The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1876-04-20

IN EOOu nanust my lIienu-lH EO's
hands, thank God Emily is not here a
! present.
"Not here?' said the sick man, turn
4 ing his eyes toward the speaker, anC
/ searching the gentle, open face. Doe
she know I'm i'll? l have been awake
/ for an hour, and / feel very weak and i'll
How long have been here? 2
For some time" said the curate.
And is she not within call
No"
Then I shall never see her again,
said the youth. He turned away Ian
guidly and painfully to hide his tears
by Gods grace you will, my friend
You are getting better now
NO" replied the sick man. 81 wol,
up, and felt at once il was to die. How
came / hereT
81 found you in my clubhouse. YoU
had sought shelter there one stormy
night"
"Oh, remember q replied the patien t
with a shudder-"Bill Knowsleyn
"Bill Knowsley, young man r cried the
curate, startled out of his wariness lol
the moment. "Why, only this very day
have read Of that mans execution foi
the murder Of his wife and children
trust you had naught to do with it ?"
Nothing, thank God r replied the
other. 81 have sins enough to answer
for without that / was hiding at his
house for special reasons. and ] fear the
money ] gave him had something to do
with his crime. But uu say he is exc.
cuted. How long is that ago ?--how long
have been here2'
MANY weeks. Do not overtax your.
self now. am clergyman. Not know.
ing what may happen, though hope the
best, / ask you, before God, TO tell me
who you are, and how you came here.
"Then you have not found out who
am, and Emily knows nothing? said the
other, in a sad whisper And he retoolI
to weeping. The clergyman waited
Then he began to repeat softly one or
two of the Collects, and the words seem
ed to steal like soothing music into the
sick mans heart.
Thank you" he said; 81 am very
grateful. Those words revive sweet
memories-but it is too late now. The
few minutes | have to live / must spend
in thanking you for your goodness, and
in making statement of the circum-
stances that have brought me here
Have you pen and inkP'
The curate gave him few spOonfuls
of nourishment, but he read in the
youths face that his premonition was too
correct, and hastened for the writing ma
terials.
Take down that my name is Henry
Willesden Bishorne, son of Mr. Richard
Bighorne, member of Parliament-the
great distiller twenty-five years Of age,
of Baliol College, Oxiord-from which
University my own father removed me
to the distillery, and to the life which is
ending in this......but ! do not blame
him......please take that down. Tell
him that, dying, ] said | nourished no
angry or unfilial thought, and took all
the fault upon myself lie never was so
weak as have been. My sister Emily
you can not tell what dear lovely girl
she is what blessing il will be to you
to get her thanks for your kindness -
tell her, too. that hers was the only name
could think about when | was dying.
81 have no time for confessions / feel
myself growing weaker every minute.
Write rapidly. Say that on the - of
February last, | went to No. - St
Lane, London, to call upon a
person there named Helena Bellhouse.
Do not be shocked. Sad as her life was,
she was born lady, and wonderfully
clever and engaging woman. quite of an
unusual character, and though under a
dreadful cloud. strangely ambitions to
preserve some selfrespeet and be the
best she could be. God knows how little
that was, for she was a hard drinker at
times. 1t doeSnot matter how ] became.
with her. She was twice my
age, but / took a kindly interest in her,
and especially because she had told me
of a beautiful child she had in the coun-
try who was born in lawful wedlock, and
whom she was protecting from q bad
husband. She never mentioned his
name. / helped her as much as / could
to carry out her plans, and latterly used
to fetch the letters that came for her
from the child or her guardians She
never told me, however. who she really
was. should say / had most intimate
friend, Captain Conistoun, son of Lord
to whom, poor fellow, owe
a terrible debt for initiating me into the
mysteries Of life. | also know a gentle
man of high position and loose morality,
well known in London society. He is a
Secretary of State He was a strange
man, and had taken a fancy to this wo-
man because she was so clever aud lady
like.
"Well, Sir, on that day of February /
went in the afternoon, just about dusk,
to call on Mrs Bellhouse, as she called
herself / had been to Noting Hill to
get letter she expected from her daugh-
ter. When / entered her room Mr.. Del
amarre was there; a cloak and hat i'm
which he used to disguise himself lay on
the sofa. Wine and spirits were on the
table-they had both been drinking
She was excited. He seemed troubled
and vexed.
"Bighorne, he said, Immediately, i
have made an astounding discovery.
Let me present to you Mrs Hurlingham,
the sister of your friend and mine, Cap
tain Conistoun.
~ staggered and sat down. Good
heavens / said. Helen. is this true ?
"'Yes,' che replied, it is true
IL can not describe to you, Sir, the
horror with which we three people look
ed at each other: il seemed as if some
evil spirit had dropped down, and, with
a wave of his wand, set us all aghast with
mutual repulsion. To lessen probably
the painful restraint of this exposure,
the poor lady tore open the letter had
brought, and ran her eyes over it, Be
fore she had finished she thrust it into
her bosom and uttered fearful shrek.
Then she ran to the window. We rush
ed forward to stop her, but only seized a
light shawl she had on, winch slipped off
her shoulders The next instant she
had thrown herself out, with a shrek
more awful than before...... Write this
down carefully, Sir. ! make my solemn
on my dying bed that neither
nor Delamarre contributed in any way
whatever to that woman 5 death
But, Mr. BighOrne, excuse me If
that is so, why, may l ask, did you desire
to secrete yourselty
ITO save my friend, Mr.. Delamarre.
He is one of the props OF the Ministry
they are already weak. If this had come
out, he must have been disgraced, and
then forced to resign. You may tell my
friends of it, but keep it a solemn Sc
cret.. Neither Of US had been recog-
nized. but NV terror of discovery grew