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The Huron News-Record, 1891-08-19, Page 71 Emulsion .or Cod Liver 011 AND THE Hypophosphites of Lime and Soda. Io other Emulsion is so easy to take. t does not separate nor spoil. It is always sweet as cream. The most sensitive stomach can retain it. CURES Scrofulous and Wasting Diseases. Chronic Cough. Loss of Appetite. Mental and Nervous Prostration. General Debility, Sze. J3eware of all imitations. Asle for .et' n`t Lee 'eters^n, nndee-s_e as G,�.ers. ewes. eon. ANO t?OTTLr. The Huron News-f?eoord $1.50 a Year --51.45 in Advance 'Wednesday, August 19th, 1891. CAPTAIN KITTY. 1 3Al.t•ATIONIST SKETCH. CHAPTER 1. Her face under the shadow of the ugly buuuet, was one of extreme refinemyut and beauty. She looked —as, indeed, she was—thorough bred. Katherine Villiers, in fact, belonged to one of the oldest fanii• lies in England. Nevertheless, she was one of the most popular and successful captains in the army ; and, amid all the .coarseness and • apparent prufauity of the stormy meeting then progress- ing, elle hold her head high and never fliuched fur a moment, though . some of the language used both by orators and sinners must have been a revelation to her. 1.• But Captain Kitty had that .enthusiastic, exalted sort of tempera- ment of which saints and martyrs are au outcome, although there were both human passion and feel- ing in her dark eyes. When eho prayed, as she did now in her turn, it was not so much a prayer as an'im- ;passioned protest against the powers of evil—au agony, a battering as it were at the gates of heaven. One could hear the human heart throbs through the eager words. Her cultured, exquisitely modulated voice rang through the great hall like a silver bell and set the chords of many a long buried feeling vibrat- ing. 4That's right, Captain Kitty ! "Have it out with The devil! Give .him a bloody nose 1 Land him one in the eye !' The expressions of applause that were echoed about from one en- thusiast to another were perhaps mot very choice or elegant, but they were certainly evoked by genu- ine feeling, undeniable emo- tion. One man upon the platform com- menced to spar wildly in the air, as though he were fighting with some invisible opponent who was bent -upon overthrowing him, A woman —whose eye was black and her face swollen, as though the had been ex- ceedingly maltreated—rolled on the floor in a fit of hysterics. She be- gan to confess to a catalogue of sins —s roll call of an exceedingly ghastly and unedifying character, beginning with minor offeusea against the law—such as petty lar- -coney and `drunk and disorderlies' —and gradually working up to the climax of infanticide, on a whole- sale scale, fur the sake,of insurance moneys. '!here are even now Lucrezia Burgles in humble life who, without the stage accessories of gilded goblets and sparkliug wines commit murder on the same nig lines ae that dramatic personage. The revelations made sometimes at these Sensational religious meetings ;are appalling 13ut people attend- ,* ing them are so accustomed to melodrama that they produce very (little effect. One of the workers stooped, over the writhing, groaning, guilt- :atricken singer, and whispered words of hope and encouragement ; but the beautiful, passionate plead- ing went on all the time, every word dictinctly audible, even through the tumult it raised. And yet it was not the words that moved them, but the tones, the thrilling subtle sweetness of the 'voice inflexions. Those swayed their eenees and played upon their emotions, as might the magic of some great and glorioue symphony. In this sort of emotional religion .the,svor:da neo--mnathitrg•; 'Elis 'voiee, .personal magnetiem, nervouie force, sympathetic rapport of the' speaker are everything, Captain Kitty was perfectly aware that this power be- longed to her. She delighted in the exercise of it, just. as a great actress might delight in seeing her audiebce' alternately ..laugh end weep, while under the spell ofIs • genius. The dramatic instinct is indeed a valuable one to a Salvation- ist. If it were entirely eliminated from the platform there would be few conversions, fewer dieciples. After the prayer was over, Cap tain Kitty came down from the plat- form and went slowly about among the people—exhorting, beseeching, encouraging. Eager hands—palsied with drink, olammy with a cito- ment, foul with the filth of days— were stretched out to grasp her as she passed ; and she had a word and a kindly greeting for all. When ells reached the sobbing, hysterical wemau she paused, laid a cool, soothing hand on that miserable, bealobbored brow, parted the ragged wisps of hair. and gazed into the bloated, drink -sodden eyes '1'm a had an, a downright bad un!' cried the sinner, with a sort of despairing pride iu the gigantic nature of her guilt. `It's no man- ner of use tun tryin' to be good, because what I've done is enough to damn the whole of creatiou.' 