The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-05-24
Nlfruu i.t ff.- Aut.t Are
The Fatal Prescription,
RECALLED TO LIFE !
BN WELDON J.. COBB, JI-


The glorious urb If day was hrlunlng tn
decline t. the " est ANA the hazy. .,u.
uuu sky Was rrckrd tn teecy clOudlrts
which. passing athwart the sun Filtered
couIugly ITS sultry rays, Is old Jacob
GRAY. the warden II the lighthouse AT
DensluW. on the seacuast II England
looked up from ms accustomed scat In
the old arm chair, ana saw advancing
towards HIM old Reuben Vincent, the
wealthy resident of the little seacuast yIl-
lagr. and his grand daughter, pretty. wo-
maulsh Bella Rodney
All that day old Jacob tray had frlt the
sands of life hretiug slowly. and had won
drrrd how long i would be ere another
hand would hight the welcome signal ~
sailors OF the little point, the signal
which his nov trembling hand had fired for
thirty years \ rt he felt strangely az rest
al that day. for his only living relative.
young Tom Gray, ms orphan grandson.
had the day before found place AT the
residence If the man who Was uuw ap-
reaching Vincent Hall. the oldest and
most massive. a. We'll a. elegant structure
Ia that region.
stern, uncumprnnlsIn4 man Vas "ld
Reuben Vincent, man upon who's" h"ary
head and turrowed face the impress Ut "a
strong. naughty will had left IT. mark
His seventy years uf life had taIlc't Z" h'.ud
the straight. proud form, ami the eye, sull
uudimmrd. Was bhghted with the c,.u.
sciuusness Of pride of blood ami birth.
Ana well might Reuben Vincent chat
unreservedy with the beautiful Young
.1rl beside him. this bright autuumal n
ternoon For the old man heart Mas
tiled with w and anticipation, for Cecil
Dare. his adopted son the only hcng tor
whom he felt a love with the exception NJ
the being beside HIM whu called hum
grandfather, was coming home, a. rs
turning from India after a soInurn ut hve
long wears And here brief explanation
Of the character Of our story Viii ~ nrces
sary to the farther progress pf our tale
Ten years previous to the date OF our
narrative old Reuben Vincent had adopt
ed the orphan son Of a distant relative, by
name Cecil Dare, then young lad Of sixteen
At the time, Mr. Vincent had as inmates
Of his house his only daughter husband,
Mr. Rodney, and his child, Bella, Mrs
Rodney having died some years previously.
Mr.. Rodney was mild, slngularly reu-
cent man. and followed hIs regular pro
fession Of medicine among the villagers Il
DensloH He ever submitted meekly t."
the imperious will Of his father in law, and,
although devOtedly attached 70 his only
child, spent most Of his time III study.
So. five years sped On, until half a de
cade before the opening Of our story, Mr.
Vincent announced his intention Of send
ing his adopted sou. Cecil Dare, to India,
where he had for years, through his
agents. carried on an extensive importing
aud exporting business. He was getting
old. he said, and as Cecil Dare had eXhib-
tied keen. business like qualifications he
determined to dispatch hIm to close up the
business there
Bella Rodney was then but sixteen years
Of aye. vet between herself and young Cecil
Dare had sprung up love which had been
cemeted with an engagement, which Mr.
Rodney sanctioned, and which old Reuben
Vincent promised should be eliminated by
a marriage upon the return Of hls adopted
son.
And 50, with tine pros .'ects, and a
happy, anticipating heart, the young man
set sail for India. but his first letters
brought anxiety and disappointment to
the eGpectant family IN England He
wrote that the house IN India was suffer
ing from varIous speculatlOns which had
been carried on for the space of nearly a
year, by one Robert Margrave. formerly a
clerk Of the firm. He stated that Young
Margrave had, IN making consIgmnents of
silks and spices. gwen figures largely in
excess of which Was really shipped at the
Calcutta house, and had retained large
amounts Of goods which he afterwards dis
posed Of privately, his dishonest transac-
ton netting him quite a sum III a few
months
Investigation BY young Cecil Dare re
suited in the discovery Of Margrave's guilt,
and immediately after the criminal eluded
arrest and exposition by a flight to the
interior. Margrave was an Enghshman,
who had been in the employ of the house
for only little over year. having come
to India from London. Of his family and
his former life, nothing was known.
But il Robert Margrave had been a
source of loss to the house Of Vincent Il
Co. there was another young man to whom
Cecil Dare often alluded in his letters as a
benefit to the house. and a sincere, hard
work ing friend, the very opposite OF Rob
ert Naryrave. Sidney Vivian, the young
man referred to, had, when his fellow
workers crime was made patent, done all
that he could to further and secure the IN
terests Of the pecuniarily embarrassed
house The conduct and management oi
the business was in lhe hands Of a Colonel
Easterbrook, who was fixture since a
former rebellion among the Sepoys which
had called him hither in Calcutta. Young
Sidney Vivian had been in the employ Of
the house for the year, a pestilence having
deprived him Of father and mother. II
England, however, he had a relative, 4