Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1871-02-09

stepfather stood by looking at her, afiS
| joking very affably for SO great a man.
When the holidays came being al
4 pphanp and my guardians being resi-
/ dent in Florence-Lewis persuaded hi
Mother to invite me for a Fortnight or s,
to their country house. 1t was here d
saw the Lewises and their might,
f4fiends in oall their glory. The, house
was an ancient one, which her step
father had given. to MRS. Lewis as amar
riage lpresente and which, he helped he
to beautify, experimenting the cultiva
] ton of, the fruits and flowers, thef feliin,
of the timber, the planting out of thl
| shrubberies, and the repairs and adorn
1ihsentslofs the house himself. They wert
i0I picture btegether-4when he was shut
\ Mngs about in shisD grey dnessing-gown
loaHd she was in her white morning robe
with her abundant hair floating about
her-so llonga that she could sthrovS Il
tANund Lewis, and almost smother him
with it--Yhich made him look very
foolish, I thought.l She pettednewis in
| the most9ridiculous style, and made him
dress like p pageCn q btrlesque. 10 me
| she was almost as affectionate as to heI
own son and when told her howl was
left an orphan i'm my fourth year, and
how / had no relation in the world, a
nuSon nv hand. Mich abe was holding
while she was talking to me. She, said
/ must let her be mother to me; and
E.eI4e called up Lewis and told him, in her
Serious, iInpetuous way, that he was to
look upon me as q brother, and be. al
WAYS kind to me!ho ii'i7a1 Rs 70 7liiif
Mrs. Lewis was an iindulgent mother;
but she was strict too, as her step-father
directed her to be, and his word was, to
her, law in everything. Lewis went to
bed at nine, and so did while was at
Sthe castle. We begged half an hour IS
grace sometimes, but she WOULD never
yield-even when she was in the middle
of song. She sang divinely, and Lewis
loved to hear his mother, Sometimes
he would keep me; awake for "a whole
hour after we wer in. bed, listening to
Mrs. Lewis s voice in, the drawing room.
/ was obliged to. keep awake, being his
guest; but this shows how ,ipconsiderate
he could be. -, ..s.,,,I tFytREsf ,
He had begged Mrs. Lewis to allow
.him to give me one of his Shetland
ponies on my birthdayi I; and he had SUR
prised me with it, with bran new saddle
and bridle which WAS very good, ~ am
quite free 10 own ;but he might have
remembered that ] liked fishing much
better. than ridingj and that I should
have been more. pleased with a hand
> One day Mrs. Lewis, step father seeing
me on, the terrace alone called me to
him, and began to question me on the
life that my guardian had projected for
me. When l told him that i had not
heard from them for q year, and that 1
had not the least idea of their inten-
tions in regard to me, he pulled my ear,
and muttered, +" Poor lad poor lad r
this is the way the world is managed. y
And so the subject dropped, and Lewis
and I, at the end of the holidays, re-
ltufned to school ~ frae.., 10 90 d,
= sINIisfortunesl overlook me when / was
sofii the point of entering at the Middle
Temple My guardians died and to my
horror and amazement ! was informed
that their affairs were involved, to my
utter ruin,s They had speculated with
my money, and out of %. good fortune
which my parents had leftlmeII had
something less than three hundred
pounds left. I communicated my dis
stress to Lewis and he sympathized with
,me HeFyould have been "a stone ehsd
he neklesk,I sesinR how iihtimats Hs
had been from our early boyhood,. Mrs.
Lewis had been for some time in bad
health. Her great stepfather had died
loyerwhelmed with ruin in a great law
SUIT and she had the castle, no longer /;
and young Lewis could only keep one
horse now, and was obliged to give him
self fewer airs. The wreck was more
than respectable but it was wreck /
was among those who did not desert
them, and did not disdain to ride in the
modest broughann to which poor Mrs.
Lewis was reduced, and with but one
man servant to wait at table. Lewis
never forgot my birthday and Mrs.
Lewis was good enough to, insist, when
she heard of my misfortunes, that !
should let her. pay, my Temple fees, and
that /. should accept couple of rooms
saw, / expect, that / exercised very
SfslDok churlish and refuse especially
when Lewis Joined his entreaties to
those Of his nnothet? 1t wanted no lit
tie moral courage, however, to keep
with the Eewises, although they loaded
me with attentions, because people
talked about them in the neighborhood (;
and the tradesfien sneered and ieered
Hwlien the plain little brougham rolled
mast their doors, or and Lewis walked
home to dinner. 4 had no other home,
however, and hardly a farthing in, my
pocket. As / have said, I was without
a relation in the world But LIDO, take
aalittle credit to mysef If for my pluck in
holding to the wreck; for-I can make
no secret of it'll never liked Lewis.
Mrs. Lewis paid all my expenses while
she lived, just as she paid those of her
own child. 1 could hardly see any
thing in which she made a difference
between us and when there was any
slight advantage in Lewis share he made
it up to me, for / was shrewd enough ia
! seeS that he could not do without me-
/ Hewas full of dreams. He was forever
talking about his uncle and the grand
days, and whether he could not redeem
the fortunes of the family. 1 laughed
at him, confess, and advised him, with
! the small fortune that remained, to pui
himself in some good business in the
city. He shrugged his shoulders, ano
|, would not hear of it, but went dream
| ing on and I believe his mother encour
aged him. He pinched himself to em
.oIox lawyers, who were to reopen the
/ old horrible law suit, and win back the
tens of thousands of pounds and the
old castle. We were to walk on the ole
terrace once more, and smoke our cigars
again in the familiar old wineries. L
was sad to see the infatuation which
/ possessed Lewis like his blood, not t.
say the vanity. He was not unmindfu
Of me, must say, in all his dreams. ]
i was to have my share of the glory
when he got it. The cause came agair
and again before the courts. l hac
been called to the bar meantime. and
I Lewis had insisted that should be EN-
| ployed, and that my brief should bt
handsomely, marked. ii 1t was busines.
to me, and any business to a young bar