The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1869-10-07

z4. NO. IL .s.- =.
. none knew whittier. The affair ha
occasioned much talk at the time-a
. such affairs always do-and somo friien'
. whose intimacy warranted the liberty
$ a'ked Marcy if he was not e oipg to fol
: low the fugitives; but he replied tha
% woman who could SO demean hersel
/. was not worth following" =
;. Most men would have gone as fal
away as possible from the scone of thei,
J disgrace; but be did not. "Hc would
stay and brave it out" he said. Bu,
he had never been the same man since,
He had plunged headlong into dissipa-
tion-it was we'll that his fortune was
vast enough to bear the constant drain
upon it -and one could hardly blame
him for his scandalous opinion Of wo-
men, when it was remembered what 1ea-
son he had to think contemptuously Of
| the whole sex.
His wife was dead now. She had
died in Italy, and priest of the Ro-
mish faith had communicated the fact to
her husband, together with some brief.
dying message, and Robert Marcy was
free agaiu:
I But I don't think he cared much
for Lis freedom. It is sad, sad thing
when man has exhausted life at thirty
FIVE. A new sensation was something
he very rarely experienced now, and
his curious little adventure upon which
he had stumbled promised new sensa-
ton so, he said to hi,nself, he would
follow it out just for the novelty Of the
| thing.
It w,s something out of the common
way for man to tell him, as that old
mao had told him tonight, that 'he
felt safe to trust his daughter in his
care Those words would be a SHE'D
to her. They we're an appeal to his
honor-an unconscious one on the
descon's part, for he had not intended
ANYTHING like that-but the appeal
should be respected.
Days passed by, aud Jessie improv-
ed slowly. By-aud-by she was able to
leave the strict seclusion of her room.
aud lie on lounge in the parlor or Sit
tingg-room. It was pleasanter to be
there, 'nd DR.. Marcy gave up some of
the long rides he was accustomed to
take on his blooded horse, Araby, and
devoted several hours Of each day to en-
tertainiog her. He was a cultivated
man aud fine tslker, and Jessie, who
had never before met thorough man
Of the world, gave herself up to the
enjoyment OF his society. His manner
to her was full Of subtle aattery which
was never expressed in words; that
implied caress Of look and tone which
was his peculiar charm that his friends
spoke Of as "NIarcy's way with the wo-
men," and many there were who en-
We'd him this "way."
But under all the gay surface-man
ner and brilliant talk, was a genuine |
liking ard respect for this young girl,
Who was so different from all the wo-
men he had known; go truthful and
sincere, SO faithful to what she believed
to be right. Something in her nature,
earnest and unworldly appealed to all |
that was truest and manifest in his. And
50, though he entertained her With
quaint fancies and odd conceits, broach-
ed strange theories, and sometimes
startled her with small heresies, he
never talked to her just as he was ac-
oustomed to talk to women in society. |
There was one subject which he was
especially careful to avoid and that
was religion. He knew Ly some iu-
stinctive faculty-for she was not Civ
en- to talking much of herself, and had
never told him-that she was a Christ
ian. But he knew it-by somo in
stinctive faculty, IS I said d-knew that
the story Of the Cross, which to him
was only beautiful legend, was to her
4 vital reality; more vital, more real
than anything else in the world. Reck-
less uubeliever rs he was, he was not
the man to snecr at the faith of a wo-
man like her so, without actually ap.
pearing to do SO, he always avoided the
subject. - u! 3....~
But one day it came up accidentally
how, he never really knew -aud
some careless phrase, some unguarded !
sentence, enlightened her as to his real
sentiments. She looked at him in
grieved astonishment. .>n~ .....
"Dr. Marcy, if you had very dear
friend, one you loved better than all
else in the world, one who had even
laid down his life for You, how would
yeu feel If . person spoke slig ghtiDgly
Of that friend in your presonce7'
This grave .rebuke did not surprise
him. He had expected onething like |
it. He knelt down beside her sofa, so |
close that her hand as she moved rest
ed for an instant on his shoulder, and
the regret in his tone was not to be
mistaken. II ..- ~ ....I , ~ /
"Miss Jessie, I ask your pardon.
Those words slipped from me almost
without my own volition. I cannot lc- |
call them, for they express my true |
opinions. Lost al my faith in these |
things years ago, but / had no right to |
pain you BY saying what / did. If I !
had stopped one instant i, to think I !
should not have spoken so. I hope
you'll forgive me- 80.
Her truthful eyes searched his face
u she said softly :sla@*s5 ".-.= 7'5