The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-12-30

a. . VI an evening IA her drawing-rOom
tne pretty comfortable room she was 90
ny 10 leave, or lying wakeful in bed a,
night, her courage would fail her. and sbS
would cry bitterly over the meItinrs-s1 Sor !,
ct her bret vision OF prosperity And sSS
would shudder to think of the yTas S.rS
MealJ struggle between poverty and pe9,
|, tIhty towhich she was abont to 49, IS
anu sometimes, in the bitterness of No. q,
Soul' she wished she could die and he
Hone at last with her troublous, disapDomt.
LnG ne she was too good, too simnIv
reISlous to allow herself to dwell on snc5
S1iT5o,,Hs WISH Isl But 1t was very hard and
Tt VI, 10 thlnk reslgnedly OF the future.
IN some respects, the present Vvos main
iuI enoughto her. She shranE from saa-
ing people, even those who had found ont
what sne was going to do. or rather what
sue had already done, and who, in their
EeEy sympathy, oppressed her with their
nlnSleu pity, and applause, and condem-
natlOn. Above everything, she shranlI from
seeing MIR. Dixon or his sister and c,nn-
GTaily managed to avoid meeting them.
rms was not difficult. Mrs. LOrimer was
very angry with her; and Mr.. Dixon was
angry Doth with her and with himself.
smuggling and houndering between his
her, but wanting also to wait and see +
MAJOR tOrtescue would agree to at least
divide the fortune with her-and FEELING
that IN any case it was most prudent in
the meantime to keep out of her way.
| CHATTER "
The day came on which Miss Brown
was To re-entcr her old abode. She mt
OH her return there till the evening. She
was afraid of being noticed and watched
I-hrald, too, of having to face all at once
the familiar rooms in the dreary distinct
ness of the broad daylight. So, when the
dusk of the early summer evening was
come, she packed herself with her lug
gage, which she had tried to make as
small as possible, into cab, and so re-
turned to the old house she had left so
| Joytully scarcely six months ago. TWAS
soft, warm evening. 1t would be yery
pleasant out at Elm Grove amongst the
green fields, and bright f1ower-beds, and
shady trees but she did not want to 90
to Elm Grove again.
1t was summer evening, and there
lore there WAS no need of even n fire to
welcome her back to her lodging parIor.
She missed this mute welcome more than
she liked to own to herself 1t was SO
cherries to sit down in the grey twilight
to drink her solitary cup of poor, unre-
reShlng, clearinghouse tea. There was
nothing for 1t but to get to bed as quickly
as she could; yet she dreaded going to
bed. She would have to wake up to-mor-
row IN her old room, and once again face
the thought of her poverty; Just as if the
last SIX months peace and comfort had
only been q dream of the night Had she
been 4 Roman Catholic, there might have
come to her, at this gloomy moment, some
soothing, consollnS vision OF u refuge in
some quiet convent home. Being stanch
and piOus Protestant, OF an old fashioned
school, she never thought of wishing for
such = door of escape from the weary
world She knew she must remain where
she was, take up her burden and bear it
as best she could; and she thought, even
through all the sadness that so crushed her
uoNn, that she would try to do her best.
Hseemeu wonderful how readily she tell
back into her old habits She went about
her small housekeeping, she talked to ner
landlady, and did her modest little shop
ping, just as she used to do, making no
show of martyrdom, or even of regret
At first, several of her acquaintance she
had lately made came to call on her, eager
to show their sympathy and admiration.
She felt grateful to them for their kind
ness, but could not help shrinking sensi-
lively from their somewhat inquisitive
condolences. And rs they found her shy
and reserved, and unwilling to speak of
herself, there was some difficulty in sus-
tanning conversation After while their
visits became fewer. "POOr Miss Brown
They were very sorry for her, and they
thought she had behaved beautifully. But
she was such very quiet, silenS person,
one never knew what TO talk about. In
deed, she had always seemed to them IN
social They really were not sure that it
was of much use keeping up the acquaint-
ance, for, of course, she would now de-
cline all invitations. And, after all, she
r,sI,s
they supposed she was contented enough;
she looked so, at any rate. And there was
no doubt that Mrs Barker had no bust
ness to leave her her money. and she
could never have expected such q thing"
Then by degrees the interest in Miss
Brown changed into an interest in Major
FOrtescue. 1t was understood that he was
coming home ut last. He had been pre-
vented from leaving India ut the time
first intended, and so his return had been
delayed. Some said that he was In bad
health. Poor man, he was probably bro
ken down by n long Indian service, and
it would have been hard on him if he
had been kept out of the money his re-
lation had meant to give him. There was
much speculation about him. Was he
old or yOung-married or single? No
body could tird out much about him. Mr..
Finch had discovered most, and was not
without hopes that Major FOrtescue would
at least prove himself sensible OF Miss
Browns behavior; but, until his arrival,
and until it was seen how he meant to
act, Mr. Finch was not going to say much.
Mrs. LOrimer came to see her cousin,
but the calls were not pleasant to either
Mrs Lorimer not only thought herself
entitled to resent Priscilla's nonsensical
conduct, as she called it, but was also
tormente6 by u new uneasiness about her
brother. Of course he ought not to dream
of marrying Priscilla now; but she was
not sure that he was not dreaming OF it
still. She could not get him to speak on
the subject 1t was in vain that she talked
herself and threw out many hints about
the improperly of not making Priscilla
clearly understand that Roberts proposal
must now be looked on as cancelled
Robert would say not word, except to
hint grunly in his turn that he knew what
he was abrut, and needed no advice.
Poor Mrs. LOrimer was in misery. 10
make way for Priscilla with her forty
thousand pounds hal not been Palatable