St. Landry democrat., 1879-08-16

| uoeu M4 WIG tuls many mOnCn. AM
it was OF sophy that Emily was speakin,
when you took the law into your hands
/ suppose sir" ran on the stranger
"that I ought to give you 8 goot
thrashing; but all the satisfaction ( wan
is to hear you say that you are ashamed
of yourself" And you may be sure h,
had it.
But there was nc time for converse
ton before they were joined by Others
and the courtesies of the exc of host
brief occasion occupied the timeeedingly
and guests till the boat put of again
and the Attaseck received her own
But letter to the department, REG est
ing leave of absence from his ship
went into the mail from the next hsrbol
| they entered, and the time that passed
before an answer came and the request
was granted was longer than all the rest
of Norman Macpherson's life. Anc
although he travelled homeward az 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
or all the radiation of its avenues! How
gladly and eagerly, two hours after that
he hurried up the street of the little
suburban town, picturiDg to himself the
sight OF Emily, the sparkle of her sur.
prise, the next moment when be should
feel her arms around him, the way IN
which she would forgive him, hardly
daring to look up, his heart WAS beating
90. 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 no"
body in that neighborhood to tell him
where.
But after few hours his wits returned
to MIR. 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
that he could discover was that Emily
and her mother were in Europe, but in
what portion Of 1t 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 nursed his i'll fortune, and cons
trived to gel 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 learned the name of the officer who
had demanded satisfaction; he did not
even know if the o&cer 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 having never come
ashore, he now never staid On snip, 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 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 a man with a memory and
without hope. Still he continued to 90
ashore when in the harbor, although
more from habit now than from expec-
tation, 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
8 stroll through the little town, and had
lost himself in the upper part of it. The
lowering weather OF the morning had
ripened to drizzling mist at last, and
now it was running in a steady down.
pour that the wind caught up in slanting
sheets. He had, however, bought an
umbrella at some shop, and was hurrying
down to the shore-pictu4esque rs ever
with all its boats and nets, in the advanc.
ing twilight, wrapped in gusts of rain
that now and then opened and disclosed
the masts rocking in the ofiDg-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 as needles; he held the UNI
brella, as he bent to force off the gale,
directly before him, like an African war
rior's shield and that is the reason that
he suddenly found himself brought to
standstill, as with o sudden shock his
umbrella had interlocked with another,
ike two horned creatures doing bsttle.
8 A thousand pardons," he exclaimed
sroM y, in English, before he bethought
himself OF his French. "Do pray excuse
me-" came a parcel of silver notes, in
English, too. And then, in another mo,
nent, both of the umbrallas were sailing
1T upon the blast and careering out to
what cared they who saw them
n that gathering gloom, as Emily and
le were clasped in one another's arms,
nd life was whole again.
They were married the next day; and
Though, year afterward, Norman left |
he navy and entered business, it was