The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-07-16

l saw more trickery and underhand
dealing while in that Office than had
ever seen in my life before. Mr.. Pier
son was q man Of tact, not talent. He
had gained several good cases, which
made his reputation, and he had q
way Of making people believe that II
black was not just white, it was GER
tainly gray, which proved very sue
cessful to him.
II was about twenty-five when i
went into Kent for q few weeks, part
Lyon business for Mr.. PIersoD, and
partly to visit an uncle of mine. Am
tiring you, sir, with this long story?"
mot at all, Tracy; go on"
All started at the unfamiliar name,
which the doctor slightly emphasized.
bis breath came quickly, and his voice
was husky when ne spoke again:
.sWould you think, now that man
could hear his own name so seldom
that when it was spoken as you spoke
mine it could make the past come
back like q great wave, almost blot
/ ting out the present haven't heard
my name for more than ten years" F."
he went on, musingly. 81 don't Won
der it sounds strange to me. 1t was
lin the summer when went to Kent;
the time for falling in lOYe,' as it is
called, and, of course did it. / don't
wonder at myself, even now, when |
remember all that has passed. We
were very much together. Lucy was
an orphan, living with q rich maiden
aunt, whose place adjoined my uncle's.
l had always a fondness for playing
the part Of protector, and she was a
clinging, dependent little thing, with
long golden curls and q delicate pink
and-white daisy face. 1 had never
cared for any girl before, and from the
first loved her madly. It's the 'Old,
old story and needn't make q fool
of myself again by telling it to you.
Before l went back to town We had
exchanged rings, and she had promis-
20 love me through eternity. A
lengthy eternity it proved"
"Our engagement was to remain
secret until l should become a great
lawyer, and then was to claim her.
This was Lncy's idea. l wanted to
speak to her aunt, but she begged me
not, giving dozen different reasons
for my silence. believe, even then
she thought it best not to bind her
self too closely; but, of course, l nev-
er suspected this, for with all my
faults I had always been perfectly
honest and truthful. In the winter
Mr.. Pierson told me that the business
1 had been attending to had now to
be completed, and that he was going
down himself. l was, of course, very
anxious to go, but he did not give me
| the chance. Lucy met him at a
couple of dinners, and from what she
said, I knew he had been very atten-
tive to her. He was a good-lOoking
man about forty, and could make
himself very agreeable when he chose
to do so. / wrote to Lucy immedi-
ateIy, telling her what / thought of
him. She replied, accusing me of be-
ing jealous, and saying she was sure l
was prejudiced against Mr.. PiersOn,
who had spoken very highly OF me,
and to whom found she had conf
ded the whole story Of our engage
ment. was very angry, and wrote
rather harshly to her, 1 fancy, for L
remember she told me did not love
her once as / did, That was our
first quarrel and was soon made up,
and for a few weeks we corresponded
as usual. Mr.. Pierson returned to
London, but went back again to Kent
in a week or two. He said he was
collecting evidence for an important
case.
"Soon 1 noticed that Lucy's letters
grew shorter and shorter, and finally
one come saying that she had been
thinking over our foolish engagement,
and as there was no prospect OF my
being able to support her, she had
come to the conclusion that for the
sake of US both it had better be brok-
en- e F
"I know every word of that cool,
heaFtless letter now. One remembers
such things. Very soon after, heard
of her engagement to Mr.. PiersOn. l
was u gentleman, and he was snob
but he had money and l hadn't"
"'What's a gentleman born Is it
shillln's an pence p quoted the doc
tor, softly.
ttEh!-what's that ?'i
"Only quotation from The York
shire Farmer 60 on"
swell, of course was furious. but
what good did that do me ? thought
if only had money, would find
some means of revenge but money
was just what hadn't got. About
that time, met man calling him.
self st. John. He was clever and well
educated, and seemed to read all my
wild, restless longings at a glance. He
led me on from bad TO worse, till it
ended in forgery; then he turned
kings evidence, and l was locked
up. I was always very strong, and
finding one of the bars loose, l
wrenched it.out, and dropped from my
window one dark night and escaped.
On my way to the, met this man
st. John. might have got off il
could have let him alone, but could
mt. 1 stopped him he taunted me
with my disgrace; told me that Mr..
Pierson had known of the plan laid to
rain me. 'Fhe young lady throwing
you over was prime trump in our
hand he added, with leer. IWarn-
ed him to be silent tut he, as if
blinded to his danger, eXasperated me
in every way possible. grappled
with him, and remembering trick
had learned at school, soon threw
him. My hands were on his throat.
a halfEminUte more and the earth
would have been rid of one sordid
wretch but his cries had been heard
by some men in a neighboring field,
aud was overpOwered. This man
ruined gamester, once a gentleman
had changed me from an honest,
honorable lad, to felon, and then,
disregarding the honor which is said
to exist even famong thieves threw
me over to save himself. / would be
content to give five years of my life
nay, more, [ would be content to add
five years to my life-could it pur-
chase that one half minute of which 1
was robbed.
"My family disowned me, and made
no attempt even to procure counsel
for me. all forsook me except little
Mary, from whom got a tear-stained
letter inclosing a five-pouud note, her
quarterly allowance, and telling me
that she would never forget me. My
father had forbidden Sny of them to
write to me, or even mention my
name; but Mary had disobeyed him.
1t can't be wrong to write to you,
DEAR she said, 'fOr you are my own
brother, always.' ..-
"Tnere was a flaw in the evidence,
which my counsel took advantage of
| but Mr.. Pierson worked against him
privately, collecting evidence for the
crown, and was convicted. Heaven
grant there may not be many poor
wretches who leave old England with
the feelings with which 1 left it. II
had had the opportunity, would
have put an end to my miserable ex-
istence. was taken in cab, strong
ly guarded, from the Jail to the wharf.
We passed one of the parks on our
way. had been in prison some time,
and the fresh green grass, the trees
and flowers had never looked so beau
tiful as now, when 1 knew was look
ing on them for the last ime. I thought
of the hedge-roWs white with blossoms
in Northumberland; the larks singing
overhead; Mary perhaps in our favor
ite nook in the orchard, weeping bit
ter tears as q last good-by to her
handsome. Teddy as she fondly
called me. No wonder hoy heart
swelled when 1 thought of those who
in the sight OF God were guilty of my
crime.
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