The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1869-09-23

that you must really pardon my forgetting
yOu. NY son-in-law is dangerously i'll
here in this house have been summon
ed from Zurich, and every moments of
impOrtanc, if wish to find him alive; |
may even as it is be too late"
With this, reaching the entrance to the
Schweitzer Hof. where the landlord was
waiting to receive him. Mollett passed rap
idly up the staircase with the host. with
out deigning to bestOw another word or
look upon me.
Thus left alone in the hall with Fritz
(for of course did not attempt to follow,
turned to him with look of bewildered
inquiry. Now it so happened that 1 had not
seen him the whole of this day, and there
fore had not been favored with his usual
gossip, otherwise l might possibly have
been prepared for the sudden apparition
of my old tutor, and so perhaps have
gained clew as now did to the mystery
of my dream. | say, perhaps; for | will
not be tempted to assert that it was anv-
thing more than coincidence, however
difficult it may be to thlnk,sO.
"Ah! sareT instantly began my gar
rulous friend, 81 have not had time to-
Gay. rs, cS, you Know Mini ZOuguJ
you would, you all know each Ozer and Ear
has been such sad work before he
come re poor lady, too, so Sistress-his
daughter-did you see re book? No!
All! Bien, will show youl Madame dc
Pomberas, French name? Yes, but Eng
lish writing no mistake in zatn And
he hurried me into the salle-a-manger,
seized the book, opened it, and put his
finger triumphantly down on the last entry,
made, as | instantly recognized, in the
once familiar handwriting of Bertha Mol
lett, 1t ran simply Monsieur and Mad
anne BinOs de Pomberas, en- route de Milan
Paris, October 1Sme."
As was gazing at it half bewildered,
Fritz continued, "Zay arrive last night,
ven you vas out, monsieur very i'll, go
straight to bed-madame take some
supper at Zis table, and While she
vait, / bring her re bOOk-she eX-
plain-she have great fear for her hus-
band-she want to get to Zurich, but he
would not be able-zen she go to bed
and quite early Zis morning monsieur
much vOrse-oblige to have doctOr-he
have great fear-ze heart-Ze heart-he
says-must not be moved-zen she send
me to Zurich to fetch her fazer who vait
zere to meet zem-and / just bring him
back now you know him-so perhaps
too you know his daughter-zay all travel
tOgezer, sOmetmes-zay have been here
before-ze old man look after his money
&c money of his 'gendre, vat you call
son-in-law."
Here Fritz was called away, leaving me
to ponder over the remarkable conci-
dence, which fate or some mysterious
latent force had seemed to bring. about. /
need not dwell on what followed Mon
sieur Binos de Pomberas died that night,
and was buried at Lucerne. 1 studiously
avoided comingin contact with either Ber-
tina or her father, who, almost immediate
ly after the funeral, left for England, and
nearly year elapsed before yentured
to present myself at the old familiar
house
/ at first by no means met with cor
dial reception from Mr.. Molett, who new,
released from all pecuIiary need by the
wealth inherited by his widowed daughter,
had given up his old vocation, and was
living in style very different from that
of former days. He drew but one conclu-
sion, of course, from my reappcaranoo
the scene. His selfish instincts evidently
shrank from the idea of parting with his
daughter again, not so much from the fear
of losing her cOmpanionship, as from the
possibility that through her making a
second marriage, he would no longer be
able to keep up his present easy and luxu-
rtous mode of life.
1t was only by very slow degrees that l
could make him see that it was Bertha and
not her wealth l coveted; the close and
narrow heart of the money! ywOrshipping
man, refusing to believe in anything like
disinterested affection. When, however,
hG finally vinoa6 fbat
means were ample, and that his worldly
position would not be interfered with, by
realizing, at last, the dearest wish of my
heart, he placed no obstacle in my way,
and need hardly say, that when due time
had elapsed, Bertha had nothing to urge
against my suit.
Here, then, are the circumstances which
led to my present happiness Were they
purely accidental Had not the visitors
book, with Bertha's handwriting i'm it, on
which had been leaning that memorable
evening at Lucerne, had not the pen which
she had then just been using, and with
which / had dallied whilst I read the
newspaper, some mysterious influence over
ME, of which l was unconscious at the
time?
Had not the fact of my being under the
same roof with her, of having entered the
salle-a- manger the moment after she
quilted it-nay, even having taken, per
haps, the very chair which she had Just
vacated, something to do with my dream?
And the dream itself, was it not the re-
suit OF prevision-a seeing, as it were,
without eyes, and without presence, what
was probably actually taking place in an
adjacent chamber? And had not had
this dream, and so have been detained at
Lucerne another day, should 1 ever have
married the widow of Monsieur BnOs de
Pomberas ?-Ihe BrOadoay