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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Herald, 1907-11-29, Page 6ValA"Oh, Falconer, take bade the message. Tell the man not to carry it. I love them so. Sylvia loves them so." He turned a look upon his little sister as if he could shake her embrace off, but tenderness prevailed over resentment and he drew her closer to him saying: "You don't know anything about it, Sylvia, else you would take sides with me," and turning fiercely around upon the servant, and beginning with, "Tell Daniel Hunter," he discharged another volley of defiant messages. And when he had done speaking and had sat down, Ellen spoke quietly, saying: "You are to report nothing whatsve7 of this to Mr. Bunter, John. You are to remember if you carry this disrespect- ful message to your master, from a mere boy to whom be never sent you, you yourself are guilty of disrespect; but tell hinr from me that I am grateful for his kind irtentions, and will certainly give him further answer to -morrow." And with this reply, the man bowed himself out, remounted his hose! and de- parted. Falconer left the breakfast triple and sat down in the window in morose eilence. Sylvia would have gone tn him, but his looks frightened and rep .!led her. She went to Ellen, who wes quietly weeping and embracing her, asked: "Oh, Ellen. what is the n , :t with Falconer. And what is all deist dr:ad ful thing he was taleing about? "Lush, my child, don't rale—you •will know some day. As for Falconer, he is n wild. hot-headed boy, who ,s letting his passions run ahead of hie reason,." "I hope he does not fancy,' contimied Ellen, "that because once in a f.1: a grateful mouse delivered a lion tram a :net. :bat it is p.ssible in fat for a unonee to entrap a lion." e and io Vn`V xXXXI ICII 'U A�dAt'V drVl�.` a,AAVm'IJ f 4 fall into forgetfulness by the fickle and ungrateful populace: His own party in his own State had a new hero, a young demi-god, Falconer O'Leary, whose name became a party war cry, whioh, thundered among the mountains,could at any time convene a meeting or carry away a mob. Ellen was dead. The weak, gentle creature slowly declined for several years, and easily sank away into her everlasting rest. During her gradual decay, Maud nursed her with more than a daughter's tenderness and devotion. At intervals during the lust six weeks of her life Ellen had written a long, loving tatter to lionoria, and inclosed it in one to Mrs. Daniel Hunter, requesting that lady to deliver it to her daughter, if site saw no objection, and when she thought proper. Atter the death of Ellen, Sylvia kept the cottage. The lovely child had bloom- ed into a lovely woman, a maiden whose supernal beauty must have immortalized her in the.old heroic times, or defied her in the ancient Olympic ages. It is sel- dom in these matter-of-fact days that a maiden, however beautiful, wins a nomme-de-fantaisie for beauty; yet Sylvia did gain such a one. The poetic taste of Mr. Bill Ipsy baptized her "The Star of Silver Creek," and as such, through mountain and valley, the peer- less maiden was known. Falconer consid- ered her as bis own dear sister, he said. But surely never was a sister loved with such a fierce, jealous, vigilant affection. He watched her whenever she left the cottage. Even at church, if a youth stole a glance of admiration at the maiden, it threw Falconer into passion; and at the village, if the handeone clerks were un- usually polite to her, it was sufficient to destroy her brother's epace for a week. Their life at the cottage was rather a singular one; some changes had also tak- en place in that little family besides the death of its gentle mistress and the growing up of tha children. Old Abishag had fallen into dotage and imbecility, and had been removed from the kitchen to a comfortable cabin near at hand, where she sat over the 'fire all day long, picking wool, the only employ- ment she was equal to now. and cron- ing old songs in a low, monotonous key. Old. Moll, grown too old forfield labor, tool. her place as cook in. the lcittleee.. Big Len„• too ;infirm for the plower*n•: fined his work to the garden. Their•only' field hands were now Little Len .brad Young Moll. a strapping, able-bodied pair as ever lived, counting only for two at best. Consequent upon this failure of their laborers, the revenues of the little, stony farm were at a lower ebb than ever before. Had Falconer himself been a good farmer, his agricultural affairs would have prospered better. But as the moth- er had done. -so did the son; he trusted entirely to the simple, ignorant negroes, while be shut himself up in a rr•om he called his studio, and busied himself with clay models