The Portland daily press., 1879-08-12

| many little nick -nackS such as young girls
like to collect around them.
The walls were covered with pencil
sketches made by herself, fancifully franz
ed with autumn leaves. Among them was
found the shadowy outline of young
mans head so lightly drawn that the tar
artist seemed afraid to make it too distinct
lest it might be recognized. A wreath OF
| wild flowers hung over it, and concealed
the words family traced beneath MY
IDEAL
The head was certainly very noble and
| handsome one, and Kate deserved credit II
she had drawn it from her own conception
of what is grand and true in man.
Her mother glanced around as she came
| in. unwilling to look straight at her daugh-
ter. and see in her face the signs OF the Bit
ter struggle she knew she had been passing
through. Her eyes fell on the phantom
| head, and she said:
"This is something new; have not seen
it before. Have you taken to drawing
ghosts, Kate? for this seem nothing more"
"That is the ghost of my happiness, mann,
MAJ said the girl, YEARLY, "and it will
soon go to the grave that is being dug Tor
| it."
"What stuff !! see now that it is highly
idealized sketch of Harry Conrad's head,
and you have placed it there as ashrine,, l
suppose, before which to offer your silly
alteration. do declare, Kate, that you
are most absurd young woman"
"Absurd as | may be, mamma, until to-
day you seemed to sanction my attach
ment to Harry. 1t is cruel-cruel to ex-
pect me to tear my heart from him at a mo-
ments warning. know what you have
come to say, but would rather not hear
it. All the persuasions self interest may
prompt YOU to utter will De poWerless TO
change my feelings toward Mr.. Conrad"
"You dreadful girl! is that the way you
brave me to my very face? You cannot
you shall not-marry Harry Conrad. Have
| not given you to understand that such
union is out of the question?-that it will
bring destruction on all you are bound to
care for in this world"'
Kate grew pale, but she quietly said
''My refusal to sell myself for gold can
only affect myself, mamma. Your fate and
that of Edna cannot, in any way, be con-
trolled by my discarded lover"
Can it not? when he owns the very
roof that covers us-the soil from which
our scanty living is drawn? 1t is true, Kate.
! He holds mortgage on the place for money
advanced to Luis, and my dover right in
| this poverty-stricken home is all that stands
between us and starvation. This is what
1 came to tell you, and this is what you
must consider before you anger by refusal,
| Tie NldH WuO CtIbdlIlly tlO liiou SiNiAh VA
you.
Kate fell back as if she had been shot,
and the courage she had battled so hard to
sustain deserted her. Her breath came in
! low, gasping sobs, and after long interval
of silence, which her mother thought would
never end, she family said:
81 understand that my fate is settled,
then. I shall be allowed no choice. Oh!
l know to well that shall be forced to sub
nit my will to yours, and struggle as may,
the net will close around me and compel
whole heart is in the possession
of another. Oh mother! mother,
how could you have suffered things
to come to such pass as this? Paupers de-
pendent on Richard Staunton for the very
bread we have eaten, he will demand his
payment of me, and dare not refuse it! l
know the kind of a man he is-he would
set us adrift, penniless, homeless, to beg, or
starve, should l prove false to that silly
pledge given in childish thoughtlessness,
| and oh so bitterly repented OF SINGER
Her voice sunk into low, sobbing muir
murs, and her mothers pity for her was
mingled with exultation that she seemed to
yield at once to the necessities OF her posi-
ton, and accept the fate it was so much to
the interest of the whole family that she
should not refuse.
A week passed away and nothing was
heard of the expected lover from Califor-
mia, although he had written that he should
not be many days behind his letter, and at
last rumors came that the Albatross, on
which he had left San Francisco, had been
wrecked, and that many lives had been lost
Kate had been struck down by brain
fever, and for days she lay vibrating be-
tween life and DEATH raving in widest de-
lirium, and then moaning over the cruel
fate which gave her heart to one lover and
forced her to yield her hand to another.
| Mrs. Loser was fond and proud Of her
| lovely daughter, yet the deepest dread in
| her heart at this dreary crisis was, that in
| the death of Kate the prospect OF wealth
must pass from them all.
Edna watched unweariedly by the sick
couch of her sister, and Mr.. Loser devoted
himself to her assistance. He was a great
help to her, for he had studied medicine in
his youth and he undertook the manage
ment of the case himself, declaring that he
could bring Kate safely through all the
phases of this torturing illness. He had
given her potion which would not only
break the fever, but so affect her brain
that for time She would have but little re-
collection of recent events, and so would
not be apt to say anything to Staunton
about her lover, Harry Conrad.
| A few hours after Loser had administer
| ed the dangerous potion to Kate, Stanton
suddenly arrived. He was man six feet
in height, magnifcently proportional, and
might indeed have passed as demi-god
among men of lesser mould for his head
was massive and handsome as the marble
bust of Napoleon. His eyes were dark ha-
EEL we'll set and expressive, but with a
CLEAN in them which showed that if things
went wrong with him temper might be
aroused which it would be difficult to quell.
| Loser, who had warned his wife and
Edna with regard to what he had done, was
the first to meet Staunton, who had heard
of Kate's illness, and eagerly questioned
| her step-father as to her condition.
Losers face fell slightly as he saw by
| Staunton's manner how difficult it was 60
ing to be to deceive him with regard to
Kate's real feelings, but he made the best
he could of the situation, saying:
"Well, to tell you the truth, our dear girl
has been very ills still suffering much
but the fever is broken, and l think-I am
almost sure, that with care, she will soon
be restored to u.s."
''Good Heaven!i is she so far gone as
thatr' cried Staunton, with paling face.
''What caused this illness? What is the
matter with her? 1t was not brought on
her by dread of my arrival, hope? %
His eyes famed, his lips trembled and his
DfOW grew oGOIIy do liz uetClCu IlC idob
words.
Catching at the chance his jealous fears
suggested, Loser, deliberately said:
'No-not by that, but by the shock she
received when she heard of the danger you
were in. She bore up few days, but when
no further news came from you, we-that
is, the women-gave you up as lost; but l
have believed through all that you would
come back to us safe and sound"
Quite overcome by this false statement,
the strong man sat down on the first chair
he came to, and covering his face with his
hands, wept few delicious tears over the
supposed despair of Kate over his own
loss.
Loser watched him cynically, wondering
if Kate's memory would be so deadened by
the potion he had administered to her as to
enable her TO play the part he had assigned
her in the tragi-comedy about to be enacted.
Suddenly Staunton lifted his head and
asked:
"When can see my dear girl? l must
judge of her condition myself, and she had
best be prepared to receive me. Her moth
er can do that"
Loser was nearly at his wits ends, at
loss to know how he should deal with this
impetuous man, and quite certain in his