Litchfield enquirer., 1877-01-18

lou know all, said; you've go my secret out of that accursed ledger Come, put an end to my misery. Tell m, uncle to-day, if you've spark of woman ly pity, Bess; finish it all to-day. She stood quite still and looked dow upon him. Even in that second of agon, he thought her face was the purest an, proudest in the world. He felt no sham in kneeling there. Apart from his crime it seemed to him right that he, that ever,
 one, should be at her feet. But the sus pense was overpowering.
 'tSpeak-for Gods sake, speak, Cousil Bess Betray me at once, won't you Oh. speak P
 "No," she said: '.I will not betray you. But as he got upon his feet, and tool one long breath of relief, and caught thu hand hanging at her side. she drew i
 away. and held it back from him. "Oh yes. of course" !" said Matthew, bit terly. ''I know what you mean: you'll shield me from disgrace. You've got little more pride of family than Uncl Obadiah. He'd hustle me off to jail with out a qualm; but yon-you'n save me, ant
 hate me as only aproud woman can And Less, see here; I can't bear to thwart you you shall have your will. Bess, Bess
 what do you want me to do? Speak thu
 word. Go and throw myself in yonde
 pond, and wipe it all out forever? Oh,
 swear to you I'll do it this moment, il
 the twlnkling of an eye, and you shal
 look on and see P
 He really meant what he said. He wa,
 overstrung with the weakness and agita
 tion of those long hours of wakefulness
 and there was something in the face O
 his cousin that stung him to madness
 Just then he would rather have died thar
 remained in the world with her. He made
 8 plunge forward, but her hand now
 grasped his for one little moment
 "No,n' she said. dropping his hand and
 clasping her own. ''I will not have 1t so.
 Her tone implied that she had ever
 thought of this way of wiplng out dis honor, but rejected it. The next words -.cl5 why. Because 1 cannot bear tc
 nave ynn dia," she said; and two big tears
 rolled out of her eyes upon her clasped
 hands.
 "Oh," cried Matthew, with a groan ot agony, "why didn't I know there was such
 woman in the world? Now it is toe iate."
 'It is not too late," said Elizabeth, gravely. 'And-"
 "What? ?" interrupted Matthew. ''Oh, Bess, don't drive me mad. Don't make me live to despise me. Tell me, could you ever forgive me? Could you in ten, twenty years, if went through some sort of terrible expiation at your bidding could you have the womanly heart to en- dure me in the same world with you?"
 A slight rustic in the bushes at her side startled Bess. She looked, and saw only the graceful haunch of Guinea hen; but it qulckened the nerves of Miss True penny.
 ~ "Listen to me-" she said. ''You say you will do all that bid you. Do you mean what you say ?"
 "Yes, yes, he replied; ''that is what I want-to do just as you will, as God is my judge, Bess. I'd have the strength now to even tell my uncle."
 ''No, no" she said with shudder, for she knew her father we'll; "but you must pay the money back to him. without his Knowing it was gone. You must take three thousand dollars of mine that are lying in the bank-yes, yes. you must; you said you'd do all that bid you"
 ''Oh, Bess," he groaned, ito take your
 You wifi, MattheW; ex5 You ehn Wi e 1oTTow 6eTs this money of me, and pay me the same interest for it that the bank allows. It must be withdrawn to-day-this morning 50 that can make the books right. It is dreadful to have them wrong. There, now; it is all oyer."
 She put her hand upon his head with sad sweet gesture of farewell, and as she left him it seemed to Matthew that the bushes parted, and where her tender, gra- cious face had been, that of demon re- cynical, sly, sneering face, a face of demoniac will and purpose, the face of hls uncle Obadiah.
 Matthew remained for a moment petri fed with fear and disgust; but the face vanished, and it all seemed like a dream of hls disturbed fancy. It was impossi- ble; it could not be. Of course not. At breakfast there sat his uncle Obadiah, with his wrinkled face untouched by emo ton of any kind. He ate with his head bent as usual to the table, once in while casting quick, furtive glance upon his daughter, which habit was part of his meal. tl.
 As for Bess, she poured out the coffee with steady hand; her voice had no quaver in 1t; but there was something al- ways about his cousin that seemed mas terful to Matthew, only it was wonderful snch tenderness conld go hand in hand with it. A hundred emotions took away his appetite. It seemed to him that his soul had just been born
 How different was the store that day The gaudy placards upon boxes and bales. the fly paper on the mouldy old ceiling; on one side Haunted gay-colored prints and petticoats, while upon the other stood sturdlly rakes and hoes, shelters and feed- CTS, even more costly implements of agri- culture. The side window, with it's mar row dusty panes, its shelves filled with fruit and pickle jars, patent medicines, and stale confectionery, held also the desk. and stool of the accountant. Many a time had he perched there, band of iron about his head. every nerve in his body tingling with desperation and de- spair. Now there was high white brow there, cool and calm and passlonless, a white warm body, but apparently without nerves; above all. soul free from stain
 How different it was i The old flavor in the back of the building of musty grain and miIdew, and down in the cellar the strong experimentation of mackerel and oil. of brown sugar and molasses, of horse liniment, vinegar, and home brewed beer, or rancid butter and bacon, of hides, of beef, hams, and codish-the odor of these, mingling and commingling. failed to create the usual sensation of disgust to Matthew. He took off his fine coat, and pulling mp his shirt sleeves, ramifcated down Tn the very bowels of this damp, sticky, subterranean retreat, the half-shut, wrinkled. cunning eyes of his uncle fol- lowing him curiously and with an omi- nous speculation.
 Some disagreeable work was got over that morning. MT. Truepenny seemingly willing enough to humor the busy bent of his nephew About noon Matthew went above, and at the top of the ladder be- held the futter of blue cambric dress; 1t set his heart to beating painfully. h. stlnctively he took his hat from his head. and when Bess saw first that handsome, spectral head, 1t was even with the floor, It was so handsome and yet so spectral a head that it reminded her of one in pie ture she had seen somewhere, that of Cavalier prone upon the block, ready for the axe of the headsman close by.
 She stopped and put in his hand a bit of paper. He bent his head over her O xI