Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1877-03-22

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would double, perhaps treble, his wealth. Tht
gigantic speculation proved, in the end
which came all too quickly-to be nothing
more nor less than gigantic fraud. The un
lucky baronet found himself brought to the
very verge of ruin, for 80 confident had he
been of the success Of the enterprise, that he
had staked enormous sums upon the venture
and now had the modification of beholdine
them all swept away like cobwebs before q
blast of wind, himself! defenceless dupe
and the perpetrators of the fraud, like biz
lost gold, vanished into invisibility. I-
Too late, he now bitterly repented having
scorned Rogers advice, and laughed at the
penetration, far more acute than his own
which had from the very first detected the in
security of the scheme. ,a ..........:... ,...
This much being said, it becomes unneees
sary to explain from whence proceeded the
evident gloom which clouded the spirits Of
Sir John, Oh this pleasant afternoon of May
which marks his first introduction to the no
tice of the reader. ~ ... ... So, ~,
r AS they came in sight Of the noble pile Of
Lyndhurst Towers which, standing on . lofty
eminence, commanded an extensive view Of
the neighboring country, the bsronet raised
his sad eyes, and fixed them, with heavy
sigh, upon his beautiful home, around which
every fond association of his life was en-.
twined. ... ... ...,i...ra,.. ......0. ..
"Roger," be exclaimed in an accent almost
of despair, lit will kill me to leave this
placer .''' ... "'.'
"Would to God there was no cause for your
doing so," rejoined Roger. "But, sir, you
must try not to be 80 downhearted. Look to
the future, and be hopeful. Who knows what
good luck may yet be in store for your!
II shall not stay in this country" abruptly
continued the baronet, after pause, during
which he had been struggling to conquer the
emotion which nearly overmastered him. "1f
am forced To quit Lyndhurst, shall quit
England also, for it will not be large enough
to hold me and the new possessor Of my faith
er's estate" .'.,-
"Quit England" echoed old Martin in as
tonishment. "Surely, you can't be in earnest,
Sir John?" ...a~
"Why notf" Better men than have gone
abroad, to try their fortunes in new country,
rejoined his master, with rising excitement in
his eye and voice. "See here, Roger, this
idea, which lately presented itself to my mind,
has been rapidly gaining strength, and i'm
pressing itself more and more forcibly upon
me. Last night lay awake for hours, think
ing it over, and the longer 1 considered it the
more rational it appeared. Here, as you we'll
know, can never, never retrieve my lost for
tune-and I can't endure the idea of sinking
into the insignificant position I should inevi-
tably be forced to occupy when once my down
fall became known. Sir John Lyndhurst,
rich and prosperous, or believed to be so, has
many friends; Sir John Lyndhurst, cast into
poverty, will find that friendship is but a
name"
II wouldn't give fig for the friendship of
such as them who would desert you in your
misfortunes," said Martin, bluntly. "But I
think you are greatly mistaken sir, if you fan
cy that you have no friends Of better sort. "
"Perhaps may have few, scattered here
and there but the majority of those with
whom I have hitherto been so popular will
fall off-see if they do not And confess
have always liked popularity-it is weak
ness of mine, Roger, cannot deny it."
Martin already knew this, we'll enough !;
for what foible of the baronet's existed with
which he was not acquainted? He did not
enter upon discussion of this point, howev-
er, but returned to the original topic.
"If you ever left England, Sir John, as
you speak of doing-though can't help fan
cying you would change your mind when it
actually came to the point-where in the
world would you go?"
"There are places enough to choose from.
I should prefer, of course, to 90 to a new
country-Australia, for example, or some
part of America"
II thought Australia was a place only ht
for convicts and such-like," muttered Martin.
"It's place for making money-for sheep
raising, and gold.diggiDg, and plenty of other
things besides"
"And how about the dear, blessed children,
Sir John-would you be for turning them in.
to the bush, and making little savages out of
them !"
"Oh, nonsense p rejoined the baronet with
some impatience. "They could remain in
England at school, suppose, until I had
made suitable home for them out there"
"They'd never be moment happy away
from you, sir; no more than you could be
without them. Miss Evelyn, in particular,
would nope herself to death, shut up in q
dreary school.
"Then I shall take them with me, that's
all. 1 can do it easily enough. But if the
notion of Australia horrifes you, what do
you say to America ? There is civilization
enough to be found there"
"Among the Yankees" said Martin, du.
biously. II never had much opinion of thsm." J."
"They are not all Yankees; and, besides,
what do you know about them ?" asked the
baronet, vexed at Rogers not falling more
readily into his views. He had built up the
vision of self-expatriation, resulting in re-
newed prosperity, crowned in the future by q
triumphant return to his native land and the
repaiping of his cherished home and birth