Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1866-05-17
surprise, Mr.. Harcourt followed his neice

down upon the carpet. 'Perdltion seize
that blundering Irishman! What did he
fire for? Every nook and corner of the
upper stories was known to him, and be
might have so easily escaped detection by
making use of one of the secret passages
Fool! fool And now the whole thing is
divulgcd, the poor wretch dead, Minnie
lost to me, and Houston triumphant after
all! What is to be done !
THAT poisoned bullet! be added, after a
pause. did it strike him Twill it act -!
Ha there lies the last seed of hope, which
must spring up and yield me harvest of
triumph and revenge yet, or the chapter is
ended, the line run out, and everything
lost! But if he dies!-if that obstacle
slides into eternity, my path is clear, my
road unobstructed! And all this without
even an approach to violence on my part
Capital! capital!
Sir Richard Beverly, dear reader, was,
at one time, a wealthy English Baronet,
the possessor, probably Of one of the finest
estates in Europe. Profigacy, dissipation
and the vice of gaming, together with a
fondness for company and extravagant show,
reduced his means to slim suf6ciency by
the time he arrived at middle age. With
disappointed heart, ruined constitution
and his estate heavily mortaged, he set out
for America, with no other object in view
but the reouperation of his health by travel,
and the acquisition of wealth by marriage
the latter, especially. 1t did not matter
whether the woman whom he sought, and
through whom be hoped to disencunber
his estate and retrieve his fortune, was old
and ugly, or young, accomplished and bean
tiful. If the latter, so much the better; If
the former, he could endure it So long
as he was enriched By the transaction, the
other considerations were things merely by
the way and of secondary importance.
A mere accident brought him in contact
with Minnie Harcourt, and, it must be con.
fessed, her beauty possessed the sole, irre'
sistible attraction at first; but, when, upon
enquiring, he ascertained that she was in
her own right, possessed of large fortune,
as we'll as sole heiress to that Of old Adam
Harcourt, the wealthest man in the State,
he determined to make this prize his own,
and, for this purpose, set about immediate.
ly to arrange his plans for so tempting a
capture. The modus operandi was charac.
teristic of the man.. Instead of endeavoring
to seek the acquaintance of Minnie and
press his suit in the ordinary way, he dis
guised himself as a Confederate soldier,
made his appearance at the hall, and, after
concocting false story as to his true posi-
ton, imposed upon the hospitality of Mr..
Harcourt for two weeks or more. He had
been furloughed for twenty days, his story
ran; aid his home near Spottsylvania having
been destroyed by the enemy, and his fami.
ly dispersed, he knew not whittier to go or
how to spend his leave of absence. Mr..
Harcourt never turned grey coat from his
door, when it encased the heart of gallant
soldier, so, Sir Richard was cordially invi-
ted to spend his leave of absence at the
Hall; exactly what he desired, and nothing
more than circumstances led him to expect.
While at the Hall he made himself
thoroughly acquainted with the history of
the family and everything connected with
the old building. Of course he was in
formed by the servants and ignorant neigh.
bors, thatthe two upper stories were haunted; ;
a piece of information, BY the way, which
he treasured up for future use. It soon
became quite evident to him that certain
young man, whom the family very famili-
arly address as Eddy, was about to possess
himself of the prize which he himself so
greatly coveted. Now the baronet never
thought of the old fashioned custom of
daelliug; never dreamed Of quarelling with
his rival and blowing his brains out for
daring to stand between him and the &C.
complishment of his wishes; never even
thought of trying what his accomplishments,
handsome address and progressing exterior
were worth, and whether these, with pro.
fessions of love, admiration and all that
kind of thing, would not exert some inau-
ence over Minnie, herself. The baronet
dete ermined to attempt quite novel move
ment in the art of love ;-something start.
ling, if you please.
The reader has already been made
acquainted with the bsronet's novel expe-
dent, and has been informed of the result.
Strange to say, the impression made upon
Mr.. Harcourt's mind was such, that he at
once set about sundering the bond of affec
ton, which had so long existed between
Edgar Houston and his neice. But what
was absolutely past comprehension, was the
readiness with which Minnie adapted her
self to the new order of things and the
cheerfulness with which she acquiesced in
all the commands and requirments of her
uncle. Her correspondence with Edgar,
for example, was required to be discontinu-
ed, as no encouragement could herafter be
given him to continue his visits or keep up
the intimate relationship which had hith.
erto existed The moment her uncle's
wishes were made known, she Immediately
began an almost imperceptible alteration
and change of manner in her correspond
ence, which gradually became more marked
as the days and weeks grew into months,
until the correspondence ceased altogether.
What was stranger than all, was the inex-