Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1905)
UOLAflDE I BY WILLIAM BLACK CHAPTER VIII. (Continued. "She was very indignant" said young Leslie, laughing, "when you wouldn't have your name put ou the tablet in the chool house." "What tablet?" said Yolande. "Oh, a tablet saying that Mr. Melville had built the school and presented It to the people of Gress." "And I never contributed a farthing!" he said. "She did the whole thing. Well, now, that shows how artificial the posi tion Is; and, necessarily, it won't last We have for so long been hypocrites for the public good let us say it was for the public good; but there must come an end." It was really a most enjoyable, confi dential, pleasant evening; but it had come to an end; and when the two young men left, both Yolande and her father accompanied them to the door. The moon was risen now; and the long, wide glen looked beautiful enough. "Well, now, Mr. Melville," said Wia terbourne, as they were going away, "whenever you have an Idle evening, I hope you will remember us and take pity on us." "You may see too much of me." "That is impossible," said Yolande, quickly; uuj lieu she added, very pret tily: "You know, Mr. Melville, if you coma often enough you will find it quite natural that Duncan should play for you Melville's Welcome Home." He stood for a moment uncertain; It was the first sign of .embarrassment he had shown that night. "Well," said he, "that is the most friendly thing that has been snid to me for many a day. Who could resist such an invitation? Good night good night!" CHAPTER IX. One evening John Shortlands and Jack Melville were together standing at the door of the lodge, looking down the glen. The big, burly M. P. looked vexed, per turbed, Impatient. "Mr. Melville," he said, abruptly, In his broad Northumbrian intonation, "will NOT ONE OK THEM APPEARS TO you walk down the glen for a bit?" "Yes; but we should fetch Miss Win terliourne to show her the skies on fire." "No; it's about her I want to speak to you. Or, rather," said his companion, when they hnd got as far as the bridge, "about her father. Winterbourne is an old friend of mine; but the way he Is Koing on at present, shilly-shallying, frightened to any this, frightened to say that, is enough to worry a stronger man than he is into his graro. Well, If he won't speak I will. 1 hVe mystery! My motto is out with it! And ho would never have got into this precious mess if he had taken my advice nil through.' Melvillo was surprised; but he did not interrupt. Johu Shortlands seemed a trille angry. "The immediate trouble with him is this: Ought he, or ought he not, to con fide certain mutters to you ns a friend of young Leslie? Well, I am going to tuke that into my own hand. I am going to tell you the whole story and a mis erable business it is." "Do you think that is wise?" the younger man snid, calmly. "If there is anything disagreeable, shouldn't the knowledge of it be kept to as few people as possible? I would rather have my illusions left The Winterbournes have been kind to me since they came here; and it has been delightful to me to look at these two the spectacle of father and daughter " "Oh, but I have nothing to say against either of them. I suppose you know that your friend Leslie and Yolande are en gaged?" "I have understood as much." "But did he not tell ye?" said Short lamls, with a stare. "Well, yes," the other snid. In rather a cold way. "But we did not have much talk about it Archie Leslie is a very fine fellow; but he and I don't always agree in our ways of looking at things." "Then, at all events, In order to dis agree you must know what his way of looking at things is; and that is just the point I'm coming to," said Shortlands, in his blunt, dogmatic way. "Yolande Winterbourne has been brought up all her life to believe that her mother died when she was a child; whereas the moth er Is not dead, but very much alive worse lack; and the point la whether he - - ..jm .... Ill HMM M IIIMI I I lUll II II I III! h I I Ml ought to be told, whether lie would con sent to keep this knowledge back from Yolande, who would only be shocked and horrified by it Do'ye understand?" "But, surely," exclaimed Melville, with wide-open eyes, "surely the best thing the natural thing would be to tell the girl herself, first of all!" "Man alive, Wlnterbourne would rath er cut his throat! Don't you see that his affection for the girl Is quite extraordi nary? It is the sole passion of his life; a needle-scratch on Yolande's finger Is like a knife to his heart I assure you the misery he has endured In keeping this secret Is beyond anything I can tell you; and I do believe he would go through the whole thing again just that Yolande's mind