'Thu Lord ,wants your heart, ur lie would not be asking fur it now,' replied the Salvation Captaiu in n teuder voice; and the woman, stoop- iugsuddenly, grabbed a bit of her dress and kissed it. Close beside thorn stood 0 nt to who had beau a very attentive listener to Captain Kitty's prayer, and who had followed with his 0.es every movement with a sort of breathless eagerness. Ile was a man of perhaps 35 years of al age, with a handsome, brouzed, haggard face, and a luau figure, upon which his rags of cluthiug hung lousely. Puurly, wearily am he was dieSSed, there was about hind that valueless, indescribable air that malls unmistakably, to the cite, him who has once been a gentle- man. When Captaiu Kitty drew Haar and began to talk to the hysterical woman, this man hid his face in hie arms, a3 though either to bury away same intense emotion, or to prevent some poPsible recognition. If he was moved by the latter feeling, however, he defeated his own object; for the Salvationist took it for granted that he WAS moved by her exhortation instead, and stayed to clinch the argument. The cause was hers, heart and soul, and she but lived to rescue sinners from the devil's grasp. When, therefore, she noticed that the man's shoulders were working convulsively, and that he kept his face sedulously hidden, she judged that it was the spirit of God at work within him. She laid her firm, white band upon his shoulder. and at the touch he shuddered from head to foot. 'Brother,' she murmured, stoop- ing over him, so that he felt her warm breath on his cheek, 'God asks your soul of you! \Vill you let him ask in vain 2' The man groaned, but made no other reply. Captain Kitty went on. 'Oh, my brother ! my dear, proc• ioue, loved brother in Christ, will you not listen t.r my poor pleading and cast away the burden of sin that is weighing you to the earth 2 It is eo simple—so simple, and the relief is so unutterable. Give me your life and let me pass it on to God.' At this last adjuration the man seemed moved by some irresistible force to raise his head and to look her in the face. As their eyes met—her's eager, supplicating, ardent, full of beseech. ing love and tenderness ; his full of nothing but a haggard trouble and despair—she cried out wildly and put her hand to her heart, as though stabbed there by some sharp, sudden pain. 'Julian—Julian Gray 1' she ex- claimed, in a tone of great surprise and excitement. 'Aye, Julian Gray—or at least all that is left of him 1' replied the man, in a hollow voice. Captain Kitty was breathing quickly, her hand, still pressed against her side. You could see her heart beating through her dross as she vainly strove to regain her self possession. The eight of this face, risen from her former world to coutrout her, had disturbek her strangely. thought you were still in Australia,' she gasped, after a mo ment's pause.Where have you been all these J ears 2' The man laugded—a ghastly, un - mirthful laugh that would have provoked notice in any other place, but did not sound at all extraor- dinary there. 'Where 2 To hell, I think ! You hear lots of queer experiences in this new life of yours, Well, call to mind the very strangest end the very wickedest of them all and you still wouldn't be able to realize mine !' For once Coptain Kitty did not li¢peirr roi cis to grasp Ilse oppor`fun• ity this confession opened to her. She was neually quick to seize upon every robattce given her to light; the powers of evil. But now she seem- ed trunk dumb. She merely stood still and gazed down into the depths of those wild, despairiug eyes—a like trouble growing into lier own as she gazed. i:. '1—I scarcely thought you would ave kno yn mo. 1 hoped you tould pass by, unrecognized, t ie wreck of the man you once— new j' `I should have known your eyes elnywhere,' replied the Salvationist *,lowly. Then she sighed and awoke to the reality of things. She was one of Christ's soldiers and she meet not neglect her duty. No mere human emotion must interfere with that. 