Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-04-10
A ROMANCE BY B. L. FARJEoN,
CHAPTER XIII.
MAReAREr's DIARY ooNcLUDEs.

'' know Clarice from your descrip.
tioRs, he maintained, and l do not per-
ceiye in this figure any resemblance to you
or to my idea of her. l do not say it is
wrong that you should allow your thoughts
TO dwell so constantly upon your sister ii
is natural, but it affects your judgment
Nothing is more deceitful than marble
will engage to bring you hundred girls il
the isle in whose features a likeness to this
statue can be traced. 1t is as you say
impossible
tHe succeeded in calming me, but tt
this day the beautiful figure exercises &
fascination over me, and l entertain for il
an affection such as it might have inspired
had it been human.
cat my request, Matthew made inquire;
concerning the sculptor, whose name, how
ever, could not be ascertained; but Matthew
assured me that upon one point there was
an absolute certainty-the soul ptor had not
worked from living model Had the
result of his inquiries been different, nc
useful purpose would have been served. 1t
could not have brought the dead from the
grave.
Since that time, until the occurrence
of an event of which l shall presently
speak, my days have flowed on calmly and
peacefully, disturbed only by those memo
ries of the past with which Clarice is asso-
ciated. l keep this suffering to myself /; it
would be ungrateful in me to ask those
around me to share it with me. No wo-
man could have kinder husband or a
wiser father than have. My children are
healthy and Informed, and are con-
slant source of JOY in our house In feat
ure Joseph resembles his grandfather Mat
thew he is bold and determined, and can
be swayed only through his affections.
Matthew says suffering is in store for him,
because of his sensitive spirit. Gabrielle
is like me, dark and rough; she has hot
temper, and is sometimes difficult to con-
troll Their grandfather, who takes great
delight in them, AYERS that they are va
grants by nature, as he was before them.
'''I hope not, said l should not
like to think that they will be tossed about
the world as we have been.
g What is in the future for them, said
Matthew gravely, neither you nor | can
tell | have heard you and Paul talk
together of the kind of life the children are
to lead, how they are to grow up and marry
and have children, who with themselves
are never to leave the Silver Isle. All that
can be said in favor of such conversations
is that they are the harmless expressions OF
harmless ideas
They are not unreasonable. Why
should parents not be able, especially in a
land so peaceful and retired as this, to pre-
dict with certainty the kind Of life their
children are to liver
g Because, Margaret, replied Matthew,
it is impossible to set exact rules of life
for this or that person, however closely
allied they may be to us. The seed being
put into the ground, no one can say with
certainty whether the tree will incline to
the right or the left least of all can it be
predicted in what direction the branches
will shoot out.
'''The children are of our blood
g That is just it, and our blood is We
grant blood. All we can do, simple one is
to assist nature in the way we deem best for
those we love. We are the creatures Of
circumstance-your own story proves it.
A dozen years ago could you have foretold
the present! And do you believe now that
You can see the future?
"f0ur future is clear, said. Advent
ure no longer plays part in our lives
Easy to say so. Startling as the
phases are through which we have passed.
others as strange and eventful may occur
before the next twelve years are gone. Al
this present moment men may be moving
towards rs from some distant part of thu
world, bringing joy or woe into our lives
despite all our efforts to shape our owl
ends
sc At one time, when Matthew used tx
talk like this, had an idea that he was 4;
fatalist. 1 know now that he is not. L
is simply that he can reason without preiu
dice, and that his mental powers ar,
superior to those of the gen eral body o
men.
When Joseph was seven years of az,
and Gabrielle four, an event occurred il
the isle which is the true reason of my
making this record. On an autumn day
schooner came to the isle. l should hav,
gone out to hear the news, but had mucl
TO do at home, and rarely as the isle i
visited by ship, the event is OF no per
sonal Importance to me. There are time
when | seem to lose all interest in tn
world beyond these shores and times ais
when / shrink from all contact with it
however remote. 1t has not been so kin'
to me that l should love it.
al was alone in the house. Joseph an,
Gabrielle were in the fields Matthew an,
my husband were absent on a fshin
expedition, and were not to return till tn
following morning. My children cam
home for the evening meal they wer
flushed with delight, and prattled excited.
of the pleasures of an afternoon spen
among their playfellows. They are bot
uaimics; Matthew says they have dramati
power in them, and that were we living il
the world he would educate them for tn
stage. They certainly possess a grea
gift; Joseph reads aloud with wonderful
meaning, and many childish scenes of thei
own creation are depicted by them for GU
edifcation. Their grandfather encourage
than aud frao,,apfl,y 4ates mart in thes