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About The Oregon scout. (Union, Union County, Or.) 188?-1918 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 1887)
r i MARRIED FOR MONEY BY THE DUCIinSS, AUTnoii or niYM.is." "molt.y BA1VN." ETC., KTO. CHAPTER II. Continued. ! ""So you know Mr. Mervyn?" aho Bays coolly. i "A little. It would take a clever man to really know him. He it is rather awkward, all tilings considered but ho is tho one enemy I have on earth. . One would wish to be at least on cood terms with one's wife's r-frtend? " Your enemy !" ' It occurs to her as strange, even at this moment, that llaudal Mcrvyn had not mentioned his acquaintance with her husband. " Well, that sounds rather theatrical .Let us say that ho objects to my society, Once I found him out in but that can't matter now. "What remains is i tho certainty that he would do mo a bad turn if he could." ! "And you hate him?" ' "1 really don't know," says George (Harrington. "I don't caro about soil- ling my fingers at any tinlo; and at ! least I could hardly surpass the injury llio has done mu." i "At least you know all now," alio mays. "it Is a pity, for both of us, I did not Iknow it sooner." " If I had told you, you would not have married mo?" she says. At this ho stares a little, and then says contemptuously, "Your alfection for him must be igrcat indeed if you gave him up for tho mere cake of lilthy lucre." "It wasn't that," alio says; "and there i3 no good to be gained by an ex jilanation now. "When my declared in dlfforonco to you did not induco you to forego your determination to marry me, nothing else would." " There you wrong me," he says'coldly. "I am at least an honest man. I never hanker after my neighbor's goods." Sho pales a little at this insult, but says nothing. "May I ask," says Harrington pres ently, "why you did me tho lienor to marry mo?" "To tell yon what you already know would bo waste of time." " I can hardly believe you sacrificed your love and your whole lifo for the sake of r.WKi. u year. Jt isn't good enough." " You put it wrongly," slio says, with some passion, rising in such a violent fashion as she pushes t lie chair on which she has been sitting far from her, " How daro you think that! Wero you Crowis himself I would not iiavo mar ried you, but for my father's sake." "I had no idea your father was so dear to you," retorts he, with a sneer. " He owed your father money; ho could not repay it. There was' only one way, and I -I was sacrificed! Now thatjou mndo mo nay what you already know, are you satisfied? Is your re venge complete ? 1 1 was well arranged between you all." Then, in a second, her passion dies. " Why discuss it?" she says, with tho old calm llstlessncss. ' " Your father owed mine money!" repeat! he, in a somewhat stunned manner, his face very pale. "Yes." Then, witli a contemptuous Btnile, "you would have me believe you knew nothing of it?" 1 "On my soul, I didn't, says Harring 1on. "All this is a revelation, lean aiow road between tho lines. My poor father! so this hi Low ho bought to so curo my happiness. Alas, how difficult 'a thing it ia to mcddlu with tho threads of life! Itut your father, cries ho lleiccly, " what shall bo said of him?" "Anything you like, says Florenco coldly. "Tho worst ytu could say would neither pain nor offend mo. I have done with him for over. So much gratitude 1 owe you." "Don't oveibunlen yourself," says Harrington drily. Ho pauses for a mo ment, and considers a little; and then iigain turns his face to hers. "Mayl ask you again," ho says, " what you now intend doing? Is it to bo homo, or Italy, or where?" " Deckle for yourself," returns sho curtly. " 1 must consider you too." Ho says this very gently. "However divided our interests may be, wo are, unfortu nately bound to each other until kindly death steps in to do a good turn to ouo or tho other of ua. Theroforo to precipitate ourselves again so soon upon tho friends wo iiavo left behind will only create comment, and mako matters oven more awkard for us than they aro already." Nio bowh her head, but says nothing. Sho is looking pale and exhausted, and ul most incapable of speech. " Then let us go on to Paris," say3 Harrington. "It will bo dull for