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About The Oregon scout. (Union, Union County, Or.) 188?-1918 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1887)
trtr-JSfP IHARRIED FOR MOM. BY TIIK DUCIinsS, Atrrnon of " DAWK." PHYLLIS," ETC., ETO. ' MOLLY CHAPTER I. "Slralnlnc liarMi discords and UnpleaslnR sharps." Thero are limits to one's patiencel" mys Sir Wilding, frowning heavily. Ho is standing on the hearth-rug, with his back to the (Ire, and lias taken up a distinctly menacing position. "To yours, certainly," replies his daughter, with a faint sneer. She is a slight girl, with a strangely beautiful face, largo dark expressivo eyes, and a mutinous mouth. She is holding her head very haughtily just .now, and has dellanco written in every ,cnnre of her lissomo figure, in every fcaturo of her perfect face. "Let us talk sense," says Sir Wild ing, cither too accustomed to her irreverence which is not altogether jnndeserved or too prudent to notice "Yon must accept Harrington." "Why ?" "Why? Why should you not?" Why should I? You havo not pnswercd that." Tor many reasons. Wo are miser ably poor, and lie is tho richest man fwo know, for one." "And the ugliest, for two! That balances your one, nnd leaves tho males as they were before." lie is a thoroughly good fellow, for another," says Sir Wilding, who de vests George Harrington with all his j0(ll. "A late discovery." "If over mind how late. IIo is at Jlcast worth a dozen such fellows as Merry n. "A still later discovery," says Miss 3"nind, with u second Btieer. Why, it was only last night you were singing Mr. Mcrvyn'o praises!" "Be it so. Yet I desire that for tho ;futiirc your acquaintance with him pliall cease." "As -vo are on tho subject of rea sons, you will perhaps give mo ono for Ihis sudden command," says tho girl, (who has grown rather whito; but whether from anger or some deeper emotion it would be dilllcult to decide. "Certainly not. Why should I? Hut JI shall sec that T am obeyed." "Take care! I am not your slave," wiys she, with Hashing eyes and color less lips. She goes a step nearer to Mm. " Why am I to regard Mr. Mcr Hfjix as a stranger?" "IIo is an idle unprincipled fellow (thoroughly worthless -" "And poor!" interrupts she, in an (inexplicable tone. "That ha3 nothing to do with it. Tforthlessness is ono thing, poverty mother; one is disreputable, the other a a misfortune. am poor," says .Sir Wilding, drawing himself up with m gesture that would bo noble but for eerxiethiug in tho whole air of tho man (that renders it ludicrous, if not con .lemptible. Jlia daughter, failing, apparently, to ee the ludlclrous side of it, lowers her head. 3 havo learned many things of lato 9t this "Mervyn," goes on Sir Wilding jmrnpouUly. "IIo is a mero adventurer, living from hand to mouth. The little property ho lias hero is mortgaged, I understand, up to the hilt. Ho,is not a tit assoeiato for us." k " A very tit associate, if ho he, as you eay, an adventurer. What better aro rwo?" asks she, throwing out her hand, vnd turning upon him with n gesture iof suporb disdain, in tills disdain it is firapossiblo to misunderstand that sho (includes herself. " You forget yourself," Says her father coldly. Sho lets her hand fall to her side, and a bitter smilo creeps over her (ace. "Since when havo wo become too scspectablo for Mr. Morvyn?" sho asks. Ja ho altogether ruined, then? Is he no longer of any uso to you at ccarte? Js his last shilling gone?" "Do not provoke mo too far," says Sir Wilding, (lushing darkly; "you aro woman, and your insult iu beneath notice. Mervyn is as 1 found him, so far as his pocket is concerned. What mischief ho may havo incurred at your hands is another matter, and quite your own affair. I do not seek to look Onto it; but I will havo tho intimacy with him ended now. I will not have Mm coming hero making love to you. Understand inn onco for all. If ho darkens my door again 1 shall horse whip him." "IIo is the younger man; take euro lie docs not horsewhip you!" says Miss JSratid, iu a low but furious tone. "Florence! How daro you speak to mo like that?" "How daro you Incense mo as yo'u do? Is tho child to concede all to tho parent, mid the parent nothing to the child? You gave mo my nature, and now you taunt mo with It. What does St Jaul say? 