Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1873-12-20
From the Argosy.l
ELISE.


The secluded little village was that
| of Leahold, aad situated in one of OUT
most secluded country districts, Il
primitive village, such as those that
railways and telegraph stations are
rapidly sweeping from the face OF the
earth.
StroIling out Of Lcahold amid clus-
/ tcrs of farms into the country, along
a shady road, yOu came upon Lcahold
| Hall, commodious but unpretentious
! dwelling place, most secluded of all
| for il nestled amid its towering trees
and shrubs, rs if it did not want to be
seen by the world. 1t had been a
/ thorn in the sides of tho village resi-
! dents for fifteen years now, this $50
1 lated dwelling, inasmuch as that, with
all their curiosity, they could not get
to know anything of the family in
habiting it. 4 gentleman had come
one day to Lcahold, went over the
place with the agent, and purchased
| il. His name was Radn0r. Later,
| he took possession with his sister,
! Mrs. Courtney, q silent, naughty
dame. much like himself, his daugh-
! ter, then toddline wee child, and
some respectable old servants, who
seemed as reserved and silent rs their
master and mistress. More than that
Leahold could not get to know. They
| heard of the improvements aud dec
/ orations made IN tho rooms, which
worlzmen from distance came to CX-
ecutc; they saw the fine grand piano
/ brought, the parcels of books dcliv-
cred once Il month at least; they
watched the close carriage drive out
with its inmates daily; and that was
Eall. They seemed to have no friends;
two or three people who had vcnUured
/ TO call upon them, were received cOur-
/ tcouslv, but their visit was not re-
i turned. Twice every year the gentle
/ man rode away on horseback to the
county town, a long distance. There
| he left his horse mt the livery stable,
took the train, and went stcaminS
away somewhere At months end
/ lac would como back again, pay foI
tho keep of his horse, mount him,
aud set off on his ride home. Natur-
/ ally all this was cNaspcrating tOa live
" public curiosity; but at the end OF
/ iiftesn years the public had bccOme
none the wiser.
The child, Elise, was the caro- and
Joy of the household. The servants
adorcd her; her father and her widow
cd, childlcss aunt trained and taught
her. An accomplished scholar him
self, speaking French and German
and oshCr languages as a native, Mr.
Radnor sought to make his child rs
good scholar as he was. Mrs. Court
ney, a thorough musician, trained tn,
little fingers over the ivory keys, ant
taught the young sweet voice its mod
ulations; while old Karl, the only in
door man-soryant, Il German, had the
little lady III the saddle rs soon as sh,
could sit erect. Altogether, she grew
up as carefully trained and accom-
plished young lady as the world eve
saw. Bat that same world was to he
: far-away place, of whose kingdom
: and republics she read in history
) whose love and hates were subject
for the poets pen, but of which sh
= never thought to know au@ht saw
: from hearsay - whose temptations
, trials, daily struggles, tolls, pleasure
, and pains We're unmcaninS words o.
] her ears. Far more unsophisticatct
than many child of ten years wa
= Elise 2adnor il, her carly woman
hood.
1t was her eighteenth birthday
7 She sat III the Simple room called he
j own, reading from "a book that ha
: been her mornings present, a beaut
fulIy-bound Goethe. Ii was her fatl
er's gift; her aunt's was a dressing
, case. iulaid with silver. Elise was ia
! better-lOokiug than she had hcrse
q any idea Of. Her figure was slcndt
q
e born courtesy, gcntleness, and int
!, lcct, was one of rare sweetness, i
Il eyes expressing genius, the so
-. brown hair shading 1t like Il halo.
Il child's face yet, but promising to
one simply perfect in its maturity.
She was thus sitting, poring rapi,
" over the quaint German characte
that she loved SO well, whom a sun
4 mons came for her from the librar
and she went ut once.
They were waiting 20 receive he
her father aud aunt, that geatlcm,
= and lady now growing into years; t.
: and stately both, and very much Ill
each otheC-not in the least like Ellis
= OF the blonde type, their snowy lock
blue eyes and gentle faces, caUTyil
the pain of buried sorrows, we
strikiugly unlike the brilliant gI
whose youth c0ntrastcd with tho
memory haunted age. Something s,
emn in their aspect struck Elise, a
~ her usual buoyaut step was stage
- She saw with kind of dread Il
somo explanation was going to be {
tered on-an explanation that thrill
every vein within her. Seated
lth tween her father and aunt, they I,
RS, her that it was judged by them tin
ses now she was eighteen, to speak to
y of her mother, of whom she had II
er heard. Elise had supposed
dead.
It was n sgd story. Mr.. Radnor Z
= nearly a middle aged man when
\ had welded his wife, girl younga
- lovely as Elise. He was in extens
business rs 4 merchant,
wealthy, having q house at
= q house in India. The
- did not love him; she haS
in vino was moor and