Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1866-11-29
The DykehaImbury Concert.

poor lads were drowned il the Dixie
lucky chance for him"
"That's no matter Mr.. Hugh Carton ii
NOT a near relative. Where they fshed hin
up from, no one can tell. And then he hai
an invalid sister"
s'To whom he is very good"
This was from an elderly bachelor whC
was grim and testy, but whose testiness NJ
one minded much He took snuff as he salo
it: he also stuck his cane into the carpet
ssvagely, as though that bad been The
speaker, and wanted putting down.
"And | should like to know what man.
worthy the name, wouldn't be good to an
invalid sister ?" persisted this gentleman.
"Of course, Mr.. Crane, Of course. But
then she is an invalid, you know, which
might be against"
"Her brothers. dancing attendance on a
bevy of music-mad young ladies, and
screaming up to B fat" said Mr.. Crane,
pulling face. "Well, don't pretend to
be musical, and | have already been intro
duced to Mr. Carton. / should say That he
is not musical either. Sorry to disappoint
you"
The three Misses Grafton looked at each
other and smiled. The parish Of Lakewood
was erninently p musical parish. 1t was
about to take pa: in o grand amate IT con-
cert, to which everybody for miles around
was expected to come, and its great desider-
alum had long been good tenor. Bari
tones there were in plenty, and these had
to be pressed into tenor service but they
were thin, for the most part, like yin orGin-
ARE and besides, they could not take the
high notes. Now, a real tenor, after the
fashion of Mario or Sims Reeves, was the
thing wanted therefore, from MIR. Hugh
Cartons somewhat thin brown cheeks,
moustaches, long hsir, and general foreign
appearance, it had been suggested as not
impossible that he might supply the de-
fciency.
cat any rate" said Miss Grafton, " we
will not take him at your valuation, Mr..
Crane"
s.No one expects you to do so, young
ladies'" retorted Mr.. Crane. "The proof
of the pudding-but forgot, that's vulgar.
Listen, however, to an old fogie. venture
to predict-nay, would lay q small wager
that the concourse Of you-Graftons, Heth-
erings, Wilson's, every one--don't extract
FIVE consecutive words from this taciturn
gentleman l couldn't; and I talked about
top dressing. and the crops, and the game
laws-all that would naturally interest a
country gentleman. don't believe myself
that he knows what it is he has come into.
The only time / succeeded in attracting his
attention for moment, YVES when l spoke
of that poor Mrs. Wynne, who lives over
there, you know, almost inside his park
suppose it was because she is cripple like
his sister,"
Again the young ladies smiled.
cay" said Mr.. Crane, "laugh if you
will, ladies. 1 dare say you think crusty
old fellow like me wouldn't be very likely 70
entertain this new lion; but you may be
mistaken. Why, he's thirty five if he's a
day, and the gray hairs are coming"
His voice viii be in its prime, Mr..
Crane" sale the ladies.
ellis voice his voice % exclaimed Mr..
Crane; "as if human being were moth
ing but mechanical contrivance for emit
ting sound. And, he added, softly, "the
man has known sorrow"
He got up to go as he spoke, and the girls
shook hands with him good humoredly
enough, for he was not SO sour as he seemed,
and in spite Of his caustic speeches, he was
rather favorite amongst them.
Meantime the object of these remarks
was walking about the lawn of Lakewood
Park with a cigar in his mouth tall,
face, and eyes that would have struck a
stranger as having pitiful, hunted look in
them of timidlty When his possessions be-
came q reality to him, instead of appearing
like dream, from which he was afraid
every moment of awaking, this wore off Z;
but at present he could hardly believe that
fortune, adverse to him from childhood, had
suddenly turned upon him her pleasant
smiles.
There we're gardeners at work in the
strawberries and amongst the fower-beds
and as his eye fell upon them, Mr.. Carton
stood still with sudden wonder at the
thought that these men were his servants
and would look to him for payment. He
shaded his eyes with his hand, and looked
out into the west, where the sky was one
blaze of gold and red The light fell on hill
and dale in ftful CLEANS; it touched the
tree-tops, and picked ont bits here and
there of the winding river to make it glis.
ten like silver. The scene grew dim before
Mr.. Cartons eyes. He saw instead g
miserable lodging under foreign sky
where gaunt man covered at night over
the stove, whose supply of charcoal was
scanty. He saw this man rising up in thC
morning, sometimes hopeful, to be heater
back again from time to time, till hope wa:
almost dead within him; then he saw thi
same man, but changed little, for better
days had begun, and his genius was making
its way tardily a newspaper was in hi
hand, and one finger rested on an adver
tisement. His breath came in painful gasps
his face grew gradually paler until
Mr.. Carton started, for one Of &C work
men stood before him, touching IS ha, an(
asking instructions respecting certain II ee
which he thought should be cut down to i'm
prove the view. Mr.. Carton could hav,
laughed aloud at the incongruity of th'
thing, but he restrained himself, and CAV,
his orders quietly.
81 u ut be the country squire in |
farce Lie said to himself; 81 feel ik,
playing at being a rich man. Pleasan
play, though All, l am thankful it didn'
come too late"
He flung down his cigar, and wakes
quickly towards the house. He passed tht
wide stone steps, which looked so imposing
pushed open French window and entered
small drawing-room, at the end of whicl
was a conservatory. A young girl lay on
couch near this window, young, but will
few Of the marks Of youth. There was no
the faintest rose-tint in the cheeks, frou
which suffering had driven the health,
blood the hands that she stretched out t
him were fearfully thin, and the large eyes
which filed with tender light when the