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About The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1893)
ffi by vr. e. Noar.:a Lord Maines started up, overturning hit chair. A rush of blood made Ills checks crimson for a moment, and then ebbed lowly sway, leaving thcra of a chalky whiteness. For a full mlnnte he uttered never a word; then he advanced slowly to ward me from behind the table, trembling a good deal. "Maynard, my dear fellow," aid he, quite quietly, "It is not possible that you can be telling the truth. Some body has played a foolish hoax upon you." And when I shook my head, "My1 good sir," he went on, with rather more impa tience, "I tell you that the thing Is Im possible! You will allow me to know something about my own son, I suppose. Bracknell la what you please 1 never called him perfect, God knowi!--but at least he Is a man of honor. 'You don't seem to take In that no honorable man could act in the way that you describe." "It Is not altogether unprecedented," I ventured to observe. "I don't care whether It's unprece dented or not; Bracknell never did it It he had been determined to marry this this Isdy, he would have defied me and done it in the light of day like a man, knowing very well what the consequences would be. But as lor slinking off with her on the sly and betraying the confl uence of his friend pooh I don't tell mel If you brought the whole parish to swear to it, I wouldn't believe it," I suppose he was really less Incredulous than he professed to be, poor old fellow, for presenUy he added: "And pray, where did you get this precious piece of Informa tion from?" And then I told htm the whole story. It was one of the most unpleasant things that 1 have ever had to do in my life, and when 1 had said my say I wanted to go away and leave him; but he held me back, gripping my arm tightly. So far he had listened to me quietly enough, scarcely in terrupting me, and only once or twice muttering under his breath a word or two which I could nut catch, but now on a sudden bis anger burst forth In a storm of disjointed, incobespnt sentences. "I'll never see his face again neverl You may tell him so from me. He has chosen to bike his own way, and by the Lord he shall have ill Not another penny shall he have. I'll slop his allowance a devilish handsome allowance, too! and his debts, which 1 have paid again and again, by George, without so much aa grumbling fuol and his money but he n Hud that I'm not quite the fool he takes me for. Damn It all, sir! did you come up here with the idea that you were going to talk me over? You have got up this scheme among yon you and that girl- and old Turner, a man who owes everything to me and thinks he can play me such a trick with impunity, liut I'll very soon let him see his mistake. lie shall resign the living, ay sure as I stand here I" "I think you forget, Lord Staines," I interrupted, "that 1, at least, can have had no conceivable object In furthering Hilda's schemes, if 1 had known any thing about them, or had had any power over them, 1 should have done my best to put a stop to tbcm fur poor Jim Leigh's sake." "Yes, yes I know," he answered, with a complete change of tone. "I beg your pardon, Maynard; don't mind what 1 sa about you; 1 didn't mean it I mean what I say about Bracknell, though I'll never peak to him again. Oh, Harry, that boy has broken my heart! He knew it was essential that he Bbould marry money and then to ruin himself for the sake of uch a girl as that. You needn't pity Jim Leigh; he's well rid of a bud bar gain." Very likely he wns, bnt unfortunately there was no likelihood at all that be would take tlutt view of the matter. I was beginning to any as much, but the words died away upon my lips; for at this moment the door was thrown open and Jim himself strode into the room. A soon as I saw his face X perceived that some one had been beforehand with me, and that there was no longer any occasion for me to consider in what words he might bust be informed of Hilda's flight. lie glanced rapidly at each of us In turn. "It's true, then?" he excluimed. Lord Staines wheeled round upon him with an odd access of fury, "True! yes, it's true enough. Why the devil shouldn't it be true!1 Did you make the mistake of supposing that my son was an honorable man? Why, what a simpleton you must be! I-I" He stopped abruptly, stared at us for an instant with fixed, glazing eyes, and then, swaying forward, would have fallen on kis face if Jim had not caught him. Between us we lifted htin on to the sofa, and then the servants were called, and poor little Lady Mildred had to be tent tor. I told her In as few words as possible what was the cause of her father's seizure, thinking it best that she should know the truth; and, so far as I could Judge, she was not very greatly surprised. 