The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-06-11 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER,

that could possibly upset what has been arranged. I
know how it is with you my boy, or I should not
write like this. I can only hope thatnothing has come
into Helen Ramsay's head that will make her future
unhappy. Take an old friend's advice, Cuthbert, and
get out of harm's way. Take the appointment that
was offered you if there is still a chance for you, and
put the wid, h of the world between you and tempta-
tion. If I know Helen aright she will thank you for
It in the time to come, even if she has been so unfor-
tunate as to let any thought of you come between
her and her father's promise for her. I know what
your father would have done in such a matter, I know
what your mother would have advised her son to do
if she were here to speak and to help him in his reso-
lution.'

'She a dear old trump,' the young man said as he
refolded the letter and placed it in his breast once
more. And she's right. I will go. There's no safety
in this half of the world for me until Helen Ramsay is
married; married, and to him. I've seen him, though
the dear old soul fancies I haven't. To a fellow who
knows no more how to appreciate the treasure he has
won through no merit of his own, than if be were a
senseless brute. Take the appointment! Yet she's
right. It is the only thing for me to do. I wonder if
the Swedenborgian doctrine is right, and there's only
one love for a fellow to last through time and eternity.
What a mixing up there'll be in the next world if the
people are to come together there, no matter how they
may have been apportioned here on earth. It will be
Helen Ramsay for me. But who for her ?—bah I
What an arrant fool I am to be sure. It was the sight
of her just now that has brought it all back and made
me understand how far from a cure the treatment has
been. Ah, love! love! The best thing that could
happen for us both is that we may never see each
other's faces again on this side of eternity.'
. _ _ _

Cuthbert Ingram was much such a Man as Frank
Hatherleigh in size and appearance; fairer in com-
plexion, but more manly looking. There was a good
deal of the boy still in Frank's appearance. Cuthbert's
was the face of a man of more purpose and deeper
thought. It was easy to understand that he would go
through whatever he set himself to do, and sacrifice
inclination at the altar of duty at any time.
He turned resolutely away from the Temple
Gardens and made his way to the north of London,
where he was staying. In his own room he made a
little parcel of the photograph of the sweet girlish
face of Helen Ramsay, and a faded bit of ribbon that
might have belonged to anyone, but which he had
sto'en from her dress on the one occasion on which he
had danced with her at a friend's house to which she
had been invited with one or two more of her school-
fellows.

Any man might do that much when he is going
away,' he said. And I will go away—if not to China,
to America. When she is married, bless her, there will
be no harm in that bit of cardboard and that morsel
of silk. They will be precious to me. But the pos-
session of them will be my secret. My darling, my
darling, will she ever know, I wonder, that I loved
her too well to make ha. unhappy.'
And then he fell to crooning to himself in a low
sweet vcice that was one of his great charms:

'I could not love thee dear so much,

Loved I not honour more.'
And then he wrote along letter asking if the appoint
ment he had well nigh refused was still open to him'
Cireumstances had occurred which would enable him
to leave England, Sze., &c., and then he flung himself
down upon his lodging-house sofa, and wrestled with
his sorrow and his hopeless love, as a strong man will
when he is by himself, and there is no eye to see that
he is human, and bleeding from an unequal strife.
What has happened to the lad, I wonder?' asked
Mr. Frampton, the head of a big city firm, when
Cuthbert Ingram's letter reached him in his dingy
little office, and he compared it with the refusal,
which had been as distinct and unmistakable as it
was possible to imagine.
He handed the letter over to his junior partner,
who was the young man's uncle, and who had been
very angry with his nephew for what he called his
ingratitude.
He has come to his senses, I suppose,' that gentle-
man growled. was a fool to refuse, but young
fellows now-a-days never know their own minds.
When I was young we were never allowed to pick and
choose what we should do; we had to take what was
given us and be thankful.'
I don't know that the world was any better when
we were young,' Mr. Frampton said with a smile.
It is the custom with old-fashioned folks to decry
the improvement that they can't appreciate. I believe
in allowing people to choose for themselves, and have
some spirit of independence about them. Ho wever,
that's not to the point. I hope that young Cathcart
has not had the post decidedly given him.'
You don't mean to say you will give it to Cuthbert
now?'

'lndeed I will. I know, of no one better qualified
to fill the situation; and besides '

'Besides what?'

I can see in every line of this letter some sorrow-
ful reason for his altering his mind; something that
does not appear on the surface.'
frin ! got into a scrape, I expect and wants to get
out of the country in a hurry.'
You know yournephew better than that, old friend.
He is not the lad you and I have watched grow up if
there is anything of that sort; I think there is a lady
in the case. Poor boy, he fancies this letter is very
businesslike and precise. There is a ring of despair
in every line of it.'
woman—is not that mischief?' Cuthbert's uncle
a,ked, with a grim langh. never knew a scrape
yet that, a woman was not at the bottom of it. If Cuth-
b-rt has any female difficulty on hand and you know
of it, send him to China, or to the moon, or anywhere
(hie you like, for Heaven's sake. It's the only way
out of it.'
A burnt child dreads fire,' Mr. Frampton said to
himself with a laugh as his partner left the room.
Poor 'ngrain ! his early experiences in intercourse
wi h the other sex havemade him as rusty where they
are concerned as an ill-tempered bear.'
Mr. Ingram was a determined woman hater from a
misplaced affection in early life, and looked upon all
the females as his natural enemies.
Well, Fairy, my dear, how jolly you do look to be

