always an odd number.
Three blank silk cordo, bearing little orna.
meats of gold, are generally fastened to each
braid, banging down tho„back in a glittering
ahower.
The headdress is a oomplex arrangement.
It consists of a kind of turban, round which 1
is commonly bound a gay kerchief or a long
strip of muslin folded into a narrow band.
The latter is usually black or rose colored.
The central part is ornamented for several
inches with spangles, which fall over the
forehead, while the ends are decked wibh a
gay edging and tassels of oolored silks
above which a few more spangles are sewed
On the orown of the headdress is worn
a round, oonvex ornament called the " kurs."
It is about five inches in diameter, and as
costly as the wearer can afford. Wealthy
ladies, and even the wives of some small
tradesmen wear those compoaelof diamonds
set in gold. Others wear a simpie golden
kurs, sliver being seldom seen, even among
servants. The head veil coneiste of a long
piece of white muslin, embroidered at each
end with colored silk and gold, or of colored
orepe, ornamented with gold thread and
spangles. Thin is drawn well forward upon
the head, while the long ands hang down
behind nearly to the ground. The face veil,
always worn in publics, is a 'simple strip of
white muslinfastened just below the eyes,
i
from which t falls nearly to the feet. It
completely hides all the features except the
eyes, bub as these are commonly hhogreatest
beauty of the woman it serves rather to
heighten admiration than to quell ib,—[Lon.
don Truth.
An Accommodating Piper.
It Is well known that in Sootland inebru.
mental music of any kind on Sunday lore.
garded with some suspicion, and that secu-
lar music is almost universally proboribed.
Much as a true Highlander delights in the
bagpipes, he would never dream of playing
thein on Sunday. The locality of the follow•
ing exceptional dee is not given. A pipet
whose religious education had been neglect-
ed had been indulging himself with a tune
on the pipes on a Sunday, when the minister
obanaed to be passing his house. He thought
ib his duty to go in and admonish the offend-
er. " What was that I was hearing, Du -
odd ?" " Weal, maybe ye wad be hearin'
the pipes." " But do you not know what
day thin is 7" "Ay ; what for wad 1 not
know it?" "Dugold, do you remember the
Fourth Commandment 7" "Na, minister, I
canna say I do ; bub, if ye wad wbuabl'b, I
miohb try to play it to you."
A CLOUD -BURST,
Tho;Buainoss fart of a t'altrornta Town
Swept Away.
Los AnoELEs, Cal„ March 21.—Great
floods aro reported in Southern California,
A oloud•butse000urred at Venture on Sat.
urday. The water rushed down a canon.
flooding the town and sweeping away many
houses, Two Chinamen were drowned and
sooreo of pceple had narrow escapes, The
buiinose part of tbo town was washed away,
and the loss will approximate $10,000. The
Southern Pooflo brook was distroyod for a
quarter of a mile. Serious trouble is reported
on all the railroads. Apassenger Brain was
wreokod near Fronde yesterday, but none
of the passengers wero injured. Two train -
Men wore badly burt. A big land•slido is
reported on the Santa Fe railroad. Dight
carloads 01 Boston travellers were detained
in the mountains on account of the wash•
Mb, t
The Russian Carnival:
Visitor comes in aha wake of vieltor,
amusement follows amusement, and scene
succeeds scene in rapid sucoession until oar -
nivel or butter week arrives—this year lb
falls on Marsh &—and pancakes with melted
butter, noun °ream and fresh caviar aro coon.
soientioualy eaten as if in obedience to a re-
ligious precept, ab home end in every house
one visits, till the bill of mortality is run up
to an alarming extent, nays a St. Petersburg
letter. This is the culminating period of all
the festivities of the season. Among the
lower classes of the people a Bober man is aa
rare during the lash three days of the carni-
val as a, white blackbird or a four-leaved
shamrock, and the police have strict orders
to arrest no persona for mere dronkenoees, as
there would be no accommodation for them
in the prisons. Ab laeb Sunday in Butter
week arrives, is celebrated as a veritable
Saturnalia, and rapidly glides into Monday
in Lent, and belated pleasure seekers return-
ing home on Monday morning are oftentimes
surprised by the cad, monotonous tones of
the church bell summoning canners to prayer
and repentance. After this ehe sounds of
music and revelry °reheard no more, theatres
are closed, neglected buelnees ie once more
attended to, the existence of scrims pur-
suits in life admitted and people gradu-
ally Bottle down into routine of their old
work-a•duy life, wtoiota is only again interrupt-
ed for a moment. Easter, the greeted
church festival of Russia, is, in respect of
visits, presents, tips to servants, hospibaliby
and rejoicings, a repetition ofNewYear's day,
Bub it is little more than an echo, Is taste
but two days, and, like the laeb flicker of a
candle burning out, is the inevitable harbin-
ger of the end.
