Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1875-03-27

whirl of excitement In a breath | wa
on my knees before her, pouring ont n v
love, and the hopes / had cherished, a
frenzied accents. At first she 81 cd
am lzed then, rs the full sense of what
was saying dawned upon her, she broke
into gay laugh.
"Oh, Charley ) You silly, silly boy Y
she cried you are too amusing. L
gave you credit for more sense than this.
Get up, child, and stop this foolish on
sense. I'm to be married in six weeksto
Sir Walter Dunbar" @ q
What said or did, how [ got ut of
the house, I never knew. 1 founl my
self in the meadows, making my way to-
wards the canal. A dull pain throbbed
through both heart and brain, and one
strong, irresistible impulse impelled me
on. My mothers loving watchfulness
had hitherto kept my life from all care
and sorrow and 1 shrank from pain,
and only thought of Kidding myself
of it.
The great autumn moon was up
as reached the bank, pouring down her
silver splendor on the water. sat down
beneath the shadow of dropping will
low, listening to the moaning rustic of
the branches overhead. Kensal Green
cemetery was clearly visible. A solitary
bird, a nightingale, perhaps, sang
mournfully from a neighboring thicket
ALI these sights and sounds were as IA
miliar as my own identity ; and I felt an
infinite pity for myself, lookingupon and
listening to them for the last time-for
the last time it surely was; after the
cruel blow [ had received, life was out
of the question. One plunge into those
dark waters would end all And then,
when Jessie heard of my sad fate, she
would repent of what she had done, and
love me when it was too late. / even
fancied how my funeral would be con
Quoted, at that very cemetery, after my
body was found ; and actually suffered a
good deal from fear that there would not
be an appropriate epitaph written formy
tombstone. If I had only had a
scrap Of paper and pencil, should
have vetconiposed and left one myself but
not having these requisites, Ihad to re-
sign myself to my fate.
Divesting myself of the new blue
cloth coat, and hanging it very carefully
and conspicuously on the branch of a
tree, prepared to make the fatal
plunge. But at that instant my mothers
face, full of beseeching love, seemed
looking up from the moonlit waters. A
keen pang shot through my heart. How
would she bear my loss, she who had al
ways loved me so2 could not do this
deed without even bidding her farewell
I could not break NY mothers heart !
Snatching down my coat, I struck across
the fields at rapid pace. At the villa
gate 1 paused, chilled to the very soul
by feeling of awe and dread. The
moonlight streamed down. There sat
my mother in her great armchair; ]
could see her white face plainly. I
opened the gate, and went up the gravel
walk with suppressed steps. She might
be asleep, thought-and she was, that
quiet, dreamless sleep that knows no
waking. She was dead.
Two or three days after her funeral,
our old parish clergyman came down to
see me.
= "Well, Charley, my lad," he said,
after few moments comforting con.
versation, "what do you propose doing
in the way of profession 2"
81 am undecided, sir. | haven't
. thought much about it. I've been writ
!. ing good deal of late, and I thought
perhaps -
, But he cut me short by gesture.
"No, my lad, no! Give that up
literature isn't your vocation. Go into
, trade" E# ##s .#t
1 was cut to the very heart, but, some
I how, his words stuck to me. The more
I thought of them, the more I was con
, vinced of their sense; and after awhile ]
a made up my mind to take his advice.
} threw away my pens and paper, ant
bought small mercantile business. L
was a tedious life; yet soon grew tc
love it. Twenty years after I found
myself rich man, the proprietor of the
, Walnut Hill estate.
had ample means, SO [ gratifed my
= love for travel. wandered all over
r Europe, launched my bark upon the
= waters of the Nile, and sat beneath the
shadow of the Pyramids; returning home
: again, sun-burned and foot-sore, with 6
/ weary, loveless heart. l shut myself up
: having no intercourse with my fellow
men, and regarding woman-kind with {
; bitter feeling of hate and distrust
One sunny, autumn afternoon-I have
q a vivid remembrance of it, even to this
!. day; it was early in October, and the
j sunlight, streaming down upon the grea
o walnut trees in front of my dwelling
and glinting through the tawny chest
: nut leaves, seemed to have a peculiar
n warmth and brightness-I lay in little
sunhill, watching by turns the blue
s smoke curling up from my meerschaum
l and the busy village folks down below
Q me. There was fair, or something o
the kind, on foot, and an unusual bustl,
d prevailed.
!, After [ while, noticed trim, girlisl
!, figure, wearing brown robe, and