'Julian,' she said—and now her voice was quint, though full of sup• preened intensity, 'you did well to come here, I have prayed for you always. I have bag;,ed that God would give we your sour so that I might render it to Him. My prayer is surely answered, since you are here.' 'Don't you make any ulietake, Kitty,' he answered roughly, '1 did not cuwe here fur any of that tomfoolery. You dou't cutch me slobbering over wy sins like those id -iota over there ! I'm u elan, when all's said and done : and, if I've sinned, 1 cau repent without howling about it' '1 hoped you were here to Keck salvation, umy poor friend friend. What, was it that brought you, if not that 1' 'The chance of seeing you. 1 heard about you and I could not be• lieve it until f saw it with toy own eyes. Besides, I was hunsry for the sight, of you—after all those hate- ful, God forsakers years 1' She would not notice the break in his voice, time pleading in his wretch- ed eyes. She was all duty now ; and, since the time fur his conversion was not yet come she must leave him for other and more ae.eessiidu souls. 'You must coma again,' she aaid —!mer sweet, clear voice completely under control. '(!orae again, and again, until the Spirit of the Lord reigns to move in your torpid soul. Believe rue, dear Julian, there is no way to happiness save only by the way of conversion.' But at night, when elle lay on her hard, narrow bed, the thought of that strange meeting came back to trouble her and to prevent her from sleeping, tired aa she was. Years before, when she was a light-hearted girl in' her teens, Jullian Gray had been her betrothed lover. He was the younger son of a baronet whose lands adjoined those of her father. He was then in the army. His prospects were not, perhaps, brilliant, but they were fairly good. He would inti herit his mother's fortune and his hride.elect was nut penniless, so that there was eyery reason to sup, pose that the young people would be eery comfortably off. Then, little by little, a change took place. Rumors reachea her home that troubled the peace of the family—Julian was becoming a by• word in his regiment for fastness aimd general recklessness of conduct. He gambled, and became heavily involved in debt in consegnenee. Then, to drown his regrets and re- morse, he took to drinking. That finished him. Before long news came that he had been obliged to sell out and was now on his way home, disgraced and humiliated. Under these circumstances Mr, Villiers insisted, not unnaturally, upon the severance of his daughter's engagement. She "rebelled against the edict, but all in vain. The family was a proud one, and her father pointed out to her that for generations their escutcheon had been stainless, and that no shade of disgrace had ever rested upon their name. Would she—talking all this' into coneideration—ally herself with a man whose name had become notorious for every epecies of riot and debauchery ' Katherine was young and sensi- tive, and she could not answer this except by consenting to the separa- tion. She begged in her turn but for one thing—which was, that elle might break it to him by word of mouth; that before they parted for- ever she /alight have one final in- terview with him• How well she remembered that last day 1 They bed met by his special desire at one of their old trysting places, for he did not feel equal to facing the dis- approving eyes that would glare upon him up at hell. The day was draw to a close ; a cold, clear, sunless October day, with ' a low wind moving about among the grasses at their feet, where they stood on time barren sand - hills by the shore. She could picture it all quite dis- tinctly now when she closed her eyes—the long stretch of cold, pallid sand, the bleached seagrasses, from which ever and anon crept up a sound like a shivering nigh ; the gray, gnllen sea, with its great waves thundering.� on t lUfbef e,. -- -. _.TG wee all' hopeless and colorless, like the future that stretched before her, when she should have gone out of it. And she loved him so—she loved him so Never, perhaps, had she realized this fact so thoroughly as at that bitter moment of final separation. 'I ate not good enough for you, and they are quite right to part us.' he said, with a sort of eullen re- ignation, that it was my only hope —my only chance.' "What will you do, Julian 2' eho asked, timidly, after an interval of sorrowful silence. 