Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1871-01-06

a strange smile full Of sneering bitter
ness. My experience has been widely
different from yours, IressllIan- Dld 1
ever tell you of my father
mo. took it for granted that he is
ssPerhaps he is. don't know, said
Lowder, with reckless laugh. "But if
he is living, he is a scoundrel. Don't
start, Tressilian, at my unhlial speech.
Wait till you hear my story. am IN
desperate mood tonight. This storm
stirs up all the bad with me. As nearly
as I can discover, my father was the
younger son Of a proud old county
family"
'fYou do not know, then p asked
Tressilian, pressing his companions
hand.
Il have no proofs oft. An posi-
lively know IS this. My mother was of
humble station. pretty, with blue eyes
and an apple-blOssOm face, and tender,
appealing ways. She was the daughter
Of a widow, residing at Brighton The
widow, my grandmother, kept a Iodg-
ing-house, and my father, a gay, dashing
young fellow, came to lodge with her
As might have been expected, he fell in
love with his landlady's daughter. He
offered the young girl marriage. on con-
dition that the union should be kept
secret until his affairs frightened and he
chose to divulge it. The young girl
loved him.
Her mother was ambitious and penuri-
rious. The result was the lover had his
way, and married the daughter of his
landlady quietly, almost secretly. Then
he took his bride to London, to cheap
and Obscure lodgings, where. year
later, / was BON"
The wind for a moment drowned his
voice. As it presently lulled, he resum-
ed recklessly. and with passionate BIT
terness:
ssFor years my mother and lived in
those stuhy, obscure lodgings until her
bloom had faded, and she had
grown thin and wan and nervous. My
father visited us at stated seasons, once
or twice week, but he never brought
any of his family to call upon us.
doubt if his aristocratic relatives even
suspected the existence of the faded wife
and son of whom he was secretly asham-
ed. have good reason to believe that
he had fine lodgings at the West End,
where he was supposed to be a bachelor,
and that he wentinto fashionable society
while my poor mother and me lived OBJ
scurely. He was a profligate and rogue,
but he had an air of fashion that awak-
ened my boyish admiration, and aroused
my mothers affectionate pride in him.
She was always pleading to be introduc-
ed to his relatives, and to have her son
publicly acknowledged. But my father
always put her off. saying that he was
not yet ready. Worn out and despair
ing, my mother died when was ten
years old"
Again the wind shrieked past, again
he little vessel lurched, the sea sweep
ing her deck.
The captain screamed his orders to
his men, and for a few minutes disorder
reigned.
IA nasty bit of weather :" said Low
der. "And a bad sky -
eyes, but I've seen as bad, returned
Tressilian. 1--WE shall make port all
right, never fear We must be well on
toward the Cape di Gallo. And it's only
seven miles from the Cape to Palermo.
'But the seven miles in this storm are
worse than seventy in good weather.
These coasts are dangerous, Tressilian. "
Lowder shuddered as he surveyed sea
and sky.
"But about your father, Jasper p said
Tressilian, who had become deeply in
terested In his companion S story. "What
did he do after your mothers death p
81 remained at the old lodgings with
our single old servant a month or more,
my father visiting me several times, and
expressing anxiety as to what he should
do with me A week after my mother S
death, he told me that his brother was
dead. A month later, his father was
killed by being thrown from his horse.
Ny falher came into riches and honors
by these deaths. At last, deciding to
rid himself of me, he took me down to
Brighton, to my old grandmother. Her
sons were dead she had given up keep
ing dodgers, and was grown miserly. He
promised her five hundred pounds a year
to keep me, and to keep also the secret
of my paternity, sOlemnly promising to
acknowledge me some day as his son
and heir. The old woman agreed to
carry out his wishes. She would have
done anything for money. I never saw
my father again. went to school, grew
up, and at the age of twenty-one came
into my grandmother money, the fruits
of years Of saving, she dying at that
time. My father had deliberately aban-
doned me. did not know. where to
seek him, if had wished to- / took my
money and came abroad / had been
} two years on the Continent, and had
spent my little fortune when l met you.
The rest you know
can odd, romantic storyl But why
! did your father abandon you ?
oThat he might be freed of encum-
branee to make a grand marriage. From
what nay grandmother said at different
times, / conclude that my father was in
love with titled lady before my moth
er's death. No doubt he married this
lady. If he lives, this lady's son may
be his acknowledged heir. My father
has utterly disowned the son Of his hasty
ill-starred marriage. / have a fancy that
| shall meet him some day" and
Jasper's brow darkened to deeper black
ness. However, l stand no chance OF
ever receiving justice at his hands"
"What is your fathers name, Jasper?'
asked Tressilian,
Lowder's face darkened He bit his
lip savagely.
''NVhaf ], have told you about myself ]
learned from my own observation, or
from chance words of my parents and
grandmother. My mothers maiden
name was Jeanette Lowder. At our
London lodgings, my father bore the
name Of LOwdeF. / don't know his real
name, but should know his face any
where, although / have not seen him in
thirteen years. NY mother was actual
ly married, Tressilian, but never heard
my fathers name. The clergyman who
married my mother was dead the wit
nesses also. When my grandmother
was dying she tried to tell me the story.
She had put it off too long. All that
could understand of her mumblings was
the name of Devereux. l shall never
forget that tname-DEvERAUx 7 Prob
ably that was my fathers name-my
own rightful name. But as / should
never hnd him if sought him, and as
he would rePulse me if did find him, /
stand no chance of inheriting his prop
erty. He may be dead. He may have
other sons who have succeeded him. 1t
IS all mystery, but the prominent truth
/ is that am an outcast, poor, disowned
and friendless.
| He leaned over the bulwark, the spray
I = -. L. - Al