Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1875-12-03

of steak. "Most excellent people!-
Did you ever hear of mi)lionaires
who were not excellent? No matter
how vulgar or how ignorant, how
ugly or depraved a person may be,
money makes them all right. What
doesn't money do? 1t supplies brains
to the idiot, hearts to the heartless.-
Oh! money is king in this country.
How was it in France, Miss De
Berri?"
The color had faded out from the
bright, earnest face, but she met his
eye untlinchingly, ard ans, cred:
"Stange as it may seem, Doctor
Drayton, l heard no talk of moneyed
superiority during my long stay in
Paris, and very little in this country,
except what l have heard from you.
The currency most cared for IN Paris,
| think, was true nobility. l never
met gentleman while there who
was not at all times polite, respectful,
and even kind"
"And that is more than she can say
Of American gentlemen" broke in
Mrs. Drayton, with less tact than she
usually displayed. y
Miss De Berri flushed painfully,
and seemed about TO speak; but she
evidently thought better of it, for not
u sound escaped her.
Doctor Drayton soon left table.
and then Blanche broke the silence
by saying abruptly:
"Mrs. Drayton, am going away
from this house this very day.
"But, my dear, where will you go:"
inquired the poor woman, distressed
beyond description. "Yolfr father
gave You ir % my care, and / must
do my duty. Can't yor bear with
}. In little longer for my sake,
child? What has got into him can
not imagi' e.
"IIe despises me, Mrs. Drayton-
that is what has got into him; and it
spoils his home life. How many
times have l leard you remark about
the sudden and peculiar change in
him all at once, from kind to crrel,
joyous to sad, polite to rude. Some
persons have just this influence over
Others, and seem to stir up all the
mud of his nature. He will be his
own self again after l am gone. | feel
quite sure"
1t took all day to arrange this mat
ter satisfactorily; but at last it was
arranged, and wheu Doctor Drayton
sat down to his late dinner no strain
from Beethoven or Mendelssohn
foated in to disturb his serenity
There was strange emptiness about
the room that Doctor Dayton felt
without being able to understand.
"Where's Blanche?" said ne, as his
mother banded him his dessert.
"Blancbe? Why she has gone
aw..y. Didn't yon know tbat?"
"Gone away: How should know?
W1ere has she gone? On visit?
For how long?"
!. The words actually tumbled lover
each other, but Mrs. Drayton kept
very cool.
''She has gone away to stay, and
she had but one reason for going,
and that one was your constantly
manifested hatred tow .rd her. 1t it
had been anything else under the
sun, should have insisted upon her
remaining; but it was as hard tor me
to see you insult her as it was for her
to bear your insults"
81 insult her? You talk like a
crazy woman, mother. Wonders
will never cease SO long as there's
one woman alive. I thonght yon
knew me better than that"
"You have acted out to her what
you have said to me about her, and I
am more ashamed and gueved at
your conduct than ever thought it
possible could be-
"Miss De Berri was not well, Moth-
er," continued the doctor, taking no
notice Of her reproot. "And if she's
not very careful she will be down i'll
for a long time. You may not have
known that her health has been very
delicate for the past six months, but
it has, and you'd better lose no time
in bringing her home"
Mrs. Drayton found a clue at this
interview to the whole case; but she
made no 81 refusing to furnish
her son with the lady's address; act
ing precisely as she had promised
Blanche to do.
A few days after this, Mrs. Dray-
ton was called away most unexpect-
edly, to Canada, by the illness OF her
sister. Two months passed, and dur
ing that time DR.. Drayton was alone,
with plenty Of time 10 think. Never
before had he been SO utterly w;etch-
ed. The light had faded from his
lite, and his existence had narrowed
itself down to a professional tread
mill, out of which all enthusiasm had
fled, he believed, forever.
One morning the postman, with
other letters, left orc for his mother
which he felt sure was from Blanche.
He determined to open it and find
out where she lived. That she was
engaged to Mr.. Forrest he felt
sure. He had never forgotten the
flush on her face and the unusual
brightness of her eye as she bade him
adieu that night she had attended the
opera with him. Judge of his sur
prise when he read the following:
my DEAR FRIESD:-I have been very
i'll for the pas: six weeks, and every day
have longed so for your coming They
do all they can for me here. but it isn't
bit like home The doctor told me yes.
terday that ne considered my chances
about an even one for lif< or DEATH
Don't mind it, dear Mrs. Drayton. l
don't. l have never been happy mo-
ment since my dear father died Yester.
day sent for a lawyer, and had all my
affairs settled in case anything should
happen. You know have nobody in
this world but you and yours, SO have
fixed it that way. lwish Doctor John
could see me-" This was the mothers
pet name for her son, and this the poor
girl had used in quotations. The doctor
WINGED, but continued on to the end
Notwithstanding his hatred and disgust