sure!' .
And Helen Ramsay found herself in the embrace of
a strong pair of arms, with Frank's lips touching her
own, and with his whole being bristling as it were
with a sort of proprietorship—a phase of their engage-
ment which she especially disliked.
Dear Frank, don't,' she said, 'You boisterous
creature. Look at my hat ?
Oh, I beg the hat's pardon,' Frank said, picking up
the fallen head-gear, which, truth to tell, he had
knocked off in his hurry to salute Miss Ramsay.
There, that's all right. I beg your pardon, Miss
Jarvis; I beg your pardon, old boy!' this last to his
cousin, who looked somewhat amused. 'I ought to
have introduced Fairy to you, but I haven't seea her
for three whole months, and—'
And it's all right, my boy,' Horace Gayfotd said,
with a smile. Miss Ramsay will allow me to con-
sider myself introduced, I am sure. lam Frank's
cousin, Miss Ramsay. You have heard of me, I am
sure.'
0 yes; Mr. Gayford, is it not?'
The same. And now, Frank, if you have done
with the lady for a minute, might I suggest the pro-
priety of allowing Mr. Jarvis to pass into his own
house and speaking to the ladies. Mrs. Jarvis will
think you the very rudest person she has ever seen if
you go on like that.'
'Oh, we know Mr. Hatherleigh pretty well by this
time,' Mrs. Jarvis said, demurely, leaving it an open
question whethtr she meant her worJs as a compli-
ment or the reverse. Allow me to assure Miss Ramsay
of her welcome to Campsie House, though we do owe
her presence among us to an accident'
Mr. Jarvis set his lips a little, and gave a tiny
stamp on the gravel with his boot heel. There were
times when he would have liked to give his amiable
spouse a good shaking, and this was one of them.
Helen took no notice of the speech or its manner, but
trus'ed she was not putting her hostess to any in-
convenience in coming thus unexpectedly; and then
turned to the girls who had been inspecting her style
and general appearance, and spoke to them so
pleasantly that whatever prejudice they might have
had concerning her vanished at once, and left them
admiring her and prepared to love her in a fashion
that their mother would have highly disapproved of if
she could only have known it.
Allow me, Miss Ramsay,' Horace Gayford said,
offering his arm to lead her into the house, and fixing
his dark eyes on her in a fashion that made her feel
nervous—there was wonderful fascination for her in
' his look—she felt curiously drawn towards him,
and yet it was with a repellant feeling mixed with it
that made her feel cold and uncomfortable.
I am certainly out of sorts to-day,' she said to
hers( lf, 'I shall hate Frank's cousin; I know I shall.
I feel as if a snake had got hold of me.'
Still she felt her eyes seeking his dark face, and her
(ars hanging on every word he said, with a
fascination she was powerless to resist, and she
wondered whether in his sacred duties he exercised
the same spell over his congregation. She would
never go to hear him preach, she determined upon
that, though his voice was the very sweetest and most
musical she had ever heard, so different from Frank's
which was of the order boisterous. It had its cadences
—as what voice has not?—but he had not learned to
manage it properly, and it was apt to strike harshly
on the ar. Yet Helen thought she would rather have
Fr ink's least musical tones than his cousin's most
dulcet whispers.
Fairy, what do you think of him?' her lover
asked her presently, when they were alone for a few
irein aust4 'lst 8.
epa h
r abe fit
ieaJsonthaothseantwto yomfamDosovsidfr?ionfodrs we
of
yore.,
'I don't like him, Frank; I ean't bear him.'
My dear Fairy r
Don't lock at me like that, Frank. It is true. I
don't 1 Ice your handsome cousin a little bit.'
rut all the ladies in Hillford are ready to fall down
and
Twa),nrln'ii a
Pt
hilthought
ml
the. ladies in Hillford; a`nd if I ought
I vitas g .ing to see much of your cousin there, I
wou!de tgo there at all. He frightens me
• Fr.ghtt.ns you?,

Elo
dot.% know, but he does. I wouldn't go to hear
him preach for anything. I don't wonder at women
faint ing in church, and having hysterics aud'all sorts
of ridiculous things, if clergymen are like him. Don't
talk of him, Frank; he isn't a good man.'
Oh, come' Fairy, that won't do. fforace GaTfor4
is one of the best men living.'

Is he? There's an evil spirit in him somewhere,
then. It looks out of his eyes. Don't tease me about
him, Frank, there's a dear! and keep him away from
me or I shall make a noodle of myself and do some-
thing outrageous. Can't you see lam worried? Let
me alone—let me be by myself till I come to my
senses.'

You don't give me the warmest of welcomes, Fairy.'
Frank Hat herleigh said, in a hnrt tone. First you re-
prove me for being glad to see you--'
'No, never that, Frank.'
Well, for kissing you—it's the same thing.'
Not quite, dear; only for the fashion of your
salutation. What else?'