you, but wo need stay there only a week. When wo return to our homo you can cauily explain that we; yes, we will be decidedly tho best pined for a homo Christmas, and so wo caini) back sooner than wo first intundud. Nobody will boliovo you, I daro Bay; but at least uo body can prove tho lie." Yes, It is a good plan," sho says heavily, conquoriiig, by a supremo ef fort, tho sense of weakness that is over powering her, ly rises as oho speukB, and stands resting her hand on tho buck of her chair. "As f.ir thiiweek you are to put in with me atone," says Harrington hur ricdly, "don't let it distress you. You will dine with me, for the sake of ap pcarances and tho prejudices of your maid; but beyond that I promise you shall sec mc only when you desiro ray presence." "I thank you for that, at least," sho says gratefully. There is a note of passionate relief in her tone. She makes a step forward witli a face the color of death. Then something happens to the wall3 of the room, she hardly knows what, but sho dines out her arms affrightedly, as though to keep them away from her. "Florence!" cries Harrington, hurry ing tovard3 her. She sways slowly forward, and, but for his arms, would have fallen heavily to the ground. CI I APT Kit III. "I am Just kUx lo leap Into tlio dark." " We take no note of timo but from its loss," says Y'oung. To Florence Harrington these seven days in Paris arc each one a century in itself, whoso death is longed for even as its birth is known. Now, back again in her nativo country, she feel the hour3 no whit less wearisome, and chafes and writhes be neath the yoke that has been laid upon her. Sho let her thoughts run with wilful directness upon the man she loves, or at least believes she could have loved had things gone smoothly with her, and one day is startled by finding herself face to face with him. According to some people, Mr. Mer vyn is a very nice young man. Ho cer tainly is nice in the matter of clothes, and feet, and figure; and whatever hair his barber leaves him curls really beautifully. "When Florence finds him standing m her path with his lint off, ho is look ing specially handsome, and full of melancholy. He was not, perhaps, quite so melancholy the moment before, but ho must love her indeed to grow so do spondent tho very instant he sees hor or sees that she sees him it is almost the same. lie really does feel some dejection as ho gazes at her charming face and notes how it pales beneath his gaze. She might have been his, lie tells himself, had tho Fates been moro propitious. Hy which lie means, if tho Fates had endowed her with a liberal income And now it is all over, and tho man ho hates most on earth has stolen her from him. Hut .v it all over? he asks himself, as he watches her changing face, and notes the deep discontent bosomed in her lovely eyes. To work the undoing of his enemy seems to Mr. Mervyn a very pleasing pastime wherewith to while away these dreary winter days. Hour by hour this thought grows with him, and strengthens into a posi tive determination, to lower tho man who had once lowered him in tho es teem of his fellows. It is his sweetest dream by night and day, and after a while he tells himself, with a fierco glow of delight, that lie has succeeded oven beyond his utmost expectations. To Florence his love is but a secondary consideration when compared with her wild longing to escape from a thraldom into which she has been forced. A mar tyrdom tho more terribly degrading in that she believes Harrington to bo as indifferent to heras sho to him. And r.o tho perishablo days coino and go, and uio dreary silent Christmas creeps past them, and tho New Year is at hand. Opening the door of the library, she enters the room quietly, and goes up to where Harrington is sitting. It is quite ten o'clock, yet thero is some thing about her of wind and fresh chill that suggests tho possibility of hor hav ing been abroad, even on such a night as this. It is rainless, truly, but tho frost is biting, and tho snow is falling softly between earth and heaven. Harrington, however, expresses neither surprise nor displeasure. His- ng courteously, ho moves to ono side, thus dumbly inviting hor to como to the fire. "I am not cold," sho says with a