The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1866-06-12
MrTHOMPsON'S UMBRELLA
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and she never did. Mr.. Norris behaved very
handsomely, i was told. He gave me the
piano which had been bought FOR me, few
other articles of no great value. and all my
aunt's wardrobe lie kept her Jewels,
(which were fine, and the furniture, for
which, as he said truly enough, had no
i use. Moreover, he allowed me to remain
| in the cottage till Lady-day though, per-
lhaps, as he could not live in two houses at
a time, and must pay the rent whether /
stayed there or not, this was no such great
favor nfter all. God forgive me, / fear
was very sinful during the dark days that
followed. had some friends who did, or
rather who said their best, but there was
one who never came near me, who gave me
no token of his existence, who had no kind
wordsfor me, who let me struggle through
my hard trial, and who never offered a
helping hand. lie might Mt least have
written, have condoled with me In my sOr-
row, but he did not. And yet he was in the
neighborhood. He was often at Mr.. Nor
i rts' house. Jessie herself told me so. True,
he had business to transact with her hus-
band; but still, how could he doit?
! He did it, and he did more. Mr.. Norris
was thrown off his horse one morning and
brought home dead. Jessie became a
widow, and poor one said the world. Mr..
Norris WINS not a rich man after all, and he
left many debts. j only went TO see her
once. ! found her cold, callous, and defiant,
under her infllction; yet would have gone
again II Mr.. Thompson had not been Mr..
Norris executor. He had business to
| settle with the widow, and | could only
interfere; besides | could not bear to see
them together. II was very wrong and
very useless, but 1t was so. Mrs. Grey
often came to see me. / cannot say she
comforted me much. She gave me a world
of wearisome advice, and told me much
that would rather not have heard What
was 1t to me now, that accounts kept him
so often and so late with Jessie They
were both free; and If he chose to forgive
her and marry her, and If she chose to
marry once more for money! say it again
what was 1t to me. f.n. a
| And yet i suppose 1t was something after
all; for when Mrs. Grey left me one after
noon in February, / felt the loneliest being
on this wide earth. She had harped again
on that hateful string, that Mr.. Thompson
seemed quite smitten with Mrs. Norris.
'And what do you think my dear2" she
asked 'he thought you were gone. He
seemed quite. surprised when ] said had
seen you on Sunday. What, is she not
gomez he asked-'gone to Eondon?' q No,
indeed What should she go to. London
forY He did not answer that, but, from
something he said | saw he thought you
were engaged to be married Il wish she
were, poor dear Y replied tits hard case
to be so young and so lonely have no
doubt he thinks so too. and so 1t is to pre-
vent Mrs. Norris from being lonely that he
goes to see her so often"
Thus she ratified on, stabbing me with
every word, till at length she left me to my
misery. ! sat looking at the fire; it was
bright and warm, but my loneliness was
heavy upon me; besides, IL had been snow
Ing, and the gray sky aud white garden
and silent air had something both lone and
chill In them. Yet Twas not quite alone.
L. vs..N.. Ia, Il taIrz
lhalf-starved, stray dog, and though he was
but shaggy half-bred cur, | had made
pet of him. He had laid by his vagrant
habits willingly enough, and he now lay
| sleeping on the rug at my feet. Poor Carlo
he needed not the morrow, and thought not
of the future. Yet how long could keep
him and If l east him away, who would
have him? He had neither youth nor
beauty TO recommend him-nothing but his
old honest heart-who would care for thatr
Poor Carlo-pOor old Carlo 2" L thought;
and, perhaps, because my heart was rather
| full just then, tears rose to my eyes as
| thought of the fate that lay before him. |
believe thought of something else too.
remember vision saw in the burning
Goals how 1t came there Heaven knows.
saw them both as no doubt they often were,
bending over accounts which they read
together, then looking up and exchanging
looks and smiles which no one could mis-
take. wonder why came back to ina
ges which tortured me-but IL was so. |
do not know how long Mrs, Gray had been
gone, when Carlo gave a short bark; the
gate bell rang; saw tall, dark form pass
across the window, and my little maid
opened the door, SAYING "i'
"Mr. Thompson, ma'am.N sI'
i rose. He came in with his umbrella as
usual, and Carlo went up to him and
wagged friendly welcome. l could not
o-I L all . Ill.
felt quite sure he had come to tell me that
he meant TO marry Jessie, and to ask me to
go aud stay with them or something of the
kind. Nothing else could have brought
him. Or, perhaps. as Jessie had, no doubt
told him that | had gone, he had. on learn
ing the trnth, felt ashamed of his long
coldness, and had come TO make some sort
of excuse. He made none; but he asked
how was, took chair, looked rather hard
at me. and, without waiting for my answer,
feared was not very WELL n ~
20, am not III, yon know" replied,
little carelessly. II trust you are well, Mr..
Thompson"
He said he was very well, and he looked
at the fire. For while We were both ST.
lent. spoke first, My remarknyas scarcely
RI heard you were 20 much engaged
that / scarcely expected 70 see you,n I said.
j was vexed with myself Us soon as had
said IL, He might think i was annoyed at
his long absence, and, surely, I was not.
But he took my implied repr6ach very well.
He answered that he had, indeed, been
much engaged; but that everything was
over now. Mrs, Norris, he added, had left
that morning. Ny heart gave great throb;
but was mute. i" i''T''v'
''She left inno very contented mood,
believe" he resumed. THE balance In her
favor was low--lower than L expected.
Mrs, Norris has something like ., hundred
year. This and few jewels constitute the
net profit she derives from her marriage.
Unluekily, these speculatlons can not be
repeated often you see. The capital Of
youth and beauty has but y time,-a brief
one; 1t Is apt 10 wear out, and the first VEN
ture ought TO be the best. Mrs, Norris, not
having found It SO, Is disappointed. sup
pose II is natural; but you know I can not
pity her very much.r .f-.f-. .,rt -..
suppose not; but how all, that cold,
hard talk pained me. r.., ..tI.....
| ~ have a fancy" he resumed, shat this
kind lady expected some other end TO our
accounts. This Is not very fiatterlng 60 my
vanity, unless, Indeed as showing my mar
ketable value; Is ii, nov 2" -, -
would not answer that question. His