Omaha daily bee., 1872-12-31
A TALE OF TWO CHRIST.
MA Z
BY TOM HOOD.

lie could not prevail for some time
upon his friend to accept the invita-
ton aud it was not until he declared
he should interpret his refusal as a
desire to bring their friendship to Il
close, that he got Braudreth to prom
ise to come. But even then he would
not come an hour earlier than Christ.
mas eve.
So Brandrcth made hi, arrange
ments for the journey. Aud thenthe
recollection of the same time last year,
and of he Dimsdales and dear old
Bishops Climstoke, came back to
him fresh and bright. In Il gracious
mood he sat himself down, and wrote
to old Dimsdale, wishing him aud his
family the compliments of the season.
And then, just AS he was closing his
letter, something came over him and
he added
81 shall be able to utter the
wish almost within your hearing, for
! am going down by the evening mail
on Christmas Eve to spend a short
time at Sir Ranulph Carew's.
You may be sure the letter was n
pleasant surprise at Dovecote Farm.
For the simple minded old people
never connected Charles Brandreth
with the sorrow and gloom that had
come v Rose, that had stolen the
color from her cheeks and the light
from her eyes, and that made her
sign and go heavily, like one weary
of life. They only thought of him as
the preserver of their darling; and
they fancied the change in her was
due to the shock she had received
when she was lost in the snow.
"Why, dame!" said the farmer,
Frightening, "tis a letter fro our Mr..
Brendreth."
"a cursed jackanapes!" came in Il
growl from a dark corner.
The farmer turned-It was only
Black Dick, as he was called in the
village, an i~ll-favored lad, not many
degrees removed from an idiot or a
brute. lie used to hang about poor
Rose, much to her horror, making a
display of slavish admiration for her
that was almost revolving.
"What's wrong wi thee, Dick ?"
said the farmer.
GA thrashed OF onst-on'y for car
rim a bit mistletoe in ma pocket to
catch Rosey wiz"
"Serve you right, too !" said Mrs.
Dimsdale, who shared Roses loathing
for the creature ''and what says
Mr.. Brandreth, father?"
"He's coming down here to stay
long of the Carews, and III wish us a
merry Christmas MS he passes along
the line O Christmas Eve by the
mail train. Here's a merry Christ
mas to him, eh, dame 2"
Mrs. Dimsdale heartily joined in
the wish; and then they began to
talk of his stay at the farm and
about Roses rescue; and they did
not notice the malicious grin with
which Black Dick stole out of the
kitchen after hearing the news con-
tanned in the postscript of Charles
Brandreth's letter.
"Cursed j%ackanapes !" he muttered
to himself, Is he went bounding
across the frosty meadows in the di-
rection of the railway; "who but he
as bruk Rosey's heart? Who but he
as teuk the maid away from COS
honest village mates? Ana thrashed
OF too. But I'll be even wi 'un"
There was no moon on Christmas
Eve, but the stars were bright in the
frosty sky, and the reflection from
the thin sheet of snow that had fall
len in the morning reflected what
little light there was.
The throb and rattle of the train
that rushed so rapidly along, bearing
him towards Bishops Climstoke,
seemed to fall into a regular rythm,
and his Imagination, heated by re-
morseful memories, seemed to supply
it with words
Ruthless traitor Ruthless
traitor !"
The words rang continuously in
his ears. He could not shut them
out by reading. They were like the
sounds that repeat themselves with
such maddening monotony to a mar
in delirium. He was positively
grateful when he recognized by GER
tain familiar landmarks that he was
approaching Bishops Climstoke. He
opened the window and leaned out.
Still the train hurried on. Now he
could see the tower of the church.
He was getting ear the village now.
He would see the farm in a minute.
All! what vas that? Some black
object moving down the side of the
embankment a little way ahead.
The engine driver must have seer it,
for bark! there is a warning whistle.
All of sudden the tone of the
whistle is changed. 1t becomes a
shrek, as of terror. Then follows a
tremendous grinding OF breaks
hurridly applied till the sparks rush
out in a stream, Then arise cries of
alarm. And then, over all a crash
the train heaves like a wounded
snake; the carriages seem to fall into
splinters. A grinding, crushing roar
the believing of escaped steam
the Kissing of water thrown upon
live Goals! all this compressed into a
minutes space; and this the last
thing Of which Charles Brandreth is
c%onciousl
Those of the guards who are I'M
injured set 10 works to learn how the
accident rose, and to extricate the
passengers. They find that the line
has been blocked with several SLEEP.
ers and uptorn rails, which have
thrown the engine off the track. 1t
has been overthrown in its fall.
Stoker and driver have been thrown
some distance, and lie dead or in
sensible-it cannot be clearly ascer.
tanned which just yet.
But thers's some one under the