Loading...
The Brussels Post, 1886-8-20, Page 29 THE BRUSSEL.S: POST: .A.UG. 20, 1880, swom T ILENCE. . Mr. Delaney. I interest and reputation at iitake," sold ' "It is not that, either," said the as. teotiv. MAINE RODNEY'S SECRET.They gazed steadily into Groh other's eyes. -- "I will tell you the truth, Mr. Deis,- xte mats. ALEX, MieWimetere emat,Ere, ney," said Mr, Lane. '.1 find that my early professional interest in this ease asrrizon on has merged into a romautio one. People "Laurel Tana," 'Lady Gera I.X1Elets Cell MO a womamhater where I am best , etc, . known, and I confess that foreale soeiety etc has hitherto had. no charms for me. But the beauty and sweetness of Miss Rod• wise she must certainly have dropped noy have won my heart. If I find, her it, such a start; she gave at those worcis 1 I shall ask 110 reward from her father She stared at Mr, Rodney, her complex- except her hand, if she will give it to ion turning to a brilliant crimson. "Why, what do you mean, Mr. Rod- ney ?" she gasped amazedly. "Have you forgotten Cheap Jano ?" ha asked, smiling. . heart in that moment. Instantly Mrs. Griffin's mind -went ''Do you think she loves you, Mr batik to that snowy OTO when, in her .Laue ?" ho faltered then, in a bailee lonelieess, she had been overpowered by voice. the temptation to admit the female ped- ...Scarcely ; for I have had no chance aler within the tabood precincts of De- to woo her," said Mr. Lane. "And ye Laney House. The guilty red of her lit ia so much better that he shoule cheeks grew brighter. She glanced ap- marry that perhaps she will waive that prehensively at her master. He was consideration. Afterward I could teach gazing at her in wonder. her to love mo." "What does he mean 2" Oran Delaney Again that fierce, jealous pang ton asked her. through Oran Delaney's heart. A vision She shook her head, and glanced in- came over him of the beautiful young quiringly at Mr. Rodney. face and the violet eyes with their "Yes, I remember Cheap Jane," she shady lashes of deepest mt. How much said. "But what has that to do with more beautiful it would be when the Miss Rodney and my master ?" woman's heart was awakened in her. "If you will tell Mr. Delaney all that How that charming face would be gleri• you know about Cheep Jane, I will show fied by love 1 you the connection," he replied. "Ab, Heaven, only to coll her mine 1" Mrs. Griffin was heartily ashamed et he groaned to himself. "It is cruel, the thought of her adventure with cruel, that this man should take ad. Cheap. Jane being exposed ; but she saw vantage of her trouble to try to win that it was too late to attempt conceal. her, He has no right to her. She is anent. She made a virtue of necessity, far above him. Her beauty and sweet - and related the story to Mr. Delaney, nese make hor the peer of any one in frankly apologizing fot her fault. the land." "I know I did wrong," she said, turn- He silently repeated some lines to ing to Mr. Rodney ; "but still I cannot himself: see what donee. The old creature only stayed a nut r funpoor mod 05044111:harm was done by my impru- 1 ,et dg might lay his sceptre down n little while," Tho brow should wear a golden crown That wears her in its thought." "That is where you aro mistaken," I said Mr. Rodney. "Cheap Jane spent Ho looked fixedly at Mn. Lane. the night in Delaney House." "Why do you say that it will be "Spent the night?' she echeed, staz- better for Miss Rodney to raaery 2" he ing at him stupidly. added, slowly. "Yes' " he replied. "Surely, you know that her long stay "But could that be?" exclaimed in the Delaney House has so damaged Oran Dotal:ley, looking up from his un- her maiden fame that she can never tasted toast. He was too much excited take her proper place in the world until to oat. sheltered by some good man's name," "It happened in this way," said the said the deteotive. lawyer. "When Mrs. Griffin went to You forget that I have explained answer your bell, the peddler slipped everything, and that Miss Bodnare into a deserted room, and hid herself reputation is cleared from every shadow and her basket of notions in an unused of blame," exclaimed Mr. Delaney, closet. She thus remained in Delaney No. I do not forget it. But I know House all uight." ' that the world is censorious and cruel, Mrs, Griffin wrnng her plump hands, and I am not surewhethez it will accept and cried out, dejectedly: - your statement as true. At any rate, I "The wretch 1" am