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About The Columbia register. (Houlton, Columbia County, Or.) 1904-1906 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 1905)
1 I A Dead Past ! V Sh- Ml IB CHAPTER I. On th deck of a treat Eastern bound t earner crowds hurrylug hither and thither, bate of luggage lumbering up the way, sailor aud railway porters tumbling over .each other, the officer of the ahip snouting forth distracted order. paMngers, men, women and littlt chil dren standing together In groups striving to hear each other's trembling word of farewell, and orer all the screech of the steam from the two great smoking fun Dels overhead. Ten minutes mors and the shore bell will be rung and the farewells will all have to come to an end, and the India bound ship will hare started on her way. They clung round each other, these poor unfortunates who were parting some for years, and some forever re peating the last fond word, the last carets over and over again, gating Into each other's eyes despairingly at though they would fain carry away every line of the dear face from which they were ao soon to be severed. Such a couple stood thus together, a little remote from the busy scene, near the bulwarks of the ahip. The crowded quay was above them, yet because every body was ao full of hurry and excite ment, so wrapped np either with the business or the grief which specially eu grossed them, these two people stood virtually alone a man and a woman, both young and both tall; they clasped each other's hand with a straining de spair, and looked with a speechless ag ony into each other's fare. Brian Desmond was eight and twenty then, he had health and brains and good looks, and the vigor of a hearty vitality was in his strong, young limbs, but as be held Hosamond Earle' band tightly clasped within his own and looked his last into her beautiful eyes, he said to himself that life was at an end for him. "It i better," she said, brokenly, "far better that I should go away; try to look at it in the right light. Brian. What good could I be to you at home; and you will get used to it in time; there are many other things for you to live for." "I have nothing to live for nothing, be said, gloomily; "without you life la an absolute blank." The tears streamed over her face as she strove to answer him. "And yet I should be an ever present sorrow to yon were I to remain. Consider, Brian, bow desperate, how hopeless is our condition; how much more terrible to bear were we to meet constantly than when a whole hemisphere stretched between us!" "Ah! you might have waited you might have waited, he groaned. "What was there to wait for? Would your uncle and his sons have died so that we might be happy? Would any one have given you an appointment? Was there any chance that even a beggarly clerkship would tumble Into your arms? And had we not already waited for this for years; hoping against hope, striving against certainty,, leaving no stone un turned so that we might find only a mis erable hundred a year to depend upon?" "So yon married old Samuel Earle in stead T' he said bitterly. "I have married a worthy, kind-hearted man, who Is good to me, and who has placed me above want why go over the old ground again? In these last few moments, Brian, spare me the re proaches which, perhaps, I may deserve. bat which are certainly unavailing now. "Darling darling!" he cried, with a passionate despair, "mine always and ever, In heart and soul, wherever you may be." She did not check him. This was no moment for the exhibition of a sham prudery which she did not feel. She was putting a whole universe between them, so that she might be as true to the man she had married as to the man whom she loved; and she would not in this moment of a-farewell, that was in all human probability eternal, cavil at the strong expression of a love which bad never been hidden between them. Her tears flowed fast, raining down thickly upon the clenched bands which grasped her own. "You know," she cried, suddenly throwing back her head "you know that to my dying day I shall love you the same, but you you must be happy, Bri an, not now, I know, but after a bit, time will reconcile you to life, and you will marry. "I shall never marry," be answered resolutely, "never a long as I live, Itosamond, I swear to you that never will I make any other woman wife but you. I can always wait; how can one tell what changes life may not bring? Ten, twenty, fifty years! what is time to such a love as mine? Will it not lant forever, shall anything ever change or dim its fervor? Can I not always wait wait on and hope And so Brian, as he swore, believed fn his own oaths, and Rosamond believ ed In them too. Then glancing beyond the strong young form of the man she loved, Mrs. Earle't eyes rested suddenly upon another figure that came clamber log np the companion stair on to the deck, a short, fat, little old gentleman. with gray whiskers, who emerged pant ingly from the lower regions, looking hither and thither aa he came np as though in search of some one. v She neither moved farmer from Des roond, nor did she withdraw her hands from his only she tightened her bold for one Instant upon bit fingers, and a swift warning glance shot from her eyea into his. Brian's back waa turned to the newcomer, but he understood. He gent ly dropped one of Rosamond' hands, W h ft l MA SlA T and. retaiuiug the other still In his grasp, turned round