The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-10-11

CuGOs
Capel appeared to be fast losing all con-
I trol over his temper sn9 !H"cs st S,t4. 80
lie drank ireely-that was quite clear (;
gambled, it was said; and rum0rs of debt,
protested bills, ready money raised at ex.
Orbitant interest, on the faith Of his sue.
ceeding to Mr.. Rowdell's post, flew thick
as hail about the Office. Should he obtain
the coveted six hundred year, Constance
Hervey would, doubted nOt-hrst favor
ite as Travers seemed to be-cOndescend
to be Mrs. Capel. This not very compli-
mentary opinion had been mentally re-
peating, some dozen times, with more than
ordinary bitterness, as ( Sat al9Re one
evening after dinner, in our little dining
room in Golden Square, " wnen the decisieu
came.
Rat tat.tat tat 1t was unmistakably
Traver's knock, and boisterouSly hilarious
too, as in the old time, before any Con-
.Ss&.'ee <r2.iHIS bad emerged from pima
fores and fuckers to distract and torment
mankind, and more especially well to do
government clerks. The startled maid
servants FASTENED to the door, and had
barely gained my feet and stretched my
self, when in bounced Travers-radiant-
ablaZe with triumph.
Halo, Travers Where, where the
deuce did you spring from, eh?'
From Heaven! Paradise the pres.
ence of an angel at all events
There, there, that will do quite un-
derStand.'
No you don't, Ned Nobody but my
self can understand, imagine, dream, guess
Ot the extent. the vaStneSs Of the change
that has come over my life. Firstly, then
- but thi, is ,nnthing Rowdcll at length
is Superannuated, and | am to have his
place
He paused a moment, and I. with cer-
talnly Il more than half eiviVus Sneer,
said
! And upon tbs strength of that piece OF
: luck you have proposed TO Constance Her
vcy and been accepted-Of course
Ja6iLIte-yeS! Feel how my pulse
/ throbs! 1t is four hours since, and still
my brain lishtens and my eyes dazzle
with the tumutuous joy. Do not light
the candles; | shall grow calmer in this
tW light
'Confonnd his raptures,' wa, my inter
nal exclamation. why the mischief
couldn't he take them somewhere elSr?'
| however said nothing, aud he presently
resumed the grateful theme.
You will be at the wedding, Of course.
And, by the by, now think of it, haven't
heard Constance say sine especially re.
members you for something i forget Low
exactly what-but something pleasant
aud amu>ing-vcry
! Nv face kindled to flame, and Savagely
whirlcd the easy chair in which | sat two
or three yar,.s back from the tive light
before speaking.
i am Extremely Obliged to rnr lady, and
As | dare say, 50 l. poor ta.t.., "h", IL
>eein>, has been 50 ca:..,>,,y thrown
over.
I 'Caree>Slv thrown over : r,joincd Ira.
serS, sharply. That is very impro; er
rxure>sion. II lie has. a. ! fear, INDUCED
in Illusions, he has been sel-deCcived.
Still, his double disappointment grieves
me. 1t seems to cast-thoush ;h, re is nc
valid reason that it shuuid-a shadow on
my conscience.
I We were both silent for sometime.
was in no mood for talking, and he sat
gazing dreamily at the lire. | knew very
we'll whose face he saw there. have
seen II myself in the same place hun
dred times.
There's another drawback, Ned, he at
/ length re>um, d. Our marriage must be
deferred six months at the least. | have
1 /. nlN-V
ev, and the lease aud furniture of the
/ house will cost at least double that.
ANY respectable establishment would
| credit YOU for the furniture upon the
strength OF your greatly increased salary.
so urged; but Constance has such a
perfect horror of debt-arising, no doubt,
! from her fathers misfortuneS that she
positively insists We must wait till every
thing required in our new establishment
can be paid for when it is purchased.
could, | think, raise the money upon my
own acceptance. but, should Constance
hear that had done SO, she would, | fear,
withdraw her promise.
| Stuff and nonsense Six hundred a
year cannot be picked up every day
You do not know Constance Hervev.
But come; I must have patience. Six
nine months are not lifetime. Good
bye. | knew you would be rejoiced TO
hear of my good fortune
Oh, Of course Se-particularly delighted,
in fact. Good evening" have slept
better than did that night.
II was Sunday evening when Travers
called on me, and Capel did not make his
appearance at the office until the Friday
morning following, his excuse being ur-
gent private business. Harassing buSi'
ness, if that were so, it must have been,
for a sharp fever could scarcely have pro-
duced greater change for the worse in
: tyi> ,,>,.s.,1rr 1rr,pssraGcs. He g:SS mental
| " changed as greatly.
He very heartily congratulated Travers
on his promotion, and took moreover the
first opportunity of privately assuring him
that his (Capel's) transient fancy for Miss
Hcrvey had entirely passed away, and he
cordially complimented his former rival
on having succeeded in that quarter also.
This was all remarkably queer, tho't ;
but Travers, from whose mind a grea:
load seemed taken, willingly believed him,
and they were better friends than ever
Capel, the more thoroughly, it seemed, to
mark his acquiescent indifference, accom-
panying fravcrs once or twice to the Her
veys. So did I; though | would have
given something the first time to have
been anywhere else for, if a certain kneel-
ing down garden arbor scene did not play
about the ladys coral lips and CLEAN for
moment from the 'rners Of her bewil-
dered eyes, my pulse was as ste 'dy and
temperate just then as it is now, after the
frnSts of more than sixty winters have
chilled its bealingS She was. however,
very kind and courteous, shade too con
Sideratcly gentle and patronizing perhaps,
aud became frequent visitor.
-- An ancient aunt, very worthy soul,
lived with them, with whom | now and
then took n turn at backgammon, whilst
the attianced couple amused themselves
with chesS-such chess! TraverS was, |
knew, a superior player, but on 'h"Se oc'