The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1879-07-10

conceited monkeyp Sophy was a CIR
much more 10 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 in
to your hands. l suppose, sir, ran OF
the stranger, that / ought to give you
a 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 converse,
tion before they were 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 AttaSeck received her own. But
q letter to the department, requesting 6
leave of absence from his ship, went in
to the mail from the next harbor they
entered, and the time that passed be.
fore an answer came and the request waf
granted was longer than all the rest oi
Norman Macpherson's life. And al.
though he travelled homeward as fast
as steam could carry him, to his frame
of mind electricity would have seemed
slow.
With what elation he saw at last, the
long, long miles having raveled out be-
hind him like the clearing of tangled
skein, the lights of the city stretching
on all the radiations OF its avenues | How
glad and eagerly, two hours after that,
he hurried up the street of the little
suburban town, picturing 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 daring 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 overgrown, and the latch of
the gate too rusted to lift easily--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 few hours his wits return
ed to Mr.. Macpherson he remembered
that the family had friends, and from
one to another he went then in the fol-
lowing weeks but to no purpose all
he could discover was that Emily and
her mother were in Europe, but in what
portion of it nobody seemed to know
For little while he experienced all the
black despair of such revulsion from
hope. But there was nothing to do.
He cursed his i'll fortune, and contrived
to get transferred to the European
squadron, and then began his search
anew. AS fate had ordered it, perhaps
in mockery Of his impulsiveness, he had
not even learned the name OF the officer
who had demanded satisfaction; he did
not even know if that officer belonged
TO the AttaSeck;' but he wrote to one of
his old comrades to learn about him if
possible, and meantime he waited and
watched.
Mr.. Macpherson's habits changed,
too, somewhat. From never having
gone ashore, he now never staid on
ship, if he could get away, when shore
was in sight. Town after town lie
secured, journey after journey he manag-
ed to make, bank after bank he visited,
at post after post he asked. But he
found no trace of what he sought and
as the year closed he said to himself that
it was of no use, and that he was man
with memory and without hope. Still
be continued to 60 ashore when in har-
Dor, although more from habit now
than expectation, sunshine or storm
making little difference.
He had come ashore one day as usual,
on the afternoon Of the morning when
the frigate entered port, and had taken
q stroll through the little town, and had
lost himself in theupper part of it. The
lowering weather Of the morning had
ripened to drizzling mist at last, and
now it was raining in steady down.
pour that the wind caught up inslanting
sheets. He had, however, bought an
umbrella at some shop, and was hurry
ing down to the shore-and wondering
only il he would find the sailors waiting
with the gig. The wind was straight in
his face, and the rain came fine as
needles he held the umbrella, as he
bent to the force Of the gale, directly
before him, like an African warriors
shield ; and this is the reason that sud-
denly he found himself brought to a
standstill, MS with a sudden shock his
umbrella had interlocked with another,
like two horned creatures doing battle.
"A thousand pardons,' he exclaimed,
grufly, in English, before he bethought
himself of his French. DO pray excuse
me, came parcel of silver notes, in
English 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 againP
They we're married the next day and
although, year after, Norman left the
navy and entered business, il was not
till that morose man had earned the re-