The workingman's advocate., 1871-01-21

hear the victim O. your worshipped idol
sweeter to me is that poison than would Dt
to me his kisses, now sour as the green bul-
lister. But the day lengthens trae the short
est to the longest, and, as the earth turns
they wha, but some hours syne, stood upon
oor heads; shall as mony hours after lie un
der our feet. So may the day o Mary Lee
joy follow the NIGHT O her grief-and that
joy will be revenge :"
As the last word. revenge" (says osI
legend) rang round the silent scene, the
excited damsel waved her hand and disaP
peared. The effect Of her speech was eisc'
tric. Every one looked at bis neighDor
mutteriDgs and wbisperings ran round the
company, and glances Of suspicious ma
ture were thrown upon Ashley. Some Of
his frionds, for the sake of saving him, sug-
gested that the woman was insane ; and the
company, glad to find pretext for disbe-
lisving the charge brought in so extraordi'
nary a manner against their landlord,
adopted the suggestion. Ashley, however,
was struck deeper than he would avow, OF
than might have been expected, in the case
Of man dead to ordinary pity, and to the
moral sense. Rising from his seat, lgain
thanked the company for their attenh-- :, and
retired.
Next day a messenger called at the house
of Mary's father, and requested 10 see her.
He was commissioned, he said, to give her
provided she would receive it with grace
and favor-renouncing the ill-whl she bore
to AshleY-a considerable sum Of money,
amounting to two hundred merks. Con-
trary to the mans own expectation, the girl
seized the money with the greatest avidity;
but without uttering a syllable wherefrom
he might draw an inference that she was
placated in any degree BY the gift. AS
soon as he retired, she locked the money in
her trunk, apostrophising the despised and
worshipped dust, with the spirit of an en-
raptured Mammon-"Lie there till venge-
ance needs ye."
Time rolled on without producing any
change on Mary Lee. At ''The Castle, ;"
things we're different. The old man died,
and Robert succeeded to the estates. He
gradually softened down to the condition Of
a seber-minded husband, and experienced
the ordinary effects of early ribaldry and dis
sipation, in deep, heartfelt regret, and a
wish to make amends to heaven and earth
for an abuse of the gifts of both. He had
one son, whose name was Hector, whom be
loved with all the devotion Of father Be
ing an only son, the boy was, as usual,
spoiled, both by his father and mother /;
having concentred on himself affections
which, in other circumstances, might have
been, with advantage to parents and child,
spread over family of sons and daughters.
To such an extent was affection carried, in
the case of this spoiled child, that the moth
er would scarcely let him out Of her sight.
With his heart also garnered up in bis son,
and happy in the possession Of kind, gen
tie, though consttutionally weak wife,
Robert Ashley might have been pronounc-
ed as happy as the regret produced BY the
loss of the best part Of his life would permit
him to be.
Meanwhile, as regarded the victim ofhis
seduction, Ashley conceived he bad now
little to fear, seeing she had received bis
peace-offering, and had, it was reported, con
tracted an intimacy with Hans Gerstendorf,
a German smuggler, who had been in the
practice Of running his good frau, Uusere
M,ater, an old lugger, into the port Of
Fairhaven, with contraband goods, The
report was, to a certain extent, true Hans
had conceived an affection for the still beau
tiful Mary, and it was certain that she had,
in some degree, unbent ber stern misanthro-
py in favor Of the German, though with
what aim, OF for what object, the gOssips of
Fairhaven knew not 1t was not without
credence among some, that Hans, whose ap-
pesrance justified the suspicion, had used
some unlawful means-and fancy supplied
German charms open the heart which
all supposed shut against human efforts
Speculation, however, might rack itself with
curiosity-Mary's attentions to the foreign
er renamed unaceounted for. She often
visited bis craft. and this supplied others,
less indulgent, with the idea that the Ger
man charms was nothing else than good
Hollands +; yet those who knew Mary Lee
better ridiculed the suspicion as unworthy
Of her character for ber sobriety, in the
midst Of her unearthly feelings, was never
questioned. One thing, amidst all this
doubt, remained certain, and that was tha
whatever favor Hans Gerstendorf had in the
eyes of the relentless fair one, no other per
son ever saw ber smile, and few heard her
speak. The same gloomy melancholy haunt
ed her, the same bitterness OF scorn of all
social relations, was observable in her eye,
and trembled on her lip
TO BE CONTINUED.