and plaster casts. at all tines and seasons, except when there was an election pending, and then down went the chisel and hammer, copy and model, and the artist would become the orator, and stump the whole district, making fifty flaming speeches in half as many days. Poor as he was, poverty had not taught Falconer the valve of time and money; he threw beth reck- lessly away in the direction of his "gen- ius.' Sylvia, with the housewife's instinct, tried all she could to add to the narrow income of the family. She knit beauti- ful little socks and mitts. of a new pat- tern of her own invention, and sent them to the village shop to be sold. Anil, guessed nothing of This, nor ever suspected where marry of his comforts came from. Mr. and Mrs... Lovell still resided at Howlet Hall. The fair young couple were amply blessed with "the blessings ha peasants have" in the form of One evening, alezit'the middle of. Nov- ember, Sylvia was sitting and knitting alone hi the little parlor, wishing for her brother's return from the post office, perchance with a letter from Mrs. Hun- ter. Presently the latch of the door lifted, and Falconer came in. He threw the expected letter in her lap. It bore a foreign stamp, . She tore it open and devoured its contents with a counten- ance that ountenancethat grew brighter and brighter as she read. She finished it with an excla= mation of` joy; "Oh, Mrs. Hunter: home, Falconer t . she is am so, so happy!'' With a sound between a sigh and a grunt, Falconer tossed his hat from him and strode up and down the floor in great excitement. She watched in per- plexity his most unreasonable agitation, woe ns eemrng coming home! J. Falconer assumed a look of firm, stolid determination, and made no itnsw'r. And nothing more was said at the time. In the afternoon, when the .neth- er and son were bath more romp);3.1, II - len tried by every possi'rle nr u•nrnt ,and persuasion to overcome elle Ley's -;hatred of Daniel hunter, and to induce him to accept his patronage, but 'ler ef- forts were without any other effect than the ill cue of increasing bis aniiu. city. The renewal of the discussion t he next morning was equally fruitless of good— Falconer declaring that before he would owe his education and este:3311 1m mt in life to Daniel Hunter, be would -go to. sea! And that last threat--drSe l',rl the widowed mother—silenced her, and ended the contrcversy. And now the poor, weak mother sigh- ed and groaned with vain repentance, that she had h idu'ged and yielded to her noble -hearted bet too headstrong boy from his early youth to the present, when he was too self-willed to be con- trolled. She wrote to Daniel Hunter, again thanking him for his kind intentions, but begging him to allow her to reserve her acceptance cf iris offer for some future time. Thus she endeavrred to eserpethe pain and the loss of a positive refusal. CHAPTER XXI. `'We understand," said the local paper, "that Daniel Hunter has been appointed the ambassador to France." Such was the fact, and after an affec- tionate parting with "sweet Maud," for Whom Mrs. Hunter possessed an all - consuming love, the new ambassador and his wife set sail for Europe. Several years pased before the child and the lady again met. Indeed, the child and the lady never met again, for in the years of absence, the child became the woman. Had either at the moment of their parting suspected the length of time that should separate then, scarcely could they have borne to say "good-bye." But hope buoyed them up et their leave- taking; and hope attended then, prom- ing fairly through all the years of absence, until seven years glided. away, and brought near the period when they el:meld meet again. During his long -continued absence PAY peasants have," tittle creatures al - from his native country, Daniel Hunter hal f^ and his great services were. suffered tr ternating girls and boys and after a little while inquired in a gen- tle, sad tone: "Falconer, are you not pleased because Mr. and Mrs; Hunter are coming home?" "Pleased!" he " exclaimed, pausing abruptly in his hasty walk. "No! you know I am not pleased! You know T hate: detest, abhor" the very game of that man, and you ask me if I am not pleas- ed!" "But Mrs. Hunter, Falconer—" "What is she to; us, or what' aro we to her? She is like her husband. They are all of a piece, renegade republicans! up- start aristocrats'! Away with them! We don't want them here! Let them stay where they are; it suits then better. Let them sun themselves in the glare of foreign courts," he exclaimed, in bitter scorn and anger. His violent temper often aalrmed the maiden very much, but she could not let this pass. It would not be right, she felt. She