should be free, happy, careless. When he goes about with her he forgets all worry thank goodness for that; and certainly she is high-spirited enough for anything; you would think she had never known a care or a trou ble in all her existence; and I suppose that's about the truth." "I suppose there is no necessity that I should know why the girl has been kept In ignorance of her mother's exist ence?" "Oh, I will tell you the story misera ble as it is. lou cannot imagine a pleas nnter creature than that was when Win terbourne married her. lie was older than she was; but not much. It was neuralgia that began it; she suffered horribly. Then some' idiot advised her to drink port wine I suppose the very worst thing she could have tried, for if it bad for gout, it must be bad for rheu matism and neuralgia, and such things. However, it soothed her at first, I sup pose; and no doubt she took refuge in it whenever a bad attack came on. But mind you, it was not that that played the mischief with her. She herself be came aware that she was being tempted to take too much; for quite suddenly she went to her husband, told him frank ly that the habit was growing on her, and declared her resolution to break the thing off at once. SEE WHAT OUGHT 'i'O BE DONE "She did that. I firmly believe she did keep her resolution to the letter. But then the poor wretch had worse and worse agony to bear; and then it was Uiat somebody or other recommended her to try some of those patent medicines they make up from opium or morphia. I dare say it was harmless at first No doubt she began with small doses. -But it seems that those drugs are tweuty times worse than brandy or whisky in destroying tho power of the will; and so I suppose the poor creature went on and on, increasing the doses and destroying her brain nt the same time, until in the end she was simply a hopeless drunkard. It seems miraculous how women can go on destroying themselves with those in fernal drugs without being found out. I don t know . whether Winterbourne would ever have found it out; for he is mi indulgent sort of chap, and he was very fond of her; but one night there was a scene nt dinner. Then he discov ered the whole thing. The child was sent away, for fear of further scenes; and this so terrified the mother that she made the most solemn promises never to touch the poison again. But by this time her power of self-control had gone. Man alive, I can't tell ye what Winter bourne had to go through. His patience with her was superhuman; and always the promise held out to her was that Yolande was to be restored to her; and sometimes she succeeded so well that every one was hopeful, and she seemed to have quite recovered. Then again there would be another relapse; and wild struggle to conceal it from the friends of the family; and all the rest of it. "What a life he has led all those years trying to get her to live in some safe retreat or other; and then suddenly finding that she had broken out again ana gone to some people, uouineys or Itomfords, the name Is, who have a most pernicious influence over her, and can do anythiug with her when she is in that semi-maudlin state. Of course, they use her to extort money from Winter bourne; and she has drugged half her wits away; and It Is easy for them to persuade her that she has been ill-treat ed about Yolande. Then she will go down to the house, or hunt bim out at his lodgings. There la only one fortunate thins that the Romfords are not aware of the terror in which he lives of Yo lande -getting to know the truth, or else they would put the screw on a good deal more forcibly, I reckon." "But that terrorism is perfectly fright ful " "How are you to avoid It?" said Short- lands, coolly. "There is the one way, of course. There is the heroic remedy. Tell Yolande the whole Btory; and then, the next time the stone is thrown, summon the police, give the woman In charge, bind her over in recognizances, and have ail your names in the next day's paper. borne men could do that W interbourne couldn't; he hasn't the nerve." The answer to thas was a strange one. It was a remark, or rather an exclama tion, that Melville seemed to make al most to himself. "And not one of them appears to see what ought to be done!" "What would you do, then?" "I?" said Melville and John Short- lands did not observe that the refined, In tellectual face of his companion grew a shade paler as he spoke; "I? I would go straight to the girl herself, and I would say: That Is the condition in which your mother Is; go and save her!' " "Then let me tell you this. Mr. Mel ville," said Shortlands, "rather than bring such shame and horror and suffering on his daughter. George Winterbourne would cut off his fingers one