National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1872-01-26

u
through the gathering night, above th'
wild howlig OF the wind, above the bois
ferrous roaring OF the waves, comes with
drcd significance the dull heavy boom o
that terrible gun.
4" can't make Morton ont Mt all lately
he's so different from what he used to he
You know what swell he always was al
running and footbsll, and all that sort d
thing. Well, be has given il up altogether
and, although he used to have such hofroI
Of gambling, know there was some I'M
commonly heavy play went on at his rooms
two or three tunes last term"
"Ycs, poor fellow; it's the old story
Lydi. dc per onnes-you know the res I
Only | don't fancy Sybaris always find
the moose fit very comfortably now he ba'
got it fairly round his neck, and when il
gals him worse than u.ual he lets out
Which means, | suppose beipp t"""'
lotod a.. he ~ engaged, and does not
always quite relish it.
Something very near it. II isn't that
he isn't fond enough of the girl; il it were,
my 'Lydian quotation wouldn't apply
hut Il ere's screw loose somewhere. lie
iancies she doesn't care overmuch about
him, believe You seem deIci0usly in
noccnt on the subject. thought every
one. or at least all MortOn's intimatcs,
knew more or less about it. ! don't pro-
tcs> to be very learned on the point myself;
but as far as | can make out, Master Her
bert, who had known Miss TEemarne O
saw you staring at her in church ON Sun
day, Charley, SO | needn't describe her TO
YOU down here for Years without finding
anything wonderfully attractive in her,
suddenly discovered, on meeting her in a
London ballroom, that she was the most
charming girl in existence. OF course. as
they were such old acquantances he was
on escort duty pretty frequently after he
had once made this discovery, without
exciting much attention in the minds Of
cbalsrones, and, az luck would have it i
fancy the luck was of his own making,
tho ugh he chanced TO meet her at good
many places OF amusement to which he
had not accompanied her. The result was
that before she returned home they were
regularly engaged, with everybody's con
sent, as they'll both have lots Of money.
81 don't see what there is in all this
to occasion Morton's reckless fits If. A.
you say, be is fond of Miss Tremayne--"
"Ah, there's the rub It's because he
Is so fond Of hcr-aftcra a fashion, (Thesc
last few words were added in somewhat
contcmptuous tone. 4" You sec, when he
came down here in the first vacation
after the engagement, he was a great deal
oftener at her house, and was consrqentlv
brought much more frequently into con-
tact with her family thaa he had formerly
been and gradually v-whethe rightly or
wrongly | don't pretend to say-he seems
to have got hold Of the impresson that bis
fair fr crf wNs by no means fully rcspon-
Sive to his devotion. ! suppose man is
more wide-awake to that sort of thing.
when he's very far gone himself but, at
any rate, IN this case there was certain
fellow in some government Office
in London-who was alwa, 5 coming down
here on some excuse or the other and
Morton took it into is head that, so lar
as Mis-. Tremayne's inclinations were con
cerned, the said cousin, despite his con
tinual state OF dire impecuniosity, need
only have urged his suit to have won her
What her respected apa might
have had to say on tnc subject is altogether
another matter. However. you know
what fellow Herbert is--how he always
sticks to a thing that he has once begun
so it won't seem eXtraol dinary to you
tGat he should avoid all scenes, or eXplana-
tions, or anything OF that sort but say
nothing at all about his suspicious, and
simply make up bis mind to go IN and win
The girls love | don't fancy, though
hat he has succeeded quite to his own
satisfaction up to the present; 50 that it's .
Ineligible enough that he should get
bit dlSheartened sometimes. and then not .
'onfine his actions within the limits OF her .
,pprobation. 1t : the old story, a woman .
1t the bottom of every mans ruin. whether .
IS moral or material. And now, as I've .
old you all know about it, I'm off for
smoke. Come along
And the palties to the foregoing colloquv .
two oung men Of the ordinary social .
ype ol their class-strollcd off to the
in the parsonage at IIinch-
h.
Both there and at the "great house"
he,e were guests that ChristmastIde
Besides that family circle which the
entle. kindly old vicar ever loved to
.ather around him at that season of peace
nd good will, his son, Herbert Morton.
Third Trinity man, whose name rs equal
Y a tower of strength in the cricket -iiel1
nd on the river, Lad brought down to
Ass the vacation with him that couple
/ college cbums whose conversation we
ave just recorded and to Hinchclif had
Il
lavne's nephew, To spend what would
robahly be tue last Christmas before his
ouSln's marriage. with the uncle who had ,
cen the guardian OF his orphan youth,
nd with the woman whom he loved For
'hatcver may have been the foundation
,r Mortol 5 idea that his own position in |
liss Tremayne's affections was sumew hat
larried by prediction on her part for ,
or cousin, there would be no doubt what
yer that the latter was paSSionatelv at :
lcbed to the playmate of his boyhood =,
wa, perhaps, natural that it should be !
,, and that as the pretty child, as he t
r>t knew her, became transformed into
le beautiful woman. whose beauty was ,
le admiration OF all the country side,
nd the envy Of all those MALIGNANT dow .
rcrs who had daughters of their own to =
arry. and who grudged its possessor the h
image which she obtained so universally 8
I'd treated so lightly, what was originally
mere hoyish passion should have kept G
ice with her growth and matured with
ears. But With Edward Tremayne pride n
as as rOtent a motive as love; and pride 4
-eyented him from seeking a marriage u
hich would be impossible without hls n
lcle's consent, and which, could he Oh h
in that consent, would, considering the K
ference in their fortunes, reduce him, in !,
$ own estimation, to a mere pensioner -
Don his wile's property. Nay, it did d
ore: for. after be heard of hrs cousins If