prepared to help Miss Rodney all But Oran Delaney did not utter one that I can. I am rich and prosperoue. word ; ho only, gazed inquiringly into I will marry her and take her away for - the face of the lawyer. over from this place where she has "She remained in Delaney House all suffered so much, if she will have me." night," repeated. Mr. Rodney. "After He paused a moment, and then 014, physician went and came daily, grow- ing more and more puizled over him. "Ile goes down hill every day, and yet, the case was very favorable at first," he said to M. Rodney. "I am puzzled over Win. I am afraid it Is the Mina wearing out the body. What do yon think about it?" "I have the same opinion as you," the lawyer answered. "Ib is not the wound I gave him, it is the merited trouble that is killing him. It is the old fable of the sword wearing out the Boabbard." "Can nothing be done ?" asked the old physieian, who had become deeply interested in his new pationt. "Nothing, I am quito sure," Mr. Rod - me. my answered, for he knew now all the Mr. Lane paused and waited for a re. pain and sorrow and remorse that were nly. He did not dream what an agonie killiug Oran Delanocr. mg pang ora through Oran Delaney'. nkill can avail nothing to save him," • "Then he must ie. All my medical the inmates were leaked in unsuspecting slumber, the hidden peddler came forth and prowled through the house. You were siok that night, Mr. Delaney. In your fever and unrest you talked to the walls in your room—you revealed the secret Alines stay in your house." "Great Heaven 1" be cried. is strange, but true," said the law. yer. "And your uninvited guest, the peddler, who had stolen into your house like a thief by night, heard all. It was from him I learned all I knew—namely, that Aline bad been e.wounded prisoner in Delaney House." "You said 'from him'—yet I under- stood that the peddler was a woman," exclaimed Oran Delaney, quickly. "A man in disguise," explained the lawyer. "Then it was no commonperson—the plan was a deep -laid ono," said Oran Delaney, with an inquiring look into the other's face. Mr. Rodney shook his head. "No, it was not I," he said. It was a detective whom I employed last summer to trace Aline. Ho failed at first, but when she came back to us and refused to reveal the secret of her absence, be set himself to work to ferret out the truth." "And succeeded," said Oran Delaney, with bitter eedneas. "And where is your clever detective now?" "He is again on the track of my miss- ing daughter. I have for the second time employed him tn find her." "He shall be richly rewarded if ho succeeds," exclaimed Oran Delaney, earnestly. Ho lay silent for a moment, and then added gravely and thoughtfully: "I can bear no reseutment against your clever detective, Mr. Rodney. I am glad now that the truth has been found out. A burden is lifted from my heart." "You are not angry with Mr. Lane fox his bold invasion of your house, and his betrayal of your secret ?" exclaimed Mr. Rodriey. "No,1 ara not angry. I am glad that the truth has been revealed. I feel quite curious to see your Mr. Lane." "Pethaps you will permit mo to hying him to see you ?" said the lawyer. "Willingly," answered Oran Delaney. He did do so the next day, after he had told Mr. Delaney's story to him, and the good-looking detective spent an hour with the wounded man. Mr. Delaney vras most anxious that Aline should be found. "Only find her," he said, earneetly, to Mr. Lane, "and you shall name your own reward." A strange expression gleamed in the oyes of the deteetive. "1 obeli make every effort to find her," he said. "But I tell you frankly, Mr, Delaney, I am not working up this ease for matey." "Of (Marge you have a prefeesipnat added : "Of course if you were not already married, Mr. Delaney, you would be the most proper hueband for Miss Rodney, but, as it is, I feel myself quite free to woo and wed her if lean, and to save her from all the troubles she would be likely to endure, unmarried." He went out and left Mr. Delaney to some bitter reflections. answered the physioiaia, regretfully. In the meantime Mr. Rodney had fol- lowed out Mn. Delaney'a whines. He had made public; all that strange secret, whose keeping had cast that blaok shadow over Aline's life. Chester was all tgog with curiosity and excitement. It was a nine day's wonder. As often halve= in such caeca, there was a complete revulsion of feeling, The great wave of public sentiment rolled