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The Wingham Times, 1885-09-18, Page 3A TERRIBLE, TRAGEDY, By the'"Author of "Tail FLOWER GIRL," ... "LOVELY LADY LYNIIURST," &C , &e, CHAPTER I. if She stood on the brow of the hill, a bright spot in the sober landscape, one small brown hand shading her eyes as she glanced expeot- •antly around, the other holding loosely by ono oherry-ooloured string an old hat, the h deous proportions of which she had effeo- tuatly concealed . by the garland of wheat and ox -eyed daisies which she had twined around it, A short kilted skirt of the same bright hue as her ribbons just showed the turn of her neat ankles encased in coarse black -ribbed stockings. She wore a heavy pair of boots of inferior workmanship, which oould not however conceal the feet that the feet they enveloped wore small and pretty. The dying rays of the setting sun fell aslant her, bringing out in stronger relief the one bit of colour whioh had so dark a setting in the pine -wood that stretched beyond and 17" above her. The quaint velvet bodice that had done duty so long was turning from black to russet brown ; it was almost, in fact, the same shade as the long tresses of hair which fell in heavy masses below the slim waist. • The girl and her .surroundings formed a pretty picture. So at least thought the young man who just then vaulted over a stile and came sauntering towards her. Apparently it was he whose advent had been expected, for the watcher dropped her hand and went forward hastily to meet him. "How long you have been ! I thought you - 'wasn't coming," she said, with the pretty petulance of a spoilt child. "Did I ever break my word, Dolly?" the new comer questioned softly, though he winced a little at her faulty grammar, "Did I ever say I would come and disappoint you ?" he queried again, as she did not speak, "N -o, perhaps not," she admitted reluot- antly; "only I have been waiting, and, oh, the time seemed so long—so long 1" He might have been touched by the now ring of pain in her sweet tones, but that his thoughts were wandering, and he heeded it not. " And now that I have come," he said, with an effort bringing himself to the p es- ent, "let us kiss and be friends, as the children say ;" and, suiting the aotion to the words, he drew her towards him,and pressed his moustached lip on her shrinking ones. " What ! You do not care for my kisses any longer ?'' he went on ; for there was no mis- taking the shiver that passed over her as he released her from his embrace.. " Ah, well"—with a shrug of his broad shoulders— "I suppose I must be prepared to hear that there is a more favoured swain 1 Who is it, Dolly 2 Young Joe Smith, the gardener, or Tom Larkins, your father's apprentice ? Come, which is it;:" He put his hand under her chin as he spoke, and tried to turn the averted face towards him ; but she steadily resisted his efforts to do do so. "I think you might tell me," he added in an aggrieved tone, "if only for the sake of old times," " Why of old times ?", ehe,questioned, 'in a conatr ened voice, still without looking round. " Oh, well, you know we have been aw- fully jolly together," he asserted a little - lamely—" quite chums in fact 1" " And now we can be so no longer," the girl rejoined, in a 'tone of bitterness which' did not escape bim. " I did not say that." " But you hinted at it. Ah, you think I don't know !" she went on, flashing round upon him, and speaking quicklyenough now. "Certainly I have"been slow in finding out what everbody else seems to have known so long 1" " I don't understand. Upon my word, Dolly, you are very mysterious this evening, and I should say a little cross, only—" "Oh, you needn't apologise 1" Dolly in- terupted scornfully. "I don't wantany more fine speeches; I—I—" But here her indignation gave way, and she burst in- to a torrent of tears, Captain Braithwaite glanced around cau- tiously, and bit his lip with vexation. This /title girl, in whose company he had passed so many pleasant hours and .whom hitherto he had found as gentle as a lamb, was be- ginning to bore him, and indeed—whioh was worse still—was likely to prove troublesome. He had come prepared to -day to tell her that it was desirable that their acquaintance should cease, that ciroumstancos had occurred that rendered it expedient that gossiping tongues should not have it in their power to connect his name with hers; and, before he could explain anything, or soften the news that he had Dome to break to her, she had made a scene. ' What would she do when' she heard the truth 2 That reflection rather disconcerted the gallant Captain; add he determined to defer bis tidings—perhaps in the meantime alhe might learn it from some one else, and mo a groat deal;bf unpleasantness would be saved him. He was delighted at the idea. Yea; such thine were best left to ohance, and, after all, what was there to tell? Why should it be necessary to confide his private affairs to