The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1872-12-28

that Halsey had already resolved to
marry the girl. He was of age, had
taken his degree, and would be inde-
pendent of his profession, having six
hundred pounds a year of his own
This was enough for comfort, and could
be accounted wealth by living abroad
On the other hand, Halsey had parents
very well connected, and aspiring to
see him do great things in life. It was
not, to be expected they would give
their consent to his marriage with a
girl i'll Mara's eQuivocal position; in
deed, it was certain they would endea-
Vor to thWart such a match by all the
means their alarm and Indignation
could suggest, It was this that worried
HalseY. Week after week passed, and
he had not yet proposed to Mara; nor
had she, on her side, given him or us
the slightest clew to her history. She
never talked of the past-never alluded
to it by the slightest reference to peo-
pie she had known, events she had wit
messed, or places she had visited. Yet
she did not appear to be acting with a
settled purpose at cOncealment. Had
she just recovered from d terrible fever,
which had Obliterated all the pictures
i'll her memory, she could not have ac-
ted otherwise than she was doing.
When q man is placed in such circum-
| stances, and has three friends at hand,
he is generally favored with triple
tOngued advice of the most impressive
| sort about the Tashness of committing
| himself, the folly of hasty marriages,
and SO on. Halsey got no such advice
from us-nOt even from Cloves, who
was never aVerse to showing one the
seamy side of schemes. Each of us
we'll knew that, had it been his luck to
be loved by Mara as Halsey was loved,
he would have Overridden all the
scruples, cautions, and relatives in the
world; and, this being so, we should
have considered it uncandid to tender
cOupsels we. ourselves should never
have followed. Therefore, when, one
August evening, Halsey came in and
told us quietly that the matter was
settled-that Mara had agreed to be his
wife, and that he would push the mar
riage as promptly as pOssible-we re-
garded the conclusion as natural and
fitting, and held out our hands in congrat-
ulatiOn. ;.'. ~
We had all-Mara included-been out
for a sail this afternoon and, on land
ing, Halsey had, as usual, been left to
accompany Mara to her door. From
various indicatiOns-of which a great
er timidity than ordinary on Mara's
part was chief-We had guessed that a
cOnsummation was iminent; and on
our return we had not waited dinner
for Halsey. He came back later, how
ever, than we had expected. 1t was
near ly ten o'clock; and he found us
leaning out OF our bOW-WindOw which
frOnted the sea, and smoking. He took n
seat afterW had shaken hands with him,
asked for water, drank off two glasses.
and then, by the moons light, which
shOne on his face, we saw that he was
pale and looked excited. Here let it be
sad, that Halsey was nearly six feet
high, and propOrtionately strong. He
had mass of brown hair, and q preco-
c1ous beard, lnXIlriant and Golden: Int
he was not a slouchy kind of giant
one OF those rough, human NewfOund-
lands. He was, on the contrary, very
careful about his dress, and not slOven
ly OF, lazy in his conversation. Talk
about business, book work, or sport.
drew ont all the shrewdness in him:
but IN the matters where the heart was
involved Il he acted impulsigely as an
Italian sss-,s@tE, Tf-! .~l@-& fsr5f. a-t..-.
9 Yes; we must get the maria se over
a65Qlaee,gthe exclaimed abruptly, after
he fad been silently stroking his fore
head a minute or two. "There is no
st'Ssahe OF my people ever consenting; :;
license, aI1tr1.ssss-.sa1rn .to-morroxy fnr f.7 -
on Thursday 1wi ,,a 's
"Ts there really no hope WITH y5b'RiS3 III
Deople?" asked Cloves. Cloves was
Slight, dark and deliberate. If he had
been in Halsey7s case, he would have
married Mara without hesitation but he
| would have asked his parents leave fol
FORMS sake. He was going to be a
clergyman. zszsf-.44 ~ .E+@
:" Yes; it's as we'll to give ones people
fair play, suggested Merry, drawing
his cigar from his lips. :" wouldn't
listen to them, if they made objections
but you know how much. better Women
like it when they can be married with.
out secrecy, with friends, bridesmaids
and all that sort of thing"
eff could marry her before all Eng
land, and with twenty bishops behinC
the altar-rails, Iwotlld d0it!p exclaimed
Halsey vehemently. "Do you thlnl
it doesn't wiring my heart to MARRY tht
little thing astif I were ashamed of it
But what is the use OF bringing all m.
Epeople down on her to perseeute her ant
make her miserable? You fellow
know Mara, from the first day yol
heard of her coming innOeently to 1
: strange place, and trying to get I
situation without having any recon-
mendation to offer but her own truth
full face and honest voice; from tha
first day you felt there could be no ha11
; in the girl and when you set your eye
on her, she seemed to you an ange
, which she is. But what is the use G
trying to prove to my people that
They would bully me and her; and, if
!. told them her history, they woul
think me mad for believing it,
He continued for a time more in th
) strain, and then confided us MaTa's hi
: tory. which she had told him that afte1
: noon, "crying," said he, !" as if her lit
3 heart would break, and hiding her fax
| in her hands, as If it were a crime 81
t were confessing to. - Mara's motht
{ had never been married. She had bee
/ I a seamstress, and when deserted by h,
+ wears in comfort she had resumed ht
: old calling, and supported herself al
q child by her needle. BY and by Ma
i had been able to earn her living by h
h needle, too; but at her mothers deaf
!. rich falnily--perhaps related to b
e father-had taken her under their pF
e lection, finished her education, and 81
" en- her q comfortable home under the
roof. She remained with him until 81
" discovered that the master0f the hous
e whose wife was her chief benefaetfeS
. and who was himself an honorable IN:
v and father Of a family, was in love wi
!. her. Then, foreseeing thatif she staid s
n could only he a cause of s0rrOW and di
Q grace, she had fled, leaving a note b
t. hind her, to say that she would nev
d return, because she had been nnhapI
= in the house, and was going. to seek