replied, gent- ly, but firmly: "There is no one in the world more worthy of love, honor and reverence than Daniel Hunter and his dear, lovely —yes, adorable lady! There is no one under heaven that I love and honor and reverence so much as then" He stood and gnawed his under lip, and glared at her till a circle of white flamed. around his dark orbs, and chbk- ingly exclaimed: "You you do! You you avow it!" "I should deserve to die, if I did not," replied Sylvia, firmly still, though she turned pale. He started and flung himself out of the house, banging the door behind him with a force that shook the rafters: And what became of him for the next two or three hours no one knew but his own evil Semon. Sylvia was knitting when Falconer came back. Quietly he closed the door, and as she looked up he came to her and sank down on the carpet by her side, and laid his head on her lap—just as he had often in similar circumstances Iaid it on his mother's. And Syhvia bent over him, running her fingers through his raven looks with the same soothing ten- derness that Ellen had always shown. "Sylvia," he said,. "do you remember the promise you made my mother on her deathbed? 17..4,40r.; 40r. ui,y dim t yo suer? "Speak to "gale i " "Surely', I renember it, and sorely ;I will keep it, Fateener." "Sylvia, will you redeem that promise to -morrow? Will you set me .at rest forever? Oh, speak, Sylvia! You are so slow to answer.! Will you redeem that promise—your promise to my dying mother, to -morrow?" "I cannot to -morrow, Falconer," said Sylvia, gently. "Cannot? Yon must! You must, Syl- via! Indeed, indeed, you musti" "Indeed. I cannot, Falconer! Pray, do not urge me!" "Why can you not, then—if you will be so good as to tell me?" "Falconer," she replied, a little re- proachfully, "haven't I told you, long ago, that I never wished to give myself away before Mrs. Bunter came back?" "Mrs. Hunter again! What, in the name of all the angels, has Mrs. IIunter to do with you, or you with Mrs. Hun- ter? Do you belong to her? Tell me that." "No—I wish to heaven I chid! But she has expressed a wish that I should not—should not—" "Should not be married turn?" "Yes. Falconer." "Selfish, heartless, designing woman! She has some evil purpose in that!" "Falconer!" exclaimed Sylvia, and choking before she' could utter another word, she burst into tears. "Forgive are, Sylviat forgive mel I am mad when I get upon the subject of the Hunters and miserable when I think of losing you! T dread—I know not what—from their arrival—from their in- fluence over you! I know how it will be; they will interfere between us; they will tell you that I am a mn.rl fellow, a ringleader of mobs, a radical. moon- struck maniac, doomed to get his fiery brains blown out, if he comes to no worse fate! Worse, fate? Ah i there! Ah, God! They will tell you—they will tell you" - " "What will they tell me—what can they tell me that can separate us? I belong to myself, and can give myself to whom I please, and I promise myself to you. Now, what can they tell me to separate us?" she asked, in a tone of ineffable tenderness. • "They will tell you—they will tell you —that which. I ought to have told you long ago—that winch I ought to tell you now—that which I will tell you, though the words cleave my heart in two! Sylvia, I am the son of a man who was hanged!" She gave a sudden bound, clasped his hands tightly, and then grew still He continued, speaking rapidly: 'There!' there! that was my shames my grief! my agony! That was what turned- my heart into a bell, and made mo half a inaniael That made me your oppressor, .Sylvia, for.I loved you madly! madly! and With ethet eliameful secret kcppt„from. youl,,, Yes, my father was -hanged! Every ,one in the county knelt' it "bet' ypul,, ;,_.Chat was the reason why I debarred` yon from all: young society, •lest you 'should learn -it from thein! I feared to tell Yeti,` lest I 'should. lose you, for I loved you so madly, so sel- fishly, that it made me a coward and a hypocrite! I, who could lead a multi- tude which way I willed -I was a very slave or petty tyrant in your presence! net was the reason why I never urged. our marriage—for, with all my criminal hesitation, I never designed to marry you without telling you! You have my secret! Thank God, 1 have been able to tell it at last! And now, Sylvia, while my good angel is strong within me, 1 release you from your promise! You are free, Sylvia. And he began to rise from his knees. But she clasped his hands and detain- ed him, gazing with her heavenly eyes upon his troubled face. And her words fell like heavenly blessing on his soul. "I do not now even ask you whether your father was innocent or guilty. But I tell you that, to -morrow, if you please, I will go to church with you and become your wife." "Sylvia! Sylvia! are you crazy?" ex- claimed Falconer, starting up, and, in a tone of voice indescribable from its blending of doubt with unutterable joy. "No, niy poor, dear harassed boy— my boy who would be a giant if he had but faith. I am in earnest -4 will be your wife to -morrow." "Oh, my dear Sylvia! Yes 1 if I had had but faith even in you to have told Girlhood and So ces E Ul:J-1c rr are linked together. 