'How do I know S Go to the devil, I suppose,' he replied, with a desperate brutality, born of muoh pain. For his love had been the one good and true thing in situ; and now the sight of her pale face and pleading eyes uuwauned him and wade him bitter and savage. If he could alone have born the suffering it would not have been so unendurable. There was reason why he should be wade to smart. But there was no justice in the power that pnmmislmed the innocent for the sins of the guilty. S 1 the very tenderness of the wan helped to harden his heart and to tuadden him. But love lends insight, so it is possible that Bath, eriue understood. When it wad all ever ilia people managed to raise some money for hire and packed hon ort to Australia, that refuge for our scapegrace:;. Does that muds ill used country thank us for making her a present of our younger sone and Our ne'er-do- wells, 1 wonder 2 Whether or no, at least it is euu venieut that, if they have nothing before them but etervation, they should do their starving et a respect- ful distance from their aristocratic relations. 1 re had kept his .•.,ri. He had said that he supposed he would •go to Zhu devil, cud now it certainly appeared from his words aud loults that ht+ bad dune so in earnest. But, as for her, she had give herself over to time go el caner, body and soul. They might prevent her from marrying the one love of her life, but they would not prevent her from enlisting in time ranks of the Lord's Army, Much as they might be scandalized at the low vulgarity of the proceeding. Had she turned Catholic now and entered a convent —that would at least have been a well bred notion ! Broken hearts could be hidden in a much more reputable wanner within convent walls, since the girl was so foolish as to delete) her Heart to be broken by a worthless scamp ! But Katherine Villiers had no vocation for the life—if life it ran be called --of a nun. There was a vein of wild, tumultuous blood in her, along with all her goodness and virtue ; and this made her yearn for something more thrilling and excit- ing than the dreary, gray tnonotony of perpetual prayer and perpetual telling of beads. Better to die at once, she thought than doom herself t0 a living death 1 Just at that time there tolled a sudden wave of enthusiasut for the Salvation Army across the country ; and it carried back with its ebbing tide one eager, enthusiastic recruit. Once wore her colorless existence became refused with vivid tints, gold and purple and scarlet flashes lighted up the dull monotony, and in the blare of trumpets and waving of banners Captain Kitty forgot for the first time her own private grief and despair; But she had never forgotten to pray for him. And now I Was the answer to that prayer come at last 2 CHAPTER 11. She had but slept for a couple of hours when some one came to rouse her. 'You are to dress at once and go to No. 9 Ilulcaster's Rents. There's a man there met with an accident, and they've seut for you 2' Captaiu Kitty wondered a little as to who it cuuld bo that wanted her iu particular, and not ono of the nurses who lived in the place ; but Niro was too sleepy to feel much astonishmentat anything. She did not delay long over her toilet ; just dipped her head into a basin of cold water to dispel. the drowsiness and hurried on her clothes anyhow. Mulcaster'•s Rents was a nasty neighborhood for a lady to visit alone at 1 o'clock in the morning; but the army had made it a head• quarters for one of its divisions and its soldiers were free of it, and in no danger of molestation. Captain Kitty felt very weary, both in body and mind, as she toil- ed up the greasy, dirty staircase, where the boards were rotten and crazy, and whore the stair rails had been torn out for firewood. But the weariness was all gone when she en- tered the wretched room and recog- nized that there, upon the bed, lay the form of Julian Gray—the man for whom she had been praying so earnestly. A doctor vele ben ling Aver him,, —arhl1 allim'm -her a�vont with pietas- tire. ietas- ure. 'I don't know why on earth they didn't take him to tb.e hospi4 at once," he said in a tone of vexation ; 'but it seew.e he begged hard to be brought home, and to have yuu sent for, before he relapsed into uncon- sciousness.' 