lit tle deprecating gesture. " Kxerciso provides tho best warmth, certainly," returns ho quietly. "Yes, I havo been out," says Florenco. "A little imprudent, don't you think?" inquires lie, knocking tho ash oir his cigar, and finally throwing the cigar Itself (with what appears to hor almost a regretful glance) into tho llro. " What?" sho says sharply. "Your meeting him in tills sort of way, and unattended." She starts as if shot, but rallies dl- ectly, and walks straight up to tho llro. " 1 didn't know you wore your own detective," sho says coolly; "but as it is so, 1 am glad of it. It simplifies matters; and makes it easier for mo to tell you why 1 camo hero to-night." "After all, my words but expressed n mental certainty," ho says slowly; "1 had nothing to build upon. Do not teach yourself to think more harshly of mo thun you need. When I saw you had been out, of eourso I know Well, and you havo something to toll mo, you say?" ' Yos, It is on my mind, and I must get rid of it. This Ufa wo aro landing J I uan stand it no longurl" " It Is dull, certainly," says Mr. Har rington. "One cannot blamo you for Buch a speech as that. Even J find it insupportable." "Well, I am going," says Florenco recklessly. " Yes! and witli whom ?" " You know; Randal Mervyn," ro plied she, with a defiant glance. It is a glance, too, so full of weariness, and almost childish anger, that from his soul he pities her. " I think, perhaps, you might have made a better choice," he says. "Hut that is your own affair. Existence here, I know, is barren to tho last degree, buthow do you propose im proving it?" "Any chango must bo an improve ment." She creeps closer to the fire, as if chilled, and holds out her small hand to the genial warmth. A ray from the fire catching tho diamonds in her rings draws iicr attention to them. Slowly, mechanically, sho slip3 them from her fingers one by one, and lays them on the chimney-piece. " 0, pray don't do that," says Har rington. You will miss them, and they aro of no earthly uso to me. It seems to mo such a silly thing to make one self uncomfortable in this sort of way." "I am happier without them. Of course, I might havo gone away with out giving you warning," sho says, turning her face up to his; "but I knew you would lay no embargo on my going; on the contrary," bitterly, "I know you would rather rejoice at it." "Shall I? Well, never mind that now," says Harrington; "leave me out IN A SECOND UK HAS TWINED HIS HAND IN MICItVYN'S COLI.AI!, AND BnOUGIIT HIM ON HIS KNKKS IIHI'OHIC ':.V. . of it altogether. 1 don't suppose I was over really in it. Y'ou aro going to try lifo anew with Mervvn. vou sav?" "Yes." Her voice is so "low and tired that either excitement or passion would bo almost impossible' to it. Hut-" ' Thero must bo no hindrances," in terrupts sho doggedly; "my mind is qultomadoup. If you detain mo now, it shall bo to-morrow. And if not then, somo other time." 1 You quite mistako me," says Har rington calmly. " I seek to placo no hlndranco in your way. Why should I ? A prisoner would bo to mo a most embarrassing possession. Oo where you will, T shall not seek to detain you. Indeed, I must thank your for you be havior on this occasion; you havo spared tho idlo conjecturing and angry searching that usually accompany this sort of thing. It is really tho most comfortably arranged affair of the kind that I havo ever known. Well; and when are you going?" As soon as possible," sho says, puz zled by his careless treatment of what sho regards as a tragedy. Is her ven geance, then, to bo incomplete? "It is a serious stop. I should tako timo to consider it if I wero you," says Harrington thoughtfully. "To chango from ono ovil to another can hardly bo termed wise." "It cannot at all ovents bo a chango for tho worse," sho says bitterly. "To him at least I am something; to you, nothing." "Aro you so suro of that?" "Iiavo you over spoken even ono word of lovo to mo? Do you treat mo as ho does?" I daro say not; but tho reason for my stupidity is obvious: I novor loved I never thought of love in connec tion with any ono but you. Ho. I un- orstand, lias had considorablo experi- once." "It is your part to malign him," sho says, with cold dial lin, "Thero you mistake me