8h kept her presence of ndnd admirably, dis playing no agitation and doing what little could be done until the doctor, came. Later in the day a great London man was telegraphed for; but our local practi tioner confided to me that he would Dot havs considered this step necessary la the case of a patient of less exalted rank. "Will he die, then?" 1 asked. "Well, no," answered the doctor; "not this time. But he will never be the same again. I have told Lady Mildred that she may exercise her own Judgment about telegraphing to Lord Bracknell, but that In my opinion he should not be allowed to ne his father." Jim and I left the house together. We had hardly exchanged a word as yet, and I did not like to begin; so that we walked in silence as far as the park gates, where our paths diverged; and there he came to halt "Goodby, Harry," said he; "I'm going way to-morrow." "The best thing you can do," I an swered. "Is ltf I don't know. Anyhow, I can't stay here. I shall go to India, or Austra lia, or somewhere it doesn't much mat tar. Harry, you are right: this world If peopled by a set of rascalR and liars." 1 said tho world wns bad enough, but 'that 1 hud not brought quite so sweeping a chnrge as that against it. ' "Oh, I thought you had, One thing I know; 1 will never trust nmn or woman again as longfes I live. But it. won't bear talking alwrtit, and, after r.:t. what's the good of talking? Goodby, Jrry." He turned and walked , nay a few paces, then suddenly facid about and came back to) me. ' "Some day or other we shall meet again, if I live,!' he said; "bnt when that will be I can't toll. Don't forget mo, old chap; 1 11 write to you when I can." And so we parted. I confess that I did not take his words quite literally, and f ully expected that he would bo over at our house on the following day. But I was disappointed. He left England, just as he had said that he would do; Elmhurst was shut up; its owner was lost sight of, If not absolutely forgotten, by his many friends, and it was years before I saw his honest, kindly face again. , V . CHAPTER VII. The hero of this narrative is, of course, Jim Lelgb. It is true that Jim is not and never has been a particularly heroic personage; still, so far as heroic writers and readers are concerned, he stands, for the time being, in that proud position, and must abide by the consequences of it One of these is necessarily the occurrence of a considerable hiatus in the record of his career; for what Is an unfortunate writer to do when his hero disappears into the Interior of Abyssinia, or the least frequented provinces of India, and will give no account of himself for months to gether? If I onlynew something of the circumstances under which, during all those years, Jim slaughtered lions, tigers and elephanta and bears in the happy hunting grounds of three continents, I should doubtless have many a thrilling adventure to chronicle: but I could never get anything but the most bald and meager recital of his performances out of him; nor do 1 dare to draw upon my im agination, for my own sporting experi ences do not extend beyond the shooting of partridges and pheasants, and even those I am yery apt to miss when flur ried. Unfortunately, too, Jim is one of the worst correspondents I have ever had to deal with. I did Indeed receive letters from him with tolerable regularity; but for any Information of interest that they contained, they might as well have been written upon the back of a postal card, "it Is awfully hot here, but I have got ac customed to it and don't mind. Yester day we were very Incky, killing two fine tigers; but our average so lar has been hardly up to the mark." And so forth, and so forth. That is scarcely the kind of thing that one wants to hear from a man who has quitted his native land in a state of bitter disenchantment and misan thropy, and who at the end of six years ought surely to be much better or much worse tlian when he started. Jim never alluded to his misfortunes, nor made any inquiry as to tho fate of those who had caused them. I gener ously gave him a few Items of intelli gence wlthsut having been asked; but he did not refer to them in his replies, and in like manner he ignored my representa tions that owners of landed property ought not to be absentees for an indefinite period. Once or twice be spoke vaguely of coming home, but something always occurred to make him postpone his re turn, until, as 1 have said, he had been wandering about the world for no less than six consecutive years. Now it came to pass that one hot after noon in the height of the London season 1 had returned to my chambers, physically and mentally exhausted, after