Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1874-02-12

| still in her pocket, but with load a
her heart-nalf shame, Lslf selfish i'll
| humor-which was not lessened b,
standing at the MERGERS window 70
another half hour before she went bacl
to Sir Johns. While her gaze was Fix
ed on the silk, her rebel1iouS spirit va
murmuring at the difficulties of her pO
sition. 1t was so hard that she shoult
| always be hampered with the hom'
cares. Other young people could speat
their salaries on themselves, while he
purse had such constant calls upon i
| that there was nothing left for herself
And mother was not thoughtful fO
her; she never seemed to remembe
that girl of her age would naturally
wish to be smart, especially when sh,
visited persons in better circumstance:
than herself.
Miss Dayton wanted some trifit
brought from her own room that eve
ming, and Lottie had executed hel
commission and was retreating wher
the voice of Sir John, who was reading
the evening paper, arrested her. Deal
me! how sad these cases are: one never
knows who to trust. Listen to this, LIE
titia. The confidential clerk of Smith
son Brothers absc0nded last night. Hi
employers had had their suspiciOli,
aroused by some circumstance or other
and hinted an intention of looking in
To his accounts. AS,SoOn as he learned
this he made business in the country q
pretence for his flight, and it is suppo.
sed that he is on his way to America
To LOttie's strained ears every word
of this was horribly audible. and. the
next minute she was running down
stairs putting on her hat and shawl as
she went.
IF am asked for she gasped to the
wondering housekeeper, SAY that am
i'll; that have gone to my mothers;
but don't stop me; don't question me
or shall die.'
But it was to the home of Austin
Crawley, a fellow-clerk of Charities, she
first took her way. She would not give
up all hope till she had seen him, and
heard his lips confirm the dreadful tale;
and as she went along she tried tO
comfort herself in repeating, 1t cannot
be! Charlie Morrison delaulter, fu-
gitive from justiee-it is impossibie!'
Mrs. CraWley herself answered Lot
ties knock, and her smiling, cheerful
facs made the girl feel her own misery
grow sharper. ..--..
mo. Austin had not returned from
the city yet she said. Would not
Lottie come in and wait for him? She
was quite alone, for Mr.. Crawley haa
been. at Smithsons' all day, taking the
place she believed, of Charlie Morri-
son, whose absence seemed to have put
the firm very much out of their way.
There was nothing amiss, was there"
she added, as she took closer survey
of her visitors face. =. - -....
But her question remained unan-
swefed, for Lottie was already hurry
ingfaway. The last faint hope that the
repbrt was dreadful mistake had per-
ished before Mrs. Crawley's placid ut
terances. Austin, the gay and care
less, whose spendthrtft habits, had Of
ten displeased his parents, had pre-
served his integrity; while Charlie Nor
isop.. the son of many prayers, the
steady, Intellectual young man, who
INDUCED in no low tastes, nc loud at
tire, had forfeited his high character
and disgraced his family-this was her
conclusion.
Away through the busiest streets of
hurrying on with her face
"a ,,fao,' in her veil, lest any one should
narca;va % ~. anguish depicted on it,
she walked, till sh. 'oouu as nSiSs of MassrS U
lore the well-known oflu,.. oIosed
Smithson. They had been 49, -
hours earlier; but the old man who wa,
porter and care-taker was standing at
he door, talking to some curious ac-
Iuaintances. -
Unperceived by the garrulous speak. |
ler, Lottie paused long enough to hear |
Ter lovers name coupled with words |
ndistinctly caught relating 70 the large
nms Of money that were missing. -
His father was here this morning as
DON as the news was made public, the
orter went Or-ssuch respectable old
But here his voice was
)wered, and Lottie passed by, hearing
My something about the young man's
mother as she went:
ut it reminded her that she was not
lone in her grief; that the loving pa
,nt5, who mad cherished their son in
is childhood, and seen him gradually
xpand into the bright intelligent man,
lust be well nigh crushed beneath the
low that had so suddenly fallen upon
lem. Oh! what was her grier to I
leirS? ti .z /,
And now Lottie flew to her own ha-
en-, the arms of her mother, and there /,
ept the first tears her burning eyes
ad shed.
Shocked, and for some time incredu- I
us, Mrs. Warde, with infinite pa &
ence and tenderness, sustained her l
lid during those hours in which her
1guish WAS almost more than she
'uld bear. /,
Never agaiE would Lottie accuse this {
BAR friend and comforter of being J
anting in sympathy. Who else wo'd
ave borne so kindly with her wild {
irsts OF impatient tsorrow--her restless
,cings to and frO--her passionate CON- q
ainings? Who else so skillfully ia. S
3n advantage of her better feelings to |
ing her to her knees, and teach her !
bow her head to the Divine will?
How good you are to me, darling /
0therp she sObbed, when Mrs. Warde I
I'd prevailed upon her to lie down, and
rs bathing her aching head; 'and, in c
ed, l don't deserve it. 1 have been 1
selfish, so ungrateful, that if you /
lew all my hard and bitter thoughts t
~ would surely cease to love me at q
Mrs. Warde's only reply was to stoop {
Id kiss her; and that kiss uprooted the
st fibre of seldshness in her chi. DIS f
art. Never again did Lottie let VAN t
! stand in the place # duty; and in \
q midst OF her trouble she could ue e
imbly thank full that tn dear mother z
as all her own. j
All that night she wept and bewail- 7
herself, but when morning dawned q
I'd she saw how weary and exhausted '
rs. Warde was looking, Lnttie put t
sr good intentions to practice, and re. r
rained her grief. & s. t
While her mother rested, she moved a
lietly about, dressing the little ones, a
hOm her altered looks and swollen t
'es awed inio unwonted soberness; P
,r w-asit till every task had been ac- t