The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-07-28

love for her without lnteirupuOnp ana hei
heart responded word for void as MS WINS
ners fell upon her ear He was going out
into the world, lie said-dc would BIND her
to HIM by no promises, as he was not mean
enough for that, but he would return IN year
or two, maybe-never, however, until he could
count pound to pound and shilling to shilling
with the Squire, who was once his friend.
In these len wears he had succeeded great,
ly. His footsteps had wandered into many
places, and fortune seemed ever to attend his
efforts. He had worked hard and mantuily,
and lie acknowledged that he was rich be
vond his most cherished anticipatons. He
could breathe again now. Returning to the
well remembered scene, his youthful affection
the one object of his ambition still strong
within him-full of rich belief IN womans
constancy and faith in the object OF her love
proud of the equality which resulted from
his own labor-he forgot that time, which
had dealt so iavorably with him, might have
also set its mark upon the old mansion while
those ten long years rolled by.
The mark was there. the Squire long
since dead and buried, the old house closed
up and deserted, for its mistress was away,
the wooden bridge displaced and an iron one
erected in its stead, the pretty village i'm
proved into a thriving little town'-these were
the sorrowful preludes to bltterer disap-
pointment than all OF them.
Nellie was married!
Only year beiOre-Just one solitary year
of all those prosperous ten. III he couId
but have known
This was the burden Of his cry, as he wan
dercd through the grounds, and through the
lonely rooms, and on the threshold OF the de-
serted manion, until the disturbed echoes
took up the theme, and the soft wind carried
it upon the ar" If only had kaown tiff
could hut have known"
Another year sped by.
Ernest May, banker, of Leonard street, hal
the reputation of being the hardest man OF
business and the most daring Spectator
known 10 the commercial world. Everything
he touched seemed to turn to gold. Hispow.
er in the city was enormous.
He had NrItten a brief letter to Nellie con.
graduating her upon her wedding, wishing
her every happiness, and signing himself,
" Yours truly thus closing accounts, as he
bitterly imagined, with his own heart and
hers Bat sitting in his office one day en-
gagged IN the perusal of an enormous pile of
documents, mssive, marked "prlvate," was
placed before him 1t was addressed in a
feminine hand, and he thrust II aside un-
opened
'"Nn no." he mutered, res,lessly; 81 have
done with all that.
He ntutively felt that it was from Nellie.
An hour afierward II again lay before him.
He turned it over in fdgetty, restless way,
and again put it aside unopened.
Still he could not settle to his work. For a
third time the letter was IN his grasp. Now
he broke the seal hurriedly, and laid the epis
tie open upon his desk.
MY dear old friend" it commenced. lie
read no more. but leaving 1t still open upon
his desk lie paced the room trctiullyi then
he thought of the old times when he was yet
a boy, and he returned to his place and hur-
riedy read as follows:
MY DEAR OLD FRIEND: am sure that IN
memory OF the pas. you will assist and aid
me now. can hardly hope, perhaps that
YOU should interest yourself In my welfare,
but for my child's sake, | must implorc your
generous help. My husband is cead, ana l
am sorely afraid that his extravaganza habits
have absorbed nearly the whole OF our pos
sessions. | wish to see every creditor SAILS
fied-yet know so little OF business matters,
do not choose to place our affairs in the
hands of a stranger Will you undertake the
business for me? feel that | am asking a
very great favor under the circumstances, II
YOU only knew Come to me, Ernest, FOR the
old tines sake, NELLIE
"Humbled at last" mu,tered the banker
with strange smile of satisfaction, as he fold
ed the letter methodically and placed 1t In
his pocketbcok. II was probably the only
letter in woman's handwriting that had ever
rested there.
A better feeling came anon. Long after
business hours, the concluding paragraph
written by a hand that trembled As 1t wrote
showing how completely Nellie had broken
down in her sad attempt to hide even from
herself the telling that controlled her Come
to me, Ernest, for the old times sake, burn
ed as letters of fire into the cold ami ashcn
heart of the man of business.
~ thought the account was closed, but
was wrong" he muttcred. II must 90 10 her
Tor she needs my help,
EXCEPT that the mansion was occupied, the
place wore the same appearance as when ht
saw it last. He walked across the iron bridge
and shrugged his shoulders disdalniully a'
he noticed the ugly trelliS work that sur
mounted il. How difierent from the rustic
railing that served as a finger hold and pro
lection IN the simple picture that he so wei
remembered. He walked up the narrow path
wav, and once again he stood upon tina
threshold where his SORROWS and his fortunes
had commenced.
Nne met nun liltlt, anu I'pti'h'H h''AA NV
the little room where their last interview nat
taken place so many years ago
He went through the accounts, and he foun'
that after the payment of her husbands debt
she would have but a bare suflicienCy. Tn
: estate had been mortgaged and was no longc
HERS. lie conducted the Investigation viii
the sharpness of thorough business mar
and in two days he mad statement oil her al
fairs prepared Tor her perusal, But IN lhos
two Gays he had learned more than she Il
first intended him Ia know.
, He found, by connecting together certaii
scraps of information, that her wedding hW
been enforced by her fathers desire and vii
She had waited nine weary years Tor IN
return of the wandercr, from whom she hH
received neither word nor token.
T Was his conduct free from blame
r Her husband was a rake and a spcndthrli
who had neither locc nor liking Tor her. Sh
: had called her baby boy Ernest IN rcmem
brancc Of him.
Then he thought of their childhGod's day
. IL, Ii. ,,os f., Great hpirpss and he was