The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1873-07-01

my u0ui Oihid, you Will HOt uulHK VI
starting tonight" said Miss leighton.
Why not remain until morningp There
is an early train.''
81 must go by the first train, Annie ;
nothing would induce me to miss it,
But you cannot go alone" persisted
her friend.
eff Miss Weston will permit me to ac-
company her" Mr.. Perham commenced
saying, when the lady fastened to inter-
rupt him: A * ECs w ll
"You are very kind, Mr.. Perham, but l
cannot think of imposing such task on
you. I have been accustomed to travel
alone, and have no fears but that shall
get along very we'll"
"There is a gentleman stopping at the
hotel who will take the midnight train"
said the host, "and who will, doubt not,
be glad to receive Miss Weston under his
protection. He is a perfectly reliable
gentleman. -
"Thank you, Mr. Jones' Be kind enough
to mention the subject to him. will en-
deavor not to incommode him." ,7D
The time intervening before the train
would be due seemed to Miss Weston in
terminable. Her impatience to be on her
homeward way, her suspense respecting
the condition of her uncle absorbed her
entire being. 1t was with difficulty her
friends persuaded her to partake of the
needed nourishment to sustain her on her
journey. Miss Leighton tried to induce
her to take a little rest, but she declared
that sleep was out Of the question, and
that her only relief was in motion.
There was no paper published in Rock
port, but the passing trains brought the
journals from the distant cities. The papers
received that evening were eagerly scanned
by our party. They contained telegraphic
reports of the disaster, and in the list of
the injured Miss Weston read, "Charles
Winthrop, New York, seriously" That
was all. 1t afforded her no more informa-
ton, nothing more satisfactory than her
own telegram, and for moment there was
feeling of vexation at the meagreness of
the accounts. An " "especial" to one of
the journals gave few incidents relating
to the disaster, but there was nothing
having reference to her uncle. This par
agraph, however, caught her eye and riv-
eted her attention W "li .Ai
"Great credit is due to young gentle
man, Henry Peabody, who, though suffer-
ing from a painful wound, by his self
possession and energetic efforts rendered
efficient aid in removing the dead and re-
lieving the sufferings of the injured
Miss Leighton called Mr. Perham's at
tention to the paragraph, on which he
sneeringly remarked: u WIfa /
b "Relieved the suferings of the injured !
Yes, and undoubtedly relieved them of
their purses and watches, too p
Miss Weston, who had been pacing the
apartment slowly to and fro with a nerv-
GUS restlessness, paused in her walk in
front of the speaker, and said, with re-
strained yehemence q, tr.i-.., .
9"Mr. Perham, your insinuation is as
ungenerous as it is unjust, and must add,
unbecoming, in its fullest sense, of a."
oo By an evident effort she checked herself,
and left the sentence unfinished. The
sharpness of the rebuke brought the blood
to the young mans brow. s, s,ii rI
You are severe, Miss Weston,'' lie
said, with smile which poorly concealed
his modification. r..- i'f-, tt
The moment the words escaped Clara's
lips, she regretted their utterance, AL
though, with her convictions, she believed
the reproof was well merited, was she called
upon to administer it? At another time
she would not, perhaps, have been betrayed
into it, but just then she was in peculiar
frame Of mind. The suspense and anxiety
to which she was prey had SO wrought
upon her nerves as TO render her morbidly
sensitive. Naturally she was of a remark
ably placid disposition, and was very cir
cumspect in her regard for the feelings of
others. Had the relations in which the
two stood towards each other been different,
in fact, she would have shrunk from ex-
pressing herself so unreservedly; but their
nature was such as to excuse, in measure,
her freedom of speech. A brother Of her
uncle Charles Winthrop had married a
widow lady, and Edward Perham was her
child by her first husband. Hence, though
there was no consanguinity between Clara
Weston and Edward Perham, sort of
eousinly familiarity existed. blii
|
Until comparatively recent period their
intercourse had not been marked by the
reserve of folmality that now characterized
it. They had been accustomed to address