and met Samuel Earl aa he came toward them. Ah, Desuumd! not gone on shore yet? You are determined to see the last of u. then?" "I was wishing your wife," the words cam out with an effort, "another good-by." And w are both of us crying over it," said Mr. Earle, smiling through her tear; "such old friends as Brian and I are, Sam, It seems quite terrible to n to part" "Ah, no doubt, no doubt, my dear; These parting are very trying, and old playmate, such a yon two are, must no doubt feel it so;" be looked kindly and sympathetically from one to the other. Something In his benign face touched Hosamond strangely, she twined her hand through her husband's arm, as though to gather strength from contact with him. Brian Desmond turned very white and fell back a step. And then the shore bell rang. The Orlnna steamed rapidly toward the sea. But still Itosamond stood, mo tionless and tearless, gating bark npon the swiftly vanishing shore, while still that other figure was left, solitary now, long after all other had turned away. Brian Desmond stood on alone until his eyes could no longer discern even the distant ship that bore away the woman who wa lost to him forever. CII AFTER II. "Salmon trout, roast chickens, peas and potatoes. Now I wonder how a cherry tart would do, or would It be too frivoloua, Daddy?" The voice aeemed to come from the floor, somewhere down by the whit mus lin window curtalna. Frof. Laybourne, who was engrossed In the minute examination of the me chanism of a groeshopper'a thigh through his famou microscope, raised bis vener able head for one moment as the small childish voice struck upon his ear. " bat is my Kitten chattering about down there?" he said, making a pencil note upon the manuscript by his side. "I was ouly wondering if old men like 1 cherry tart. Daddy?" "Whenever they can get It. I should say, Kitten! Apropos of what Is that wise remark, and what old man are yon proposing to regale in so succulent a fashion r "What old man? Oh, daddy! I do be lieve you have beetles on the brain to such an extent that you are losing your memory. Hare you forgotten that this Is the day that your friend, Mr. Des mond, Is coming to stay with your "And yon call film an 'old man,' Kit ten? Why, he is quite a lad." "Yon said be was thirty-eight. Dad' dy," replied the small voice reproachful ly. "I call that quite old. Why, he I twenty-two year older than I am, old enough to be my father why, it's near ly forty," In a voice of horror. The professor laughed. "You mast consider me a sort of Methuselah, a fos sil of pre-Adamhe date, then. Do yon know that I am over sixty. Kitten? "Ah, but you are ray Daddy," she an swered, with indescribable tenderness in her voice. "Fray, what have you got opon your mind, Miss Laybourne?" Inquired her father, with a smile In answer to his daughter's last observation. Your dinner, Mr. Frofessor. I have noticed, daddy, that although you are very great man, your Intellect la often more sluggish than mine. Now give me man about to arrive by the 0 o'clock train on a certain day, my mind Instantly fixes Itxelf npon one Idea, and that idea is naturally dinner; your brain seems to be brought far more slowly and with inconceivable difficulty to this point" "Not at all, Kitten," answered the pro fessor, taking up a letter which lay npon the table; "since I have heard this morn ing from Brian Desmond that he will not arrive till 10 o'clock to-night, my intellect naturally bounded beyond the dinner hour at once, and fixed itself upon " Supper!" Interrupted Kitten, triumph antly. "And what are we to have for supper, then?" Why, the same thing a dinner,' to be sure; salmon trout cold, chickens cold, salad instead of peas, and cherry tart cold, too; that Is to say, If you think he will eat cherry tart," she added, with a curiously childish anxiety. "But you will have to go to bed, Kit ten; little girls can't sit up to late sup pers. Besides, Desmond is coming to see me upon business, so we shall do Just as well without you to-night." Kitten laughed. She did not often laugh. Her fun was more often ex pressed In a certain demure dryness pe culiar to herself laughter was not, per haps, Indigenous to the soil of the pro fessor's household; but when at rare intervals Kitten laughed, her laugh was very sweet to hear. It was never loud or noisy, It could hardly even be called hearty, and yet it was pleasant to listen to, like the rippling note of a caged bird that warbles a response to some Inner gush of feeling of Its own. She fluttered away out of the room, her thoughts back again with th cherry tart and the supper, and the professor was left alone. But he did not go back to his micro soope. He leaned bis pale face, lined and scored like an ancient parchment with atndy and thought, npon his hand and sighed. "What la to become of her?" he said aloud. "Strang creature, half mine, half her mother', Inheriting aomethlng from each, and from both the fatal deli cacy of, constitution that waa common to ua both; who I to car for her when I am gone? Iuto who hand am I to leave my frail treasure, with her wild, untralntd mind and her shrewd, seuiltlr soul? Will Desmond hlp me, I wouder. for tha sake of the service I once ren dered to his father? Ah, we shall see, w shall e. 1 can leave my manu scripts and collections to my rouutry, but to whom shall I leave my child, aweeter legacy than any other?" Th remain of th cold supper, which had caued o many anxtoua