Litchfield enquirer., 1878-08-29

felt giddy with fatigue, and her first feeling
 was to long for more complete rest than that
 Of waiting for Sir Johns letters. She looked
 out languidly through the wire blind that pro-
 tected her from the indiscreet glances of pass
 ers-by. Darker and duller than ever seemed
 the houses. We'll, she should soon cease to
 look at them. A month would soon be over
 and then she would ko back tO her mother and
 Joseph and Mrs. Dering. Here an awful
 blank followed-what had become of Mrs.
 Dering's twenty pounds? Ellen rushed up
 stairs like a mad thing. She searched the
 clothes she had just taken off-no trace of
 Mrs. Dering's money did she find It was
 lost; that money which the poor mother had
 taken years to put by for her sick son and his
 three children was utterly lost.
 Ellen's first feeling was one of stupor; then
 she asked herself the usual question, ''What
 am to dog"
 Ellen had been ten years servant. She
 had had to help her mother and her little sis-
 ter; she had not saved much money; fifteen
 pounds and ten shillings in all That money
 she must now give up to Mrs. Dering, and yet
 it would not cover the debt. But could Mrs
 Dering's money be really lost? It seemed inn
 possible; she searched again with renewed ar
 dor, but the money she had not. She could
 not imagine how or when it had left her pos
 session-in the lane, on her way to the station
 in the railway carriage, or in the cab that had
 brought her to Sir Johns door but one thing
 was sure, she had had it, and she had not got
 it now. To the rich the loss of money is gen.
 orally light; to the poor it is almost always
 calamitous. In a moment all the consequen-
 ces ef Ellen's loss rushed to her mind Mrs.
 Derings son must suffer, then Nelly herself
 Adieu to many little comforts adieu to love adieu to hope itself. The poor girl could not hao fhauo hn l,o
 bed and burst into tears. But she was not even allowed to indulge her grief The post mans knock at the door below reminded Nel
 ly that in her own concerns she had forgotten her masters. She flew downstairs, and she reached the door just as the maid was opening it. Mary looked anything but charmed at Ellen'S nasty appearance, and, turning up her nose, she said scornfully, Perhaps, ma'am, you'll be kind enough to let me have my let
 ter" ''There is none for you," replied Nelly, glancing over the letters which the postman had put in her hand; "but, oh, my goodness there is one for ne'
 It was a letter from Joseph, with the Lon don pOstmark. With a trembling hand Ellen was gong to break the seal, when Mary's mock ing eye fastened upon her reminded her of her promise. She had forgotten all about it, but she remembered it now she could not open that letter till she received it from Sir Johns own hands And Sir John was out ;he 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 letter was never looked at before. Within that square envelope lay Nellys fate. Either Joseph had written to say that her mother had had relapse-now she remember ed his words, 'When write, you'll know it IS bad news' !-or he had despatched this let In0 cn al INnpc cfo fo ell that Mrs. Dering's money was safe The very London postmark was sign, only it could be read either way. It was plain that something had occurred just after her departure, and which Joseph, on reaching home had wished to impart to her. He had evidently found some one going to London by the early morn ing train to whom he had given his letter that she might get it half day sooner. Yes, all that was plain enough, but it helped her mo- wise to a solution of the mystery. Joseph knew nothing 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 tive-pound notes Moreover, Nelly searched her memory well and she was sure that she had not once put her hand in her pocket whilst Joseph and she hoOfed it 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 at once on the letter ready to break the seal, but she remembered her promise, and she paused. What if the letter only referred to the money? What if it was only being pa tient and doing her duty? For it was her du- ty. Sir John had given her warning, but she wes still was his servant, and she still owed him obedience. She had made a promise oh cl>a 4o wifi butt made it, she was not free to break it. Poor Nelly! I have often wondered how she re- sisted such temptation. For do not suppose that Satan did not offer her many an outlet. Break the seal," he whispered, tread your letter. then go up stairs. seal it again with red wax like this and just tell me if Sir John will be any the worse for it? It is your letter af- ter all! Think of your long agony till he comes home, and do this; who will be the wiser?" 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, and not concealing from her mas ter that she had done so? What had Nelly to lose He had given her warning this fine situation, with it's twenty pounds year was gone; she had risked it to comply with Ter sick mothers wish, and she did not repent having done so. Why should she net win peace when all was lost and risk was gone?
 Why are not conscience, integrity and hon pr mere worlds and not awful realities Nel- ly could not do this thing. The sacredness of her word stood between her and her desire like the angels flaming sword between man and Paradise. For, after all, her reading the let ter would change nothing It would not give her dying mother life, or restore Mrs. Dering's lost money. "Well, then, l must and 1 will bear it." thought Ellen.
 And she bore it. What tortures Nelly sui fered, as she sat in that dull parlor on a sultry July day, with Joseph's letter on her lap, she never told-perhaps she could not Great men, al or physical pain can never be remembered n it's intensity, for to remember it would be to 20 through it again, and Providence is too nercIful to infiict the same pang twice over. 1 Still, it must surely have been something ter | ible for the poor girl to let the slow hours go l y and hear the kitchen clock ticking below. | Cook and housemaid were very merry togeth- 1T that day. How cruel and how mocking ounded their loud laughter and their idle l ak! If she could even have told them her rouble; it might have eased her. ''But they | late me, thought Nelly, her heart swelling at he thought. They certainly did not love her, nd, though Nelly was a good girl, she had | lttle short, precise ways; which free, easy, | natures must dislike. Not | oul came near her. She sat unheeded and | orgotten, neither eating nor drinking nor stir | ng-but looking at Joseph's letter on her lap | md feeling; twill he ever come?"
 When the hour of Sir Johns return drew | nigh, the suspense grew to be almost intolera- ,le. There was nothsng which poor Ellen | lid not imagine. Suppose he dined out; SUD- | pose he did not come back till morning. | Could she or ought she to bear it? Surely, I n such a case she must be freed of her prom SC. She had never pledged herself to an in- definite waiting.
 Sir John was the most punctual of men. He lined at six exactly. Yet at five minutes past ix he wasn't at home. "He is not coming sme to-day" thought Ellen. Her hand was ,n the letter but she paused. '1 shall wait i'll the clock strikes the quarter" she thought, then I shall see what am to do.''
 She had not to wait so long. At ten minu- es past six Sir Johns knock was heard Nel- y ought to have flown and opened to him, but he did not. Now that deliverance had come he shrank from it as if it had been a calami- y. She never stirred till Sir John entered the oom, and, seeing her, rather shortly asked,