The Portland daily press., 1872-04-20

Ruckmann hint of her existence. Only
look how she is going on with himv'
Poor girl! she was indeed, as your dear
mother in her impressive way described it,
going on-whispering, flirting, receiving his
| attentions with such sweet smiles of encour-
agement! 1t was in truth time to open her
mind to the melancholy fact that she, Ger
| trude Hickman, could not, in the normal
order of fittings, hope to be Major Compton's
wife. s -,-
| "My dearest Gerty," l whispered to her
the moment found my friend alone-(I hat
| ed the task before me, and being young and
foolish, my heart was beating fast), shave
| you heard the news about Major Compton ?'
She answered me with provoking CON-
| posture:
| what about him? Is anything the mat
| ter? He was here talking to me three min
utes ago, and'-with coquettish smile
Twill probably three minutes hence be here
again."
N"oh, don't talk sop said, excitedly;
''but you won't when you know al"
Know what? Ny dear Bessie what
| fuss you are inr'
''And so will you be-" 1 exclaimed, little
pettishly, fear, for her way of taking the
matter provoked me, "when you hear that
Major Compton is a married man."
Greatly TO my surprise and dismay, Gerry
at this announcement laughed contemptu-
ously.
$50 people say" she rejoined carelessly:
but, my poor Bessie, you viii learn in time
that you cannot always judge correctly from
appearances. But here he is" she whisper
ed; mot word more! / will tell you every
thing tomorrow"
This she did, and the everything
amounted to this, namely, that Burford Com
ton had, by his own acceunt providentially
discovered that an infomality in his mar
81 H.
| OF his case-was simply detestable, empower
ed him at any moment to free himself from
his hated bonds, and unite himself, should he
SO choose, to a more congeuial partner.
81 never heard of more odious woman p
said Gertrude, on whom the details of the
miseries by which the handsome Majors
conjugal life was embttered had evidently
made deep impression. ''She is a foreign
| er, and has not, he says, single nice Eng
lish habit. And then she is so ill-tempered,
and so dreadfully unfeelng. Their poor little
boy was lost-is supposed to have fallen into
the Alster-just the very day before the great
frost set in. Major Compton says that he
was in despair, but that she took it SO coolly
Even when she was told that it might be
weeks, or even months, before the poor
child's body could-thanks to thaw-be
sought for, and possibly recovered, she seems
to have shown no signs of EMOTION
"And where is Mrs. Compton now % ask
ed, feeling, must own--so apt are we to be
run away with by strongly urged testimony,
| especially when that testimony comes from
the lips of one who has a right to be well in
formed on the matter-a considerable leaning
in the way of sympathy toward this ill-mated
Englishman.
81 don't mountaineering somewhere, 1 be-
| lieve. Major Compton is quite sure she is
running him into debt; but he shrinks, poor
man, SO sensitively from taking the necessary
steps to restrain her. 1t really seems a sad
case. And he has such kind heart; and
actually cannot live, he says, without sympa-
thy and affection" VI q - = =
| After this, Major Compton-of whose mar
ried life, by the way, very little was known in
Hamburg-became frequent visitor, both at
our house and the one where Gertrude Ruck-
mann temporarily resided. We all liked him;
indeed he was universally popular and socie-
| ty was apparently unanimous in the opinion
that the lady who had been so little known in
the city--indeed, she had only resided therein
for one short fortnight, the fortnight proceed
ing the loss of her little boy wasthe one
OF the two who was solely and entirely in
fault. The excellence, the perfection of his
temper, and the kindness of Burford Comp
| toms heart spoke in manner not to be mis-
taken in every feature of his handsome face.
There could be no mistake about it, les ab-
| sents ont toujours tort; and Mrs. Compton
or Countess Fenigstein, as her husband said
she insisted, notwithstanding his great OBJ
lection to her doing so, ON being caIled-was
reprobated and abused accordingly.
| Well, to cut long story short, Gertrude,
| impressed with the belief that the Major was
in reality single man, grew as attached to
him as her nature was capable of being
That she would one day-when the truth
concerning his marriage with his supposed
wife should be made apprentice led to the
altar by her fascinating admirer, the infatua-
ted girl firmly believed; and it was when this
blissfui dream was at its height that the frost
broke up, the passage of the Elbe became open
for steamers, and the hour of our departure
drew nigh. But before we took our leave of
the pleasant sunny Jungfernstied, we were
made eognizant of the fact that the search in
tho now unfrozen waters of the Alster for the
bodies of those whose remains had been for
months locked up therein, was taking place.
Many were taken out, but among them, much
TO the surprise of Hamburg society. was not a
httle slx-year-old corpse of Major Compton's
son. He, during that trying season of sus-
pense, remained in his own apartments: hut
| 1t leaked out that his state of excitement was
most intense, and public sympathy with
his sufferings was proportionately great 1t
mad hardly begun to subside when our party
something to my regret for we left many
kind friends behind us-found ourselves steam
ing rapidly away in the John Bull to Lon
don. ...-t liz. ..--.. -.-... =
And now, my dears," continued, sscomes
the plth and marrow of story which you
have, fear, found lacking in interest, but
| which have undertaken to tell in order that
| you may see the advantage of looking before
you leap, or, in other words, of not being car
ried away by your impulses.
had not been more than a week in Lon
| don before l received letter. in an unknown
but foreign hand, signed Marie Compton, nee
Fenigstein, requesting me in meek yet urgent
terms to meet her, at any hour which it pleas
cd me to appoint, in Kensington Gardens
You may imagine my surprise. For a short
time hesitated as to whether or not should
accede to this strange request, but curiosity
got the better of every other feeling, and I
went"
"And what was she like9 O, aunt Bessie
how oddly you must have feltr'
oddly, indeed, and good deal ashamed
OF myself, too, when l looked at the sweet,
gentle face and heard the plaintive, uncom-
planning words of the woman who had come
to meet me-
-. gu will forgive me, won't you? You look
Mnq, and you will tell me how can make
my .Enghsh husband love me?''
cho inis was the burden of her teous song.
que nad neard that he had been much with
| us, and with Mile. Buchanan, and sbe bo oval
TO learn from me how, with ali her love for
him, she had failed to win his tenderness
There was no jealousy, no word of command
of him; only a breaking heart clineinq 70 =
last and well-nigh desperate hope? Wb.s
could say to herP How preach TO that gen.
tie creature on the text of her great f31Ivp
She had given up all for love, and what was
left to her in exchange? Simply nothing!
We talked together long, and she seemed
to take such comfort from my sympathy, that
we parted like friends Of years. Afterward |
learned that her appearance, her words and
manner, had not belied her character. She
was, at the time speak of ESQ arch dissem-
pier was the Major, staying with his people,
VINO iuly recognized her sweet and amiable
qualities; while the child-ah, am doubtful
whether she was not in fault there, doing evil
mat good might come-had never been lost
az all, but was taken by his anxious mother,
v VINO feared for him the effects of evil exam
me- me .ae example of parent who, while car
tesch;sn Tor the boy, amused himself by
soni m suS All, hers was a hard life. moor
SUI, anu certainly she acted for the hest !,
And how did it endP MI iii s sho pes',
to him" and Are they D ban sae 60 BACK Ct,
were the questions with which a Fl .h n4wro
to hear the sequel, was sim,,.ai lheir haste