again. I owo both him and you a debt of grati tude, but no grudge. Y'ou are doing me a very good turn, which I acknowl edge. Hy your goodness I shall be enabled to obtain a divorce; and, as the gods cannot always prove unkind, I dare say some time or other in the future I shall induco somo heart to love mc." Sho makes no answer to this. Some thing in her face a vague restlessness and her determination not to sit down, reduco speculation to certainty witli him in a few minute3. Y'ou are going to meet him again now?" he says, witli calm question. "Yes," defiantly. "It would be ncces3ary, of course, to mako arrangements. You have not told me, I think, when vou intend going?" "To-night, if possible. There is an up-train at midnight." As she says this, still with a touch of defiance about her, a sigh escapes her. It does not escape him. "Hut consider the cold. Why not wait until tho morning, and go up to town comfortably? Take your own ponies to the station, and your lug gage, and that. To be without ones luggage means misery. I would avoid tho orthodox secrecy, if I were you, and tho usual conventionalities. An affair of this kind must necessarily bo vulgar; but, by stripping it of its worn out trappings, I don't seo why you could not mako something almost attractive out of it." "It is kind of you to interest your self so much," she says sneeringly. I have always folt an interest iu you." Then suddenly, " You aro look ing palo and tired. Think of the jour ney that lies before you; and let mc entreat you to tako at least a glass of wine before you start." "No, no!" "Why not?" He pours out a glas? as ho speaks, and brings it to her " Thero is no reason why you should refuse to tako a simple cordial from tho hands of tho man you swore ' tc lovo and honor;' wo will say nothing of tho " obey.' a3 it would havo been my pleasure to turn tho tables, and obey your slightest whim, had things been different. Y'ou are going to be tray mo to-night; but at least let us part friends." Thero is a cynical smile on his lips: but, her head being bent, she is ignor ant of it. "Whero do you meet him?" ho asks presently. "At tho smaller gate, at tho end of tho garden." "Ho has a conveyance for you?" " Ho has a carriage." " If ho is there now you should not delay him. Hemember what a severe night It Is. New Year's-eve, by the bye. Well, I hope your next year," with a courteous glance, " will bo hap pier than your last" "Y'ou aro very kind," she ijays. "And now, good-bye." "Not yet. Not here. Let mo ac company you as far as tho garden gate." " You ,'" "Yes. Why not? I am ono of tho advanced school of thought; ono of those liberal beings who look with I leniency upon anything. Why should i any humau thing bo unhappy, if it can accomplish an escape from its misery? It is misery to you to bo with mo or without Mervyn I roally don't know I which. Y'ou cry to yourself, 0, that I I had wings Ilka a dove, for then would I flee away and be at rc.t:' Nature not having endowed you with these useful appendages, you wisely make another way for yourself to escape." "Why should I tako you out at thlj hour?" "For no reason, excopt that I want to go. Y'ou see," pointing to the dog whip be3lde him, " I was really going out, whether or no, to tho kennels. Let mo see you to your destination first." "There is really no necessity," sho says, drawing back. "Perhaps not. Hut I have a fancy to see the last of you. What! will you refuse this small request of mine, when probably we shall never meet again? Como, let mc take you to Mervyn. When with him I shall understand you are in safe keeping." Again the 3hadow of a smile, replete with sar castic bitterness, crones lib face. CHAPTHU IV. "ThcrcM neither hoiifsty, m.mliooil, nor Ooo.l f -Ho.vship hi tlic '." The snow lias ceased to fall, and a dull moon shines sullenly from between two clouds. It gives sufiicient light, however, to let Mervyn, at the wicket gate, see that two Ilgure3 aro approach ing him instead of one. lie starts in voluntarily, and makes a movement as if to go. " Y'ou needn't run away," says Har rington, the grave ghost of a humorous expression lighting his eyes. Thus openly addressed, Mervyn pcr forco comes to a standstill, though tho desire for (light