St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1859-02-17


was surprised to he called down to
two strangers of the peculiar stamp
Of Ralph Sanders and his friend. She
beckoncd to Fitz Clarence as she en-
tered the room, to come with her. She
recognized Ralph immediately, as the
waiter who had attended upon her and
Churchill at South Beach, three years
before. Tom Cowdin she remembered
as soon as Ralph namedhim. He was
a man whom Churchill had told her
was once quite respectable, but had
got quite low, and was a great hanger
on at the hotel, although still living
in a good house in Bedford Place, Of
which Churchill was the owner
Twice she restrained Fitz Clarence
from shouting aloud at so much proof
of Churchill's innocence.
Wait, Fitz, until we can go to the
lawyer who has the forged check in
his possession, and compare the two
pieces of paper"
| will go for him this moment -
Do, Fitz, there's good boy"
Even in this moment of excitement,
Fitz could not help showing himself
hurt at being called boy, and Winnie
had to apologize and soothe him, be-
fore she could get him away. But he
did go, and finally returned with Mr..
Sharp, who brought the forged check
and matched it perfectly with Ralph's
fragment of paper
You should have seen Fitz Clarence
Buddington at that moment The
charge of insanity would not have
been altogether SO impossible as Win
ME had imagined He embraced his
cousin, Ralph Sanders, and even the
old, yellow, bilious looking lawyer,
while Winnie sat 50 still and calm in
her quiet dignity, that one would
scarcely have thought her an inter
ested party. But she was looking at
her ring, and the sweet word HoPE
seemed suddenly transformed to anoth-
er, which was HAPPINESS.
So, now, that you know Winnie
Harper, reader, it is but just and right
that you should know Reginald
tiAl tiilIi ulSb.
Three years before they had met at
this very South Beach Hotel Winnie
a wealthy heiress, and Churchill a
poor, young student. He was brave
AS she knew by his risking his life
for that of poor iisherman's child,
who had vcnturcd with bare feet too
near the trcachcrous waves, with
which it iearIessly played. lie was
intcllcctual--tor she measured him,
not by the butterflies that swarmed
around her, but with men-classical
scholars, deep thinkers, with whom
she was in daily correspondence
Drawn to him from one similarity in
their lives-that of almost complete
destitution of near relatives. she had
shown him attentions, which Instantly
increased his value in the eyes of
others.
And in all this there was as much
tenderness as Winnic's lofty charac-
ter could bestow upon any one. She
did not require him to be handsome or
skilled in fashionable tactics, so that
it was no trouble to her that his was
plain and unattractive exterior and
somehow, spite of his rcpugnancc to
trying to win q rich hciress, they
were bctrothed. Some said Winnie
had done more than her share of the
wooing.
From this time Churchill was a
marked man. One of Winnic's re-
.iectcd suitors was bitter, nay, savage
in his remarks, and as usual, some
sided with him, while others were
tawning and obsequious to Churchill.
When, therefore, the forged check
came from his unconscious possession,
into that ofhis encmy-his enemy still,
though OH the point of being married
to another, his reputation was blasted,
and legal proceedings were instituted
immediately against him, and unable
to retute the chargc-unable even to
remember from whom he received it
in payment, as he had collected several
bills that day, he was convicted OF
forgery, and was now suffering the
penalty.
1t was not wonderful that Winnie
Harper's nerves should have been
shaken by this unhappy ending of her
summer dream. The light of heaven
was not more clear than Reginald S
innocence; but where was the proof
to the worlds eye? A few friends,
good and true, remained firm and un
changed, visiting him constantly, and
Tightening his captivity as much as
possible /; and this was great com
fort to Miss Harper. Still there were
times when her feelings were beyond
control, and excited remark, as OF
that afternoon at South Beach. His
message by Mr.. Talbot tranquillzct
her mind, and prepared her in somt
slight degree for the revulsion of feel
ing produced by Ralph's statement
and the sight of the fragment of pa
per, which was SO nicely adjusted t,
the check, that the blue sealing wa:
perfect in both.
In the mercantile world, Reginald
Churchill's is great and powerful
name. On his marriage with Winnie
she would have preferred retiring t,
some sequestered place, and living t.
themselves, or at best with q few
friends around them, like Warren Tai
bot and Emma Cadell But he chos'
to be known in that world which ha,
once passed its false Judgment upol
him ; and real interest in Fitz Clar
ence Buddington, who, though cox
comb in appearance. was still good a
heart, induced him to keep him undc
his guidance by making him accept
place Of trust in his counting-room.
Ralph Sanders was separated from
his associates, and set up i'll a smal
but aourishing business, and the MAJ
who shared his expedition to Soutl
Beach, was amply rewarded.
} A little one, after undergoing tn
disagreeable operation of vaccination
exclaimed" Now / won't have t
|. bo bont;,al u,ill I2D