The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-01-06

caution on your part. 1 might be
rival. prompted by motives of Jealousy
Here is the letter, which, however,
fear may giveyoupain. Evil tongues,
he continued, as the widow took til
document and ran her eyes rapid
over it-"evil tongues have eviientl
traduced you. Alas the best and fail
est cannot escape SANDER! Indeed, til
greater the merit, the more virulen
the envy" ......F.
Evidently genuine. Thank you,
said sthe widow, returning the lette
with extraordinary composure, consid
ering how she was treated in it, an
then once more fixing her gaze upo
her boot, which she fidgeted about, sh
relapsed into silence and meditation
AT length she raised her eyes slowly t
the lawyers, and looking at him quiet
ly, but very fixedly, she said: mi
Fiel, you have come to me treating thi
affair as pure matter of business, an,
therefore l will not speak to you of m,
affections; it would prolong this inter
view and probably you would not un
derstand me. 1 will tell of the marriag
engagement between myself and MI
Thomas LObyear, then, precisely as
it were mere commercial transaction
In order to fulfil my part, have lef
India, where had a home, and hav
come to England to live on my meagr
pension. For all his threats l cOnside
it very unlikely that Mr.. Lobyear vii
really disinherit his only child"
Pardon my interrupting you, ma
dam nothing is more probable. Th,
ardour with which he pursues his fl,
vorite science amounts to mania, and
fear that he would be hardly sorry fo
an excuse to devote his entire fortun,
to the building and foundation of ,
museum
"There is a certain force in what yOl
say" replied the widow calmly; "ant
1 do not conceal from myself that il
would be very great misfortune in.
deed for both of US If Mr.. Thomas Lob.
year were to be deprived of his income
upon our marriage. Still, it would bt
worse for me to break it of, and remain
here, far from my friends, penniless.' y
Nay, madam, not peDniless some
compensation would he your due"
LHgetC- Veaeres Cupidencsgue = il
they didn't come presently to fair up
aDd-down bargaining! The matter
was finally settled thus. Mrs. Monta-
cute was To start for New York by the
next mail, Mr.. Fiel taking and paying
for her passage; she was to write q
farewell letter To young LObyear, break
ing the match, and keeping silence
about where she was going to. Mr..
Fiel was to accompany her OH board
the ship, and then to place i'm her hands
the sum of one thousand pounds.
When this treaty, with +" No Trlistn
for its basis, was concluded, Mr.. Ficl
took his leave; and as he stepped into
the street, Jack Horner alone could ap-
prcciate his sensations. Never had SO
delicate il case been so skilfully ham
died. Three days afterwards, Mr..
Fiel escorted the fair widow to Liver.
pool accompanied her on board the
American steamer; stayed with her till
the last moment, gave eher the thousand
pounds, and returned to the bosom OF
his family, having himself sealed aud
posted a most satisfactory letter of fare
well to poor young Lobyear, which was
put in his hands unfastened, that he
might assure himself that the contents
were according to treaty.
Next day the deserted lover came TO
him in a fury-storming, upbraiding,
him to carry him where his
charmer had flown to; threatening
murder and suicide when the lawyer
remained obdurate. Finally he rushed
away, declaring that he would never
speak to him again.
+" Yes, you will, when you want mo-
ney," said Mr.. Fiel, as the other banged
the door behind him.
He was right. In less than fort
night young Lobyear returned, pale,
calm, and naughty, and coldly inti-
mated that he was about to return to
the East, and required funds. After
some discussion about necessary eX-
penses, passage-money, outfit, what
his father usually allowed him, ETC.,
MIR. Fiel let him have five hundred
pounds, and saw him depart with in
Unite relief-for now the edifice of his
was crowned. Commits
stoned to separate young couple, he
had despatched one to the east, the other
% the west. What success could be
more complete He had always esti-
mated his own acuteness very highly,
,ut now he felt as il he should "strike
he stars with his sublime top" as a
friend of ours once translated
/ familiar line of Horace. This state
# extreme self-satisfaction lasted some
months, during which he looked for
ward to the letter of thanks and dmir-
ng approval which he expected from
In. LObyear the father.
1t came mail sooner than he eXpec-
ed. One morning, on entering bis f.
ice, he found two foreign letters await
ng him-one from an unknown cor
the other i'm the familiar
of his client in Japan. He
pened this letter eagerly, and prepar-
d for praise. \
"DEAR SIR cantt make out the
nearing of all this rigmarole you have
written to me about a son and mar
iage. had a son once, lieutenant
II the - tn, but the poor boy fell vic
i'm to the climate of China ten wears
go. You refer to letter of nline,, da-
ed from Hong kong, and it is true that
was there about the time you mentioll
,tit certainly I never wrote to you du-
ing my stay. If you arc in your sen
es, you have been grossly imposed
Ipon by some rogue or another. | wish
-ou would have the goodness to call
Ilpn Pinum of the British Museum,
md tell him ''-ctc. The rest alfabout
,ugs and beetles. -... a. Il
Mr.. Ficl staggered TO his desk, took
nut the letter he had last received, and
il with this present one: the
initiation of the handwriting was cun-
lingly executed, but Il palpablc forge
y. Had he entertained the ghost of a
uspicion at the time, he could not
lave mistaken it. 4
1t was a good hour before he partial
y recovered from the effects Of this
low, and then, in Il bewildered, me-
hanical way, he opened the second
Dreign letter 1t was dated from New
iork, and ran thus. a,.s f.t 4
SII-When | was Il clerk in your
flice, you tried To get too much out
# me, but managed TO turn the tables,
nd pay myself for time and trouble |
in your behalf-that was one !
D me. You caught me and got me
wo years-that was one to you. With |
he aid of my clever little wife, 1 have
rawn about fifteen hundred and eigh-
y pounds out of you, winning two !
vents out of three. Never mind: it /
vas Improbable that I, who alone
new the details of your business rela-
ions with Mr.. L.obyear, should have
hanced upon that gentleman in Hong
Ong, and procured a specimen of his i
and i'm the walnut-stain-
Il young man, with jet-black hair and
you could hardly be expec-
ID to recognize the fair, smooth. faced,
Tom Scott.-P s. Love
D Sarah. | regret that we could not
Iuare matters by matrimonial aili-
nee, but bigamy is not one of my lit
Q paInpS--at prpseut -