an intel lectual luncheon party, and was saying to myself with very great truth and justice that of all forms of sociul cruelty luncheon purties arc the most wantonly malignant, when a loud rat-rat, as from a heavy stick, made me glance at the door, through which, after an Instant of delay, there strode into my presence a bill, broad shouldered, bronzed individual, who had Jim 1 A'igh'B eyes and nose, surmount lug a black mustache and beard entirely unknown to me. The nose, however, was enoagh to swear by; and I don't know when in the course of my life I have been more delighted to behold a familiar and prominent feature., 1 welcomed him with a warmth which I hope was as agreeable to him as It was sincere on my part, and he smiled all over his face, quite like the Jim of old; so that I freely forgave him his beard. "And now that you have come back at last, yon mean to stay at home, like a re spectable English country gentleman, I trust," said 1, after 1 had made him com fortable with on armchair and a cigar ud somethiug cold to drink. "Well I suppose so," he answered, ; with a shade of hesitation. "To tell you the truth. I'm utterly sick end tired of foreign lands, and I -..should like nothing 1 tetter than to settle down fit Elmhurst for the rest of my days." "What should prevent you from doing a you'-MAP You can't mean that you haven't got over the trouble that drove , you away yet?" said I, for I thought we ' Lad better come to the point at once. I "I believe 1 have got over it, I don't i know for certain," he answered slowly. ' let lis talk alwut something else. Tell tie all about yourself. " So 1 told him all aliout myself, and his elscrvaiio!is upon my literary achieve lueuts.were flattering and discriminating, though I think he was a little bit nervous lest 1 should ask him whether he had read t ly works. Then he went on to speak of friends of, former yars, "1'oor old Iird Staines is still alive, I hear, ":he remarked. "He is still alive," I replied, "and not likely to die, so far as I know; but you would Hardly recognize mm. un sunny mornings one meets him in a bath chair in the park, with Lady Mildred walking beside him.. He doesn't talk much nowa days, but be likes to see people, and he seems to be quite happy when he is al lowed to have his little grandson with him. I told you that. he was reconciled with the lirs-kndls long ago!" Jim uodd'd. "And how do they get on?" he Inquired, asking the question witn souieiu ng ot au enort "Many people are, curious to know," I answered. "ThAt is, If you mean, how do they numcgu u pay tneir way? They are said to g t on together rather Indiffer ently. On t .o other hand, Ihey have got on In society with n success which leaves nothing, or very Utile, to bo desired. Lady Bracknell has ciinilicd to the very top of tile tr j, and sits there In n gruceful attitude to t ? guped itt by a inidtitiule of admirers, f le likes nilmirntlon, as you will rvniemr?r, and takes some pains to obtain it. hhe Is very accessible, too, in spite of her brilliant position, and If you will go and call upon her in Wilton place I am sure she will be glad to see you, and will begin exercising her fascinations upon you without loss of time, "Don't!" s-.ld Jim. But I went on all the same. "You had better call upon her; I don't think she will fascinate you, my dear Jim. Her hair has ch nged color; it is a lovely bronze now, but her comrjexion requires no aid from art She dresses exquisitely; he is addicted to privato theatricals, and once or twice in the season she -makes her father-in-law give a ball and receives his guests for him, so that I.ady Mildred may be free to remain by hiB side in case he should want anything. When he snubs her, as he dees every now and again, she won't allow him to see little Lord Sun ning for a day or two. That brings him to his bearings, c J he has to go round to Wilton place in his bath chair and apolo gize." "I don't want to hear about her," said Jim. He added presently; "I suppose you sometimes see Bracknell, don't your" I replied that 1 did. As a matter of ftct, I had latterly been a good deal in Wilton place, because I am credited with a certain facility for drilling amateur ac tors, and L'idy Brackuell had found me useful In helping her to arrange the plays with which sue was wont to entertain dis tinguished audiences from time to time "I wonder," said Jim, "whether he ever feels sorry for having treated me as he did. We used to lie friends, you know, and and I don't think he can quite have' realized what ' an injury he was doing me." That seemed likely enongh; but I woe enable to say that I .had observed any signs of an awakened conscience in Brack nell. "I know exactly what will happen," I remarked. "You will be as