The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-04-23

y
tell you what is necessary as briefly
as possible / have but one relative
In the world-my father 1t is hard
for me 0 have to tell you that he is a
dissOlute. immoral man. But he Is.
an indulgent father, aud. spite Of his
faults, [ once loved him dearly
But he became involved, and in
the power of man who, as
the price Of shielding and saving
him, required that l should marry
him. [ was poweTless, aBd-I consent
ed but my loathing for the man was
such that Oh the very eve of the pro-
posed marriage | ran away It was
then / went to England. The Diff
Guilty of supporting myself there
forced me, at the end of a year, to
return. / had been six mouths 10
Thorpe when my father discovered
my whereabouts, ard came after me.
1t was my meeting with him of which
Mr. Claes was the involuntary witness.
At that time we believed that Philip
Henders0n-the man in whose power
he was-was dead He had entered
the Confederate service when the war
broke out, deserted, been recaptUred
aud hung, as we heard, for deseTtiOn.
During the year and a half / had been
parted from my father l had acquired
an utter loathing for the life / had
led with him. | besought him not to
persecute me, and agreed to send him
half my earnings, which | have done.
never expected to see him
again. Two days since, Mr..
Claes, happening to be on the
hotel stoop at Riverbend, wit
messed the arrival of my father (whom
he recOgnized,) accompanied by
man whom illness had obliged to stop
there. This sick man was Philip
Henderson The news we got of his
death was falsea He had heard in
some way of my approaching mar
rage, and threatened my father with
exposure, and his iga0mini0us pun
ishment consequent upon 1t, unless
he at once fulfilled the agreement and
obliged me to become his wife. They
had started for Thorpe when Mr..
| HendersOn's Illness forced them to
stop at Riverbend. Mr.. Claes' recog-
niUion Of my father led to his becom-
ing acquainted with the circumstances
I have related to you. He took it
upon himself to bring me this news.
/ My father commands me to come to
him at once, forbids me to marry Mr.
Holt; assures me that if I disregard
him his very life will be at Philip
Henderson s mercy. Under such cir
cumstances I have no choice Ny
father has a right to me She told
the story without falterlng for an IN
slant.
Ny poor child" was all | had
/ strength to say.
g Mr.. Claes has gone with this Ee V
to Mr.. Holt" she continued. To
you l shall have to leave the disagree
able task of breaking the cireum-
stances to the Thorpe people. l wish
to be ready to take the noon train for
Riverbend'
Well, welll I was nigh bewildered.
/ thought of the gossip, and of the
cake, and of Camilla. and cOuldn' t
separate anything The front blinds
were closed; the story set a-going,
Jack and Camilla struggled off
Three days after, as my ideas were
beginning to settle, letter from Ca
mil announced Philip Henderson 5
death. Then J. couldn't help think
ing that if Jack Claes had just kept
his foot out of it, Camilla might have
been Mrs. Sylvester Holt, and nobody
hurtl The milk was split, how YER
aud no use grieving!
Mr.. Mason was, as his father had
said, a dissolUte and immoral man
and at that time a mere wreck. who
could not survive his dissipation
much longer. He gladly agreed t
leave Camilla in peace, upon c0ndI
ton of receiving a small annuity from
her earnings. The poor girl wished
to return to Thorpe for a few months
can live this horrid story dowI
better, she said, " where | am known
than among strangers. OF course,
! did not hesitate IN agreeing with her
{ nor 10 offering her such protection a
{ my endorsement of her conduct al
! forded.
Jack accompanied her on her re
. turn. / adm red him for being s.
kind to her, but, then, I thought b
liked an excuse for running up q
8 Thorpe. Any other girl would nav
2 rather shrunk from the society OF
man whom she had given her prefer
: ence unsought and IN vain; but,
, think. Camilla rather coUrted the ex
? qusite suffering which the cOmplet
D self-coutrol she manifesteRwith JacI
must have cost her.
/ 1t was now Novem Der. The day O
e their return to Thorpe happened TO b
). Martinmas-a dull, sullen Autumna
= day, and our spirits were all heav
= and dull ike the day. After Dime
B we were rather surprised By the al
/ rivaIof Mrs Brewster. who, with som
e aWkward hesitation, asked Jack
d she could see him few minute
8, -E