Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1865-03-11
THE EVENING STAR,
BLUE BOY,
OR TRR LETTER IN The GOBLET.
CONTINUED I


blew his nose with sueh q tremendous crack
that Mr.. Prior jumped, and Elite left of cry
ing
..It's the best for a while, Elite" said Cousin
IacE, as he left her weeklater. lyon will be
laTpisst at the Prior's now for Katie is your
eioeest MEND. But remember, 1, too, am your
suhIdian, and we must correspond reg uiariy
IOn GTust your old eousiD!" kissing her.j
"IBdees-indPe 1 do"
"And love him?' (kissing her again "Gou
nsy confess !. 10 a gray haired oio cnap IKE
She confessed it by returning his salutes with
ipitrrst
,Nov. re con iBued "dont think you've lost
m,-you haven't. I'm at your beck aud call
always. Goodby, little miss (tnat was his old
.Goodhy, dear old cousin"
She had a ter rible cry after he was gone.
80 The pleasant ONE AZ Walthanstow was
Erue close, was kept and put away some
whsre; the rect was sold She went to live at
the kouse Ct her seLiOr guardian, Mr. Adolf
phus Prier. collector. who resided in Caven-
Grh square, w. She took with her to-Lon don
Hannah from generosity, and 'Possum out OF
love.
she was rot unhappy in her new home. Al
thongh she dIsliked Arthur Popinjty, she
loved Katie: yet for 8 time she WAS naturally
Hd.
At lepgth her Iittleheart began TO rec over
InspEsIbly the sunshine crPpt over her LIES
prospect There came brighter bloom upon
that toft girls cheeks, and the maiden's step
regaihed its elasticity. Elite took music les
sons again as spring came on. reopened her
portfolio, aud revived that German. Thank
God. intense sorrow does not last long win
any OF us.
Bnt there was one feeling of her heart which
bad not " aIted even this short time for restor-
alton. The Iocket, after all. had only been set
aside for two days! The blue Boy" she often
thought Of him.
.,BIue Bcyr' she loved the name. The lads
nrst new uniform and beaming young face had
put it into her fathers he ad to bestow the title,
which was borrowed from famous picture,
as the reader knows.
II snired him, Elite thought, so we'll The
cclor Of tar, open sea, and OF clOudless skies,
spoke truly OF his large pure heart. boy" he
always must be, "par excellence" Noisy, az
1eetionate, cid pack Of impulses.
Ettie wrote to him in the spring. To her
smazement Mr.. Prior objected TO this. She did
not however oppose her guardian, except by
quietly taking her own way. The letter, for the
most part, was not wanting in occult tender
ness: but there was phrase OF clear and con-
cPntrated savagery at its close. Elite must be
guilty OF infictiDg Just one torment; so she held
her pen as though 1t had been a dagger and
scratched sore place upon Blue Boys heart
in this postscript: "ArthHr, who Is sitting near
me, while ! write, desires to be very kindly
remembered"
She never told how impatient she felt at the
moment, OF Arthur's dandy dress and mean
nothing face, and of all his conventional eIs-
gancies, and opinions, and looks, each stolen
from some otlier person. There Is, as we all
know, peculiar pleasure In driving virulent
sting right into our daring's heart; so Elite did
not tell Blue Boy what she really thought
about Arthur PopiEjay Prior. How ehe wished
afterward that she had dene so
Summer declined and s'sea-side' came TO be
talked CT One morning Elite came down
TO breakfast in better spirits than usual. She
eptere! the breakfast-parlor with light step,
carelessly hummIng "Weel may the keel row.
She was looking forward TO Filey and freedom
with keen young pleasure. The Times news
paper lay folded upon the table; Elite took it
mp and carelessly ran her eye over the COL
nmns, which appeared dryer than usual. 1t
was not Iopg before the heading Of paragraph
awakened within her a feeling of eager, fright.
eDed interest, and bleached her rosy little face
into hue OF gtostly Wilderness.
FIRE AT SEA.
The paragraph thus introduced ran as fol-
"Her Majerty's ship "Conqneror,' arrived In
Plymouth Sound this morning, from the Mauri.
tps, reports the total loss, by fire, of the ship
S. lorg IS T.. The sConaueror" has on board
the second mate with ten of the crew belonging
10 the i'll fa.ed vessel. These men assert that
they are the only survivors"
Etiie's terrified eyes ran quickly over the
dreadful sentence, and then, over " helmed, the
child swooned and fell.
When she came TO herself Arthur supported
her head and was bathing her temples. As
sistance from him at this time seemed to aggra-
vate her pain With what power she could
exert, he raised and disepgaged herself
Her appearance at this moment was stpgu-
lar and beautiful. Her eyes, always full of
intelligence shone with a preternatural
II
objects invisible to others. Her brown
hair disordered in her recent swoon,
fell rich wavy cascade over her shoulders.
Her cheeks were radiant with a peculiar
CHASTITY pallor.
wordless Stiffness, or flood of tears, would
now have seemed natural. But the talkatIve,
anomalous and alarming She paced the room
quickly putting into plain words her most dis
IIessirg II oughts.
"Blue Boy is dead.'' she said "He was burnt
10 dsaih or drowned Nobody was there TO
comfort HIM. None of you here understood
what we We're TO each other No one can con-
sole me. He Is gone, and am left alone for
ever. On cruel :"
Each in turn attempted 10 comfort her, bu {
witboutsuccess. She walked tor hours, and
would not hear of rest or food
"He was burnt them she repeated q hun.
dred times, burnt or drowned. My worst
fears have all come true: am left alone. FIRST
mother went-then papa-now Blue Boy! oh !!
eIusl-eruel!"
From that morning there began with f. tie
painful, pnZeliug dream. Once, only-for long.
long months-she seemed aw bile to W axe from
IL. And that was one day when cousin JACK
came suddenly into the room with tears filling
his big eyes, and when he took her on mis- knee,
as in years before, and kissed her, and put his
arm around her waist, and let her head lay
orOn his shoulder; and when he told her he
did not give up hope yet and that he believed
Blue Boy-the strong, spirited fellow would
be sure 10 escape il any one could. and that ft
was most likely he stayed on board 10 the last
like the brave English boy that he was, and
80 those who had been In hurry 10 save their
ov n lives had not known of his safety
To hear such words seemed like a brief
awakening. But the dream returned: aud al
though kind cousin Jack often afterwards
spoke in the same STRAIN, his consultations soon
came TO be powerless, Ike all others.
And then all at MI Prior's. seemed 70 grow
cold towards Elite. Why was this Nr Prior
himseh, IL was true, Hunored all her whims,
but IN strange and chilling way Mrs Prior
was continually glancing at her suspiciousIy,
and seldom took notice OF her remarks X ate
never came 10 her room as formerly What
did 1t all meant And the dreary UNMARRIED
osslgdto 10 these enigmatical combna'io was
the ever present thought, "He Is burnt or
drowned, and am LETT alone"
THE peculiarity OF manner towards Elite in
creased. Why did every one watch her Why
might sne not be allowed to follow her own
Soui ses unnoticed, like other people, Why had
haI man lett suddenly without wishing her
xcouby, and why had a new attendau, come
PERSON win queer, strong manners, who