is undeniably written upon his brow. Florence, glancing nervously from one man to tlio other, tell3 herself at this moment there is a mental beauty that far outdoes the merely physical "I know all about it," says tho ugly man impertu'rbably. "Mrs. Harring ton, having found life with mo insup portable, is desirous of trying it with you. I think myself sho shows bad taste; but that is so natural a conceit that I dare say you will excuse it. She tells me you intend to travel. Continu ous ciiange is alwaxs to ue desired on such occasions; but I hope you will bo able to make her happy. She is ex travagant in some ways. 1 like an extravagant woman myself," says Uar rington pleasantly. "Hut it doesn' suit all purses." " I don't understand you," says Mer vyn, with a miserable attempt at haughtiness. "Then I must try to mako my mean ing clearer. Look here," says Harring ton, changing his tone suddenly, and turning sharply upon tho other, "lot us drop hints and come to business. Y'ou are in debt, as I know; you aro on the point of absolute ruin as I swtnert. In six months you will not havo enougl money to keep yourself going, to say notlung oi anouier. i give you a chance of beginning a new life else where. If you will alone to-morrow I w leave this place 1 give you 5033.' The crisp, clear silence follows it, voice ceases, and Mrs, Harrington throwing back her hood from her face, stares with passionate impatience at tlio man in whose love she had believed a minute ago. Will ho uerer speak Is thero to be a hesitation, a choice, be tween her and a paltry sum of money " If I thought," he stammers at last lamely, " that it would bo for her hap piness to leave her in peace,! " "If you aro about to make any allu sion to Mrs. Harrington, I must beg you to leave it unsaid," interrupts Airs, Harrington's husband unpleasantly "Como to the point. Y'ou will take the money, and bo gone ?" There is another silence, even more distressing than tho last. Florence, immovable as a statue, stands erect; Harrington is beating his foot angrily on tho ground. As for Mervyn; ho is ruined thero wa3 no exaggeration in that suspicion and tho money is temptation, and " Considering all I am giving up he begins, too confused, perhaps, to comprehend the enormity of his words "There, don't be a greater black guard than is strictly necessary,' says t.eorgo Harrington, cutting him short with a frown. " Y'ou accent mv terms ? I hat is well. To-morrow morning you shall havo my cheque, and now you shall have this!" In a second ho has twined his hand in Mcrvyn's cellar, and brought him on his knees before him. Halsing tlio dog whip, ho brings it down with uncontrol lable fury upon his shoulders again and again, until tho miserable craven cries aloud for mercy, grovelling at tho very feet of tho woman to whom ho had been half a horo at least, an hour ngo. AVith a final cut, Harrington flings him far from him, and, taking Florence's hand with impulsivo haste, hurries her toward tho house until they are out of sight and hearing of tho frightened wretch they have left behind. Then, tho fierce fit of passion and re- vengo over, Harrington stops and breathes heavily. Tho livid pallor de parts from his lips, tho baleful llro from his eyes; ho even smiles. Florence, terrified, breiks into bitter weeping. "Come homo, yon little silly fool," says ugly Harrington, not altogether unkindly; and then he actually laughs aloud, as ho may who wins. Hut pres ently, seeing how she sobs and trembles, ho goes nearer to her, and Anally places his arm round hor. Hut sho shrinks from him. I wonder yon cuu bnr to touch me." sho says, ahlvejlng. 