'is he much injured?' asked Cap tail Kitty in a low voice. The doctor shook his head. "It isn't that. He was knocked down by a cab—drunk, I suppose, and blind, they generally are—and has two or three ribs broken ; but that won't kill him. He's been a f3lIow with a splendid physique to begin with 1' And the surgeon lifted the arm of the prostrate pian and looked at it admiringly. 'Then what is it you dread 2" The doctor gave her a sharp glance. There was no fear of shock• ing a Salvationist. They were too well used to every variety of vice. 'It's the fever that will supervene, the D. T., you know 1 The man's been driuking like mad for weeks, I should say, and now his blood is little bettor than alcohol. Who's to see him through with it, I wuudor 2 It'll be a tough fight. She's not much use, poor little wretch !' ho ended, with a glance toward the fire- side. Captain Kitty followed the direc- tion of that glauce and started. The figure of a girl—untidy,•iiih- eveled, ragged—was sitting thele witb her head buried in her hands, sobbing in a soft, subdued sort of lash lou• The Salvationist turned !gale to the lips, but she set these same lips in a firm line. 'I will see hire through it,' she said with quick decision. Tho surgeon looked at her doubt- fully, oubt- fully, 'But perhaps you don't know what it is that you are undertaking? It is 110 joke when time fits commie man, I cen tell yon.' I have some idea, I spent four months once in the accident ward of a hospital. `'That's all right,, then 1 You know what to expect, a lieu Ime comes round. You will have to keep t;iv ing him doses of this—browido of potassium it is—to quiet him, or in- flammation will sot in, and if he should become violent he will re- quire to be strapped down. Are you afraid 2' `Not in the least 1 Look at my arm, I am as strong as a man.' It was, indeed, powerfully and apleudidly molded. Tho doctor ran his oyes over her, and confessed to himself that he had never seen a grander specimen of womanhood. From the glorious masses of ruddy brown hair to the firm, shapely feet there was not, to all appearances, a weak spot about her. Nevertheless, the quick professional gaze detected something amiss. 'Are you quite sure of your strength 1' he asked with soma hesi- tation. If she did not know it would be worse than foolish to warts her. But her oyes met his in his sig- nificant response to the question underlying his unspoken one. `1 know,' she said, quietly ; 'you need nut fear shocking me ! I have known it for long. But 1 am going to nurse him all the same, and I shall not break down. 'Has he any claim on you?' he persisted. 'Yes. It is partly my fault that he is—what ho is 1 Had I been brave enough I alight have saved him—once !' 'Ah !' was the long drawn mono- syllable that came from the Doctor's lips. It meant a great deal. He had seen sufficient of life during the course of his hard working years in the East End to guess at the facts of the the story pretty correctly. A man who had -been agentleman, dying !of drink and dissipation; a woman still young and very beauti- ful, bound together by some past un - forgotten and regretted—it was easy to piece together such a romance as this. But the Doctor came across so many queer stories during his day's work that he had no time to specu- late concoruing them. All he now wanted was to do the best he could for his patron, and to see that he was left in capable hands. And those of the woman before him seemed thoroughly capable, even though she had heart disease and would not last long under the stress and excitement of the life she was leading. It was a pity, because she was a fine creature ; but, after all, it was no business of his 1 Se he went on giving her directions, and told her in case of necessity she could send for the man who lived on the oppos- ite side of the landing—a big, pow- erful coal -heaver, who was under obligations to him, and who would gladly come to her aesitance. Then he took up his hat and left her there alone with the sleeping man —and the fair-haired girl by the fire. When he had gone she sank on her knees by the bedside, AO-1r,F-=Gody ew by. ..dieL, we , jack., dis,.. both of us, on that dreary October day, long ago? It would have been bearable then, and we could have passed out into this night and the darkness—togother. You were wino then, darting, and I was yours! It wouldn't have been so batt to face it hand in hand 1 But —now 1' Here she stopped for a moment, and the sound of a low eobbing fell on her her ears. She trembled violently and ruse instantly to her feet, 'Now 1 belong to God, and must do his work," she said resolutely, setting her teeth and frowning. 