, 1873-05-11

old MAI, who raa queer from the effects Of hops
deferred, combined With that Of pistol-uound
In ths head he had received in duel arising ont
OF the suit, had stowed the important docu-
ment away in safe SO carefully that
no one had stnce been able to 6nd IL /;
died without having the power to COM
mnnicate the hiding~plhce to. hia only son, who
MSS hurriedly summoned to his dying-bed. : 4
minute description OF the document, ~togather
With An account of bow .ho obtained It, was
found in his will and in the: next legal tusala
thia was put in with Bomo confidence that, COM
bined With the rest Of tho cAao. it, would be ac-
cepted as evidence. But. altar deal Of learned
argument. and some ,heeitation, the authorities
who had to decide the matter declined to take
tho will for tho decd !, and the case ,uas kept
tor the benefit Of fresh set Of lawyers, at that
time not out OF their Nnneta and artie1es- Thus
tho Musgrave property remained bleeding. My
friendn father got pretty we'll the last drop out
10 hopes Ut an heir to carry on tho suit, partly
tecaueo the lady had little money to be sucked
into lhe cbancerY quicksanis. He did get an
hcir; ho did sink tho money. Fortunately
for her,- the rife died before it WAS quite
spent. The goodly Muegrayo estates uere
house and homestead being alone retained.
This last bit OF strand ras stuck to tenacious1y,
because it VAS pretty certain that the iron safe,
with the covered parchment inside it, was aone-
where about the promises But where It is
needless to say that it had been we'll hunted for,
experienced detectives having been we'll en-
ployed in the search; and, indeed. the ruinous
state OF the house was, in no small measure,
owing to the ruthlasa manner in which aomo II
these Investigations had been conducted.
t. Happily, not quite ill the money OF Walter
Musgrayeta father went to the lawyera some Of
It Was spent in educating him in q manner be-
fitting the position ha would hold when tho law
suit was oyer, and the valuable houss property
at his :disposal.' But his father died, and tha
funds: gave out, before he had finished his it,
tended ooursa; and he found. himsa!f in the
queer, tAntsl2ing, poverty stricken condition II
which discovered him Nhon photography aud
thnnder-storm brought uB together.
When he frat commenced his con6dsnces, +
phetio soul, his great-grandfatber!' mentally
exclaimed, when no opsned with short bioera-
ply Of That ancestor. But by degrees grew In
tercsted; his account vas clear enough, It mine
is not; and he had confirmatory documenta to
show for everything he advanced At last waa
ab!e to conceive how it WAS possible to keep him
ont Of What seemed go undoubtedly his own; but
then am not lawyer.
Nevertheless, as soon aa We were Intimate
enough for such liberty, + talked reason to him,
urging him to throw tho losing game up. leave
tho ruin to the care Of Molly and Dabble, and
and bacon; for even as IN unskilled artisan ho
would live better than he did at present.
Helet his remaining patch Of grassland Tor
E40 year; ha got about s10 for the apples in
hay that VAS cut in it. Dabble, who was an
arrant, but not 3 self-seeling poacher, occa-
sional1y brought in d rabbit or q leveret; and
that was what the last OF the Musgraves lived
on. He owned that it savored Of 1unacy to so
on like that; that his beat course would be to
sell what little homestead remained to him.
which he could do at fancy price, as his retcin-
ing possession of it destroyed the compactness
of the remainder OF the estate,-and make q
fresh start in tho world; but said he simply
could not do it.
said I.
"Of course could" be replied ,"if that were
Ill but after it was made,-s Week after, or 9
month, or year, or i've years after-I ahoun
be drawn back into this inherited struggle and
if I then had to bear the reflection that I had
thrown away . chance, I feel certain that aeu-
timent Of remorseful regret would drive me-
mad No !; you might just as we'll tell LAGOON
to make an effort and wrench himself free OF
tho Berpentfolds. II he could, they would tuino
round him again when he WAS weary.
So never annoyed him with conmon-senFe
again; and, indeed, after little while, I caught
tho chance1y affection myself. or course, it
was but In mild form, as had no property Of
my own at stake; but had it sufficiently to al
ter my ideas entirely, and sFmpathizo with tho
friend was engaged. To tell the truth, I was in
an unhealthy state Of mind ut that tune, having
been recently 11lted,-a misfortune which, till
they grow accustomed to it, often mikes young
men sulky with the world in general: NY aulks
raphy; and residence ut Dowd, NTH q nun
bound to 60 crazy, r. witch, and an uncanny
black cat for my sole acquaintance, exactly
suited mo inst then. There is frcemaaonrJ
amongst ths For1orn in love which enables them
to recognize euo another and soon learned
that MusgraYe had met q certain Mary, tho
daughter Of q poor clergyman who had acted a'
his private tutor, and that be had indulged in
day-dreams Of taking his degree, going into or
dere, and leading life OF married bliss IN a
parsonage On a hundred 3 JcaE but be had to
loaya tho uniycrsity abruptly when his father
died.; and left him tho dormant lawsuit, and
nothing else. Then at first he WIS sanguine OF
being able shortly to offer his Mary a better
salvea; but after while, when he had well
studied the story Of family failures. his love
vas but another wedge in the torture~boot. I
consoled him with the reflection that his case wsa
far better than mine his girl was faithful to
him, or ut least ho thought 80, and ho bad =
heartsof mine waH q mere pop-gun, and that I
had been shot out OF it "a another fellow popped
in. But he did not pity me properly for hs
considered that, I vas lucky in that she had
changed her mind before; marriage, instead OF
after, and could not contradict that.
But tho cup ct Mussra!e'a nnisfo1tunea vas
not yet full Dabble died. 80
Do you laugh at people. who, grIsre for Pot
animals don't. "only dog!" folks say.
Well, a dog who loves me is better worth my
regret than . continent full Of men and women
who don't.o Still moro nbsurdly, argument is
sometimes attempted and ne are told not to
giye second Thought to tho loss of an animal q
of dog. cat, or horse meant its utter annihila-
tion,- that is an extra cause for sorrow.
It'd. ~ Sn Y3e m
ton. Read Buffers :" Analogy" and
nete1 speak NTH th.t ignorknt' conf
deuce again. do not refer you to Plato, a
heathen Greek, but to Bishop Butler. IS oEtho-
dox man ii yourself perhaps moro 30. We'll.
Whatever may be the spiritual endowment OF
other animals; Dabble must have had so1l; At
least,,,. be reasoned, and certainly would hare
rnitted him. Do you mean to tell me- that q
mere breathing machine would hare found out
that his master wanted rabbits, without being
told: and so brought them homo when be
caught them, instead Of eating them quietly III
the woods :
He took NO medicine; be had no doctor; and
yet be died, poor dear,-nhich looks "a Il Inc
nfA lava