by one." ' CHAPTER X. "He might have spared her he might have spared her!" was Mr. Winter- bourne's piteous cry, as he sat In his friend s room, and gazed out through the streaming window panes mi the dis mal landscape beyond. And who was to tell her? Who was to bring grief and humiliation on that fair young life? Who was to rob her of the beautiful dream and vision that her mother had always been to her? Not he, for one. He could not do it And then might she not misunderstand all this that had been done to keep her in ignorance. Might Bhe not be angry at having all her life been surrounded by an atmosphere of concealment? If she were to mistake the reason of her father having stooped to subterfuge and deceit? as Yolande going to despise him, then she, the only being in the world whose opinion he cared for? And always his speculations, and fears, and anxious con jectures came back to this one point: He might have spared her he might have spared her." "Now, look here, Winterbourne," John Shortlands said, in his plain-spoken way. "If I were you, before I would say a word of this story to Yolande, I would make sure that that would be sufficient for Leslie. He says that Yolande must be told; but will that suffice? Is that all he wants? If I were in your place I would have a clear understanding. Do you know, I can't help thinking there is something behind all this that hasn't come out. If this young fellow is really In earnest about Yolande if he is really fond of her I don't think he would put this stumbling block in the way I don't think he would exact this sacrifice from you unless there was some other rea son. Yesterday afternoon Melville said as little as he could. He didn't like the job. But he hinted something about the disagreement between young Leslie and his family over this marriage." "I guessed as much," said Winter bourne. "Yes, I have suspected it for some time. Otherwise I suppose his father and aunt would have called on Yolande. They knew each other. Yo lande stayed a night, at the Towers when Mrs. Graham first brought her here until the lodge was got ready." "Of course. If the fellow has any pluck, he won't let that stand in his way. Id the meantime, a domestic row isn't pleas ant; and I dare say he is Impatient and angry. Why should he revenge himself on Yolandfe, one might ask? But that Is not the fair way of putting it. I can Bee one explanation. I didn't see it yes terday; and the fact was I got pretty wild when I learned how matters stood; and my own impression was that kicking was a sight too good for him. I have been thinking over it since, though f the rain last night kept me awnke. - And now I can understand his saying, 'Well, I mean to marry in spite of them; but I will take care, before I marry, to guard agaiiiBt nny risk of their being able to taunt me afterward. "When I took this shooting," Winter bourne said, absently, "when the place was described to me, on the voyage out, I thought to myself that surely there Yolande and I would be safe from all anxiety and trouble. And then again, up the Nile, day after day I used to think of her being married and settled in tli is remote place, and used to say to myself that then, at least, everything would .be right And here we-ore, face to face with more trouble than ever! And who is to tell her? The shock will be terrible it may kill her." "Nonsense nonsense! Whoever Is to tell her, It must not be you. It will turn out all right. And you, for one, Bhould be very glad that the Master, as you call him, now knows the whole story for after the marriage, whatever hap pens, he cannot come back on you and any you had deceived him." . - "After the marriage! And what sort of a happy life is Yolande likely to lead when his relatives object to her al ready?" " "There.you are off again! Why, man, these things must be taken as they come. You don't know that they object-and I don't believe they can object to her, though the old gentleman mayn't quite like the color of your politics. But sup posing they do, what's the odds? They can't interfere. You will settle enough on Yolande to let the young couple live comfortably enough.