thought to th young housekeeper, lay till upon th tab!; ample Justice had been don to It by th late-arriviuf gueit. A lamp with a wide red allk had lighted th room with a warm radiance, om rose In glaa bowl decorated th almple feast, whll a dish of crimson currant, piled up high In an antique Chelsea dish, add ed yet another touch of femluin tat to th repast "Th old boy ha a good housekeeper, aid Brian Desmond to himself, a b leaned back In hi chair. He wa a little at a lots, certainly, to understand eiactly why the ag had asked him to com and atay with him. Brian had no scientific taste, and he knew nothing whatever about beetle and grub and winged creature of th air. II wa not even a clever man, according to th modern Idea of clever ness. II wa neither an author nor an artist. Mr. iHwrnond wa simply a mod erately well-educated gentleman of ex pensive taste and luxurious habit. hlch an acquisition of mot unexpected wealth had. within th last few year. enabled him to gratify. He could not, therefore, conceive vhy the professor, who waa an old man, and In hi way a great man, had chosen to seek hi mocIo- ty In to marked a manner ou the present occasion. Whll he was pondering upon this sub ject Mr. I.ayhourn interrupted hi med nations by th following words: 'Now, I daresay, my dear Desmond, that you are at this very moment won dering why I have Invited you to com down all this way to spend a few dyt with me. I take It very kindly of you, I lead a life of retirement and study. I have no Inducement to offer to a man of your age and taste, amfyet you have done me the honor to leave your I don friends and your London gaieties to come down and e an old Diogenes In his tub." "The honor, Frofessor, Is all for me,' replied Desmond, "that a man with so world-wide a reputation a your should eek the society of au Insignificant per son like myself "Wait wait, my friend." Interrupted th old man, with hi gentle smile, "if you had studied animal life a much as I have, you would know that there Is no effect which has not a cause. "Ferhap you have heard, Desmond that I was once married," he ld quiet ly, not looking at hi guest. "My wife died in child-birth." "Ye?" Desmond looked up with In teres t. For a few seconds Mr. Laybourne wa silent, then looking up and meeting his guest's eyes, he continued: "My little girl I a great aource of anxiety to me. She Inherita her mother's tendency to consumption, and, I fear, my own un sound constitution. Desmond, I have an original disease of the heart." "I am deeply distressed; are you sure?" "There Is, unfortunately, no doubt whatever about It I have been aware of It for some years and I have the first medical opinions to confirm what had long been my own conviction. I am In do appreciable danger, I may lire years and die of something else, again I may drop down dead this very night; what I want to know Is," he added, with a sud den break In hi voice, "what Is to be come of my little girl In that case?" Brian wa uncertain how to answer; he balanced hia knife more anxiously than ever and murmured something about female relatives. "She has none, not one, either on her mother's side or my own; all are dead. I have followers and worshipers by the score; these go for nothing; and I have also a number of professional acquaint ancea, but where among them all shall I find a man fit to take chnrge of a child a woman child?" For half a moment he paused, then said again, very earnestly: "Brian Desmond, will you take the charge of my orphan child?" Brian looked startled. "I? I am not fit My life Is a wan dering one. I am here to-day, gone to morrow. Sometimes I travel In wild countries, sometimes I spend months in the racket of a London season; do you Indeed think such a man as I am can be fit for the charge of a child?" The professor sighed deeply. "Then you decline," he said, sadly. 'No, no, do not think that. But your proposition Is so strange, so unexpect ed; give me but a moment to think. Ah yes, I have a cousin, a sweet, good woman with children of her own; your little girl could be left with her and I could see after her occasionally; that would be a happy home for her; I am sure she would take her gladly. Mr. Laybourne, do not be uneasy about your child's future, I will do what you, ask of me." (To be continued.) It All Depend. "Don't you think," said he, "that singleness of purpose Is an admirable trait In a man?" "It Is," she answered frankly, "un lest It tends to make a' confirmed bach elor of him." ' 1 11 ' ' 1 1 " " wages in itussian ractones are cents an nour ana upwaru. mere are thousand! who work for a cent hour, and tens or tnousanas wno not receive eu cents a oy jot and more bourt work, HOW TO gLttP AND WHIN. A rhjlcl Advice on the bject- Kxercl, rUtkUaj aad Katie;. Th following brief quotations at from "Sleep and IU Regulation," by Dr. J. Madison Taylor, In Th Popular Scltnr Monthly: During childhood and exhaustive states too much tlecp la rarely possi ble. For thos In full tld of vigor too much alcep It often distinctly hurt ful. Th action of narcotlca presents nou of th characteristic of normal sleep except the temporary arrest of couactouaness; bene narcosis la not true sleep. Th best position to asauro In sleep to Invite th least disturbance of th function of th great orgaua la on th alxlontent, or nearly so. Many obscure forma of digestive or circulatory disorder may have been Initiated In Infancy through, lying too long upon