Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-01-21

Tapped up against Mrs. Bamber's very back
door. Pirates might have landed and car
ried her off at midnight, if they had beef
disposed, although Mrs. Bamber was no
daunted by fear of such violent abduction
In the old days piratical crews in rakisl
craft from the Spanish Main had not beer
unknown in the waters of this very harbor
and Stoneport had been more intimatel,
associated with the slave trade than wa
good for her reputation at a future date
Like so many towns on the coast of New
England, prosperity had ebbed away, ths
bud Of promise had been blighted by some
mysterious f1uctuation of commerce. There
were those who detected arighteous Meme
sis in the sunshine, moss grown memory
of the past. The shop-bell rang sudden
ly, and girl entered.
ooh, Mrs. Bamber - she cried an(
throwing her arms impulsively about thu
little woman burst into tears.
The girl was taller and larger than hel
companion, and yet chung to her.
Has anything more happened % in
quired Mrs. Bamber, alarmed. "NoN
don't give way, my DEAR
II can't help it, sobbed the girl excited
ly, "Mr briggs has been to see me again
He came to the school-room, with all the
children staring, and told me he would moi
foreclose on the Platt property if 1 would
marry him. Oh, what cruel, cruel bar.
gain!"
.You never promised" began Mrs.
Bamber, breathlessly.
The girl drew herself up.
81 said no."
Charlotte Eaton was very attractive
certainly, even in her anger, with flushed
cheeks and fearful eyes, A little scarlet
hood covered her golden hair, and gave
her something of childish beauty. At this
moment there was stir in the deserted
street; people appeared like magic. A
sleigh, curved like a shell, and lined with
robes of feecy white fur, drawn by spirited
black horses in flashing harness, and driven
by solemn negro coachman in livery,
small man wrapped in sable, with keen,
narrow face, who gazed down on the com
motion his splendor excited " it'll irrep es-
sible exultation. This man was Hiram
briggs, and to show himself ostentatiously
to his world of Stoneport was pleasure
which had not yet palled on the rich man.
Ellis mother learned the trade when
did, said Miss Simmins, the milliner. II
am sure nobody thought her son would
come to owning everything"
The elder briggs had, indeed, worked in
secret many years, directing any little rills
Of wealth, CLEANED from any humble source,
to his own dingy warehouse. Misery and
reticent in the extreme, Stoneport had not
OWNED his riches until the son, now forty
five years old, suddenly emerged from the
bondage in which he had been held by his
parent while living, to assume the role of
/ millionaire. Hence the establishment Of
the town; hence Hiram's love Of display
In Mrs. Bamber's shop the two women
grew rigid as the sleigh passed, the widow
with Indignation, and the young school
mistress with curious admixture of envy
and repulsion. Had she not been urged !;
nay almost threatened in all that she held
dearest-her plighted troth with Charley
Platt-to share the sleigh with its feecy
robes? Might she not save the Platt home
stead, indeed, by paying this very price Of
marrying Hiram briggs! Mrs. Bamber
took her hands.
"Charlotte, let us go to this man, and
beg him to release them" she said, ear
nestly. "You must have influence with
him.
Il am afraid to CO., said Charlotte.
"Afraid! When you are to be Charley's
wife We must fight for him, my dear. :"
These two champions saw the sins of
MI. briggs in the light OF intense parti-
zanship. He was a mean man, and the
power of money would naturally make
him tyrannical; moreover, he had selected
Charlotte Eaton to fall in love with as the
sweetest and most blooming young lady in
Stoneport. Hiram briggs could certainly
afford to please himself at last !! Unversed
in the delicate phases of romance, he could
by no means win smile from Charlotte,
and discovered in wrath and CONSERVATION
that Charley Platt was his rival. He would
foreclose, and take possession of the house.
Stoneport saw in this measure only the
grasping tendencies of the man who wished
to establish home, while the victims de-
tected revenge. Probably both factions
were wrong.
Mrs. Bamber, with trembling Charlotte
| by her side, presented herself before the
tyrant. He still dwelt in the wing of the
warehouse where his father had been con-
tented to abide. Perhaps he was cha
grined to be found in the small parlor,
which he had furnished with yellow satin
curtains and sofas, when he would so soon
take possession of the house on the hill.
The mission was scarcely successful one,
although Mrs. Bamber made herself spokes-
woman on the occasion with all possible
energy. She even offered up her shop,
since DR.. Platt had given it originally,
and was laughed at for her pains. Mr..
Hiram briggs was not a pleasant man to
ask for favors, especially when he came
quite close to Charlotte, and said harshly,
"You know my terms''
/ After that Mrs. Bamber drew her COM
panion away without another word.
Giles a BRUTE" said the little woman,
tingling with modification at the remem-
i brance of the coarse laugh which had greet
ed her proposal of yielding up her all.
They met young man at the corner of
the street.
"Take care of her," said Mrs. Bamber,
transferring Charlotte to his charge.
"My dear Mrs. Bamber, [ did not need
the Injunction" said Charley Platt, in a
voice he stroye to render steady and cheer.
full, as he drew the girls hand through his
arm with an air of tender protection.
Charlotte and Mrs. Bamber looked at each