'Fathers, provoko not your children to wrath.'" "Don't quote St. Paul to mo," says Blr Wilding. That ho ds somewhat Ignorant of tho Now Testament may bo inferred from tho fact that ho does not at this moment quote back a crushing text to her. "Ah, you don't liko homo truths," retorts ho triumphantly. 'I don't liko Ill-breeding in any shape or form. When you lost) your temper, you loso your dignity; and you 1 also lose sight of the fu"t ttiat distaste ful repartco always borderj on vulgar ity. Let us talk sense." "With nil my heart," sayn Misi Hrand. " Hut if, by tho sense, I am to understand you mean talking me Into accepting Mr. Harrington, I tell you honestly it will bo time thrown away." "What is your objection to him?" "Of course, the great objection is that I really don't care whether he bo dead or alive. One .should care a little, I think, about the man ono marries, but it would bo impossible to caro for him; and he Is so ugly." "Pshaw! a mere girl's fad. Six months after matrimony beauty and ugliness are of equal value." " I dare say. Jlut at least for tho six monthg, I suppose, the beauty counts for something." "You aro thinking of Mervyn!" ex claims he ungrily. " One must think of something." "Then think of Harrington." "No, lh.ir.lc you. He doesn't suit me in the least." "You are a fool!" says Sir Wilding savagely. "And your daughter," retorts she, with an irritating laugh. " daro say that sort of infirmity runs in the blood. There don't lose your temper; remem ber your dignity and your lecture of a moment since." Hero It occurs to Sir Wilding that his daughter may be more than a match for him. He refrains, therefore, from indignant rejoinder, and, turning, takes up the poker and molests tho coals with a vengeance. The flames, darting up, illumine both faces, so strangely like, yet so strangely unlike. "There is something I must tell you, Florence," says her father at length huskily. Ho still holds the poker in his hand in an unconscious fashion, and keeps his face turned well away from her. If ho Is afraid of anything on earth it is tho cola contemptuous eyes of his only child. "Well? says Miss Hrand indif ferently. " I don't know if what I am going to say will havo the least weight with you. You have always been so un dutiful in your conduct towards me," says Sir Wilding fretfully, with all tho air of a man who is about to relato a grievance rathor than a backsliding, " that J dare say you will treat my com munication with disrespect; but as it concerns you as well a3 me, and as George Harrington's proposal lias brought matters to a climax, I feel it had better be told." "What is it?" says Florence, feeling something akin to fear at her heart, Sho drops into a chair near her, and, resting her elbow on the table, regards her father with keen but troubled eyes. "It all lies in a nutshell," says ho, fidgeting nervously. " During tho past two years I havo borrowed money from old Harrington -tho father that I never can repay." Hoyond tho fact that her eyes have grown even harder, Miss Hrand betrays no sign of having heard him. "Thero is but one way of saving my honor," says Sir Wilding, shifting un easily from ono foot to tho other. "I have no money to meet his demands, as you probably know. F.ven if I sac rificed tho furniture, it would not bring in a fourth of the sum. There is really nothing to be sold -" " ICxcept me," says Florence Hrand, in a clear metallic tone. Her father, who has not dared to look at her, lets the poker fall from his hand now with a noisy clatter, and busies himself picking it up again as a means of covering ids confusion. " I am tho ono way, 1 suppose," she says presently. "Your marriage with George Har rington, If you could bring yourself to think or it," says Sir Wilding, In a tone that is meant to be pleading, but is only servile, " would settle everything His father tells mo George has sot his heart on you. Ho came here yesterday to speak to mo about It, and -and -" To Florence his words convey tho idea that it was George Harrington not his father, who came yesterday to ur rango this vile barter of so much money for ono fair body. "Don't go on," sho says hastily. "Don't seek to cover your relation with soft words. I prefer