Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-10-06

very llne IN CneOry. no uOuDC, DuC scarcely
| SO good in practice "" 1hhj bnG ',yr9H
II should have enough Tor both 1 re-
| piled, 'even If he had nothing. which is not
the case, for he has Q. small fortune of his
own, and is getting on very well IL. his pro-
| fessiOn." ., - .ruI I.... .rand. W. Ella.
Indeed" said my father, 81 am glad to
hear that; had Scarcely hoped to find you
so practical; but still, there is one little
| thing appears to have escaped your MEM
ory, and that is concerning your own for
tune, which in prospect you were SO disin-
terestedly throwing at your lovers feet O
moment ago. Perhaps, If you reflect little,
you may remember that 1t is at my dispos-
al; and that if you marry without my con-
sent, not one penny do you have" ,,-.,.
| My father said this with an air of a man
who hasjust said thing that admits of no
argument; and leaningback in his chair, he
placed his hand upon his knee and smiled
complacently. ...,.. ....,....
| "Then you will not CONSENT" said I; and
| felt the words come thicklyand hoarsely
from my parched lips. with pause be-
tween each, as if my tongue refused utter
| ance. f'.' .sEn. s.H H.
| Never !" he exclaimed.
| "Oh, father, father" implored, throw
ing myself at his feet, shave mercy! Con-
slider whatyou are doing. Walter may not
be rich, buthe is noble; he may not be titled,
but he is true" 'H'
| THAT remains to be proved" said my
father, sarcastically. "Come, spare me any
more heroics; | hate scenes"
| l clasped my hand in agony, as vision
of my loved ones face flOated before me,
and involuntarily his name escaped my lips. |
Quite theatrical, truly!' said my father;
"very prettily done; you can go on the stage
when all else fails"
His sneering tones were too much for
me. Suddenly l sprang to my feet, and,
facing him boldly, exclaimed wildly,
'Cruel, heartless man, must speak, will
| speak! You have goaded me with your
cruelty and heartlessness till am nearly
| mad. You never have loved me; when, by
actions, have tried to win your affection,
| you have never noticed them; you have
repulsed my caresses, and now you have
torn from me my idol | could bear it bet
ter if it was from affection, or care for my
happiness you did it; but it is not; it is
only because | am Miss Woodford, who must
make good match to crafty ambitious
pride. Oh, shame! shame!' .a.
Unable to control myself any longer, my
father strobe up to me, and taking me by
the shoulders, shook me violently, Kissing
through his clenched teeth, ''Speak another
such word, and l wild. .... ..
lie could say no more, but his fingers
frightened till they fairly buried themselves
in my shoulders, and drops stood on his
forehead from passion.
"Turn me from your door," l cried; skill
me if you will; many will mourn for the
death of my body, but who will cast a
thought to the death OF a heart?" ..'"
| remember no more until came to my
SELF to find my mother bathing my temples
with sal volatile, and Lillian chatting my
hands. Twas ill for along time afterwards,
and it was the middle of spring before i
left my room. .r.s4Y
..l". CHAPTER III. lsa ..|t rt
Towards the end of the summer my sister
Lillian was stolen from us, the thief being
captain in the guards, possessed of untold
wealth, with prospect of more, anu was,
moreover, heir TO a baronetcy. He was a
very tall man, and reioiced in the possess
sion OF large tawney moustache, which
he cherished and twirled, until wondered
it did not disappear from over care. But
the way he asked our Lily-blossom to give
herself to him was most amusing. l my
self being an unseen and involuntary spec
tator, from the fact of my being in an ante
| room, whence escape was impossible save
through the room they were in. 'rf'
After having shuffled Lillian into corner
of the room in his agony Of nervousness,
he sat straight before her, staring at her
| for full three minutes, without blinking;
then heaving heavy sigh, and eXclaiming,
81 dare not say it," he seized pencil, and
pulling an old envelope from his pocket,
| proceeded to scrawl furiously on it, after
which he thrust into her hand and rushed
into the ante-room, with face the color of
apeony. Presently Lillian came in. her face
dyed with bushes, and taking his hand, led
him away, whittier knew not; but some
time afterwards | saw them walking past
the window, both looking intensely happy.
After Lillian had left us we were very
dull, the summer being over, and the
Christmas gaieties not yet begun; so that
we had nothing to distract our thoughts
from our loss. My father, too, seemed de-
pressed and out Of spirits, more so than
even the loss of his favorite daughter war
ranted; and even my mother whose health
was never very strong, appeared more
weakly and suffering than usual.
One morning as | was wandering drear-
ilyabout the garden, listlessly picking few
half withered chrysanthemums, my father
came up to me, apparently more than usu-
ally troubled.
"Bessie," said he, 'you have known for
some time that my affairs are in very dis
turbed ondition-nothipg seriously wrong,
hope, but sufficiently so to- make it advis-
able that my lawyer, Mr.. Sharp, should
come up; now, if he does, fear it will make
your mother very uneasy, which in her
present state of health, would do her much
harm; therefore wish to try to make you
understand a little about the matter, so that
| if she inquiries you may be able to reassure
her, and prevent her worrying herself. Do
you think You can do it?"
replied in the affirmative, and thereup-
on ensued long explanation, which at the
time had only the effect of completely be-
wildering me; however, afterwards | con-
trived to understand as much as was neces-
sary for my purpose. ,. 80
The next morning my father had letter
from Mr.. Sharp, saying that, owing to uh-
| fOreseen circumstances, he shoul be unable
| to come, but would send his partner, who
he could truly say, was fully competent to
do what would be required of him; he fur
thermore added that we might expect him
that evening. Owing to some oversight,
the partners name had not been mentioned.
That evening, as / was coming down
stairs from dressing, my father called me
into his room, a circumstance so unusual
that it rather startled me, and | was still
more alarmed when looked at his faet,
and saw that it was deathly white, save a
crimson spot on each cheek, while the hand
held was hot and burning.
"Are you i'll, dear father?" I asked, anxL
iously, for now began to feel uneasy. .hgg
"That is what Iwish to speak to you
about" he replied; 81 fear that have
| oouuht thia favar thot 10 frnt,,nr obn,,t II