toward Aline in a gush of pity 'spa sympathy. The world was not as bad as Mr. Lane bad believed it. No ono was found to doable the story Mr, Delaney had told on whet all believed to be his death -bed. It was so strange anll rornanticeit appealed so powerfully to that lore of the wonderful and mys- terious inherent In all hearts, that every oae believed •it, If Aline had been at home, society would have made her the heroine of the helm It would have taken her to its heart of hearts, and worshipped her as blindly as it had wronged her. It would have made atonement for its hasty judgment, but pity and regret were now alike too late, Aline had vanished out of her old life as latterly as if she were dead and buried. The places that had known her knew her now no more. In her home they mourned her as ono dead. In the strew ef hor trouble and. anxiety, poor Mrs. Rodney had taken down to her sick -bed again. The pretty, self-possessed, dignified lady was com- pletely broken down. Sho blamed her- self as the author of all her beautiful daughter's sorrow. CHAPTER LX. When Mr. Delaney's physician came next day he declared that his patient was not as well as he bad expected to find him. He looked apprehensive over him. "What have they been doing to you ?" he asked, brusquely. "I have had the best of Imre, doctor," Mr. Delaney ansvvered. Tho old physician looked at hina, curiously. The dark, handsome face was grave, and there was a settled sad- ness on it. But the tone, more than the words, struck the physician. A heartache ran directly through it. "You are fretting over something," he said. "Come, Delaney, this will not do. You will never get well at this rate." Oran Delaney only smiled, but he said. to himself that be did not greatly care. He had long been tired of his life. What matter how soon the end came. There would be no one to grieve for him, except his faithful old nurse. He thought of Mx. Rodney, but he said to himself that 110 jury in this Bentham land would convict him even if his victim died. All would think hint justi- fied in avenging his daughter. That day Mn. Delaney made his will, He left Mrs. Griffin a comfortable legacy, left a large sum of money to take care of the maniac, Julie Samson, if she was ever found, and the residue of Ins large fortune he bequeathed un- conditionally to Aline Rodney. And then he said to himself that ho was ready to die. He had provided the best ho deal& for the future of the girl -whom he loved, and he had no more left to live for. His life had been ruined in its prime by a bad man's treachery, Hope, love, happiness, henceforth could bo only names to him. He did nob care to live. A great despair had fallen upon him, He had wakened up to the megrand ''No no, mamma for of couree I passion of his life, and it was utterly teyou that first," said the boy. hopeless, He loved Aline Rodney, int 'Thenmtist Wnbotatex7iL mitrb.e33elaTn0e1y1 Delaney, dean she hated hint fot the 504444 ow he had. we brought into her young life. She would It might bo his death. You mud tell marry Mr. Lane, perhaps, when she ra_eil Mite /°61100hrair 7011:awrad7, 8'buedallhoewnedt came home lain, and 014111 Delaney rf: toTht,..„ bitterest despeir, that be won d rather "I was too hush, too strict with hese Her faults were only those of youth and fne9eriente united to high spirits. Her punishments were too severe, and I am rightly punished for my hardness of heart," wept andeighed the poor mother, in the long winter nights, while she teased upon her sleepless bed, tormented with remorse and misery over the treat. =tent she had given Aline. A month passed away, and it was time for the return of Dz. Anthony and Effie from their bridal tour. They rt,ore to settle down to housekeeping in a pretty home the doctor owned at Maywood. Mrs. Rodney yearned for Effie's return. Sho longed to pour into her sympathiz- ing ears all her sorrow Etna despair at the loss, for the second time, of her beautiful Aline. The cottage was a most dreary place for sunny -tempered Max Rodney in those days. He missed hie beautiful sisters, the gentle, graceful Effie, and the light-hearted, volatile Aline. His mother was always in tears, now, and seldom left her room. Beside, there was a real invalid in the house, and the enforced .quiet was most irksome to the high spirited lad whose gay voice, blending with his younger 'sister's, ha& been wont to waken joyous echoes from garret to cellar of thee roomy