The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1855-06-09

his attendance that night, shook him Ivy til,
hand, (Which con!cscension the poor fellow
took to be intended as a set-of, against the
cripc he had received. walked steadily into
his dressing room, and locked and boltcd the
door. He the approached the dressingt.ble,
took out the letters he had written in the
morning, AM! the vial of laulanum, from the
drawer wherein he had deposited them: and
having spread out the former in such man
ncr that they could not fail to bc seen by any
one who should come into the room the next
dav-he paused for a few seconds lie then
uncorkcd the vial-swalowcd its contents
stool motionlc>> as if tralsGxcd for nearly a
minutc-stagscrcd towards a soIa-and fell
scnsclcSs ON it,
Now ii any one should say that Mr.. Max.
well, with the suspicious hc entertained, or,
rather, the knowledge he possessed of Sir
liarry's intention, acted unwarrantaiiy v
hccrtle,>l v-wickc dlv-in lca,in: him to
carry 1t into execution, the only defence
can ollcr ior him is ,ha,-pcrhaps he had yer,
good reasons ior acting As he did But TO
relieve him a, speedily a, possible from the
o'ious a charc": Of ronn,in. at so horrible IA
deed. j, Will be as well to explain at one {
what those reasons were.
Although TIE friendly intercourse which
hal hitherto subsi>tc,l between these gentle
men had ceased for nearly year prior to
the period in question. Maxwell, II rcr,hclc>s
with considerable anxiety watched the pro-
ccctinSs OF the son of his bcncractor. H.
was aware oi the ruinous modes of raising
money resorted to 10y SIR Harry, whilst any
thing remained III his possession which he
could either mortgage or sci! and he was
row also aware of the distressing facts that
not oni: even those means were exhaust !
but HAT S'r Harry was incx,rirably in debt.
1t harlrnr- one morning that, being viii. lis
so.iri or upon business OF lis own. gentlemen
nl:t into Ia, hands certan rapcfs l,t,
for inspection with him bv onc of
his c.icnts They were documents connect
ed with the transfer OF Sir IIarrv's ,iopcrtv
TO person from whom lie lad lonc been in
the habit OF raising The supplies Maxwell
presently perceived, what hi, solicitor intend
ed he should hc Informed of. that. in that
transaction. an obvious fraud had been IRA. :
tl>cd upon his incon,idcratr friend. This dis
covcrv ,cd him to examine into TRANSACTIONS
O.. similar Eir.I and the rc:,ilt OF Iii, ,ari-
ol> Investigations WAS 4 conviction tha; a vas.
portion ot the property might fairly is re-.
covered. since II had been oliaine.! :! from Sir
Harry lv ma!-rrac.iccs Of a much craver
complexion than Ike mere :uirac,ion Of the
>urv Laws.
Having. after several consn'tatious viii,
his solicitor, decided as 10 IN. cour.c 70 H..
adopted. hc resolved. in spite Of their late
r>'ranS' mcn', TO pay visit TO his quon,,am
friend. and communicate the pleasing in.clli
.rnr' TO hini. On his way thirhcr he me-,
Nh Lc>.ic. who told him of the dinner party
'or ;hat DAY. I'm Glad of it," sail Maxwell.
TOR have >omctin. 30 tell him which will
give zcst 10 his wine" but scarcely had
he entered the Haroncni's dressing ROOM
{ Sir liarry'> a>ion:>hmcnt at his visit. and
ms manner OF receiving, have ALREADY been
described when he was attacked hv one Of
those vague un,!ciinablc - unaccountabc
of arrroachin. evil, which
every one. perhaps has. at some time. or 9th
cr. experienced. Wy. he scarcely knew.
hrt he al onrc Determined! to DELAY the com,
mn':ca'lon he has! to make Ill! :he following
day and still less coaId he tell why, at thu.
the Same instant he resolved upon not ul;t-
ing Sir Harry for the rest Of that afternoon.
Ii was upon takin: this latter resolution ,l,,,
he requested permission to >cId for his ;..i.,c,
to dr,>s there.
The resi- is soon told
We know very well that in cases of cmcr
scncv when We s!1dcui, find ourselves thro'n
uiiassis;cd upon our own resources, and feel
that something notSf bc don,, our t!,urht>
succeed each other with such am,zin: rapid
iiv that We seem 10 Jump at conclusions with
out any intermediate tram Of reasoning. But
1t Is hot 50; the process does take place the
difference is, our thou .htS express themselves
II may 50 say, IN pictures instead of words
Ii any one who has found himself so situated
wli.take the trouble to rccollert his sensations,
at the time, he will tnd that he did rc,t think
IN words, but that variety Of pictures
scenes OF various modes Of action, presenting
themselves almost simultaneously TO tic
minds eye, and shat by sort of instinct hr
rounccd upon the right one This is sou.c-
thing OF what is usually understood bv that
rare quality called presence of mind "a
commodity which a certain worthy gentlemen
once declared never fai,..! him. provided l,r
was not taken by su.pri>c but had time 10
turn the matter over in his head
Maxwell did not throw the poison out a,
the window nor did hc rush into the draw
ing room, with his face pale, and his hair
standing on end nor did he call upon the
company to Lind Sir Harry hand and foot
nor did he demonstrate with him uuon tn.
folly as Wi as the wickelncss OF terminating
his won existence nor did he even b:trav
the slightest hint that Lc was aware of his en-
tertaliiIng SUI. AN intention II h.cp h.
Ha" and lie was conscious, therefore, ,hat
his inter.rrcHcc N any E.Inncr, though ii
M ( LIT dclav, would rot prevent The ACT: he