this little rustic beauty ? What could hia future conduct signify to Dolly Jarvis, the blacksmith' i daughter ? Ah, what indeed? Only with the living present, then had he avght to do ; as for the past, a wiser man man than he had said, "Let the dead paet bury its dead." So he knelt down by the girl's side—for she had thrown herself upon the ground, and, loaning her arm on a felled tree, had hidden her face upon it --and, stretching out a slim white hand, placed it caressingly on the tumbled cheenut locks. "Little Doll, look up 1" he whispered soft- ly. " Child, do not grieve so ; there is real- ly nothing whioh need make you so unhap- py. Whatever you may think, always re- member I have not -changed in my affection for you. Come"--ooaxingly—"let me see your bright eyes laugh again 1" Obediently, though rather shame-facedly, she raised her tear -stained face—a very April face it was now, smiles and tears striving for the mastery. "It was very foolish of me," she said at last a little nervously. "I was afraid you were getting tired of me. I—I—got tired of waiting, I suppose, and—and I heard there were visitors at the Hall"—this in a lower pain -stricken voice—"and I thought maybe you preferred their company to mine." " Which wasn't true, you see," Captain Braithwaite returned cheerily, "for I left them all to Dome to you." "Did you really ?" she asked, her eyes flashing now with joy; then more soberly— " It was very wrong of me to doubt you ; please forgive me." A better man than the Captain would have been moved by the simplicity of the girl ; but he was only glad to see that a storm was for the present averted. " I'm not so sure that you deserve forgive- ness," he said gaily. "Suppose I require you to do penance before I grant you par don," " Penance 1" she repeated, puzzled. " What is that ? ' He had forgotten for a moment that he was speaking to an an uneducated rustle, instead of a society belle, and he felt half vexed at her for her ignorance and with himself that he had not remembered it. "Penance," he answered gravely, "i do- ing something one does not like as a punish- ment for wrong -doing, and with the hope of afterwards being forgiven. Now don't you think you aught to do penance for doubt- ing my affection for you before I reinetate you in my favor 2" "I will do anything in the world you wish," she said, clasping her hands, and re- garding him with earnest wistful eyes. At the si ht of the pretty tremulous lips, the soft gazelle -like eyes, a faint feeling of compunction stirred the worldling for the first time. How she trusted him, and how basely he was about to betray that trust 1 Ho moved uneasily, "You take my words always too seriously, little one," he said, endeavoring to speak lightly, but avoiding her direct gaze, " However, instead of doing penance, sup- pose you make me a promise instead ?'' "What is it 2'' be asked. "You know I can do so little for you," she went on sadly. "I'm not like your fine folk at the Hall." "Well, what I am going to ask I hope you 'will not find difficult to perform. It is this—promise me that you will not believe anything that you may hear said against me. Teem will be plenty of people to whisper evil things about me to you'fby-and- by ; but you must not believe them," "Of course not," she said indignantly;. " but" -Hesitatingly,—"• why should they say anything bad about you 2'•' "qui, I hardly know 1 But in a little place likerthia there is so muchgossip, and people talk about their neighbors' affairs simply be- cause they have nothing better to do." "At any rate, I would not believe any: thing wrong about yon," the girl declared confidently. "And, Dolly, whatever happens, you will always try to think well of me ; you will remember that,, whatever I do that may seem to you unkind, it will be because `I am obliged to do it, because I have no choice in the matter ; and, above all, do not forget that, notwithstanding appearances may be against me, I loved you—ay, a thousand times better than any one else in the world 1" He had not meant to be a villain—five minutes ago he would not have spoken thus; he could not understand himself why he felt this sudden desire to stand well in this sim- ple child's eyes, why he, whose praises were Bung by high-born dames, whose society was courted by the mothers of fashionable daughters, should care to shine in the eyes of ono of the people—a plebeian—a black- smith's daughter ; nevertheless it was a fact that Dolly's soft shy voice, Dolly's sweet sad eyes, had never proVed more attractive, ;her charms had never'eeemed so great ae at this moment, when he was on the point of renouncing her for over. A great fear, terrible even in its vague- nese, seized upon Dolly. Why did, ho speak so strangely 2 What had he done, what was he' going to do 2 Why did he regard her with that wholly loving yethalf pitying manner? Ab, well, he loved her—loved her even better than the proud beautiful girls ho met every