- I don t see auy dif ficulty about It." (To be continued.! ' Good humor Is the, clear blue sky of the soul, highly favorable to the dis coveries and progress of genius. Shaftesbury. COLLEGE HONORS Can .you guess who will get It? GREAT RUSSIAN WATERWAY. Czar'a Government Planning for Baltic-Hluck Sea Khip Canal. The recent appointment of a com mission, tc examine the question of constructing a canal to unite tho Bal tic and Black Seas revives Interest in this tremendous project, which Is no less than digging a canal equal In length to most of the so-called canals on Mars". It Is by all odds the greatest canal scheme of modern times, and while It presents difficulties, such as passing the Cataracts of the Dnieper River, which have a total fall of 107 feet, It Is not .considered by any means Impracticable. While the canal Is primarily a strate gic work, for Russia has a large fleet in tne Black Sea which Is rusting from Inertia, It is Just as Important commercially, for, as no other agency tMJ r nut t-trs c i ROUTE OF PROPOSED CAN AX. could, it will open up trade in the in terior of the Tsar's European donlains. and by its tolls be not only self-sup porting but source of revenue to the government Long-eat Canal In World. From Riga, on the Baltic, to Kher son, at the entrance to the Black Sea, Is only 800 miles In a straight line, but the canal, as mapped by Mr. Ruckteschell, who, it is said, will pos sibly be Intrusted with Its building, will be almost twice as long, or be tween 1,410 and 1,408 miles, according to the route selected. When completed It will be the longest canal In the world, but In spite of these superla- AUSTRIA . i a ' MnCftLAlKT n amnmT. "-- V ,jnc- 'Vttt W"iiok BLACK SEA AND SURROUNDING TERRITORY. tives, its cost will, comparatively speaking, not be great. An American syndicate has offered to construct the work for 15)000,000, or for about three-fifths the bid made by a Russian syndicate. These bids were made a year ago on the favorite route mentioned.' Since then, however, a scheme has been pre pared by a Belgian engineer, Comte Gustave Defosse, in which J. King A Co., of London, are interested. The details of this proposal have not yet been made public, but they are said to apply to a waterway about 400 miles shorter and having a uniform depth of 28 feet and a breadth on the surface of 208 feet, and at bottom of 114 feet. If this plan Is followed, the engineer states the canal can be com- THE FINAL AWARD. Chicago Tribune. pleted In about six years. With a speed of eight knots, the passage would occupy about five days. The original plan, which, Mn view of the rapidly Increasing size of ves sels, Is more accommodating, was for a waterway 31 feet deep, 140 feet wide at bottom and 288 feet wide at surface. Included in this plan Is a broad, well-paved roadway, built at the side of the canal for its whole length. As Russia Is not famed for its good roads, this Improvement will be of almost as. much importance as the canal ltsel Apart from ne extensive works to be built at the cataracts and the actual digging of only twelve miles through a country presenting no great difficulty to the operation, the canal building will very largely be the simple work of dredging a deep channel In the rivers and the existing canal and the widening of the latter. No one familiar with Russia's hu miliating position on the Black Sea need be told that the subject Is an old one and t recognized necessity, for while the Tsar has been permitted to build a powerful fleet of warships on the Black Sea, treaties and conven tions extending back almost a cen tury, or since 1809, have closed the gates of the Dardanelles upon them. The Black Sea fleet, which consists of about 150 ships, has been "locked" In the Black Sea principally through British action, although Russia Is a party to most of the treaties, recogniz ing the fact that it is some consolation to know that no other force, not even a British fleet, may pass through the straits, "the key to the Tsar's home," as Napoleon described it During the last year, however, Rus sia has felt the need of her caged fleet, which, if it could have been dispatched to the Far East at an op portune time, might have changed the history of the war. At present the Black Sea fleet can only be used to menace the "sick man of the East," whom most of the powers do not de sire disturbed, for fear of the awful contention for th "remains" If the Turk were driven out of Europe. While Great Britain is distributing her fleets has always made due allow ance for the Ineffective character of the Black Sea fleet and consequently has. beep able to irtall the size of H.USSIA AATVM, her Mediterranean squadron, there la a general Impression that Russia would by means characteristic be able to send ber Black Sea fleet past the Dardanelles if a European war were forced upon her and made such a coup desirable. The canal from the Baltic to the Black Sea would bring St Petersburg 3,000 miles nearer the Far East, and what Is more to the point, would bring it so much nearer Egypt and India. It Is no secret that notwith standing the disastrous outcome of the war In the Far East, Russia will strike for an outlet on the Indian Ocean. Some men go to war and bleed for their country and some others star at I home and bleed their country.