'And as for you, Julian, you are in all pro- f bebility hers 1 What I have got to do now is to save you for her.' Mastering her feeling of repug- nance she *reseed the room and put her hands on the girl's shoulder. 'You must stop that,' she said in a fires voice. 'If you wont to be of any use to him you roust leave off crying at once.' • The girl gave a queer sort of chok- ing sound,making an effort to obey. Then she looked up wonderingly, she was a rather pretty, fair Haired creature ; very young, and apparent- ly very much accustomed to being commanded. Her big, blue eyes had a frightened slue in thein, and every now and then when any one spoke suddeuly site would start and shrink, as though dreading a blow to follow. 'Who aro you 1 Whitt is your name, 1 mean 2' asked Captain Kit- ty • Me 2 Lor', I'm only 'Meller !' she answered at once, brgiuuiug to rub her eyes with her nut too clean ap- ron, preparatory to entering upon an account of her self ; then, with a wistful gaze across the route, 'Ho ain't a-goiu' to die, is he 2 I thought as 'Ow it was only the jiut-jams he'd got ; but the ductor 'o says it's a bad job, and' 'is ribs is broke ! But he'll get better, don't you thiuk2' 'Yes, I thick he will if you and I do our best for him. Now 'Melia, 1 want you to take a note for /no to headquarters as soon as it's light, and thou get via a telegraph forte. Where is tho nearest offi e 2 'Melia thought a mno/neut. , 'There's au orris next dour but uue round the corner—lig. (.it'eou, grocer an' confoosh'ner, general post orfis, au' telegrat•t 1 Will that do 2 It won't open afore 'arf-past seven, though.' 'Yea, that will do. Now yuu had better wash your face anti he clown for ;an hour or two, and I will watch. Is there a vacant room near this 2' 'Melia nodded. 'One nes' door. People lef' only the day afore yes'day. Got nothiu' in it but a 'eap of shaviu's. Never mind. I'll take a blanket, and lie on the shavin's till yon call we—if —if you're quite sure lmo xvou't miss me.' 'I will tell you if he sake for you.' replied Captain Kitty coldly. The girl turned her big, vacant, blue eyes on the other, as the tone et:uck her with astonishment; but the Salvationist waved her away im- periously, The next few hours ware like years, as the woman watched by the side of her long lost lore. It all mania about as the doctor predicted. \Viten the stupor passed away it was followed by wild delir- ium and cerebral excitement, terri- ble to witness. Nevertheless, Cap- tain Kitty did not find. it necessary to ask for assistauce. Those strong white arms of hors proved as effica- cious as bonds, as she wound them around him and held him down by main force when the frenzy seiz• ed him. But there was something also in the eery presence of the stronger nature that acted upou him a spell ; even though he did not know it in the least, and kept on calling for Captain Kitty to come and drive the devil away, and give a fellow a chance for his life. During these ravings she learned how her memory had been woven into all these wretched, mis- erable years of his; how, amid all his sin and degradation, he had never forgotten her. At length the opiate took effect and ho slept the sleep of exhaustion. Then she had time to think and to mature her plans. It would be easy enough to get leave of absence until he was out of danger. But the things that were necessary for his comfort and health—she could scarcely ask for those from head- quarters 2 Her own money she had simply given up to the cause, leav- ing herself penniless. But she was not friendless, al- though her own kindred did not approve of her doings. She decid- ed, therefore, to ask her brother, the one who was fondest of her, fog' a sum of money sufficient to tide her over this crisis, and, at the same time, she would write to him for particulars of the present attitude of Julian Gray's people toward him. Weeks glided on in the sad mon- otonous routine of sick nursing; and it seemed to Katherine Villiers as though her life had begun and ended in that dark sordid room in Mulcaster•'s Rents. At first it did not appear probable that Julian Gray would over recover ; but good nursing, combined with an original -tough constitution, pulled him During 'thio period she was of (Continued on page, sem-en.) 9' rn