great friends as ever by the end of the week; and before a fortnight is over he will have borrowed a sum of mouey from you which may probably be represented .by four fig ures. What is the use of your trying to bear malice, Jimp You ought to have thrashed Bracknell six years ago. You could have thrashed him without any great difficulty; the process would have been consolatory to you and salutary to him. But insteud of doing that you chose to expend your wrath slowly upon unoneuuing Hons and tigers, and tho con sequence is that you haven't a spark of it left for home consumption. You are dy ing to shake hands with your euemy now you know you arc." "I don't know that I am particularly anxious to shake hands with him," said Jim consideringly; "I would rather not think of him as a traitor, Unit's all. You see, it does make a dhXerence if a man says he is sorry," I was beginning to point out that ex pressions of sorrow must lie taken for what they are worth, nntl that, although It may be rigut to-panion u man who has shamefully deceived you, it is extremely foolish to put faith iu him again, when I was interrupted by the entrance of a sec ond visitor, and who should this prove to be but Bracknell himself! . It was an odd coincidence that brought him to my t lambcrs on that afternoon of all others; fo.- he hud never so far honored me before; bat he had evidently not come with any ide- of meeting Jim, whom he glanced at with au impatient frown and did not recognize. Jim was certainly al tered, but Bracknell waB perhaps even more so. He luul lost his good looks to a great extent and carried more superflu ous llesh tl.un he was entitled to at his age. His constitution was a line one, but I believe he mixed bis liquors In an uppulliug manner, and one can't sit up all night and every night, .playing cards, without exhibiting truces of fatigue. Jim stared ut him in u sort of conster nation; no doubt the change in his for mer friend was more apparent to him than it wus to me. As he did not see tit to de clare hhn'sc'.f, the duty of making him known devolved upon uie. and 1 watched with some i:..erest the demeanor of the two men who were thus unexpectedly brought face to face once more. Jim got np slowly, looking very grave, and said, "How do yo . do, Bracknell?" But Brack nell burst in. a laugh and seized his old school fellow by the hand. "Jim Le: h, as I'm a living sinner!" be exclalme . "Dear old-Jim! Where on earth ha e you been concealing your self for the last hundred years? Didn't somebody tell me you were going in for big game in central Africa or somewhere? I wish I had been going with you! Let me know when you start off again, and I'll see if I cui't get out of this for a few 'Months. By Jovel what a relief it would be I" It was so evident that he had completely forgotten the trifling circumstance of his having once robbed Jim . of a wife tlutt I was shaken by internal laughter, and had to turn away to conceal my emo tion; but Jim, I dare say, saw' nothing to laugh at In s ich callousness. . "I don't tb'nk I am likely to be making any more expeditions of the kind yet awhile," he answered coldly. "I have stayed away from England too long as It K." "Have you?" said Bracknell, whose at tention was already beginning to wander. "Well, I don't know) England's s beastly country to live in, unless 'one has about 30,000 a year, clear. You don't mind niy smoking, do you, Maynard?" I said I did not; and he added, lowering his voice slightly, "I want just to have a word or two with you presently, if you're not busy." Jim took this rather broad bint and put on his hat. After I had ascertained his address and had arranged a meeting with him for the following day, he turned to g! but Bracknell, starting out of a St of abstraction, caught him suddenly by the elbow with renewed cordiality. "Going to stay in London for a hit?" he asked. "You must look us np in Wilton place, old chap. You know my wife?" (TO mHTIXtlRD LADV OF THE CLICKER. Daily Rmihri and Heilzed ITp Dignity of the Woman Who Telegraphs, H occurred to a citizen the other day on approiu'hing the fair telegrapher in an uptown hotel that a woman in such a place must often have her temper and her fortitude taxed by thoughtless mem bers of tho opposite sex. The young woman in question was possessed of a personal makeup that would attract attention in a crowd, yet through all the rush of business and hur ry of work Kiie never once seemed con scious of herself. Men came and went, their messages were received, the words picked off by the lead pencil measurer, the charges announced, and her seat re sumed without, as Francis Wilson has it, her "moving a muscle or wincing a wince. , To the Inquirer after facts she turned, and for the