Coal in England.
Periodically a ooal scare arises in England.
A scientist reads a paper before a learned
society to the effect that the greatest source
of Edgland'e wealth, her coal fields, wil
give cub at some stated time, and straight.
way editorals appear in the leading papers
giving warning of the nacoasity of economy,
Mr. R. Price Williams is the latest to be
heard from in tela respect, and he recently
read a paper before the StatisticalSooiety in
London fixing tin period of exhaustion for
the Northumberland and Darham coal fields
at 94 years ; for South Wales at 79 yearn ;
the coated part of South Wales at 46 years;
the Lancasbire and Cheshire coal fields at
74 years ; the Yorkshire, Derbyshire and
Nottinghamshire coal fields at 90 years ; the
Warwickshire coal field at 63 years' the
Denbighshire and Flintshire ooal fields at
260; the Scottish coal fields at 92. The
average ie 97 years, so that none of the pre-
sent generation need fear and a calamity as
a pool famine. But long before the year
" Anne Domini" 1986 it is probably that
other means of generating power, more
economical and more universally available
than coal will have been discovered. In
God case the exceptional advantage enjoyed
by England will be forfeited; and then will
Kaye to be fought in the United Kingdom
the real battle of protection Immo fres
trade. The statue of England a manufao.
tures when her coal fields shall have been
exhausted, or when steam shall have been
almost entirely deepened with, is a question
of great interest and worthy of every seri-
ous consideration.
A Case for Sympathy.
Mra.R—wan telling her Sunday-eahool
clam of small boys about the "Shut-in
Society," an organization whose members
are mostly confined with illness to their
bods or rooms.
"Whom oan wo think of," 'said ehe, en-
deavoriug,to awaken the interest of the olaes
in these unfortunates, "that would have
had great sympathy for those that are so
shut in?"
"I know," said a little boy wibh brighten-
ed face, "some one in the Bible, Isn't it,
teacher?"
"Yes," said Miss R•-•, "and who, Johnny?"
"Jonah," was the spirited answer.
Dishonesty in Pubilo Life,
Diohoneety in publio life formed the chief
topic of the sermon of bho Rev. T. De Wibb
Talmage at the Brooklyn Tabernacle lad
Sunday morning, In the course of his re-
marks he said :—" We have recently passed
through a t'residential election in whioh
$30,000,009 was expended—I think 820,-
000,000 of it in out-and•oub bribery. And
neither of the great polibical parties need
jeer ab the other, booans° they both raised all
they could for legitimate and illegitimabs
purposes.
It deer seem ebrango, 1 do declare
That a year of married life
Can ohenge the dear with the auburn hair
To the redheaded wife.
The following often note satiofaotorily in
removing old inksbains from polished ma-
hogany and oberry. Add a very few drops
of niter to a teaspoonful of wabor, dip a
feather into this mixture and touch the ink
spots with ib, When the stain dieappeare
rub the spot at once with a rag wet wibh
clear water, then dry and polish. T11i1 to
bo prevent a white mark coming in plaoe of
the stain.
All the new apring Paris fashions are
merely aaoeobuations of lad season's Bug.
gestione. Everything is light colored, The
palest of pinka, blueo, greens and lavenders
are the foundations on whioh are brocaded
or printed every eorb of epring blossoms.
Thoee aro so pettedly roproduoad thea
they aro piotnreo in tbomsolves, and mien)
be a work from the brush of thereetesb
of the flower painters. Indeed, the leeching
n
artiste of that sorb In Pares have been olr1-
ployod by the maunfaoturers to make de.
signs for their spring geode,