day at the Hall 1 Had'he not said so? After that, what mattered any- thing? The sun might cease to shine, the stars might fall, nothing could affect her now. She was bewildered, entranced, Her lowly birth, whioh placed her so far beneath him, her father's humble calling, her own look of education—all—all would be bridged over by that one word "love." She name nearer to him ; he felt her sweet breath fan his fevered brow, one little hand stole timidly up to his nook, the glamour of her youth and beauty and innocence was up- on him. He looked up ; their eyes met, his full of fere and passion, hers timid and half veiled by the white lids whioh strove vainly to conceal the tale that was told too well. She drew a long quiverering sigh. The spell was broken, He was but human ; he had come to bid her farewell, he remained to console her. CHAPTER II. " It is as true as you stand there, believe it or not. Our Sue see'd her. I know'd no good 'nd come of her fine airs. Thinks her- self too good to mix with such as us," " Ay, ay, 'tie a cad pity I" the other wo- man said, with a shake of her head. " Her mother was a good sort, though a trifle high- minded, I've heard say ; perhaps her daugh- ter takes after her in that wise." "Umph 1 'Igh-minded, yon calf it, do you 2" cried Meg Smith, with a scornful toss of her tawny looks. " I should call it low -minded to go gallivanting about with a young man who means no good !" " Stop, Meg 1" the elder woman said, pausing in her occupation of weighing out some soap for the buxom lase who, with her sleeves turned up to her elbows, was lean- ing against the counter of the little general shop presided over by Widow Lane. " It's a serious charge to make against the child. You forget she has no mother, and, if she is a little thoughtless, well, we cannot blame her much," " Oh, of course not 1" sniffed Meg. "Every one takes her part just because she happens to think herself better -looking than others and her father is fool enough to let her deck herself out in all kinds of fripperies. Even Joe took her part when Sue was talking about her at dinner, and I'm sure she's be- haved bad enough to him, and then father put in a word, and I know what he'd say if one of his gala was caught along with their betters a love -making ! As for that, I dare say old Adam will kick up a fine fuss when he hears how Doily is carrying on." " I tell you what, Meg; I wouldn't inter- fere in this matter, if I were yon," advised the widow. "It's little good will come in setting father and daughter by the ears ; and, as I said before, the lass is to be pitied, having no mother to counsel her." "Oh, I sha'nt say anything to old Adam l I'd as soon go into a lions' den as put him out. He's not the sweetest customer to deal with when he's angry, as we all know. However, he's sure to hear about Dolly sooner or later, and then I'd not stand in her shoes for a pension. Oh, that's the soap, is it? Thank you, and good morning," Hardly had Meg reached the door when another person entered. This time it was a young fellow of about nineteen or twenty, His naturally fair complexion was tanned by exposurre to the sun and air. Without being positively handsome, he had a frank pleasing expression, more attractive than mere beauty, and that made him a general favorite. His blue eyes had a merry twink- le in them, and his gaze was clear and direct. An honest manly youth was Tom Larkins, one of Nature's gentlemen. To -day, however, there was a little frown on his usually placid brow as he approached Dame Lane's counter and asked, in estrange half -hesitating manner, for nothing more formidable than a ball of string. Then, while the widow severed one from a number hanging on a hook, the uneasy look deepen ed in his eyes, and he fumbled nervously in his `pocket for quite a minute before he pro- duced a threepenny -piece. " A nice morning, Mr. Larkins ; it's to be hoped the weather will pink up a bit now," the dame remarked, cheerily, as she handed him the string and counted out his change. " We've had about enough rain,I'm thinking, for the present." " Yes—no," Tom said confusedly, not having heard one word of the widow's sent- ence, his thoughts being occupied in won- dering how ho 'should explain the motive of his visit, the string only having been a pretext for obtaining a few minutes' chat with the old dame. Mrs. Lane looked at him sharply over the top of her speotaeles; it was po unlike Tom to be confused ; then she spoke briskly, " You've got something on your mind, Tom, that you want to tell me. Out with it 1 If I can do anything foryou, you know I will." Then more gravely--" You've not been getting into any trouble with old Adam, I hope ?" "No—oh, no ; its not about myself I want to speak 1" declared the lad. "It's—it's about Dolly." "Ah l" It was a very comprehensive "ah" ; and Tom gleamed up quickly. "I see," he said sorrowfully; yen heves hoard too." "Yes ; but I don't believe half what