cottage. In despair, Max took to spending the most of his time frcen home, unreproved by his grief-stricken parents. who had become almost apathetic hi their dumb, agonizing sorrow for their kid daughter. And one clay, when the sou was shining brightly, and the winter snows that had lain for weeks upon the frozen earth were melting under its genial glow, Max came home from a long .ex. oursion with "the boys," and burst inbo bin mother's room like a small cyclone or tornado. "Mamma," he cried, all in a flurry, "may I go into Mr. Delaney's room? have something to tell him." lire. Rodney looked =lonely at the flushed cheeks and sparkling blue eyes of her handsome boy. "Why,what is it, my dear ?" aeked. "You kcow the doctor wishes to keep Mr. Delaney very quiet, He is very low now, and we must do all that we oan to make him web; for if he died, people would look upon your dear papa as a murderer 1" She shuddered: but the boy's eyes &tailed, and he cried out, proudly e "No one would. call papa a murderer, mamma, even if Mr. Delaney died. He was right to shoot Mr. Delaney if he thought he heel my sister shut up in his house. I have heard a lot of people say so. If I had been a man, I should have shot him myeelf." "But yon are not a man, Max; so you tenet not talk so boldly. What is this that you here to tellMr. Delaney ?" "A bit of news that will please him, I dare say,' said the boy. "Ola, Max, is it news of Aline?" quivered the poor mother. HURON AND 1 3 BATOR CUSTOM TAIL011ile Loan & Investment 00. This Company is Loaning Money on Farm Security at LOWEST RATES of Interest. • MORTGAOES PUBCITASEP. SAVINGS 73ANK BRANCH. 8, 4 and 5 per cont. Interest Al- lowed on Deposits, according to amount and time left. OimoR.--On corner of Market Square tuna North street , G o d erich. Horace Horton, MANAGS11, Goderieh.,Aug.fitth,1880 ONBY TO LOAN. Sti.se'rio Yu 0 o arm property ort LOWEST RATES. -- PRIVAT E ANC 00MPANY FUNDS W. B. Drou.soN) Solicitor, Brussels, Ont. Bald ta hiraaal *with a Panf a"he "Oh, mamma, I wanted to be the be dead than live to see the fair young fir,spoam him,"telslorry;but wo rated not run objected the boy. creature he loved the wife of another. I Days went and came, and he lay the risk, indeety Mrs. Rodney said, 'gait looked disappointed. there wearily and hopelesslyond the , *Money to Loan. PRIVATE FUJVDS. ,0 0 0 1' my handsf or Investment AT 7 PER CENT. Borrowerscan hay ethoirlo an scomplote nthreo clay s if title's satisfactory. Apply to NATMN The undersigned hese leave, to Intimate to the public that he has oporied a tailor shop in tho Garfield Rouen, Woolf, Over Powell's Wire, where he is metered to at. tend to the wants of Ihe public', in on Wing, Ilbling and making clothing h the latest and most fashionable fitylos. 11(4 long ex - 1414410000 10140411044 with a course/of inetruc- ilea under one of the best coheirs in Toron- to is a guarantee of hying able to do satis. faotory ivork, ilatialaCtion guaranteed, E. E. WADE 1 3043m C. A. MUIR. MONEY TO LEND. Any amount of Money to Loan on Flinn or Village property at to & 611 PER CENT. YEktiLY. Straight :Loans with privilege of repaying when required. Apply . to A. HUNTER, Division Court Clerk, Brussels, 1111, RUSSELS PUMP 'WORM. The undersigned begs to inform the public tat they have manufactured and ready for use PUPS OF ALL KENDS, WOOD & IRON. Cisterns of • Any dimension. GATES OF ALL SreEs. CLOTHES REELS of a superior construction. Examine our stook before purchasing elsewhere, A Call solicited. We are mho Agents for McDougall's Celebrated Windmill. Wilson & Pelton, Shop Oppoidio 1'. Smite. Blacksmith Shop': P. S.—Prompt attention raid to all ri pairi»g of pumps itc. LER BR,tJSSE-4 0:L'T cr. LS, CHANGE OF .PROPRIETORS. Having leased the well known and splendidly equipped Roller Flouring Mill from Messrs. Wm. Vanstone & Sons fora term of years, we desire to intimate to the farmers of Huron Co. and the public generally that we are prepared to turn out the best brands of Flour, look after the Gristing Trade, supply any quantity of Bran, Chopped stuff, &c., and buy Any Quantity of 'Wheat. The mill is recognized as one of the best in the•County and our long experience in this business gives us confidence in saying we guarantee satisfaction, Flour and Feed Always on hand. ir.--Gristing and Chopping promptly attended to. CALL SOLICITED. , Stewart & Lowick, PROPRIETORS. B•TTOM PRICE. MIL Ali Kinds of Harvest Tools. B. GERRY.