The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1854-07-05

'S o"' thIS c'uei, torturin& Suspence.
Norman shrank ervously from that ca,
nest, appealing gaze. He dropped hi
eyes beneath hers, and at the conclusion
OF her speech he buried his head convul
slvely in his hands, and sinking on
chair, exclaimed:
GOOD God but this is too much
cannot bear it."
dearest Norman, tell me our troubles
and will help you bear your bur,hen
You do not know my strength until yo,
have tried iti Constance spoke in ,
calm, soft voice, full Of deep, quiet tender
ness, but her agitation was so intense, tha
the beating Of her own heart, sounded tc
her, like the beating of a near heav,
drum.
God knows, Constance, that woult
gladly shield you from all knowledge ,ha,
would distress you, and from every vino
that would blow too readily upon YOU
-. Just Heaven !" exclaimed he. start,
my wildly from her, aud pacing the floor
with hurried, uneven s,cp>. Why can
not the earth open and swallow such n
wretch, rs |"
Dear Norman" sail Constance, again
approaching him, with grntIeness, born
OF deepest love, you are fevrrish and III.
For the love Of God, tell me what has
happened so 10 disturb YOU T.
Suppose | were to tell you," exclaim.
ed he With sudden vehemence, that
have been tempted into series Of cursed
specu!ations, which have swallowed up
every cent own, and every cent your
father owns-that the very house over
our heads and all it contains, will have to
come under the stroke of the hammer :"
"ls that all I" asked c Instance, draw
ing long breath Of relief
Norman looked up at his wife with
sudden, asking glance Of unfeigned sur
prize.
"AHf said he. ais it not enough
tha. We are b"ggars
Dearest, YOU have Your profession
"Yes; but my profession will not. kr
years to come, afford you the style of liv-
ing 10 which you were bonn, and are ac-
customed."
"Then, darling, we will adopt hum
bls style"
Aud your father r. inquired Nor
man.
1T will be our care and pleasure that
he shall never want"
"You are an angel, Constance" said
Norman, gazing at her with moist and
admiring eyes," But fear your father
will not look at this dreadful calamity in
the same light with which you view it.
Norman was right. Mr.. Vallor- did
not view the sweeping loss Of property
just rs hi. daughter did. lie Vas an old
man. lie ad married late in life, and
Constance was the child Of his old age
He had assisted and urged Norman into
thcse speculations with what he thought
certainty Of realizing in each four
fold the amount invested.
Misfortunes never come single, and one
after another of the stupenlous bubbles
had burst; each terrible loss treading
closely upon the heels Of the other, un-
Ill in one short week all was gone.
Thus suddenly like the gourd Of Jonah
do worldly fortunes spring W on earth,
and thus suddenly do they fade and van
ish. ....
Mr.. yallory fell into strange state Of
mental arrangement. lie wandered like
lost spirit about the small house in
which his daughter seemed so cheerful
and contented, declaring constantly that
he knew that they should all starve to
death.
Finally, he took to his bed from sheer
exhaustion, having refused all food, except
crackers and water and that in insufficient
quantity. And defying the skill Of phys
icians and the entreaties Of his daughter
he actually, by slow degrees, starved him
self TO death.
Ills death so affected Norman, Whose
sensitive heart made him feel as though
in some sort, he had been the murderc
Of his idolized wife's father, that he grew
more and more gloomy and distracted.
lie seemed TO look upon himself will
horror, accusing himself Of having snatch
ed from the being he had sworn to cher
isl, all the elegancies to which she la,
been accustomed aud had doomed her tn
what he called, a life Of slavery.
In vain did Constance protest that sh
did not miss the useless trappings Of fash
ion and display, that the quiet comfor
about them, was deaFer to her than nj
the gilded splendor that wealth could give
Her words Of endearment aud her patien
industry and cheerful resignation were al
like 80 many barbed arrows Of reproacl
in his morbid thought and loving heart.
! He was growing more aud more moo
dy and iitful; at times he would LAWS
upon her world af tenderest love, an,
then sgaia at times he would seem I
avoid her presence apd sink into morcse
ness quite foreign 70 the ssaniness Of hi
natare
One night Norman came homs lat,
and IN state 90 lost TO HE own manhoo
that Constance was filled with aPpsehes
sioss, lhe whole Of that sleepless nigh
most painful and poignant.
u She had never befse seen him th
. worse fos that curse Of hamanity--atron
!, drink. Aud the sepentsnt end humble
expression Of his bicod-shUtten eye th
. ! next morning. which he hardly dared