peo- ple say," responded the widow, who herself was as fond of a little gossip as moat folk, r141,1,16. YAP though she never indulged in ill-natured scandal. "Dolly is a good girl—I will main- tain that—and she has done nothing worse thon act a little thoughtlessly—depend upon that, Tom," The lad's countenance brightened as he seized the good dame's hand and pressed it gratefully between his own brown palms, " Thank you for saying that," he mur- mured, They are all so hard upon her—and Meg Smith's worst of all—just because Dolly is the best -looking lass in the village and be- cause Adam can afford to keep her at home and let her dress better than the others ; they hate her, and would do her all the harm they could, poor girl—and she so sweet and gentle as well as pretty 1 It isn't her fault if—if the quality do take notice of her, Meg's only spiteful because Dolly doesn't care for her brother Joe. As if Dolly couldn't pick and choose whom she will 1" "I doubt me Meg has another cause for grievance," remarked the widow slyly ; and poor Tom coloured to the roots of his curly hair. "I'm not surprised at all the lasses getting a little jealous," went on the old woman. "It's rather hard on them that all their sweethearts should leave them to run after Dolly." "But Dolly doesn't want them 1' de- clared Tom stoutly. " I didn't say she did," rojoined the widow soothingly, for the young apprentice was beginning to show signs of irritability. " And I don't believe she cares a fig about the Captain either, notwithstanding Mega jeers. She's more aense than to listen to any of his soft speeches, knowing he is as good as married already." " Oh ? Then Dolly does know about Mise Mainwaring ? I thought p'raps she mightn't have heard." " Of course she has—everybody has in the village," Tom says irrelevantly. " She's expected at the Hall to -morrow ; I met one of the under -grooms just now, and he told me so—he was exercising a horse ready for her to ride. The wedding is to be in the spring." (TO BE CONTINUED.) A STUDENT'S DUEL. tiow tl,o boys Fight a' Gottingen ilniver. sity, Germany. A student at Gottingen, G. M. Harper, writes the following account of a recent student duel : " A fight was just about to begin. The combatants, surrounded by seconds, umpires and friends, had already taken their places on the floor. Their breasts and thighs were protected by thick pads, on which the black blood of former encounters had gathered for years past. The veins of the neck were guarded by winding around it a heavy scarf, Iron goggles, with plateglass windows, con - coaled the eyes, and the arms were covered with wadding. The s words were long and narrow, without points. One of the pair of warriors, a member of the blue -cap corps, wee a pale, Bleeder, goodlooking youth, He never spoke a word or took his eyes off his adversary. The latter, ono of the red -caps, was a big, burly fellow, whom the pads seemed to greatly oppress, perhaps he was frightened, I don't blame him. " The surgeon stepped back, looking line a butcher, in his long white apron, spotted with blood. There had been another duel before we came. Tho timekeeper took his place at a little table. The seconds jumped into position, each at the left side of his man, after polite bows to each other in true German fashion. The fifty or sixty corps students who were sitting at little tables around tee room, Dating breakfast and drink- ing, rose to gee the fight. All was solemnity and the silence was only broken by some dig- nified fellow's calling to an acquaintance clear across the floor and drinking his health, at the same time bowing profoundly and lifting his cap. There were a few sharp words of command repeated by one second after the other, something like ' Make ready 1 Go I' and in an instant all one could see was the flashing of the swords and the flying of sparks, and all one could hear was the regu- lar 'whack, 'whack,' of the blown. There seemed to be only one kind of stroke, and each met the other half way. 'Halt 1' Dries the fat fellow, and the seconds run up to see where he is out ; but it was a , false alarm. They rub him a little and let him sweat a moment, then at it again. Dodging with, the head or moving the feet or body is not allowed, and the left arm must be kept be- hind the back. 