it crude and harsh like this: You gain, I lose; I am tho victim, you tho victor. At least, I should bo grateful that you havo as signed nio tho nobler part. You wore sure, then, of my acquiescence in this sehemo?" "If you refuse," boglns Sir Wilding, misled by the scorn of her manner into believing her bent on rebellion, "I can only say -" "7ocan I refuse?" crliu she, turn ing upon him with sudden fury. " You havo laid a net for mowho shall de liver mo from it? Anything beforo dishonor . I give in; do what you will with me -marry mo to this man as soon as the barest decency will penult, and lot us bo done with it." "There n'ust, of course, bo somo usual delay," says Sir Wilding, trying vainly to conceal tho exultation hur owonls l,avo caused him. "Hut " I warn you not to give mo tinio to think," says Miss Hrand, rising sul lenly. " 1 shall marry him in a fort night, or 1 shall not marry him at all. Understand that, and make no mistake about it. Tell him so." " Hut if-" "Thero shall bo nelthor Ifi nor buts in this most iniquitous transaction. I am selling my soul for the flimsy thing you call your honor, and you shall cer tainly undertake all the minor miseries connected with tho transfer. Do not mention my name, but let him fully comprehend that the marriago is to be got over before Christmas." It is now CI033 upon that holy tide; but, afraid to arguo with her in her present mood, Sir Wilding agrees to let George Harrington know that the wed ding must bo both hurried and, com paratively speaking, private. As she rises to leave the room, he goes up to her, and lays his hands in a would-be-fatherly fashion upon her shoulders. "I have to thank you," ho is begin ning sentimentally, but by a sudden movement she shakes herself free of him. "I have to thank you, too," she says, with passionate bitterness. "This hate ful marriage h.i3 at least one sweet side to it. It will separate mo finally from you." She tuni3, and, without another glance, swcep3 Imperiously from tho room. CHAPTER II. " Moderation U the silken strln.t ninnlni Tliroush the pearl chain of all virtues." It is a dull dark day, one of Nature's most barren efforts. Tho rain is falling in sullen drops, and the wind is moan ing heavily. Above, in tho cloud-laden sky, the sound of distant storms, in " hollow murmurs dle3 away." A fresh and angry burst of rain is dashing itself against the drawing room window-panes of Hrand House as tho servant opens tho door and an- "MY KATIIKK TOLD YOU, NO D01M1T, nouiices " Mr. Harrington." It is not tho old Harrington who is ushered "in, but tho young man, his only son. Of tho old Harrington it will bo sufficient to say that he is " a man of an unbounded stomach," (giv ing that seutenco its most simple meaning) and a very haudsomo faco. Indeed, tho Harringtons for generations havo been so famed for their beauty that it was considered rcmarkablo when tho young man of tho present tlmo grow up without even ono presen table feature. It earned him tho sobri quet of " Ugly Harrington," though thoro aro certainly many men more worthy of the adjectivo than he. Yet now, as ho entors tho room and ono looks at him, it must bo acknowl edged ho is an ugly man. Hut with such a calm earnestness of purpose in his oyes, and with a mouth so charac terized by a certain firm sweetness, as serves, in a great measure, to redeom his faco from actual plainness, nnd elo vnto it into something beyond mere beauty. To many this man Is dear; by a fow ho is well beloved. Ho is about twenty-nine, nnd stands a shado less than six feot in height IIo comes quickly up to Florence Hrand, as tho door closes bohlud him, nnd says, without any preface, " Your father tells mo thero Is some hope for me." "My father told you, no doubt, I war. willing to marry you," returns she slowly. Her oye3 do not fall before his. On the contrary, thoy look at him steadily and half defiantly. "Yes. 1 could not bring myself to hollovein my good fortune, however; so came to hear from your own lips whether it bo really so." "My father spoke tho truth" "or once," is on tho tip of her tongue, but by an effort sho restrains hersolf; " yet thero is something more that proba bly ho did not tell you. I can marry you, Indeed, but I cannot lovo you. ... "Not yet," s :yt