The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-06-07
hat hateful house where all the misery hap.

! machinery, and he only glad to he in har-
Dor for the sake Of putting to sea again.
Indeed, it sometimes made him furious to
see the eagerness of the young men for the
pleasures of the shore, and it was SO seldom
that he joined them that he earned men,
ton with the commander us the most mo-
rose man auat.
One day, being in .Asiatic waters, the
officers of the .BtoScck, that had paused on
her way from Il more southerly harbor,
came on board, and us they stepped on the
deck, almost the first person that Norman
saw WAS tail, dark, handsome fellow with
Il scar across his forehead. In an instant
he had turned upon his heel, and was strd-
ing 10 another part of the ship, before he
knew what he was doing, or colld make up
his bewildered mind to action in relation to
this man; who must long since have been
Emily's husband, aS lie reasoned. But he
was not SO quick that another foot did not
come striding after, and a hand was laid
upon his shoulder in Il manner that made
him wheel about at once.
"Well, Mr.. Macpherson said the strang-
er, in great honest voice, according to all
the laws Of society, believe you owe me
Some satisfaction, and I have come to claim
it
I" BY all means, Sir said Mr. Macpher-
son: mechanically, with a bow.
And then the stranger broke intoa hearty
laugh "And won't say any thing" he
exclaimed, "about your outrage to your
superior officer; but, by Jove.' he cried
with another peal of laughter ait serves
you right. Did You suppose all the world
wanted to marry your Emily, you cenccited
monkey" Sophy was Il girl much more to
my mind, let me tell You. Sophy has been
my wife this many month And it was
of Sophy that Emily was speaking when
! you took the law into your hands. l sup
| pose, Sir ran on the stranger, THAT |
ought to give you good thraShing: but all
the satisfaction | want is to hear you say
that You are ashamed of yourself" And
you may be sure he had it.
But there was no time for conversation
before they We're joined by others, and the
courtesieS of the exceedingly brief occasion
occupied the time of hosts and guests till
the boat put off again, and the -iH"Seck re-
ceived her own. But Il letter to the Depart
ment, requesting a leave of absence from
his ship, went into the mail from the next
harhor they entered, and the time that
passed before answer came and the request
was granted was longer than all the rest of
Norman MacpherSons life. And although
he travelled homeward as fast as steam could
carry him, to his frame of mind electricity
would have seemed slow.
With what citation he saw at lust, the
long, long miles having raveled out behind
him like the clearing of tangled sl>ein, the
lights of the city stretching on all the radia-
ton of its avenues. How gladly and eager
ly, two hours after, he hurried up the street
of the little suburban town, picturng to
himself the sight of Emily, the sparkle of
her surprise, the next moment when he
should feel her arms around him, the way
in which she would forgive him, hardly ,lar-
ing to look up, his heart was beating So.
And when he did at last look up, it was
only to See blinds closed and paths over
grown, and the latch of the gate too rusted
to lift enSily-only to find, with a benumbed
sense Of the world having come to an end,
that Emily and her mother had gone; and,
as his own people had scattered long ago,
there was nobody in that neighborhood to
tell him where.
But after Il few hours his wits returned to
Mr.. Macpherson: he remembered that the
family had friends and from one to another
he went then III the following weeks; but to
no purpose-;ll that he could discover was
that Emily and her mother were in Europe,
but i'll what portion of it nobody seemed to
know. For Il little while he experienced all
the black despair of such revuSion from
hope. But there WAS nothing to do. He
cursed his i'll fortune, and contrivcd TO get
transferred to the European squadron, and
then began his search anew. As fate had
ordered it, perhaps in mockery of his i'm
pHlSivencSS, he had not even learned the
name of the officer who had demanded sat
iSfaction: he did not even know if that Off
Ger belonged to the .iHasech; but he wrote
to one of his old comrades to learn about
him if possible, and meantime he waited
and watched.
Mr. Macpherson habits changed, too,
he now never Staid on ship, if he could get
away, when shore was in sight. Town after
town he secured, journey after journey he
managed to make, bank after bank he Wis
tied, ut post after post he asked. But he
found no trace Of what he sought; and rs
tn. year closed he said to himself that it
was of no use, and that he was Il man with
a memory and without hope. Still be con-
tinued to go:lshore when i'll harbor, although
more from habit now than from eXpecta-
ton, sunshine or storm making little differ
ence.
He had come ashore one day as usual, on
the afternoon of the morning when the frig
ate entered port, and had taken Il stroll
through the little town, and had lost him
self in the upper part of it. The lowering
weather of the morning had ripened to a
drzzling mist at last, and now it rain
ing in 4 steady down-pour that the wind
caught up in slanting sheets. He had, how
ever, bought an umbrella at some shop, and
was hurrying down to the shore-pictur-
esquc us ever, with all its boats and nets, in
the advancing twilight, wrapped in gusts
of rain that now and then opened and dis
closed the maStS rocking in the otfing-and
wondering only if he would find the sailors
waiting with the gig. The wind was straight
in his face and the rain came fine nee
dies he held the umbrella, as he bent to the
force of the gale, directly before him, like
an African warriors shield ana that is the
reason that suddenly he found himself
brought to Il st:ind-still as with a sudden
shock his umbrella had interlocked with
another, like two horned creatures doing
battle "a thousand parlonS," he eXclaiin-
ed grutfly, in English, before he bethought
me-" came Il parcel of silver notes, in Eng
fish too And then, in another moment,
both of the umbrellas were sailing off upon
the blast and careering out to sea-but what
cared they who saw them in that gathering
gloom, as Emily and he Were clasped in one
another'S arms, and life was whole again!
They were married the next day; and al
though, Il year afterward, Norman left the
navy and entered business, it was not till
that morose man had earned the reputation
OF being the .iollicst dog aiioat.
Large Farming Precarious Business.