The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1876-12-15

the twain passed under it, and once more
sought the parlors, where some of the
= guests we're preparing to leave. 1t wal
past midnight, and the ball, which had
proved success, was over.
Jessie March having bidden Catherine
good night and kissed her, was escorted
to her carriage by her companion in the
garden, and he said good-by in hir rich
voice; butnot before he hadkpoken some
words with his head thrust into the
gloom of the carriage-wordsw which it is
safe to say no one heard save Jessie.
Away the old fashioned carriage rolled
with their tired but merry occupantsand
Gortyn Randolph mounted horse and
followed.
Catherine knight left the house, clear
ed of the jewellers, to the care of the
servants, and sought her boudoir.
Il can't dismiss them from my mind,
drawing the blinds that looked out upon
the balcony. "What can it mean? But
yesterday Jessie told me that she did not
know the new Randolph. Tonight, an
hour after presentation, she is walking
with him in the garden. l find them
there at midnight, she leaning on his
arm, and his lips close to her ear. 1t
may be love at first sight, for Jessie is a
girl of singular whims; but II could
never love him."
Her words very naturally suggested
utterance.
The man called, by common consent
as it were, the new Randolph, was new
conner. His appearance sudden and un-
expected, had created considerable stir,
as he claimed to be a son of the Ran
dolph who had once been prince of
the honored name A number of the
families received him with cordial well
come, while few looked upon him with
distrust.
He did not lay claim to farthing of
the property left by the man whom he
called father. He had gold enough, he
said; but, tired ofliving in foreign land,
he had returned to America-to Virgil
mia, where, among the proud wearers of
his name, he hoped to spend the rest of
his days.
All this was pretty and poetic talk;
but it opened many doors to him, and he
became lion among his admirers.
Catherine Knight had not known Jes-
sic March great while. Jessie was a
northern beauty, who had spent a year
in the old Dominion. She had won
many friends, and one lover-a man
through whose veins flowed the genuine
Randolph blood.
"Can he win her from Lionel Lare?"
Catherine Knight suddenly asked her
self that night in her boudoir. "I Won
der if he thinks about that? Did he
know Jessie in the north, and follow
her 10 complete conquest begun there?
1 can not think it. l dare not, for my
heart, it seems would stand still, and
Lionels hand become more than the
creature of dream"
The beauty's temples flushed Grim
son, and glancing into the mirror. she
saw two eyes flash with triumph.
They were hers, and she started back,
shutting out the sight, to extinguish
the lamp, and lay her head on the pill
low.
Catherine Knight had watched Lii
onel Lare's wooing of Jessie March
with DO little degree of jealousy.
Long before the northern lass appear
ed among the Randolpbs, she had
loved the gallant; but Jessie's coming
promised to blast her hopes-it had
blasted many already.
Now, there was hope. The new
Randolph was going to win Jessie
March; we would take her from LoiL ell
Lare, whose heart he would leave open
for conquest, and why should not
Catharine Knight win the prize, for
ward to which she had looked so long2
Such was the state of affairs at the
time of the opening of our story.
Catherine saw the shadow of coming
victory, and resolved to bide her ii ne
in silence. She felt that her hopes
were fast approaching the long desired
fruirion.
She soon fell asleep, and the old
clock did not rouse an inmate of the
house when it struck two. Tired and
drowsy, they were sleeping heavily,
and the noise of hoofs and wheels on
! the road that run by the mansion gate
disturbed nothing save the quietude
of the night.
All at once hack. drawn by a soil
tary horse, stopped in the shadow of
the trees near the gate, and a man got
out. He was a small, well-dressed,
sleek looking pe-son. who, in the star
light of the eass looked wou-
derfully like the Que Randolph.
wait for me here he whispered
t othe man wlr6 sat bolt upright In
the box like genuine London cab
man. ''If you hear the signal, drive
up to the gaze and have the door
open."
The cabnsan nodded, and the little
mao approached the gate, which he
found locked on the inside. The dis
covery did not seem to surprise him,
for he looked toward the cab with a
light and knowing laugh, and then by
the aid of the stone posts climbed
over the portals.
The outlines of the old house were
Visible from the gate, and the night
visitor kept them in view as he glided
up the walk. By and-by catlike fig
ure but immense in the starlight,
climbed the vines to the balcony, the
shutters of whose windows were open
ed without noise.
A few minutes later, the same lit
tie man, but with box in his hand,
reclimbed the gate and dropped to
the ground almost under the very feet
of the cab-horse. Then he opened
the door of the vehicle, and seated
himself amid the gloom of the interior