Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-10-30

yourself thus at the feet OF poor orphan
girl, whose noblest possession has been your
friendship and good will, and who is dispos-
sessed of the power to grant the love you
crave. Relieve me, dear sir, from this en-
barrassng situation. Give me the retirement
which l so much need. Nothing can be ac-
by retaining me here and pro-
longing this unfortunate interview"
"You deal the death blow, then, to every
hope of my heart?" asked Mr.. Mason, rising.
"God forbid !" said Lizzie, rising, and pla-
cling her hand upon the bell.rope.
"Stop what are you about to do?" asked
Mr. Mason, laying his hand upon her arm
and breathing hurriedly.
II am about to ring for assistance, sir" re-
piled Lizzie, retaining her hold upon the
bell.ropc. II disapprove of this detention,
and have once or twice intimated as much to
you, without the slightest notice on your part"
"And you propose making the subject OF
this interview public town talk, hf' asked
Mr.. Mason, taking the key of the door from
his pocket. .
"I shall dismiss the subject entirely" caid
Lizzie, extending her hand for the key. 81
have too much respect for myself-'too much
for your distressed state of mind--than to
give publicity to that, which am heartily
ashamed of, and which, I think you will re-
gret, yourself, upon calm and dispassionate
reflection
"How calmly you dispose ofthe whole SUBJ
iect!" said Mr. Mason, the dark shadow re-
turning to his brow. "Girl do you know
but, never mind Here is the key"
"And now, Mr. Mason" said Lizzie, throw
ing the door wide open, "sinceI am no longer
your prisoner, would be glad to look over
those papers, relating to my birth and parent
age, which you spoke of having in your pos
session. I will be down to supper presently,
and you can hand them to ME then.'
Mr.. Mason passed his open fingers several
times through his hair, looking, all the while,
thoughtfully upon the floor and scraping the
carpet with the toe of his boot He was con-
sidering.
"Very we'll" said Mr. Mason, suddenly
looking up.
Gail right sir" and Lizzie ran up stairs,
singing merry air. while her poor heart was
nearly breaking'to have good cry all alone
in her little attic room.
Mr.. Mason Immediately repaired to his own
room, and, after locking the door and careful
ly drawing together the curtains of his win
dows, he fell upon his knees beside the bed.
AS a Christian, one would suppose, that
under the circumstances-he would very nat
urally resort to the beneficial influences OF
prayer, and seek to cast his burden upon that
sympathizing Saviour, whom he professed to
serve, and to whom the "weary and heavy
laden" have been so graciously invited to
come.
But prayer was not his object-such a
thought never entered his mind. Drawing a
large oaken chest from under the bed, he took
therefrom a small tin box, fastened with di-
mnutive brass paddock. Rising to his feet
and walking toward the lighted candle upon
the mantel.piece, he unlocked the box and
took out several rolls of paper. In so doing,
and apparently without his knowledge, one of
the rolls of paper fell upon the floor and
rolled under a small foot.bench near the fire.
place.
"This is the one which want" said he, to
himself, holding one of the rolls close to the
candle; then, hearing approaching footsteps,
he hastily crowded the remainder into the tin
box, and threw it into the trunk. A moment
after, the voice of "sister Tomkins" issued
melodously through the key-hole: "Brother
Mason, come down to supper! The oyster
fritters is a spilng and the tea is Citing
cold !"
"Verily, sister Tomkins," said Mr.. Mason,
passing out, as Mrs. Tomkins passed in, "the
apostle was not so much out of the way, after
all, when he said, that the flesh lusteth against
the spirit All |! my sister, after awhile we
shall hunger no more.'" And, having thus
delivered himself, he descended to the dining
room.
Mrs. Tomkins had invariably made it rule
to pass through the house every night about
supper time, "to put things to rights, MS she
it. The duty consisted mainly in
seeing thatthe windows were securely fastened,
that plenty of water was in the rooms, and
that everything was safe, tidy and comforta-
bic. While thus engaged, she observed roll
of paper upon the floor and this she picked
up and laid upon the mantel.piece by the
Just then, hearing footsteps upon the stairs,
she called out: "Who is that" and ap-
preached the door.
"Only me, Mrs. Tomkins," said Lizzie, who
was about descending to the dining-room.
care you alone ?"
eyes child-come in.'
And now, observe how strangely the hidden
hand of Providence works by apparently in
significant agencies.
II have not been down to supper yet" said
Lizzie, walking directly to the mantel-piece,
$50 we cannot afford to enter into conversa-
ton. only stepped in to beg sheet of wri.
ting paper. All! what's this" and she took
up the roll of paper, which Mr.. Mason had
unknowingly dropped, and which Mrs. Tom
kns had laid upon the mantel.
"That, my dear, is some of brother Mason's
said Mrs. Tomkins. "I found the
roll lying upon the floor awhile ago, and put
it up there On the mantel. Nay, don't take
it away, child"
"Wcll! well !" said Lizzie, "who would
have supnoscd Mr.. Mason capable of such alb.