Pr-i- '' that i3 scarcely t' 1)3 wonderc 1 a'; v i,; have 3Pon mn but four times alto ! gether, I tlrti";." "That is just th? nunib-r of time you have seen nr: and ye:" "You should remember the differ ence between in, Interrupts he quietly. The manly humility of his tone would probably havo touched any worn tti but one determined to regard liim at his worst. " And yet," sho goes on haughtily, as though disdaining tho interruption, " you say at loast, my father says that you love me." "Your father says less than the truth. That you should love me on so short an acquaintance is more than I ever hoped." " Well, I have told you," said Miss Hrand, after a slight pause; " I thought so much was due to you." "It was. But is that all)" asks he, regarding her closely. " Is it not enough ?" asks she In turn contcmptuotuly. " Were I you, I should hesitate." "You are not me; I do not hesitate. I accept tho risk," returns he slowly. "You are a brave man!" she says, with a curl of her beautiful lip. In this spirit they got married some few weeks later. The ceremony is got over very creditably, not so much as a tear falling to dim its lustre. Tho bride, according to some, is too self possessed almost stoical iu her calm; but according to others, sufllciently pale to carry oil any suspicion of want of feeling. Tho bridegroom, being the nferior articlo on all such occasions, little commented upon. I WAS WILLING TO MATtltY YOU. After the wedding breakfast, Mr. and Mrs. Harrington start for town, on their way to the Continent. Just at the end every one mikes way for tho father to bestow a last embraco upon his only child; but the only child so evidently shrinks from this public demonstration that a slight awkwardness is tho re sult; and finally her husband carries her oft hurriedly to tho waiting car riage. Hut this unpleasant little episodo hap pened qulto threo hours ago; and now Florenco finds herself In a private sitting-room at tho Langham. It is a very pretty room, wonderfully home like and cozy for a hotel; and Florenco sinking languidly Into a deeply cush ioned chair, tells herself, with a sigh of thankfulness, at last sho is alone. Sho had said somo little thitig to Mr. Harrington shortly after their arrival that had left him no alternative hut to reliovo her of his presenco; and now, lotting her faco sink into her palm, sho gives herself up to thought for tho first tlmo for many days. Recent events attract first the idle workings of tho brain. The cold dawn when sho had awakened and risen, and gone stolldy about such prepara tions as must belong to a coming marriage, whether distastofnl or other wise; tho drive to church; tho wed ding; every smallest word uttered by her or him (sho shudders), every pulsa tion of her carefully subdued heart, now returns to her olearly as when tho actual hour was at hand. Tho break fast, whero he (another shudder) had spokon a few quiet words, and where tho bishop had been more hopelessly silly than even his worst enemies could have anticipated all comes to her now. All seoms clear as "a dream within a dream." Yet ovorythlug is reality. In that lias tho sting, sho tells herself, with a start of anguish. A. few short hours ago! and now how willingly would sho return to it! Sho must havo She h.i3 risen to hpr feet with an im pulsive desire to do something that may recall her liberty, but sinks back igiln into her se.it, overpowe-ed by the weight that has been brought to bear upon her. She is irrevocably bound to the man she doe3 not love. She is for sver separated from tho man she could have loved with all her soul, so she be lieves. As this cruel certainty comes to her, sho does not curse Fate, but sho jighs; her lips pale, her eyes enlarge; jvidently a strugglo is going on within her. Finally, Satan conquers. Draw ing a small morocco case from her pocket she opens it, and gazes eagerly and longingly at its contents. She had been twenty minutes so oc cupied, with pauses between (becauso I contend tho mo3t love-lorn damsel could not gaze for so long without in truding thoughts upon the object of her most sacred adoration), when tho door opens, and a waiter entering the room puts sentimental regrets to llight. lie throws some coal on tho flro with a considerable amount of