Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1858-12-25

"But you must hear it, Hortense.
cannot stay with You long. Thank Hea
ven that i leave You above want. Prorhis,
me. dear, that you will never leAve thi,
home. Trust me-, will be with you IN
spirit when the form is laid in the earth,
watching, guarding, if possible, speaking
to you"
1t was his slast night on earth When
the morn broke, his eyes we're closed in the
slumbers of death, ..- .s, -...-r. f. ta.r
Hortense wandered for months about
her beautiful bone like a perturbed, spirit.
There was nothing that had been touched
! by Eugene tliat had not a solemn and d
sacred value in her eyes The trees he
had planted, the bowers he had formed. all
hud ameaningto herthut no one elselc
undcrstand; and yet upon each one df
these, apdiupon her whole heart and life,
seemed writtep, atheglory has departed.v
IT Is time to go back TO the days of NJ.
| Nallntin, and see what became of the fond
husband, Courageous adventurer At first,
he was almost distracted at the thought of
parting with Hortense; but once the Rn-
bleOn passed be became more calm. A few
years, lie thought would find them totethl
a., never to part; and perhaps they would
be all The happier for the separation.
Full Of hope, he went to the mines of
Australia. % Bay by day lie wrought there.
enduring hardshps nnheard of before. but
bearing them with the courage and forti.
tude of a hero, Ever before him was the
word llorteuse. IL nerved his arm in the
rough mines when he struck his iron in the
Un ,riV vi al
lay turning with fever in rude shanty in
the mountains his thought by day and
dream by night was still his own Hortensc.
Not a'Hword, however, ever reached him
fromsherj aud he often shuddered at the
fearful probabilities that arose to bis mind
HortenSe might be Sick, suffering might
deem him dead, or nnfuithfIl no. that
could never be--she would have faith IN
him as in the sun. Come what would. She
would not be shaken in her trust But as
he lay in the miserable shed which held his
sick bed, he would have given worlds for
one glance from her eye one pressure of
her haud, to show thar he was not forgot
ten; and as he watched the stars overhead.
shining through the crevces Of the low
roof, he theught that if Horteusel was
dead, she would appear 10 him in his need
The rude miners were too intent on gain
/ to watch beside his bed, and many were
the long days and nights in which he Law
untended. Aid came at last in the shane
OF chlld-a young boy whose father was
at work in the mines, and whose mother
supported herself and child by Washing
Hours did little Ben Cole sit bedside him
watching every movement, and trying to
give HIM ease; or bringing water from the
spring, he would battle his fevered forehead
with his little hands A tender nurse in
deed, was little Ben, and on his recovery
NJ. Valentin made the aundress happy by
providing Tor the boy. o. =
NJ. Nalentin had been richly rewarded
for his enterprise. Gold had showered in
upon him in almost fabulous profasion; and
now lie seriously thought of returning
home. Somewhat enfeebled by his late ill-
ness, be was struck with dismay at being
again proStrated, and to find that his dis
order was the dreadful smallpox. That
he lived through this, was only because his
constitution was so excellent that even this
enemy would not vanquish it. He did live,
hut his own mother would not have known
him, so deeply SCARED and disfgurcd had
he become With his first returning
strength he set out for home Hortense
Montreal were now the beginning and
end OF his aspirutions One thing only
married his joy on the homeward ROUTE
Would Hortense love the SCARED and dis
figured face that looked at him from tile
little glass in his eaBin2 Would She en-
dure the long shaggy beard by Which he
was enabled to cover part of the deep
sears? .s .1 i"eHr o' 't
He had taken passage in an American
vessel bound for New York. He arrived
safely, and the next hour saw him on lis
way TO Montreal. He bent his, course to
the heighbQrhood where Hortense proposed
going after his departure. He inquired
everywhere for Madam Valentin. No one
knew her. He himself was not recognized,
even when he haunted he old places of
business Another name, Of course, was
upon the family, door; aid hitbcr he tnrned
his steps, to see if h4ply some old friend of
lormer days might not have heard of her.
Even the name was aforementioned, or pre-
tended to be; and yet the person he asked
was one whom he remembered as plotting
zealouSly to be invited to his dinner parties.
+ They will remember me when they find
! am rich, said Valentin to himself, bit
lerly. "..
lie turned into a by-street, and saw
beggar sitting in the sunshine. 1t was the /
most cordial and happy face that had met
his gaze since he came back. The man did
not ask for anything either nor show him
the withered arm that hung closely under
his coati and hopeless as the question SEEM
ed, he thought he would ask il. s- P
AS he dropped money into the ragged
hat that lay on the ground beside the beg
gar, he said, cqreleSsly, Can you tell me
where Madam Yaleutih lives now, my man"
81 used to know her when she lived in
Queen street. Was that the one ?"
1t was the street where NJ Valentin's
grand house stood laas 90 l57sas So
"She is gone from that house, but she
did not forget old Jack, and many'S the
penny she has given me since. Glad enough
was / when heard she was married again"
Married p exclaimed NJ Naentin
BLESS you, sir yes married 10 Mr.
Stanppry; but, poor man, he died year
ago"
y .llN.. .. r'I. .N, :. t -" - POI