The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1875-06-09

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hope apart from you; then you turned on
me and laughed at me- In one moment
you changed for all time the honey of my
life 10 the gall of bitterness Miss Mar
lay, what had l done to you to deserve
this? Was 1t all nothing, think you? l
come of Highland blood, and clansman
never forgets. If you had not done what
you did, ifyou had not Inundated me and
nearly broken my heart, then l should
have spared you when my turn came. l
have not one regret, understand. If it
were to do over again would do it over
again. This is what came here to tell
you"
She raised her arm slowly, as if it had
been a weapon.
go out of this housed" she said.
Somehow Birney Graham never pros.
pered. He was not superstitious, heaven
knows; but sometimes he half confessed to
himself that Alice Marlay's hate seemed
to follow him like an evil eye. Alice Mar
lays father was his friend, but Mr.. Mar
lay shortly resigned his Presidency Of the
bank and retired from business. A new
President and new officers were chosen,
and Birney Graham lost his place. He
understood how it came about when he
happened to remember that the new Pres
ident was the father of Alice Marley's
most intimate friend What harm could
Alice Marlay do him? he had asked mock-
ingly. He found out what many anoth-
err has found out to his sorrow, that wo-
man can do a man no end of harm when
she sets her head TO it.
Birney Graham had no home worth
speaking of. A childish, peevish, old
father, who ate opium, depended on him
for support, while half>sister, cross and
vixenish, as only disappointed woman
can be, hung like milestone about his
neck. These two, the peevish father and
the waspish sister, constituted the guar
dian angels Of Birney Graham's home
Truly, as he had told her once, he had
not so much peace or JOY in this life that
Alice Marlay should have thought worth
while to take that little away from him.
He had few friends. He repealed people
by his cynical GOODNESS, and as the time
went on he became more disagreeable
ami unmerciful than ever. He said to
himself he did not care whether he had
any friends or not. He told himself a
falsehood. He did care. Nobody can
say the like and tell the truth.
He obtained another situation, not so
good as the one he had lost, but he was
glad to get even that Then hard times
came suddenly, all the world was turned
upside down and driven out at sea, and
Birney Graham along with it. The luck
less young man could obtain no work to
keep himself, his peevish old father and
vixenish sister alive. The childish COM
plainings OF his father and the naggings
and goadings of his sister drove him near
ly frantic. 1t was not pleasant situa-
ton for gentlemanly young man to be
placed in. 1t had been five years since
he had the talk with Alice Marlay, but it
seemed to him that her hate pursued him
yet. Only for her he would have still
have held his place at the Thirty-first
National Bank, perhaps a better one
He felt like cursing her, and himself too
whenever he thought of her.
At last. with the worry and anxiety,
the complaInlngs, the goadings, and nag
gings, Birney Graham fell sick. As if to
insult his pride and his sufferings, one
day an Overseer of the Poor whom Bir-
ney Graham had subdued many time,
because he was coarse and talked bad
grammer, came in and said:
"Young man, think you'd better be
took to the 'orsepital."
"Ill die frstl" said Birney Graham,
desperately.
iiS spIdbS upOn MS lSeI duu "dlheu
about the room. Presently he informed
his peevish father and his vixenish sister
that he believed he wasn't so very sick
after all. He really thought he would
take a walk, and maybe something would
turn up. He staggered feebly down into
the street. The lamp posts seemed doing
witches dance. Birney Graham was
half delirious with worry and fever. He
started to walk toward the fields and the
country, thinking crafty that he would
at least get out of the city where they
could not send him to the hospital.
IL mean to walk and walk until | fall
down and die" said Birney Graham to
himself
The cool November air struck his
cheek and entered his lungs and stimula-
ted him unusually. He wandered on and
on, out toward the open country, over a
smooth turnpike road which led he knew
not whittier. At length, when the sun
sank slowly behind the western hills,
, Birney Graham sank, too, unable to 60 a
{ step farther.
Next morning rich lady's coachman
told his mistress that there was a tramp
: ont in the stable, sick, and not able to