And then you elect to dislike my cousin, the
dearest friend I have in the world, and say he
frightens you. Do I frighten you, I wonder ? If I do,
perhaps '
'Don't Frank, Helen said, gravely. Don't let us
begin to quarrel. I don't think lam just myself to-
night: I feel excited and rather tired, and besides I
thought I was to meet you at Mrs. Churchill's, and
altogether I suppose lam upset. Forget what I said
about Mr. Gaylord, and I will try and like him as
well as he deserves, for your sake.'
'As well as he detarves—then you will love him as
dearly as I do, that's certain; and you'll do it for his
sake, and not for mine. Everyone loves Horace that
knows him; I don't believe the world holds such
another man, Fairy.'
Miss Ramsay was safely overdone and hysterical,
for she had such a fit of weeping when she was alone
in her own room as would have scandalised Mrs.
Jarvis very much indeed, if that worthy lady had
known anything about it. She did not know. Helen
Ramsay was not a girl who wore her heart upon her
sleeve, and, whatever was the cause of her agitation,
she hid both it and the effect. When she had dons
her tears, she looked at herself in the glass, and apos-
trophised her:swollen eyelids.
You are an idiot, Helen I' she said to her reflection,
and you know it. It's all over, nay dear—dead and
buried, and we are going to be very merry over it's
grave in the future. It is never to be dug up again;
never, never.'
(Ti es oottisoloit)
OPENING UP THE SOUDAN,

A correspondent, writing to the Times, says there
can be little doubt that the result of Mr. Stanley's
expedition will be to open up the general ouestion of
the government and trade of the Soudan. Recently a
private mission to Souakim was undertaken by Mr,
Francis W. Fox, who went out at his own expense for
the purpose of collecting on the spot information
which would be of service to him in devising a scheme
for the restoration of peace and prosperity to the
Soudan. Mr. Fox has just returned, and he has put
the information he has obtained into the form of a
report, which, the correspondent understands, will be
submitted to the Foreign Office. In this report he
enters at length into details concerning a company
which he proposes should be formed, somewhat on
the principle of the Borneo Company, but without any
monopoly whatever, leaving the trade open to all
comers with honest intentions. He does not wish our
Government to commit itself in any way, nor does he
anticipate any difficulties in the case of either Turkey
or Egypt. At the same time, it will be maintained
by all capitalists that it would be extremely unsafe for
them to commit themselves to any risk, unless the
English Government gave them some sort of assur-
ance of protection in case of necessity. There
is reason to believe that some of the lead-
ing sheikhs in the immediate interior have
expre sed readiness to sign any reasonable
agreement as to trade with reputable Englik
men. Mr. Fox has come to the conclusion that the
best method of opening up the Soudan would pro-
bably be to organise small district committees. of
sheikhs, who shall be advi ed and guided by English-
men residing in each district. Further, that some
twenty or twenty-five Englishmen be appointed in
the first instance by the proposed Soudan Company
as their agents at the stations or factories at the
tribal ports on the Red Sea coast, and at the several
comme:cial centres in the Soudan, and that three
inspector-generals should also be appointed, whose
duty it would be to visit and confer with the resi-
dent agents, to inquire on the spot into any cases of
oppression and injustice, and generally to see that
liberty and order are maintained and justice is
administered throughout the provinces of the
Soudan. Mr. Fox also suggests that the proposed
Soudan Company should refrain from entering into
any commercial or trading operations direct with the
small retail traders, but only, as a rule, buy and sell
through the leading native, English, Greek, and other
local merchants, as in this way the trading operations
of the company will be greatly simplified and the
risk of losses reduced to a minimum. The export
and import trade of the Soudan before the
late rebellion is computed to have exceeded two-
and.-a-half million pounds sterling (£2,500,000)
per annum, of which amount about one-half, or
£1,250,000, represented the value of the exports, and
£1,250,000 that of the imports. There is every
reason, Mr. Fox believes. for supposing that when
peace and order are restored and an improved govern-
ment is estal fished in the Soudan a great develop-
ment in the export and import trade will take place,
and that it will assume much larger proportions than
before the rebellion. A line of railway connecting the
Nile basin with a port on the Red Sea is, in Mr.
Fox's opinion, a most important factor to be taken
into consideration, and its construction should be
commenced at an early period, and it will tend more
than any other measure to ameliorate the condition
of the people of the Soudan and equatorial Africa.
The cost of constructing this railway Mr. Fox sets
down at £980,000. From the land tribute, customs,
monopolies, &c., Mr. Fox estimates the annual avail-
able revenue of the company at ..E495,500, and the
expenditure on administration at £220,500, leaving a
balance of £275,000 for directors' fees and general
management and profit, on a proposed working
capital of £500,000. These are the leading points in
the remarkable scheme proposed by Mr. Fox for the
rescue of the Soudan from anarchy and barrenness.
If practical men find it practicable, then Mr. Fox
ought, says the Times correspondent, to be reckoned
among the great benefactors of Africa.