The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1869-12-09

them, ana on no accOnntt 10 mention MS name
to any one. ''She had never seen him since
But her description Of him precisely tallies with
that which was given us at the post-ofhce,-
She is very old woman rather blind, rather
deaf, aud very stupid. | don't think she can
either read or write Most Of this information
I obtained from the nigger gal who does all the
work Of the house. She eventually promised to
have the locks opened In our presence to-mor-
rowI and have settled that, II agreeable to you,
we vii drive over there after breakfast Thus
Cartwright to Tom sAckland.
Poor Tom Ackland was profoundly affected
by this fresh evidence Of zeal and sympathy on
the part Of Mr.. Cartwright But Cartwright
himself made light Of bis own efforts Pooh,
pooh, my dear sirl" he said, in reply TO Toms
repeated expressions of gratitude; ''if he was
your cousin, was he not also my friend| %
When Tom Ackland entered the first room,
from which the lock was removed, in the house
to which Cartwright conducted him on the fol
lowing day. one glance round 1t told i'm all
and, with a low moan Of pain, he fell upon the
bed and sobb ed. There, on that bed was the
dressing gown which poor John Ackland had
wern the last evening on which he and Tom had
sat together discussing Johns plans for the
future. There, In the wardrobe, were John
Ackland's clothes; there, on the shelf were
John Ackands books there, on the table, were
John Acblands papers. And among these pa
pGIp lOlu ulJcIWaIub lOuHu ul uuuulbuCu ltIbeT
addressed to himself 1t was written in those
sprawllpg, shpky characters which Tom had
lately been learning, sadly, to decipher, and
which were so unlike the once firm and we'll
formed handwriting of his cousin. ''GOd bless
you, dear, Tom !" (the letter said,) My last
cannot bear 1t longer. Nobody will miss me but
you. And you, If YOU could see me as am now,
ifyou could know all that / have been suffering,
even you would surely wish for me that relief
from misery which only death can give. They
are after me day and night, Tom. They have
left me no peace. Mary Mordent is at the bot
tom Of it all. She hides herself. But know IL.
l have no heart TO post this letter, Tom. have
no strength to 1nisl1it Good. by Tom. Don't
fret. Dear dear Tom, good by.' "t|
iuTOm Ackland returned to Boston with two
convictions one that his unfortunate cousin
had peilshed by suicide on the night of the 10Th
of October: the other, that Philip Cartwright
was a. most upseish, warm-hearted fellow
The whole story of John Aekland s mysterious
disappearance and lamentable death had excited
too much curiosity, and been too hOtly discussed,
both at Richmond and Boston, to be soon for
gotten In either of those localities Serious
Guarrels had arisen Gin Richmond at leasD, and
old acquaintances had become estranged 10 eou-
sequence of the vehemence with which diverse
theories were maintained by their respective
partisNns on the subject of John Ackland's fate
But time went on, and, as time went on, the
story became an old story which no one cared
to refer to, for fear of being voted bore. There
were not wanting at Richmond, however, some
'few persons by whose suspicious fancies Philip
Cartwright, against all evidence to the contrary,
remainedunehpritably connected with the mys-
teriOus disappearance and subsequent suicide of
the Boston merchant, in a manner much less
Hattering TO that gentlemans character than
Mr.. Tom AckRnd's grateful recollection of his
friendly txertion at Charleston.
CHAPTER x.
Mr. D'0iley, the Matchmaker, was a strange
mixture ofpractcal shrewdness and an inyeterate
appetite for the miraculous. Spililualism had
not then been invented. Otherwise Mr. D'Oilcv
wotfd surely have been one of its most enthusi-
astc disciples But on the subject of animal
magnetism, eectro-biology, pfesentiments, clair
Voyance and second sight Mr.. D'Oiley was
great and terrible. The whole story of john
Ackland, in all its details had been discussed in
every circle of Richmond society, high and low.
