Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1860-05-03


| Of its better days bat few eyergreens and
other bushes, which, growing close by the par
| apet wall, had equally escaped the rude tramp
! ling of the unheeding soldiers, or the wanton
| deyaStatons of some Of the over jealous of
the day men who looked upon all adornmeut,
of whatever kind, al appearance of gratiica-
ton of refined taste, however innocent as
sinful and condemnable A vaulted passage
trayersed the wing Of the building mentioned
as stretching to the waters edge, and formed
| the usual and more direct communication be-
tween this sort of court and other parts Of the
| establishment.
Late on fAe autumn afternoon of the year
| 1862, some little time after the battle of Wor-
! cester, young man, mnSket on arm, paced up
| and down this inner court as sentinel His
! dress, which partOOk of the military uniform
of the times, without precisely belonging to
any particular regiment, and the finer cloth of
some parts Of his attire, which was Of a far
| finer texture than was customary upon the
person Of common soldier, proved that he
was one of the many volunteers who had en-
rolled themselves among the troops of the
! Parliamentary army, and probably of gentler
! birth than might be generally found employed
in such humble military functions. Loose
! boots of so great q size towards their upper
! part, that each might have been imagined to
| contain, at least, half calfskin, mounted to
ward his large hose of plain but good material
| 4 tuck or raper Of some length was girded
round his lOiuS ctrSlet with bandoieer sluug
around it covered the front of his buff coat
and a morton, destitute of all feather or orna-
ment concealed for the greater part his hair,
/ closely clipped in compliance with the puritan
| lea! fashions Of the times, the color of which,
/ however, might be Gyned by the fairness OF
/ the young mustache that Cug.cd lovingly about
lis upper lip.
Sometimes, as he paced backwards and for
wards upon his lonesome watch, the eye Of the
/ young man rested for while upon the dull
/ swampy landscape the chief beauty Of which,
/ at the moment was slight haze that hover
/ ed over stream and marsh, aud stuuted willow
and distant hill, tinged with golden hue from
/ the slanting rays Of the sun the only living
/ sights and sounds Of which were busy flights
/ of gnatS wlrIing up and down with drowsy
/ hum an occasional frog, that splashed from
/ the opposite shore into the water with an IN
/ easy croak aud one solitary fisherman, who,
! after having drawn up his boat among the
ruSheS on the rivers bank, near the opening
/ upon the 4" broad" and let his line to float
/ elong the lazy stream, seemed to have lain
/ down in his broad tat-bottomed punt, to sleep
at his ease. Sometimes he paused 10 Scrutin-
ize more earnestly the heavy pile of the old
tower, to guard all egreSS from which might
be supposed, from his periodical examination
Of its waS, to be the peculiar duty Of his
post. Sometimes again he gaZed llStleSSy uD-
on the marks of devastation, where the carved
armorial bearings of the family to whom the
mansion had belonged, had been hacked away
from the walls Of the building, and other sym
bols Of nobility or religion had been wantOnly
mutIated or destroyed and at such moments,
an almost unconscious sigh would escape him,
. i'll according with the tenets of the party which
he evidently served. But most generally his
attention was directed towards low window
in the first floor of the projecting wing, not
very many feet above the level of the ground,
/ in front of which small wooden balcony fill
/ ed with RowerS showed that the occupant of
/ the chamber to which it belogged was pro5a-
/ bly, of the gentler sex, and of an age when
such matters are still objects Of tender and
/ careful soEcitude At these times, evidences
Of impGtieuce almost amounting to pettiShncss,
would appear in his uneasy gestures ; and af
! ter q scrutiny Of some duration, he would
.
I look Of trouble and ANNOYANCE upon his brow
\ The handsome features of that fine face how
ever, were not formed to express grief, nor that
/ clear bright eye sovrowful thought; yet, such
were the circumstances of the times, that when.
| ever diSengagjng them from associations con-
nected with the halconied window, as his re-
aect:ons reverted to himself and his own po
! sition, bis countenance would fall, and his eye
| cloud over with an expression Of sadness.
! Gerald CLINTON was OF old family and no
I bic birth His father, Lord CIynton, had
/ doatcd upon bis wife with the foudeSt and
most exclusive affection and the birth Of
! Gerald, bis second son, having been the occa-
/ sion of her death in chidJCd, the agoniZed
/ husband. who was 'inconsolable for her loss,
/ had never been able to look upon the child,
/ and, 10 its infant years, had banShed it alto
gether from his sight. The time arrived, how
ever, when it became necessary to remove the
little boy from the sole care of menials, and to
commence the rudmentS of his education and
at that period Mr. Lyle, the brother Of the
deceased Lany Clyntoo, finding the aversion
OF the father towards the poor innocent cause
1 Of the mothers death still more strongly root
ed by time, and his whole paternal affections
centred and avished upon his eldest born, had
taken the child to his home, and, being him
self chidess, had treated and as it were adopt
ed the boy as his own son.
Time crept on. The boy grew into the
youth the youth approached to the man
bnt still Lord Clynton cyinced no interest in
his young son-gaTe no demonstration Of
awakening affection. With time also crept
on the angry and troubled clouds that arose
upon the political horizon of the land. The
storm at length burst forth The fatal strug-
gle commenced between the unfortunateCh
and his Parliament; and the civil wars broke
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