Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-11-16

~
''And you believe"
y y "That all will beright yet. ca
wait, dear-if you will let me. 70
were never more precious to 8.
o than you are at this moment"
"Miss WestbrOok-cOme Fanny
q this is no place for you.
Harold and she had not hear
Q the footsteps. 1t was Blanchar
0 and her brother, who had approach
ed unnoticed.
"And no place for you either,
said White to Blanchard.
'Faugh - replied that worthy
, II have no words to waste on sucl
as you, sir. j am here TO perform
a duty"
"Scoundrel Harold began, al
the same time raising his hand. Sh,
touched, him, and he was STILL"
"Sir." she said, 81 am mistress
of my own actions. If l choose tt
accompany my brother, it is be-
cause | choose! Harold, goodbye
Come what may my faith will not
falter, my love never change"
The last four words were mur-
INJURED. AS she shaped them she
reached forward and kissed him be-
fore her brother, whose surprise at
her defiant attitude was unspeak-
able.
They parted and went their sew
eral ways. The charge against
/ Harold White of embezzlement,
and the result of it produced a won
der that lasted much longer than the
proverbial nine days. His depart
ure the day after the hearing, no
one knew whittier, had the effect of
increasing the number and sympa-
thy of his friends. 1t was generally
admitted that his defence had been
weak-incomprehensibly weak.
But who knew? He might have
had his own invincible reasons for
not making it stOnger. Why had
the brother of his atfianced (fOr she
was his affianced in all but an open
and formal declaration of the fact)
broken with him SO suddenly? Un-
til Blanchard appeared upon the
scene they were inSeperable. De-
pend upon it, the West Indian was
at the bottom of it. In this fash
ion the goSsips of Singlebridge dis
cussed the events which had led
to Harold Whites downfall and
departure.
Three months had elapsed and
not a word had been heard of or
from Harold White; unless, the
female gOssips suggested, he had
written to Miss WestbroOk, which
considering his departure, he was
hardly likely to have done. For
once, however, they were out in
their calculations. He had written
her Il letter i'm which these words
occurred:
"If | thought, darling, that you
would be happier to be rid of me for
good and all, our bond should be
dissolved. 1t is your love for and
simple faith in me that Sweetens /
my life and keeps me steadfast in
my determination to undo the /
wrong from which / /
suffer. They shall right me yet.
~ have borrowed, for the pres /
ent, another name-my mothers
before her marriage; but the people .
with whom / am, know that | ann .
Harold White, and are acquainted 4
with my history. ! must try, dear, /
to rub on without the consolation
which your letters would beStoW.
1t is better that we should seem to
have parted forever. In the good
time we shall meet-and then :"
1t puzzled the well-infOrmed
TO hear Fanny West
brooks cheerful words, to note her
placid brow and bright manner.
She never could have thought much
Of that Harold White, you know,
DR. she would have manifested some
regret at his misfOrtunes.
Blanchard, too, was mystified by
ler. What did it pOrtend? Had
'he resigned all hopes Of being re-
stored to the lover whom he had so
helped to disgrace and
)anish? Was the course clear at
asst? He would see. His impet-
lous love of the sunny-haired, Sax
girl, love which sprang
ntO existence the moment they
net, had grown nightly since the
roing of White. He would put an
nd to this uncertainty. He would
ace his fate.
"An interview wich me?" replied
Fanny to his blandly prOtfered re-
Iuest certainly Mr.. Blanchard"
Ter tone was prOvokingly even.
tAnd if you please let it take
,lace now. Pray be seated" D."
If she had only been embarrassed.
"Niss WestbrOok, I-I-fear that
he impression which | made upon
rOu the daV of that unfortunate
by the river side was not
lVOTable. I"
"Pray proceed, sir" she remark
d in icy tones.
"Well then-allow me-you can
ot surely have remained firm in
he resolution you then expressed !
0 cleave to"
"Mr. Blanchard, will assist you.
You apparently wish tC. say that i ]
must have ceased to love Harold
White. Is that it ?"
"Miss Westbrook-F -Fanny-par- |
on me; do. He is all unworthy {
f you. oh, if you aid but know
he depth of my love for you !" /
"StOp Mr.. Blanchard" said she, !
ising from her chair, and moving
LOwly toward the door. "Let us un-
tand each other. Whether or not a
IarOld White hold the place in b
ny heart which he once did, con- \
erns me and me only. The honor a
GU have done me, Mr.. Blanchard I
call it by what tender name you r
lease-I despise. Mr.. Blanchard i
know you" ]
''Stop, Miss WestbrOok ~ he eX- b
making one step forward y
nd barring the way in the door, )
and hearken to me. You have c
lrown the gague. Very well, |
ccept it. 1t was | who drove Har-
Id White from Singlebridge. All, f
on can be impressed, / see. 1t is j
who can compel your consent to t
ny demands. Now, Miss West o
rOok, know me ~ .
Her face was very white as she s.
Nept proudly past the West In
ian, but it was not the whiteness y
f fear. They measured swords fl
18th their eyes-how clear and u
hers were land parted.
Next day Fanny WestbrOOk was /
Kissing from Singlebridge. IL
For twelve months Silas West {
rook has been daughterless. Fanny il
.as sought for far and near, but ]
'ithOut avail. Augustus had, to .
uote the idiomatic expression of j
rat congenial compassion already Ii
,ferred to, "gone clear to the bad" k
f all his former chums, Blanch- t
rd was the sole possessor OF a Il
of the young scrape- p
races's Whereabouts. As for the Il