th back. To aecur tha moat perfect repose the temperatur of all parte should be equalised befor retiring. Cold feet luduc delay la securing sleep, aud it la then ahallow when attained. It la moat unwise to overfill the stomach before retiring; thus disturbs sleep almost aa much aa hunger, but moderate eating befor sleeping Is not hurtful, and la often Military. Body clothing at night should be loose, not dense, permitting the ready passage of air, never of wool next to the akin. Red clothing should not be too close of texture, blankets being preferable to denao "comfortables" and not tucked In" too closely, Air should be allowed to pass occasionally under the side at least at one turus about more or lesa freely. Early rising It salutary custom, especially when the duy cutties early, not otherwise. More sleep Is required In winter than in summer. The tiet sleep Is had dur Ing the hours of darkness. The sleeping room should be cool, abundant air being always admitted This should not be Interureted to mean that the room may safely remain In tensely cold. In the modern treatment of tuber culoma fresh air Is recognized to Ixt Imperatively needed all day and all night Artificial heat can, aud should, be supplied along with the fresh air, till the temperuture of the room be at or near 50 or 63 degree Fahren belt for tome even W degree Fahren holt THE TRAGIC ISLE. Some f tb Aba Which Prisoners on Sakhalin Hotter. Sakhalin, th Islaud which Japan it taking, or rather, retaking, from Rus sia, It the place to which Russia aends her violent convicts. The convict at Siberia has some liberty to console him for his detention, but the convict at Sakhalin none. When a party of convicts (having been pronounced "vio lent" by the governor at the Siberian station) la landed at Sakhalin the pro cession to the Jail is as follows: First among the prisoners come men with fetters on their legs and linked togeth or In pairs, the clanking of their chains making a lugubrious noise. Next come half a dozen men each without fetters, but secured by the hands to a long Iron rod. Then follow female prison ers and after them the most affecting part of the whole the wives and chll dren who have elected to accompany Into exile their husbands and fathers, Behind them rumble "telegas," or rough wagons, wherein are transport ed baggnge and those children who are too young or infirm to walk. When on the march the prisoners are allowed three pounds of bread and one-half pound of meat each day, and they are not forbidden to receive alms. But when they arrive at their destination their lot Is a pitiful one. Their cells are damp and fungus cov ered, their food Is less than the allow a nee during the Journey and their work in the salt mines Is most ex haustlng. Many of the prisoners are very Ignorant Few of them can read excepting the Caucasians, but they are all put to the same laborious work and In the event of their being physically unable to perform their allotted tasks their punishments are very cruel. The English "cat-o'-nlnetalls" is nothing to the terrors of the "bodlga." In this Instrument of torture the pris oner Is so fixed that be can neither move nor cry out, and wire thongs bound at the end with pointed tin strike his back at frequent intervals. Other tortures to which prisoners are subjected are too dreadful to write about, and during all these tortures the prisoner is prevented by gags from obtaining th poor relief of a scream, Surely the horrors of the salt mines of Iletskaya are nothing compared with th abominations of Sakhalin. Pall Mall Gazette. Wise and Wealthy Treasure. "Well, you married a wealthy, worn an. la she the treasure you hoped ava s i -cin't tay she It. Bhe won't give m any of her money," an "Then, by Georget the It a treat- ao orf Bhe not only hat money but .common tense, ' toot" Cleveland 'Loader. MRS. EMMA I'LEISSXER. Buffered Over Two Year Health Waa In a Precariout Condition Caused by Telvlo CaUrth. HEALTH and STRENGTH RESTORED BY PE-RU-NA Mrs. Emma Floiaaner, HIS Sixth Ave., Seattle. Wash., Worthy Treat- nrer Sons of Temperance, write: "I suffered ever two year with Irreg ular end painful periods. My health waa in very precarious condition and I was mhIou to find something to restart my health and strength. 'I waa very glad to try Ftruna and delighted to find that It was doing mo good. I continued to use it a little over three montht and found my troubles removed. 'I consider K a splendid mrdklnt and thai never bo without it, taking a do occetJonaly when I feci run down and Ured." Our filet contain thousands of testi monials which Dr. llattman hat re calved from graUful, happy women who have been restored to health by hit remedy, Feront. Th Yoanc Philosopher. " 'Nother piece of pie, please, pa." "But you haven't finished your first P . i No. pa. But you know you toia m not to eat fast And if you glv me a second piece now I shan't eat ao fast, because I won't be afraid that th second piece will be gone when I get through with the first piece. Please, pa." Cleveland Plain Dealer. Stats or Ohio, Crrv or Tolsdo, I Luci loUHTV, I Fbakk J. Chbhbv mkS oath that b Is snlor prtnr of th firm of r. 1, Chbnbv A Co., doing builMM In tb 'lty of Toledo, Coun ty ana mat ior.ia, na tnsi aia nrra win tV lhumo(ONK lllNDKKl) ImU.AKS for etch end every ease of Catabbm tht cannot be euro by to use oi halli:atabrn i r. rnn i. i Jii.ir.1. 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