Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-04-03
CHAPTER XII.
MARGARFT'S DIARY.

for my dear husband and his father would
assuredly have caused my death, has been
suddenly and strangely torn open. Not
that it is possible | could ever forget
Clarice No to the last hour of my life
she will be with me in spirit, loved and
strength of which my nature is capable.
But the love of my family and the wise
counsel of Matthew Sylvester, whom !
now call father, have brought to my soul
certain resignation which has contributed
to my enjoyment of life and has enabled
me to fulfill its duties For the living have
claims upon me as well as the dead. My
husband, Paul, our father, the good
Matthew, and my two dear children,
Joseph and Gabrielle, are constantly with
me, filling my life with cares and joys and
now there is another, stranger, child
called Evangeline, who has made my heart
bleed afresh. The years that have passed
since | lost Clarice seem to melt away, as
though they had never been all the incl
dents of my early life pass wildly before
me, with the force of actual presentments,
and at times l feel that Clarice is by my
side, and that have but to turn to clasp
her once more IN my arms and to hear her
sweet voice address me by the name of
Marguerite. Are these impressions the
result CT chance thought, or of forgotten
dream, or are there mysterious influences
in our lives which sway our moods in
defiance of existing circumstances, mock
ing reality with shadowy hopes or fears
which may bring joy or despair to our
hearts?
sit is night. Our children and Evan
geline are asleep; my husband and father
are absent, and will not be home till late.
have often intended, for my own guild
ance, to place upon paper brief statement
of the events affecting myself that have
occurred during my residence in this place,
together with such impressions and fancies
as have strongly affected me. l will take
advantage of the present opportunity, and
will write down as clearly as / am able
record of what has passed since 1
first set foot upon the shores of the Silver
Isle.
g From my window l can see the fate
full mountain with its snow-clad crown,
stunned by all ON the isle, because of the
fearful story connected with it. The legend
of Evangeline and the two brothers was
related to me soon after my arrival on the
isle; l was strangely fascinated by it. By
some untenable process of thought con-
neeted the fate of Evangeline with that of
my dear sister Clarice there is no ex-
plainable reason for the connection except
that they were both young and fair and
dearly beloved, and met their fate through
treachery Looking out now, [ see a
shadow moving up the heights. l cannot
clearly discern the figure, but l know it to
be the shadow of Rant the deformed, who
brought the child Evangeline to this peace
full land, and left her in my care. No
other being would have the courage to
tread the upward path.
al think but for my urging, we should
have remained in the old world, and might
at this present moment be following our
wandering life. But the accounts of this
isle related to me from time to time by
Matthew Sylvester took powerful hold
of my imagination. The land he described
was more like dreamland than reality, and
it was at my earnest solicitation we came
l was harrassed by the uncertainties of
our career our fortunes were too often at
a low ebb, and expected in few months
to become a mother. l thought it would
be a happy augury for my child to be born
in land of peace, within hail of kind souls
who, if anything happened to me, would,
for the sake of Matthew, protect the inno-
cent being from the storms of the world.
So, with many sigh flor there had been
happiness as well as anxiety in onr days.,
we babe adieu to old associations, and
turned our faces hitherwards.
The manner in which we were received
did not please me, and [ was beset by
fears that had been unwise in my desire.
The isle was fair and beautiful, but there
was restraint in the bearing of the island
ers, who, while welcoming Matthew Syl-
vester and my husband as friends having
claim upon them, appeared to regard me with
GOODNESS. Stranger as l was, l thought
they should Immediately hold out to me
the cordial hand because of my relations
with the Sylvesters. In this | was I'M
reasonable. 1t was natural that they
should wait to learn from personal expert
enee whether was worthy of their friend
ship, which, as | now know, once given is
never withdrawn without just cause. The
men and women of this isle are of more
simple and therefore higher nature than
those of the countries in which my life had
hitherto been passed. They do not live
only for the hour; the interest they take
in each other is earnest and enduring, and
l hold them in high regard. The feeling
is mutual, 1 hope. but before 1 was salts
fed of its existence on their part was I'M
happy because of the uncertainty of my
position.
"The fault was in myself. held my
feelings in reserve, and even when the
women came to me, on the first night of
our arrival, with gifts of food and offers of
assistance, Ireceived them, am afraid, in
an ungracious spirit. They did not, how
ever, relax in their kind endeavors to
make me feel at home among them. Still
was not softened experienced kind