Mr.. D'0lley was wellupin it; and he had formed
very decided opinions about 1t. He conhded
them to the wife of his BOSOM
"Just look at the case without prejudice =
said Mr.. D'Oiley, in the confidence of the nup-
Lial couch. "Itow does il stand, maamP Jt'fs
well known that Cartwright owed Ackaud a
large sum Of money 1t is equally we'll known,
maam, that Cartwright never had large sum
of money,-of his own How, then did he gct
the money with which he says be paid of Ills
debt to Ackland2 There are only two ways.my
dear in which that man could have got that
mdney,--either by loan from some other person.
to be repaid nj the shortest possible date or lJy
a forgery The first is not probable. The sec
/ ond is. In Other case it would have been a
matter ofyit0l importance TO Cartwright TO re-
gain possession of the,money he paid to Ack
| land. In tile one case, in order to liquidate the
second loan on which he mnst have raised It /;
in tho other case to recover the forged draft be-
| fore it fell due. The moment he had succeeded
| In securing Aekland's receipt for the money he
had nothing more to fear from Aekland. Why
! did Cartwright talk SO mu ch about his transac-
| tions with Ackland2 Why did lie chow about
Acklhnd 8 receipt for the money, If IL were not
avert suspicion from himself after AcklSnd's
| disappearance, by making every enc say Gait
| wright could have had no motive to murder
| Ackiand, for he owed him nOthing? Mark my
| words, Mrs. ID. Time will show that John Ack-
land never left Virginia alive, and that he fell
! by the hand II Philip Cartwright ..r
| h"But in that case, objected Mrs d., ''wby
has the body never been found ~
"Time will show" replied Mr.. D'Olley, ora
| cularly "But you don't suppose that dead
bodies are In the habit OF walk ing about with
tleir heads in their hands and showing them
! selves of, like waxworks2 En- i"I
II is needless to say that both Mr.. and Mrs D
believed even more in Miss SIMPSONS magnetic
Gift than did Miss Simpson herself That young
lady, whenever the subject Of John Ack!and was
referred to- assured her friends that she did not
doubt she had talked great deal of Nonsense
about Mr., Ackland, but she had not the least
recollection Of anything she might have said.
This subject wNs inexpretslbly distOsteful TO her,
and she requested thai il might not be edisQussed
in her presence. What was very extraordinary,
| ana very much remarked was the invincible
/ repugnalIce which, ever since that day at Glen
oak, Miss Simpson appeared to entertain to.
wards Mr. Cartwright She studiously avoided
him, and If ever she happened, unayoidably, ia
find herself In the same room with him, or even
to meet him in the street, 1t was noticed that
she became visibly agitated, and turned away
her ewes from him with an expression Of horror
She either could not. or would not give any
explanation of this conduct, but gradually and
imherceptibly Miss Simpsons studous avoid
ance Of Mr.. Cartwright affected the relations
and intimate friends of this young lady with al
uncomfortable and unfavOrabe Impression IL
re card to that gentleman. Nor did time, as Il
went BY, improve either the fortunes, the char
acter or the reputation OF Philip Cartwright
! He neglected lriE property more than ever. alC
was constantly absent from Glenoak, haunting
the bells, bars, and bowng-alleys Of Rchm0nl
and all the neghborlng towns, apparently witt
, no OCnef purpose Inah '" BSt iiu " tihio uDiS
: putably He drank terccly, and the effects o
habituOl DntoxicQtOn began TO render his char
acter so savage and suen that In the course o
6 / a few years he entirely lost that personal popu
G larlty which he had formerly enjoyed.
Poor Virginia Cartwrghtlad sad and soil
tafy life of il at Genoak. Her fathers affection
! for her was undminished nay, IL seene'
! stronger than ever, but there was hereenes
: and Wildness about Il which was rather terrible
g than soothing And he himself had yet thi
! kigIaee to feel that he was no fit companion TO
: his daughter, lie was rarely with her, an'
g tI6ough numerous friends al Richmond and ii
q the neighborhood never ceased to urge her Il
/, visit them, aud always received her with sor
ta,,H. aae - t1a