first time raised her eyelids, that disclosed a pair of sharp, honest, blue gray eyes, fall of business, yet sug gestive of a happy, laughing tempera ment, if you only knew her outside her "cage." "Oh, no," she said, "w are too busy for idlers, and always of necessity too deeply interested in our work to allow na to pass the 'conversation lozenge. "There are those who fancy we are here only to look pretty and impress the gentleman guest with the idea that he has delayed for a whole week to send a telegram of utmost importance." "This is not the case, however, and the man most likely to forget himse'f and bother us is not the fellow who spends a quarter for an unnecessary telv gram as an opener to conversation. We see him, of course, occasionally, but his business generally amounts to inquiry as to the location of the perfectly visible hotel desk or of the nearest postoffice or letter box. We make short work of him, and in a discreet way can force the blush on him that sets him on his gen tlemanly feet again. "Others there are, and thank goodness they form the great majority that rules, whose business is transacted promptly, politely and with an evident sense of the fact that they are dealing with a lady. These persons it is a pleasure to serve, for there is no superfluous dialogue or attempt at jesting, or suggestion of any thing but the perfect gentleman. "A boor gets loose at us once in a while, to be sure, but we manage him on the plan of 'the quiet answer that turneth away wrath.' He's apt to be old and gouty, and to find fault with us for that his 'd arter hash t teUygraffed' him since his arrival. On a suggestion to such a one that perhaps his worthy girl at home has not been informed of bis stopping place in the metropolis, he is frequently awakened to his own sense of carelessness, and then rises the smile that showB the good heart underneath, and all is serene again. "Yes, we work constantly, and we must work well, for oftentimes much depends on the correctness of our trans mission; but we have no cranky over seer, we are well paid for young wom en, and our trials are fewer and not so spirit rending as those that fall to the lot of the saleswoman." New York Her ald. The Yowmite Valley. For every hundred persons living west of the Mississippi river who have seen 8t. Peter's at Rome hardly ten, I think it may be safely said, have visited the Yosemite. Two small hotels in the val ley are ample for all who may at any ono time seek accommodations, and on an average two coaches a day during the season will carry all who seek convey ance to that place of grandeur. One thing is certain, the foreigner "doing" the United States . seldom omits the Yosemite; yet many an American tourist traveling in California leaves the coast in ignorance of the wonders and beauties of tho famous region. On a beautiful Sunday in May, out of sixty-five guests at tho Stoneinan house over forty-five were foreigners, most of them on a trip around the world; and that proportion is not unusual during the season. To the foreign tourist the Yosemite ranks with Niagara, and from those who have seen the wonders of nature on every continent the verdict seems to be that the Yosemite itands pre-eminent tho greatest of all. New England Magazine. ' The Wunderlng Jew. Calmet's "History of the Bible" has this to say of the Wandering Jew: He was the porter of Pontius Pilate, and was called Calaphilns. When the mob was dragging JesuB to the judgment hall Calaphilus struck him, saying; "Go faster, Jesus! Go faster. Why dost thou linger!" Jesus replied, "lam in deed going; but thou shalt tarry till I come." Soon this man was converted and took the name of Joseph. He is supposed to live forever, but every 100 years he falls into a trance, upon awak ening from which he finds himself at the same age as when the Saviour said these words to him. The Wandering Jew is grave and stern, is never seen to smile, and perfectly remembers the death and resurrection of Christ. No place is his home for more than a few hours, and thus does he fulfill his title of "Wander ing Jew." Detroit Free Press, All Ull Fancy Painted. Judge (to colored, prisoner, charged with stealing poultry) What is your business? Prisoner I am a chicken fancier, four 'onnah. Judge So I fancy sixty days. Texas Sifting. Fortran of Christ. Tlrro is no portrait of Christ which can bo pronounced authentic. The Jews were forbidden by their law to make likenesses, and so art, as we understand the word, scarcely hud among them an existence. There are, however, two por traits which have the merit of extreme antiquity, and were both probably made at some time in the First century. The . one is cut on an emerald, tho work pur porting to have been done by command