Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1878-09-11
He had heard from


his father that there were curious cir.
cumstances attending Major Ham
mond's marriage, and If Boobies had
put his anger on the f1&w-Smith shrug-
ged his shoulders for want Of words to
express the awkwardness Of the case.
But search must be made every
where; the evidence Of the marriage
must be found: the children must lot
suffer, poor things, and always brought
up to look upon the property as their
own!"
"Why, they could never marry"
cried Miss Ellen; they could never
live on Ralph's pay"
|. Its altogether dreadful; land not get
ting married is the very lightest part of
the calamity" said Miss Hammond.
Smith undertook that every possible
search should be made, and went away,
promising to set to work ut once. But
his inquiries mad no result. He had
traced out the family of the reputed
wife, who had been the daughter of q
small farmer living at Milton in Kent:
but they had now fallen to the rank of
laborers, and had no papers belonging
to them-hardly any family traditions.
He had searched all the registries of
the neis hboring parishes; no record of
such marriage could be discovered.
He had issued advertisements offering
a reward for the production of evidence;
all Of no avail. What more could he
do? To be sure there was presump-
ton in favor Of the marriage; but then
if Boobies had documents rebutting
n M. ~ !,
shrugged his shoulders, in hopelessness
of finding fitting words to represent the
gravity of the crisis. And them" he
went on to say, "the very fact that
Boobies is spending money over the case
shows that he thinks he has strong
one"
Boobies did not let the grass grow
under his feet; he instituted proceedings
at once, and cited all interested to APP
pear. The thing could no longer be
kept a secret; and Maggie and Ralph
were told of the cloud that had come
over their fortunes.
II don't care if the property does go
away" said Maggie, bravely. ut will
make no difference. shall go to India
with Ralph, that's all. will be SOL
dier's wife, and ride on the baggage
wagons"
Ralph shook his head. He had
never been able to manage on his pay
when there was only himself, and there
were ever SO many lieutenants on the
list before him, so that he could not
hope 10 be a captain for many years.
There was no use in sitting brooding
over coming misfOrtunes; and Ralph
took the dogcart and drove over to Gig
glesham to see about the family vault
at St.. Crispin's. 1t was an occuption
that agreed we'll with his temper; the
weather too seemed all in Keeping
dull drilling day.
Don't forget the ring" Maggie had
said to him at parting" that is ours, you
know, Ralph, if we find it; and perhaps
it may be worth lot of money"
Ralph shook his head incredulously.
And yet it was possible. The ring
might be there and it might prove Of
great value. In misfortunes the mind
grasps at the smallest alterations, and
Ralph consoled himself in his depres-
sion by picturing the finding of
SPLENDID ruby worth say 100000. No
more artillery work then-no more
India.
Glgglesham boasts of several
churches, and st. Crispin's lies in a
hollow by the river, close by the bridge.
A low squat tower and plain ugly nave.
But in its nook there-the dark river
flowing by, the sail of a barge showing
now and then, the tall piles OF deals in
the timber yard beyond, the castle
keeps frowniug from the heights, and
the big waternill with its wiers and
rapids, the noise of which and of the
great churning wheel sounded slumb-
rously all day long-allied with these
things the old church had some thing
homely and pleasant about it, hardly
to be replaced by the finest modern
Gothic.
Workmen were swarming about it
now. The roof was nearly off. There
were great piles of sand and mortar in
the graveyard. Mr.. Martin, the plumb
er and glazier who took the most lively
interest in the underground work, even
to the neglect of more profitable BUSH
ness, was on the lookout for Lieutenant
Grant, and greeted him cheerily.
We've got 'em all laid out in the
vestry, Cap'n Grant-all the whole fam
lily; and now the question is, what are
you going to have done with them?
Would you like 'em put in the vaults
below, where they'll all be done up in
lime and plaster? or would you like
'em moved somewhere else more in
the open air like?'
"The least expensive way, should
say" replied Ralph, grimly. Somehow
or other his appreciation Of his ances-
tors was deadened by this last stroke Of