noise; and I don't know whether Georgo Harrington is suggestive of coal, but certainly the trimming of tho lire suggests to Mrs. Harrington that she has not seen her newly-acquired husband for a con siderable time. " Can I do anything for you, ma'am ? ask3 the waiter, when he had finished making the coal3 a nuisance. "No, thank you," says Mrs. Harring ton curtly. In reality, she is curious enough to inquire where Mr. Harring ton may be, but cannot bring herself to ask the question. Then tho waiter goes away, and she falls again to contem plating the portrait in the case, and finally dreams away an hour gazing into the glowing fire; yet tho absorp tion that had been hers during that first twenty minute3 doc3 not return to her again. Instinctively, though nerv ously, she feels that sho is listening for the opening of tho door behind her. About two hours later, Mr. Harring ton, opening this door, comes leisurely Into tho room. There is no lover-like liasto in his footsteps. IIo walks straight up to where his wife is sitting in her low chair before the fire. She does not lift her head at his ap proach, but still stares earnestly into the blazing coals. Who shall say what phantoms she is conjuring up from tho caverns and hollows that lie amongst them! "Florence," says Harrington at length, as though to attract attention. A tide of color sweeps over her faco for an instant, leaving her paler than before. "Well?" she says, resting her eyes by an effort upon his. "1 am afraid I have roused you from happy thoughts," ho says quietly. " Hut I find it necessary to ask you again where you would liko to go." "I thought Homo was our destina tion." It was. But it shall be home again instead, if you wish it." "Why should I wish it?" asks she, flashing a sudden glance at him. "There, or at Home, it will bo all the same to me; I shall be as happy in one place as in the other." " Or as unhappy ! That is what you mean, of courso?" Seeing she will not answer, he goes on again: "Ho candid with me at least; I shall never forgive myself for having tempted you to this marriago; there fore I cannot expect you to forgive mo. Hut let there be no polite reservations." " You can hardly accuse me of hypoc risy so far," she says rising suddenly, and going nearer to him. Tho coldness, tho half-suppressed aversion, she had displayed during his courtship now comes vividly back to her. "Why did you marry mo?" sho says, lifting her eyes to his. "For want of a more fashionablo reason, let us say becauso I loved you," returns ho in an unmoved tone. "At least," says Florence, subdued by his earnestness, " 1 did not deceive you. I told you openly, distinctly, that did not love you." " You did, indeed. Do you imagine I have forgotten ono look or tone of yours on that occasion. And yet I hoped! Somo fool has said, " Hope is tho anchor of tho soul." It has failed me, however. My bark has gone down; has foundered.with all hands on board." "I warned you," sho says sullenly. " I told you tho worst." "Tho worst?" His glance is scruti nizing. "Yes. What could thero be worso than tho fact that I bore you no affec tion none; not oven tho smallest friendliness?" "There might be far worse," says Harrington slowly; "thero might bo, for instance, the fact that you loved another." Tho blood recedes from Hp and brow; but sho does not lower her eyes oefore his. " When I asked you to marry mo I. believed you heart-whole,' says Har rington, in tho samo low oven voice ho had used all through; "and so believ ing, I swore to myself I vfould mnko you my own, heart and soul, by right of my love, iu less than throe months. Two hours ago I lost all hope." "You moan?" sho asks, still defiant. Sho is terribly pale; but her eyes havo not fallen. Even at this supremo momont ho pauses to cast a thought of admiration upon her undaunted courage "I hare discovered your love for Talc care!" Sho has swayed a little, and the lace of her sleeve has caught tho flatno of the light nearest to her. In an instant a blaze shoots up from her rounded arm. With a swift movement Harrington close3 his hand upon tho burning lice, and so extinguishes it. " You are not hurt?" ho asks anxi- ouslv. " No." "Not even scorched?" v He pushes up the half burned sleevo as he speaks, and passes