Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1853-07-07

Dandy and-his son--ia florid health
TOO. and one Of the fines. babies of its
age--about nine weeks only have ev.
er seen. Thus vanished the air-drsw WI
Doubling Castle and Great Despair thai
| had so hastily conjured Up! The
cause assigned by Mr.. Arbu;hno, for the
agitation had witnessed, was doubtless
the true one; and yet. and the slough,
haunted me for months, years after.
wards, he opened only one letter tina,
morning, and had sent a message to his
wife tina, the child was well!
Mrs. Dandy remained a. the Park
till the little Rober. was weaned. and
was then dismissed very munificently
rewarded. Year after year rolled on
without bringing Mr.. and Mrs. Arbuth
not any additional liille ones, and no one,
therefore. could feel surprised at the en-.
thnsiastic love of the delighted mother
for her handsome, nobly promising boy.
But that which did as:onish me, though
no one else, for il seemed that alone
noticed it, was strange defect of char.
acter which began to develope itself in
Mr.. Arbu'hnot. He was positively ;eal
Gus Of his wife's affection for their own
child. Many and many time have I
remarked. when he thought himself un.
observed. an expression of intense pain
fash from his fine, expressivs eyes, al
any more than usually feryen, NANTES
tasion of the young mothers gushing
love for her first and only born. II was
altogether mystery TO me, and as
much as possible forebore TO dwell upon
the subject. ....... :.
Nine long years passed away Without
bringing any material change to the par
ties involved in this narrative, except
those which time brings ordinarily in
his train. Young Robert Arbu,hno, was
healthy. tall, fne-looking lad of his
age; and his great-grand-papa, the rec.
tor. though not suffering under any ac-
tual physical or mental infrmity, had
reached time of life when the announce
men, .ha: the golden bowl is broken. or
the silver cord is loosed, may indeed be
quick and sudden but scarcely unex
pected.
Things had gone we'll. TOO. with the
nurse, Mrs. Dandy and her husband !;
well, at least. after fashion. The mil
Ter must have made good use of the gin
- his wife for the care Of the little Ar
bulhnot, for he had bull, nice house
near the mill, always rode valuable
hnrso bon, =, ,x,. s,;J - an ov,,,lo,,
stable; and all this, as it seemed, by his
clever speculslions in corn and -four, for
the ordinary business of the mill was al.
most entirely neglected. He had no
children of his own, but he had appar.
entity taken, with much cordially, 10 his
step-son. fine lad, now abou, eighteen
years of age. This greatly grieyed the
boys mother, who dreaded above all
things, that her sen should contract the
evil, dissoluie habits of his step father.
Lauerly she had been extremely solicit
Gus to procure the lad perm anent Sit
ua,ion abroad, and this Mr.. Arbushnot
had promised should be effected a, the
earliest opportunity.
tober, 1916. Mr.. Arbu,hnot was tem-
porar:ly absent in Ireland. where he pos.
sessed large property, and was making
personal inquiries as to the extent of the
po,aloe rot, not long before announced
The mornings post had brought letter
to his wife, with the intelligence that he
should reach home that evening; and as
the rectory was on the direct road to Elm
Park, and her husband would be sure to
put up there, Mrs. Arbu,hno, came with
her son to pass the afternoon there, and
in some degree anticipate her husband s
arrival.
Abou,3 o'clock. q chief clerk of one
OF the Taunton banks rode up in a gig
TO the rec,ory, and asked to see the Rev.
Mr.. Townly on pressing and important
business. He was ushered into the Ii
brary, where the rector and | were at
the moment busily engaged. The clerk
said he had been to Elm Park, but not
finding either Mr.. Arbu,hnoi or his lady
there, he had thought that perhaps the
Rev. Mr.. Townly might be able TO pro-
nounce upon the genuineness of e30c
cheque, purpor,ing 20 be drawn upon the
Taunton Bank by Mr.. Arbuthno.. and
which DANNY, the Miller, haG ob,sined
cash for at Bath. lie further added,
that the bank had refused paymen. and
detained the cheque, believing il to be a
forgery.
"A forgery!' exclaimed the rector. af.
ter merely glancing at the document
NO question that 1t is. and very clum.
silly executed one, too. Besides, Mr..
Arbushnot is no, ye, returned from Ire
land
This was sufficient; and the me.sen.
epger, with many apologies for his in
trusion, withdrew, and hastened back to
Taunton. We were still talking over
this sad affair. although some hours had
elapsed since the clerks departure-in
fact, candles had been brought, and we
were every momen, expecting Mr.. Ar
buthnot-whsn the sound of horse at
a hasiy gallop was heard approaching,
and presently the pale and haggard face
of Mr.. Dandy shot by the window at
which the rector and myself were stand.
ing. This gate bell was rung almost inn.
4. L. e