1 .4 The gid. who takes Scores � d .51on has plenty of rich, red bloody she is plump, active and energetic. The reason is that at a period when a girls digestion is weak, Sc©h' S Esnul..'a0f provides her with powerful nourishment in easily digested form. It is a food thathuildi and keeps up a girl's strerigtlat. ALL. DRUGGISTS: 50c. AND '$i.00. 04.$: * " :E ,y 4"u: tI ece 0 0 you rev secret sorrow before, how much republican!" "Down with the. aristo- crab•" "Down with the courtier!" "Down with Daniel Hunter!" "Hurrah for Fab eon O'Leary!" "Hurrah for the Young tsrele of tine Allcghanies1"' "Down with, Daniel Hunter`!" 'burst' upon his aston- ished ears 1 But his friends furiously took up his cause, and 'with wild shouts of "Hurrah .for Dan- iel hunter!" ."Down with the Falcon"- - "Down with the foul bird!" "Daniel Hunter and Democracy!" mingled with ,yells of "Falcon O'Leary and Freeman s. . Rights!": • • "Daniel Bunter and Democracy" rolled in thunder over the heads- of the ,multi- tude, and quite overpowered all other cries, until, in a lull, a single voice shout- ed out in derision: "Daniel Hunter and' diamond studs! Away with him! Those• that wear rich clothing dwell in kings' - houses!" And then the shouts arose again: "Away with the aristocrat!" "Away with the courtier!" "Falcon O'Leary and Freemen's Rights forever!" until from shouts and yells they took to cudgels and brickbats, and a general melee ensued. (To be continued.) anguish it had saved me ! And you never gave Mrs. Hunter the promise she wished to exact 1" "She did not wish to exact a prouiise. She said she hoped I would not marry until she got home. I offered to bind myself by a promiae not to do so; but, oh! mark the lady's goodness! she would not let me! She said she felt that in any case where her known wishes were not strong enough to restrain me, l ought not to be restrained at all!" "Oh, my dear—my dear Sylvia! Can it be possible that to-morrow—to-mor- row you will be mine forever!" "Yes. Yours, forever!" until her re - MAKE NEW BLOOD. That Is What Dr.. Williams Fink Pills Do—That is Why They Cure So Many Diseases When persons have not enough blood or when their blood is weak and watery, the doctors name the trouble anaemia. Bloodlessness is the direct cause of many common diseases, such as indiges- tion, palpitation of the heart, debility, decline, neuralgia, nervousness, rheuma- tism and consumption. The surest signs of pure blood are paleness, bluish lips, cold hands and feet, general weakness, low spirits and headaches and backaches. if anaemia is not checked in time it will probably develop into consumption. There is one certain cure for anaemia— Dr. Williams' Pink Pills. These pills ac- tually make new, rich, red blood, which fills the veins and brings new life, new energy and good health to bloodless people. In proof of this Miss Mabel Clendenning, Niagara Falls, Ont., says: "For two years I suffered from anaemia. I was weak, thin, had no appetite; I sometimes had distressing headaches, and felt low spirited. My heart would palpi- tate violently; I could do no work around the house, I became very pale and my nerves got unstrung. The efforts of two good doctors fail- ed to help me, I was in such a piti- ful state. One day a friend urged are to try Dr. Williams' Pink pilhis, and I did so. Soon I saw the pills were helping me, and by the time I had taken nine boxes I was com- pletely cured. I had a good appe- tite, gained in weight, I hadn't an ache or pain, could sleep well and I am in far better health now than I ever was. Dr. Williams' Pink Pills have done for me." What Dr.Williams' Pink Pills have done for Miss Glendenning they have done for thousands—they will do for you. But you must get the genuine with the full name, "Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People," on the wrapper around the box. If your dealer has not got the genuine pills you can get them at 50 cents a box or six boxes for $2.50 from The Dr. Wil- liams' Medicine Co., Brockville, Ont. A Distinguished Painter's Bohemian Characteristics. Elihu Vedder, the painter, lives in, Rome, where ho has a beautiful apart- ment, and in Capri, where his white Villa looks down on the sea. "Elihu Vedder." said a New York illustrator the Wither day, "is as Bo- hemian as ever. Fame has not spoil- ed him. I visited liim last year, and his Bohemian ways were delightful. "You know they tell a story of a visit that he once !raid to Alma Ta- dema, in London, m that glittering house which Mrs. A. T.'s money, made in grace.lul, comfortable cocoa, bought. "The morning after his arrival, very early, before even the servants Were up, Vedder began a thunderous knocking on his host's sandalwood door. "Alma Tadema turned in Ms gold. bed, threw back the coverlet and sat up. 