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

AS he is not of age yet, I suppose
, he must have been," replied her hus-
, band, continuing to flow. t
"Was he educatedin England before
he went out to his father?,
~ don't know. Mr.. Lobyear never
mentioned him before. have written
regularly to advise him how his affairs
stood, and he has from time to time
briefly acknowledged my letters, de-
claring himself satisfied, telling me to
do what I thought best, saying where
he wished his remittances sent, and
now and then requesting me to under
take certain commissions for him con-
nected with his pursuits, but not at all
NTH my business. However, as he
has always behaved very handsomely,
have done my best to Oblige him,
and mean to do so still, though this
present job is rather delicate affair,
and quite out of my line: what I call a
regular bit of diplomacy"
"AhW
"Yes. 1t seems that the young man
has inherited his fathers fancy for a
rowing life. though not his scientific
tastes. He has been living in Borneo
for some years, sailing about with ex-
petitions against the pirates, and l
don't what all. Mr.. Lobyear, senior,
went to China from Japan q year and
half ago; and his son joined him at
Hong kong, where he intimated de-
sire to 60 to England for while, and
have q spell Of comfortable living.
The father was willing enough to let
him do so, and gave him q letter of
credit to me, and he started in one of
the tea-sailing ships. But after he had
sailed, Mr.. LObyear, senior, received
information from a friend that his
sons principal reason for desiring to
visit England was the hope of meeting
with an adventures, whose acquain-
ance he had made at Calcutta, and
whom, in the ardour of first passion,
he desired to marry. The lady had
other views at the time; but had since
smiled by letter on his suit; and she is
a most undesirable wife for him. This
news having come to me by steamer,
has of course long preceded the young
ster's actual arrival; and my mission
is to prevent the marriage. This can
be done with comparative ease while |
he is a minor; but he will come of age
| in eight months, and it would he poor
that time. hope to break it off alto |
gether.'
"Exactly. And don't you think that !
an innocent, accomplished, and attrac- |
tive girl, his infatuation for this crea-
ture would the sooner be got overw
We'll, well, send for Sarah if you |
like: she would be leaving anyhow at |
the end of the quarter. Only, don't |
l,ut her up to thinking this youngster q |
very great catch, for his father may /
have other children and older ones, for /
aught know. Or he may spend all |
his money in building pagodas, or |
aquariums, or black-beetle museums |
or in fitting out expeditions to discover
the South Pole, which really ought to
have q turn, after all the fuss made
about the North. | am not by any |
means sure that it is good thing,
Martha.n
As Mr.. Fiel uttered these last words,
he looked at his watch, and then took
cigar out of his case; whereupOn Mrs.
Fiel brushed his hat, and brought it to
him, together with light. Something
like wife! And ere man could cry:
Conductor hOld!' the City Atlas
had devOured him up.
1t is one thing for sailing-ship to
be telegraphed, and another for it to
arrive in port. A heavy gale tantalis-
ed the crew and passengers of the Chip
Chou, and it was week before Mr..
Fiel and his clients son met, by which
time the accomplished Sarah was safe
ly established under the paternal roof;
for her mother thought the lawyer ex-
aggerated the chances against the
young mans inheriting good fortune,
and stuck to her little intrigue. 1t is
certain that she herself over-estimated
her daughters attractions. Sarah was
good girl enough, but commonplace,
and not beautiful: q pallet hardly cal
culated to drive out another very firm
ly fixed in the pop-gun of a lover.
However, the designing mother and
unwilling daughter had fair chance,
for young Lobyear accepted the offer of
hospitality made him by Mr.. Fiel, and
established himself in their house until
he could look about him. Travel in
hot climates had matured the young
man, whom you would have taken for
five-and-twenty. 1t had likewise tam
ned him and his face and hands were
SO dark, that Mrs. Fiel was induced to
make inquiries about the nationality of
his mother; but as her husband had
never known anything of Mr.. Lobyear
before he put his affairs in his hands,
on going out to the East, and was even
ignorant, until quite lately, of the exis-
tence of this son, she could not get
much satisfactory information out of
him. So she concluded that Mr.. Lob {
year seniors oriental tastes We're not
confined to the fauna and flora, and
the deep blackness of the young mans {
hair, eyebrows, and long, dropping,
silky mOustache certainly tended to
confirm her theory. His manners were I
not very good. There was an evident
restraint about him and if in an un- ,
guarded moment he gave nature her
head, he became bOiSterOus and vulgar.
He was very careful, however, and
only broke at once or twice, recovering
himself almost Immediately. He
seemed to find that the safest plan was
to spoon Sarah, and devoted himself to
her so assiduously the first evening,
that Mr.. Fiel listened TO his wife's
statement Of pros and cons with seri- ,
BUSINESS that night.
az have no doubt his father means
we'll 10y him at present." said he, "Or
he would hardly show so much anxiety
about his contracting an unfavOrablc
marriage, rs to give me almost carte
blanche in the cost of preventing it.
Neither would he name SO handsome ,
a sum as sixty pounds a month for ex-
penses, if he intended to leave him PEN +,
niless at his death. But this is all con- (
lecture"
But rather strong, surely, dear; and
he is certainly smittcn with Sarah,"
said Mrs. Fiel.
"Don't you bc too sure of that. Very ]
likely he carries OH with everything
in petticoat, or out of one, in those
Borneo parts, that he meets; or il may
be that he is throwing dust i'm my eyes, ,
to cover his intrigue with his old Cal :
cutta friend.n /,
Mr.. Fiel felt it 10 be so important to I
prevent the young man giving him the
slip, that he left his other business to '
the clerks, and took upon him the of /;
flee of Snowman, whereby he made ac-
quaintance with many London sights
that he had never seen befOre-the in-
terror of st Paul's, to-wit; the top of '
the Monument; Madame Tussaud's
waX-wOrks; and certain bewildering
circular pictures, apparently seen from &
the inside, as if one were figure re- F,
presented, called panOramas-a of {
which very much interested the young 6
man, who nevertheless owned that, ON
the whole, he preferred Calcutta. Men a
ton of that city gave the lawyer an q
opening: he inquired if there were {
much society there-pleasant society?