The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1878-08-07

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b~onght hr 70 SIR Johns door hr
one thing is sure, she had had it, and
she had not got It now. To the rich
the loss Of money is generally light I;
10 the poor it is almost always calam-
itous. In moment all the conse-
quences of Ellen's loss rushed to her
mird; Mrs. Dering's son must suffer;
then Nelly herself Adieu to many
little comforts adieu to love; adieu
to hope itself The poor girl could
not bear these thoughts. She flung
herself on the bed and burst into
tears The postman's kuock at the
door below reminded Nelly that ia
her OVID eoncers she had forgotten
her masters. She ilsw down stairs,
and she reached the door Just as the
maid was opening it. Mary looked
anything but'charmed g. Ellen's hasty
appearance, and, turning up te- nose,
she SAID scornfully;
Perhaps, ma'am, you'll be kind
enough 10 let me have my le..eiy'
There is note for you," replied
Nelly, glancing over the letters which
the p0stman had put in her hand;
"but, oh, my goodness there is ore
for me-
1t was letter from Joseph, with
the London post mark, With
trembling hand Ellen was going to
break the seal, when Mary's mocking
eyes fastened upon her reminded her
oil ber promise. She had forgotten
oil about it, but she remembered it
now she could not open that letter
until she had received il from Sir
Johns own hands And Sir John
was still out; be would not come
back till dinner time.
Ellen entered the parlor and sat
down, with the letter on her knees
She looked at it as surely never let
ter was looked at before. Within
that square envelope lay NeIly's fate
Either Joseph had written 20 say that
her mother had had a relapse-how
she remembered his words, "WheE
write, you will know it is bad news
or he had dispatched this letter.
following so close on her steps, to tell
her that Mrs. Dering's money was
safe. The very London postmsrk
was a sign, only it could be read eth
er way. 1t was plain that something
had occurred jus. after her depart
ure, and which Joseph, on reaching
home had wished to impart to her
He had evidently found some one go
ing to London by the early morning
train to whom be had given bis letter
that she might get it half day soon
er. les, all that was plain enough,
but 1t helped her no wise to solve
the mystery Joseph knew moth
ing about Mrs. Dering's money, and,
as the lane was dark when he went
home after parting from her, he could
not possibly find four five-peund notes.
Moreover, Nelly searched her memo
~ well, and she was sure that she
had not once put her hand in her
pocket while Joseph and she walked
to the station. Then the letter could
not refer to the money it must be to
tell her that her mother was worse,
and that she, Nelly must go back at
once.
When this thought came to her,
Nelly's hand was on the letter ready
to break the seal, but she remember
ed her promise, and she paused
What if the letter only referred to the
money? What if il was only being
patient and doing her duty! For it
was her duty Sir John had given
her warning, bur she still was his
servant, and she still owed him obei-
sance. She had made 3 promise
which she was free to withhold, bat,
having made it, she was not free to
break it. Poor Nellyl | often won
dered how she resisted such tempta-
tioE. Fer | do not suppose that Satan
did not cffer her many an outlet.
Break the seal, he whispered, "read
your letter, then go up stairs, seal it
again with red wax like this, and just
tell me il Sir John will be any worse
for it. 1t is your letter after all !
Think Of your long agony till he
comes home, and do this; whc will
be the wiser 2r This was cruelty
plausible, and are there many men
and women who could have resisted
either that suggestion, or the bolder
and more honest one Of breaking her
promise altogether, aGd not conceal
ing from her master that she had done
30? What had Nelly to lose? lie
had given her warning this fne sit
uation, with its twenty pounds a
year, was gene size had risked il tc
comply with her mothers wish and
she did not repent having done so.
Why should she not win peace " ben
all was lost and risk was gone
Why are not conscience. integrity
and honor mere words, and net aw-
ful realities ? Nelly could not 90
this thing The sacredness of her
word stood between her and her de-
sire like the angels flaming sword be-
tween man and paridase. For, after
all, her reading the letter would
change nothing. 1t would not give
her dying mother life or restore Mrs.
Dering's lost money. "Well, then, L
must and / will bear it," thought FL
len.
And she bore it. What tortures
Nellie suffered as she sat in that dull
parlor on a sultry July day, with Jo-
seph's letter on her lap, she never
told-perhaps she could not. Great
mental or physical pain can never be
remembered in its intensity, for to re-
member it would be to 60 through
with it again, and Providence is too
merciful to inhict the same paDg
twice over Still, it must surely have
been something terrible for the poor
girl to let the slow hours go by and
hear the kitchen clock ticking below.
Cook and house-maid were very
merry together that day. How cru
ell and how moeking sounded their
load laughter and their idle talk. If
she could even have told them her
trouble, it might have eased her.
"But they hate me-" thought Nelly,
her heart swelling at the thought
They certainly did not love her, and,
though Nelly was q poor girl, she
had little. short. precise ways. which