Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-11-11
LANCASTER WISCONSIN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER Il 1850

, her that he thought it best the
( should sell their stock. she consent
, ed without hesitation or considera
ton. He wondered at this, but pu
it down to confidence IN his bushes
ability.
He found the stock to be unsala
BILE, except at ruinous sacrifice. -
Attempt after attempt to obtain
fair price failed. At last he resolved
to sell at any sacrifice, then transfer
to his wife all that would be obtained
by the sale.
He walked down town one morn.
ing with the intention of carrying
these resolutions into effect before
night His way led him past the of.
fee of the company. There he saw
an angry, surging, yelling crowd in
front of the closed doors of the
place. Among that crowd were
men who lifted their arms, elenched
their hands and uttered fearful
oaths. Women were there too; wo.
men who hesped widcEs' and or
phans' curses on the heads OF those
who lad robbed them. Some, in
contrast to the rest, were strangely
quiet. These had ruin on their
ghasty faces
Herbert was strong, self.pos-
sessed man, but at the sight of that
crowd he turned pale and almost
sunk to the ground. With husky
voice, he made inquiry among the
men who were as pale as be. The
president and treasurer had fled, de-
faulters in tens of thousands. The
assets OF the company scarcely cover.
ed the outside Indebtedness, and the
stockholders were cut out. The val
ne of the stock was exactly that of the
paper on which it was printed.
Financial ruin for both him and
her. For his own loss he cared lit
tie, but for her !! The responsibility
was upon him and this was the re.
suit of that business marriage pro.
posed by himself The past had
been a mockery, the future would be
horror. That future came down
on his soul like pail.
Though their lives had been love-
less, she had been a good wife. Like
himself, she had done what she could
to make their marriage less desc.
late. Since be had learned to love
Eleanor her every word or act of
kindness had been precious to him,
had made his lot less hard But
what would this hard, worldly wo.
man be now? No love-the object
for which they had been married
unattained, their fortunes swept
away, bound to each other by the
strongest bonds OF law and religion,
and poverty before them!
Had he been the same man he
was when first their marriage bells
rang out he could have borne power.
ty and her contempt with the cyni-
cal philosophy of mao of the would
Now, loving her as he did, the
thought of her hate was a terror to
him, that hate which he must see
and bear in every word and action
of his wife for years TO COME.
He walked the streets all that day
a broken man. Friends meeting
him, gazed inquiringly into bis face
upon which was stamped the misery
in his heart He left them hurriedly
ere question shaped itself upon their
lips.
How tell her, how tell her? p This
thought was with him till it burned
into his brain, till every footstep
seemed to ask How tell her, how
her p till every ball that rang pealed
How tell Der p till all the city's
noisy life seemed roaring in his ears
How tell her ?
Not till long after the sun had set,
and night of storm fell, did he
turn towards home. Not till then
did he gather strength to stand with
those words of ruin on his lips, face
to face with her. At best it was but
sorry strength even when he
reached the door he paused irreso.
lutte, his heart shrinking as from the
the touch Of hot iron. At last he en-.
tered and found her in the parlor.
She greeted him with a smile and
pleasant inquiry as to where he had
been all day, but when the light fell
on his face she started at its ghastli.
ness.
'What is wrong, Herbert p she
cried, 'you look like death
Never before bad be been SO I'M
manned. He sank into a chair,
turned from her earnest gaze and
bowed his head.
Il will tell you, he said in a low,
panied voice, 'but cannot look you in
the face. My punishment has come,
and it is just. This marriage that
was such mookery, and is a great
or mockery than ever to-day, was
my planning. We sold ourselves,
and the shame is mine
Herbert"
sHear me out he interrupted,
'hear me out. Listen to me pa.
tient,y, if you can, then to your re.
prosches | will make no reply, will
not even ask your pity for my own
anguish this night
q will listen patiently she said,
softly:
q few days ago. he went on, still
in that low, panied tone, Il merely
said that the company in which our
money is invested bad declined to
pay the regular quarterly dividend,
but I feared worse than that. With
your consent ! tried to sell our stock
but the prices offered were so low
that | still held it. spared no eff.
fort to dispose of it all at fair price
but III vain | abandoned hope, aud
this morning resolved to sell it al
any sacrifice. As | nesred the Of
fee of the company | saw gres,
crowd about its closed doors. The
president and treasurer had fed, and
the company is bankrupt
Agony forcing confession, be add
with q cry which was half a moan
And l have ruined you, ny wife, my
love, my hearts darling
IS all our money gone p she asked
All! ALI. he answered, shrinking
from her. Oh! the agony of wait