'Whack 1 whack 1 whack 1' as before, but also a clear swish 1 and the next moment the blood is running from a Olean, perpendicular gash in the big fellow's left cheek. " About this time I wondered how the hotel woman could stand it, for she had been carrying meat and drink from table to table all the time. I also had occasion to see a man who had for two seasons boen punished behind the bat on the Princeton base -ball nine, and who had risked his life in one or two ',thanksgiving day foot -ball games, walk with uncertain step to the win- dow for a breath of fresh air. It isn't pleas- ant to see a man's cheek laid open deliber- ately, The next round proved even more disastrous for the plump red -cap, for he res ceived an ugly gash above the eye, which will go with him as long as the eye itself, nose, He was out of breath and 1o44 miserable, I went to the window and look- ed at the clear blue sky and the golden fields, and wondered why human aooiety must so torture itself with useless and erne! conven. tionalitiea. But the fascination of the rain- ing blows called me back to see the next round. A halal of interest ran along the gallery front when the cool little fellow was seen to get by far the heaviest blow of the fight across his brow, which was aoon cover- ed with blood, "They took off the goggles and the blood ran into hie eyes, Thou they mopped it up and he was ready again, and in the next round gave his opponent another gash on the left temple. It seemed to me about time to call a halt for good, and presently they did. Under the rules a fight lasts fif- teen minutes of actual fencing, pauses not counted. With pauses reckoned in, this must have lasted about forty minutes. The gladiators carried their bloody heads Into another room to receive the dootor's atten- tion,and preparations began for another duel, I asked a student if either of our bloody friends had fought before, and he said la- conoially : 'The little fellow has fought nine this term.' ' He Wanted to Know. At Willis a tired -looking woman, leading a freckled nosed, tow -headed, ten-year old citizen of the United States, boarded the train and sat down with a sigh that sounded like the exhaust pipe of a tug boat. The boy, stared at. the passengers while he crowded a green apple into his mouth. Having stowed the cholera bombshell away in the secret recesses of his internal econ- omy, he screwed himself 'Around on the seat, looked hard at a perspiring fat man across the aisle, and said : " Say, maw, why don't the keers go 2" "Be quiet, Johnny," sai his mother, as she pulled a red bandanna from` her pocket and blew a blast on her nose 'that went echoing and re-echoing down the aisle like a glad cry of , a full grown Apache with an important Daae of cholera morbus and two scalps in his belt. • "Maw, w'at's that fat man's name ?'' "I dunno." " W'at maie his hair:come out, maw ? Qh !- maw : there's a skeeter on his head 1 Does it hurt fat men when skeeters bite 'em ?" The woman took an invoice of snuff, while the boy squirmed around and fixed his eye on a fashionably attired lady who was engaged in the classic pastime of churn- ing a hunk of gum, His lower jaw dropped two inches as he gazed, and then he poked ^his maternal ancestor in the'ribs andinquired " Maw, is that woman ohawin' terbacker W'y don't she spit? You allers spits when you chows terbacker, don't yer, maw ? Say, maw, w'y don't the keers go 2" The woman took another. invoice of snuff and . remarked :— " Shut up ! drat ye, or I'll bust ye 1" That settled him—for four seconds. Then he gazed at the fat man and asked :— " W'at makes that man so fat, maw ? Oh ! maw, he spit on the floor 1 If this was your house you'd peel him fer it, wouldn't you maw? Spose he's readin' 'bout Injuns? Say„ maw, w'y don't the keers go 2" Then he twisted around, got down and humped himself over the arm of the fat man's seat and said :— "Yon aint my .pa." "No, blast you 1" howled the sufferer; 'if I was I'd shoot you. Now you go and sit down, and don't say another word or I'll eat yon," The boy winked hard, shuffled hia feet upon the floor, sidled back into his seat and remarked:— - " Me v, w'y don't the keers go 2" ' A Western Voloano. A volcano has broken forth in the mount, ains 60 miles southwest of Bishop creek. A party of frightened sheep herders rode into Candelaria a few days ago covered with dust and ashes, and with numerous holes burnt in their clothing, They reported that on one day they were startled by an un- usual rumbling noise and trembling of the ground. At first they mistook.the noise and rumble for thunder, but it was quickiy followed by a tremendous explosion, and on looking up they were appalled at seeing a mountain not far away belching forth a column of flames and smoke several hundred feet in height, The air was soon filled with fiery cinders and hot ashes, which came down upon them in clouds. Tho affrighted men immediately drove theirsheep to a place of safety, and rode to the nearest settlement with the startling news. Several exploring parties have gone to the scone of the erup- tion, A bright pink glow noticed in the • horizon at Virginia city for several nights is believed to have been caused by the erup+ tion. A man in a lonely patt of Iowa had brain fever in oonsequeneo of the death of his wife, nd on recovering could not remember where e bad buried her. Dating the interval the three persons who bad Wedded in the inter- ent became scattered. Very desirous of oeating the grave, the widower dug over ost of a ten -acre field before finding the a h m Next time his chin suffered, and than hia A remains.