'Who's thereP What is it?' he cried in a startled. voice. `I say, Tadema,' shouted Vedder, 'where do you keep the scissors that you trim your cuffs with?' CHAPTER XXII. On a fine evening in December, 18—, the pier et Baltimore was thronged with a multitude of people, all waiting in an- xions' expectation for the appearance of thefolk. Winged Arrow steamboat 'from Nor - The cause of this assembly was a newspaper report that Daniel Hunter, who had arrived from Europe at Norfolk by the 'United States frigate Liberty, would reach the city that afternoon. The sun had already set, but the full moon poured a flood of splendid radiance on the water, making it shine like a sea of flowing silver. The Winged Arrow was several hours due, and expectancy had reached its most anxious height, when a gentleman with a pocket telescope looking far down the river, discerned the coming And soon after, the handsome private carriage sent by the proprietor of the Eagle house, made its way through the throng of hackney coaches that crowd- ed the 'wharf, and drew up as near as x,ossible to the landing place. Swiftly, yet not swiftly enough for the impatience of the multitude, passed the half-hour that brought the steam- boat near enough for the crowd of pas- sengers to be seen upon its burdened deck. A.nd there in the midst stood the desire of their eyes. Daniel Hunter, with his noble head un- covered, his fine countenance irradiated with the joy of coming home to friends, to native soil, and to fellow -citizens. There he stood with a presence so princely, so majestic, so inexpressibly sovereign and gracious, that all, even his bitterest enemies, must have been struck with admiration, A lady of im- perial mien hung upon his arm, and an- other younger pair stood behind him, but no one noticed them. But as soon as the boat touched the quay, and Dan- iel Hunter stepped upon the wharf, a thousand heads were uncovered, a thou- sand arms waved aloft, and a thousand voices shouted : "Welcome 1 Welcome, Daniel Hun- ter 1" "Welcome, heart of oak 1" "Wel- eome to native land!" T1ie shout was repeated, it was reit- erated, until the very heavens rang back the joyous greeting! The great statesman had long before beer accustomed to such enthusiastic popular demonstrations. But never had the people's love thrilled him with so much heartfelt joy as now that it wel- comed !rim on his return home. His bo- som was full, was overflowing with emo- tion. He must address them, As the third shout died away he lifted his hand in silence, and in an instant all was still as death, 'waiting in reverent expectancy for his first words. And as he slowly turned his commanding glance over that multitude, and recognized here and there with unutterable emotion, some dear, old faithful friend, or zealous partisan, he spoke. He began by saying that his heart was at the flood, and must' find its utterance as it could. But even as these words fell from his lips he was interrupted in an unex- ampled, in a most shameless manner. A sharp, ringing "Hiss -ss -ss -ss!" ran, 'winding its rapid, tortuous course, as it were, near the ground, until it arose in- to' ` a yell of derision! ,And maddened • howls of: "Down with the renegade BABY SMILES. One mother happily expressed her opinion of Baby's Own Tablets when she said "` There's a smile in every dose.'" In homes where the Tablets are used there are no cross, fretful, sickly children. The Tablets make children well and -keep them well.. They eure indigestion, colic, consti pation, diarrhoea, teething troubles and all the other minor ailments of childhood. They can be given with. absolute safety to the new born child, for the mother has the guaran- tee of a government analyst that the Tablets do not contain one particle of opiate or poisonous soothing stuff. Isn't such .a guarantee worth something to you, mother? The Tab- lets are sold by all medicine dealers or may be had from The Dr. Williams' Medioine Co., Brockville, Ont., at 25 cents a box. A Lot of Them. (London, Free Press). Just to keep Uncle Sam guessing, the Emperor of Japan sends a birthday message to his Hawaiian rt:hjeets-110.. 000 in number. No less.