The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-05-04


sight, and with humble gratitude he had
accepted the glorious robe of Christ's
righteousness; but Maj. Egan's sneer
had aroused the old Adam within him,
and he replied hotly:
ri feel we'll satisfied that any preaching
to you would be labor lost, even as was
righteous Noah's on the scofing antedi-
luvians. But, Egan, must request you
not to speak of women at all to me, un-
less you can do it with respect. Remem-
Der, have mother and sisterp'
For one moment the hard, worldly
nature was touched, and Maj. Egan's
voice was slightly tremulous as he said:
"Excuse me, Harry, I intended no
insult. Ahl if I had such mother! I!
But from my earliest childhood I have
never enjoyed the influence of mothers
or sisters love!"
"Then you know nothing of woman,
Dick, and am sorry for you" said Har.
ry, in a mollifed voice.
Sken ken (who had been saved from
capture through Croppo's fidelity had
lost none of his Heetness, and brisk and
pleasant drive soon carried them to Berk-
ley Hall, where Maj. Egan received kind
and generous welcome from the ladies.
Besides being an old acquaintance,
Maj. Egan was intelligent and gentle
manly, and endowed with gift which
very few men possess-a talent for small
talk-and this, like every other talent he
possessed, he knew how to turn to ac-
count for Richard Egan. He was brim
full of city news. Mixing familiarly
with Federals and Confederates, he could
tell of the sayings and doings of both
parties, and could conjecture quite
shrewdly the motives which governed
their actions. Under the circumstances
no more acceptable visitor could have
appeared at Berkley Hall.
The change from the hustle and excite
ment of camp life to the sad quiet of
Berkley Hall was irksome to Harry
Maham. Even his favorite pastime of
hunting did not afford the pleasure it had
done in lang syne, since it recalled so
many cherished friends who had shared
with him his holiday sports, then, be-
side their fallen comrades, sleeping their
last sleep close by some hardly, bravely,
but, alas, vainly contested battle-ground!
Ahl yes, porr Harry found the sadly
altered home life was hard to endure,
and many times when alone the unbid-
den tear would start, and he could be
heard murmuring: "In vain, in vain
those precious lives were given-we wear
the yoke of slaveryp To him, then,
Richard Egan, full of the instructive
principles of self-preservation and the
worldly principles of accumulation, and
cheerfully elated with the consciousness
that he was nearing his desired goal, and,
above all, retailing occasionally for Har-
ry's especial benefit bits of news he had
gathered of the old comrades whom
Harry lovingly called "the boys" came
as it seemed to Harry heaven-sent
boon.
His company was not less agreeable to
Mrs. Maham, breaking as it did into the
monotony of her invalid life. His vivid
relations of the scenes enacted in the
beau monde for the moment seemed to
call back the feelings of her youth, and
the repartees and bon nsots he knew so
well how to repeat, often won smile
from her pale lips. Even Marion was
won for a while from her grave reticence
and sad "reminiscences by his unvarying
cheerfulness and pleasing conversational
talents, and her heart softened gratefully
to one, who could sometimes win one OF
the old gay smiles from her beloved
mother. Thus, unperceived at first even
by themselves, Richard Egan was gradu-
ally but surely instiling into their pure
hearts the poison of his scofing and
worldly spirit. Richard Egan's ruling
passion from his very boyhood was the
love of money, and this unholy passion
made such rapid strides that it had
reached maturity before the boy became
a man. 1t was DIR. st. Julien's known
wealth that had made him a suitor fol-
Annie St. Julien's hand. Annie's beau
ty and gentleness he could not fail to
admire, but the deepest feeling she had
ever awakened in his heart was petting
tenderness which men exulting in their
physical strength feel for women and
children. 1t was left for Marion Maham
to make him feel woman's magical power
over mans heart. Marion's beauty had
elected his admiration, her earnestness
and her independence had compelled his
esteem, and his fancy fingered with de-
lighted pride upon the time, when the
high-spirited girl would yield to him the
homage of her heart, for ne really be-
lieved that wealth was almighty to wiz
woman's love, and he might often, could
his heart have been listened to, have
been heard whispering, "for pomp and
power alone are woman's care!"
Richard Egan's parents had died wher
he was very young child, leaving him
their only child, and q small patrimony
to the care and guidance of bachelor
uncle, whose own means being quite
1 limited he had little to give his young