44 1 suppo after thh. n ' i'1 H "i father.' Yu.u o.ol jh.uj 13 ivi. yo.ir ii.i b ind," siy? (-ir;n U.uv. i ,,-u i,"if yo i v. i'l or.ly tru t hi n." "O (!Oi-,'e, tli.it wor 1 tmi' nnbes mo quite! How ca i yn tr it )nsf" "1 would trust yr.i with my lifo nay. with f.ir more, my ho.iur this very moment," says H irrin;t 3 i simply, "ic spite of all that has co'ne and gone. A woman who foun.l a ditliculty in run ning away from her husband, without first apprising him of her intention, can't havo much tho matter with her. Let us forget to-night. It is known but to that cur and you and me; and he, I fancy, will bo slow to speak of it" "Hut you will think of it." "Not I; or even if I do, it will be only to laud myself afresh for my clevei treatment of a grievous evil. I un masked a villain jiut at the right mo ment, and before tlio necessary wit!ie33." "If you had treated me differently just at first had shown me that you loved me" "Nay, then I should have been a clumsy fool, and havo lo3t my game. Now I breathe the air of heaven with renewed lungs, and hope again there is still a chance to win your love." " ' Hope, that somo fool has called the anchor of the soul,' " murmurs she, copying the tone and words he had used on the evening of their marriage to a nicety. He smiles, and sho smiles too, because youth is warm within her, and it is so hard to be always sighing. Still, the smile is followed by a sigh. Hut the ice being slightly broken, hi bends down to her, and kisses hc warmly. "That is the first real kiss I have ever dared to give you," ho says, his plain faco lighting up until it is nearly hand some. "Now I begin to woo you in earnest. And thero is ono thing, sweet heart: let no sense of mistaken grati tude, of revulsion of feeling, induct you to fancy you lovo me until you really do. Let mo bo your suitor foi the present." She makes him no answer to this. They have regained the house now) entering the hall, a glow of warmtb smites on their hands and faces. "At least tell me," ho say3, looking into her nervous eyes, " that you find it plcasanter returning to a warm fir than to be hurrying, on such a night as this, through sleet and snow." She shudders. " What have you not saved me from!" she says. She half puts out her hand, as though to touch him, and then tim idly draws it back again. " Now, I will have none of that," he says, in his masterful but tender fash ion, taking her hand and laying it upon his heart. " There is one thing," she says, with downcast lids. "Since our marriage, though T have not kissed you, I have al least kissed no one else." She blushes excessively as she says this, but she lifts her head and looks him very fairly in the eyes. Ho draws his breath quickly. "I thank you for that," he says; and then moro lightly, " after all, I bclievi your liking for him was moro fancy than anything else." "And obstinacy," confesses she, In a low, sweet tone. " My father was so averse to him; and besides, he used to say sweet words to mo when all the world seemed unkind." "And when J", who should havo pro tected you, was silent and reserved. The blame must rest with me, for I was the better man of the two," says Har rington boldly, " and should havo found victory easy. After all," quaintly, "thero aro other things as worthy of commendation as a (Irecian nose." 'Ah! what is that?" exclaims she, starting violently. Even as sho sneaks the sound of tho calm, sweet, solemn bells ringing in tho New Year is borne to them upon tho wing3 of the rushing wind " It is another year begun," says Har rington gravely. "Let us pray that in it may bo found happiness for us!" THE KND. Canada Bill's Funeral. Canada Hill was tho greatest nionto man and eross-roader that wo ever had in this country. Ilo died at Scranton, a., and 1 remember Ids funeral very woll. Wo went out to tho graveyard witli tho body, and just as tho cortin was being lowered into tho grave ono of the party broko uiit: "I'll bet a hundred to fifty lie's not in tho box!" and thero wasn't a man to tako it. For," said another, "I've known him to got out of as tijrht plact-o as that" Udl was known from nno end of tho country to tlio othor. It was a story generally circulated just before his icath that ho had offered a railroad corporation $2r,000 a year for tho priv- logo of playing nionto and doing "con." work generally, and guaranteeing to lacklo no passengers but ministers. From an Interview witli a Confidence Man. It Might Have Bean. A fair and buxom widow who had buried three husbands recently went with a gontloman, who in his younger years had paid her markod attention, to inspect tho gravos of hur dear de parted. After contemplating thorn in mournful silenco sho murmured to hor companion: "Ah, James, you mignt avo been in that row now if yon had nly had a little moro courage! St. Albans Messenger. tt