of the Emperor Tiberius. The jewel was preserved in the treasury of Constanti nople, but in some way fell into the hands of the Turks before that city was taken by them, and about 1483 was given by the sultan to Pope Innooent VIII as a ransom for the sultan's bro ther.. . . ' The other portrait is on a fine brass medal discovered in Angles, Wales, in the year 1702. The workmanship is that of the First century, and a Hebrew in scription on the reverse declares the por trait to be that of the prophet Jesus. The two portraits bear a close resem blance, but it is altogether probable that both are ideal, and that each followed the description of Christ given in the well known but not well authenticated letter of Publius Leutulus. The napkin portrait called St. Veronica's is much more modern, and is probably a copy of the emerald likeness. St. Louis Globe-.. Democrat. A Bare Case. I found Capt. Miller, of the navy yard, wreathed in smilea when I saw him in his office at the Lyceum. "I have just had an amusing experi ence," he remarked. "I am accustomed to being run down by politicians who want places for their proteges and by place seekers themselves. But today, for the first time in my life, 1 have been waited on by a man who wished to noti fy me that he had given up his job. He is from the Sixth Assembly district. New York, and was employed in the con struction department at $3.50 a day. He was appointed about three months ago. "In tendering his resignation he said he could do better in private employ ment at $1.23 than aa a government workman at twice that amount. What with political assessments, entertaining : his party friends, purchase of tickets of one kind and another, and other pulls on his purse, he found little of his wages left for family expenses. I, of course, ac cepted his resignation, at the same time jocularly informing him that he ought to be exhibited in a dime museum." New York Star. Strange Lapse of Memory. Cases of forgetfulness on matters of interest are on record. While Dr. Priest ley was preparing his work entitled ' 'Har mony of the Gospels," he had taken great pains to inform himself on a subject which had been under discussion rela tive to the Jewish Passover. He wrote out the result of his researches and laid the paper away. His attention and time y.;- a.,.,.;..,. VClUg BUCU mm vruictuiug CUU, SUUIO . little time elapsed before the subject oc curred to his mind again. Then the same time and pains were given to thesubject that had been given to it before, and the results were again put on paper and laid aside. So completely had he foreotten that he had conied the same paragraphs and reflections before, that it was only when he hod found the papers on which lie had transcribed them that it was recalled to his recollection. . This some author had frequently read his own published writings and did not recognize thein. Boston Herald. Tuxus Again to the Fore. The Ovaldo Reflector Bays that a party out hunting in that county hud along a hver colored setter dog, which found a snake of the rattler species, and that the snake swallowed the dog. The hunters killed the snnke with a Gatling gun, cut him open with a butcher's cleaver, anil that the dog jumped out all right, except losing his bark; that the snake was two feet thick and thirty-six feet long, ami bud ninety-two rattles and a button, and the editor says it sounds a little improb able, and it may be. But out on the San Antonio river, in 1853, Col. Rip Ford, Bill Pitts and others killed a rat tler with an acre of burnt woods and -four live Indians in it, ami no one then thought it improbable New Birming ham (Tex.) Times. A Rheumatlo Superstition. ' Rheumatism is caused by the deer or by the measuring worm, the idea being suggested in the latter case by the man ner in which the measuring worm arches bis body in walking, which is Bupposed to be like the contortions of a rheumatio patient, On no account must the patient eat a squirrel or touch a cat, since the manner in which these creatures arch the back indicates an affinity with the disease. Nor must he eat the legs of any animal, since, as every one knows, the limbs are most frequently affected with rheumatism, and by eating the legs of an animal the "disease spirit" residing there might be taken in. Youth's Com panion. ' Oue Way of Revenge. There is a gentleman in the Australian house of representatives renowned for incisive Barcasm who takes out his nr - book and quietly but obviously eket' - ' a political opponent whom his ob "' Uons have infuriated; and tliesr faces, readily recognized, aom' f ' their way into the illustrated' sooner or later a method ' doe not turn away v- ves frequently to reo- ; . "ThAtla, If J J. and risible nukiufeatati ' .