The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-03-21
A Terrible Mistake.

DOTd OUllu was TIC uduButcI VI III
Indian general who died, covered will
fame, and left her alone and literally
friendless in Bombay, where he
breathed his last.
His dying words were :-"Go home
my poor girl, to your Aunt Arlingford
at Elmsley, near London, and stay with
her until you are married to Walter.
For General Guild and Colonel Cray
had been friends together and comrades
In many battle, and had long ago af
tianced their motherless children t
one another, the wedding to take place
AS soon as the young man had attained
his majority.
So here was the orphan girl nearing
the end of her long journey, and gazing
wlstfully at the strange and unfamiliar
land of her birth.
There was one>clause In her dead
fathers will which had recurred to
Dora's mind with ever present pain,
ever since she had flrt heard 1t, and
that was, should she, upon making the
acquaintance of Walter Cray, refuse to
marry him, the bulk of her fortune
should be passed over to her cousin,
Penelope Arlingford.
That her dear father should think it
necessary to coerce her into compliance
had wrung from her many a tear.
Wholly unversed in the strOng-minded
Ways of some English maidens, she had
never dreamed of disObeying him, or
of choosing mate for herself.
The journey was over at last.
Miss Guild found herself in quiet
country house, surrounded by the most
feryent assurances of welcome from
her sole surviving relatives, who, of
course knew all about her affairs, and
treated her with the most delicate con-
slderatiOn.
Mr.. Arlingford was bluff and
hearty gentleman farmer; Mrs. Arling-
ford a reserved lady, who, however,
seemed Kindness itself willie Penelope,
the only daughter, and Doras possible
rival for the fortune, wasa gentle-faced,
chestnut-haired girl of twenty, who
greeted Dora by winding her arm about
her and laying her cheek to hers with
out word.
In the course of the evening of Miss
Guilds arrival, while she was giving
her aunt some account of her voyage
from India, she observed her cousin
Penelope standing out on the lawn
talking earnestly with a gentleman.
1t was brilliant night IN midsum-
mer; the moon, searching as great
lime-light, shone on the pair, and
showed Miss Arlingford's companion to
be not only young and handsome, but
also lover.
His hand held hers, and his stately
head was often bent In unmistakable
alteration close to her tresses, while
she leaned toward him in all the low
ing confidence of a returned affection
Very soon they entered the parlor
and Walter Cray was directly presented
to Miss Guild.
And he the lover Of Penelope!
Dismay, CONSERVATION, fell upon the
heart of the orphan. There could be
no mistake--every look, every action of
the two betrayed 1t.
sho was afiianced to man who loved
another.
The cold touch of his hand on hers,
the distant salutation, as If she were
the merest stranger, proclaimed that he
was resolved 10 ignore the contract be-
tween them
Dora shrank into the darkest corner
of the room, and bitter disappointment
filled her soul.
Very soon, however, the converse
ton going on round the table arrested
her attention. Walter Cray was telling
M. Arlingtord and Penelope an ac-
count OF a strange murder which had
lately occurred.
"The man." he said, "was rather a
clever chemist, and accomplished his
purpose in manner savorirg more OF
the exploits of the Arabian Nights
epoch than those of our day. He got
possession of her journal, and impreg-
mated Its leaves with sort Of volatile
poison, which she of coulse inhaled the
first time she made a record In the
book, the result being a mysterious
death which no one could account
for"
The eyes of Penelope Arlingford
were fxed upon the narrator with a
pulsating eagerness which arrested the
attention Of the orphan.
"what could 1t have been ?" she al
most whispered.
Don't believe it," remarked Mr..
Arlingford, sententiously.
The lovers were gazing at each other,