his fingera with a light touch over her arm tho soft pretty arm that is his by lawful right. The remembrance that it is his comes to him at this moment, but fails to conquer him; he throws it out with a mental sneer, and lets tho white arm fall to its owner's side. "Forget my arm," she says, with determination; "just now, you wero saying" " That Fate had been kind to me." "Kind?" " Yes. I can no longer be tricked or befooled. A chance moment has con vinced mo that though I labored for ever to gain your heart the end would only find me a modern Sisyphus." She has seated herself again, and is now playing with her fan, with her eye3 downcast. "You have gone so far," she says slowly, " that perhaps you will explain," "Oh, about that,' ho says carelessly; 'if it he necessary, yes. Somo time after our arrival I was coming in hero to ask you I really forget what now; nothing of any importance, I daresay when I saw that you were sitting just where whore you are now, and that you were cryiny! Crying bitterly, a3 if your heart would break, on the very day of your marriage!" lie pauses. As though she expects his eyes to be on her, she holds herself erect, and flicks her fan to and fro with an air of insolent indifference. Yet sho wrongs him. IIo keeps his gazo fixed pertinaciously upon the glass door at the further end of the room. "I crossed the room silently," ho goes on presently, " to ask you what whether pshaw! if I could bo of any use to you; and as I approached I saw 1 really beg your pardon for my in discretion, but I couldn't help it I saw lying on your lap a portrait of Mervyn. Your tears were wetting it. I hopo it isn't spoiled? It was a faultless likeness. No answer. The fan is moving with greater rapidity; but otherwise Mrs. Harrington might be deaf to all that i3 being said. "It occurred to mo then, though I am generally a dull fellow, that I might as well go back to where I camo from. Any consolation J could offer would hut add an additional poignancy to your grief." " Your manner is an insult !" sho says slowly, turning her large eyes fully upon his. "I assure you, you mistake me," ho says shrugging his shoulders; "tho facts I relate may be considered an in sult to a married woman; but I am not responsible for them. You wero so absorbed with your portrait you did not hear me. 1 withdrew. Could I be have with more delicate tact? At the door, indeed, 1 looked back; you wero kissing tho portrait then. Pah! how hot this room is!" He walks a step or two, and then re turns. Hy this time she has quite re covered her self-iiossesslon. TO UK CONTIN'UKD.j Antelope and Cold Weather. Among the novel sights to be seen along the Fnion Paeifio through Wyo ming is that of great herds of antelope. One hand, which has been about Rock Spr.ngs the last ten days, is supposed to number over ten thousand. A party went out from that town one day and returned in two hours with seventeen, which was all they wanted, but they could have killed many more. Another party went from Hryan and bagged thirty-six beforo thoy got tired of tho sport, and were glutted with meat. So it is all along tho road, from Laramie to Carter. Old railroad men say that the bunching of antelope is a good in dication that tho winter is to bo a se vere one. They refer to tho fall of 1877. when the antelope gathered in great herds and remained together dur ing tho winter, which was tho worst evor experienced on tho road. Tho same was tho caso several other winters which proved very sovore. Hut they say they never saw them so thick be fore. Not only antelope, but all othor kinds of game appear to bo moro abund ant in tho west than for many years. Salt lake Tribune. Reiteration ot a Reassuring Fact. It is exceedingly reassuring to bo told from time to time that "business is busi ness." Tho repetit on of such a state ment prevents tho hearer from lapsing into an impression that business is a sport, n pastiino or a means of relaxa tion. Lowell Citizen. Portugal's Decorated Baby. The king of Portugal recently con ferred tho threo military orders of For tugal upon tho baby king of Spain. I' appears that this monarch was highly decorated and expressed his satisfaction bv a desporato attompt to swallow ono of his new decorations. torft Jor"' ing i'ew.