The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-04-19
DAN. FARTHING'S ONLY son.
A STORY In TWOCH CHAPTERS.

u
after day or two, finding he was unable
to be of service, and that his presence
and his arguments seemed rather to vex
and disturb rather than to soothe and
persuade his father, returned to London
to wait for more favorable oppor-
tunity.
Some weeks passed without his hear
ing how matters progressed, or receiving
any answers to his weekly letters, but
this did not make him uneasy. AL
though he feared that the ruin would
be complete, he knew that the winding |
up of affairs must take time, and that
his father was not likely to write until
there was news of importance to send.
Still, day by day, he watched with in
creased anxiety for the postman's visit;
apd, as sood as he felt that he could do
SO without wounding his fathers suscep-
tibilities, he once more went down to
Horksmead.
Dan Farthing's cottage stood in gen.
tie hollow in bend of the road, so that
. it did not come into view till the trave-
Ter was close upon it, and Frank, as he
turned the angle, was surprised to see
scafolding poles erected and labores at
work. He quiekened his pace through
the winding paths of the quaint Dutch
garden. and coming upon a workman
whom he knew, soon learned that the
place had been sold, and that the rugged,
self-reliant, proud old man had taken up
his dwelling In poor mean cottage.
!. With bitter pang at heart he hasten
ed to this cottage; low, thatched, mud
walled, one-storied building, consisting of
only two rooms. 1t was in some such
dwelling as this that his father begun
life, but he himself had had no expert
ence of home SO squalid save as a
picturesque object for his sketches. He
remembered many of the additions being
made to his fathers house, but in his
earliest recollections it was still a COM
Portable and commodious place. He
paused at the threshold, and there was
no sound within; he stepped on to the
low brick floor, and the atmosphere OF
the dark room was sitting; he could
hardly stand upright in the cabin. A
plain deal table and few wooden chairs
were all its furniture, and there was
no sign that it had been occupied. His
father, he thought, was probably in the
fields. But 10; there was sound from
that inner room, a voice that he knew
It was even smaller, this second apart
ment, than the one in which he stood; il
was almost filled by one rush-bottomec
chair and wretched pallet, and on thi
pallet lay his father, unattended, alone
He was muttering and talking rapidly
As his son entered he turned an eye upor
him, and paused for an instant, but HI
did not appear to recognize him.
GAY telpee ay ken du it," he said
=. "ay'm strong and hearty. Owe no maj
anything-ay ha' paad 'em all. Yov
shan't write to the boooy; there amt nj
call for that; ay won't ha' you du it. A.
ha' med ma waay once, and ay ken du i
again. They're a-gooin' dog cheap. A.
nivver bought 'em at that. Throw it GU
O tn wiuder ay tell'ee, throw it out G
tn winder-ay won't ha' no charity. A
ha paad 'em all, an ay can work. Yov
won't nivver git nine thousand pount
boooy, VOW can't come up to that. VIII
don't you shut the door, Nanny? Bolt
fast ay telpee. Ay wun't ha' 'em com
to look at me; get along WI ye; ay don
want no help.
Frank was shocked and bewildered b.
yond measure, but he reused himsel
promptly to the necessity for actor
Hurrving to the nearest cottage he di!
.patched messenger for doctor and
nurse, and he learned that his friends q
the rectory had been for some months o
the Continent, and, though he was thu
deprived of valuable counsel and a
sistance in the hour Of need, he was r.
lieved from the sense of disheartenin
surprise that they should have above
this wretchedness to befall without h
knowledge. tl
With all convenient speed he was bat
at the cottage, and there through II
long night-watches he sat bathing IL
fsvered brow, around which the crow
of silver hairs shone in the dim Gg|
like glory; listening to incoherent u
terances which disclosed, as ightnil
flashes reveal the landscape, the inten
suffering that had been undergone, al
the tameless pride that could not brot
APPLYING eye. .u.
Toward morning the old man fell in
quiet sleep, and Frank, worn ont wi
his journey and his watching, dozed u
easily in the rickety chair in which !
pose was impossible. Every now al
then he started, half ashamed that
should have lost consciousness even
an instant. The nurse had no su
scruples Frank had seen that she "
tired, and had told her to rest if s
could. She had extemporized very fl
lounge in the adjoining room, and "
soon snoring away as though the wol
had not sorrow to be soothed. Even
the midst of his grief and his care Fra
:. could but smile at the ridiculous sitl
tion in which he was placed, for the ho'
was SO small that the substantial form
the nurse almost blocked up the do
way. and had he needed to leave his s
ton he must have passed over it. I
note Of the night jar as it swe
by thrilled him for moment like
evil omen, and he turned to the bed vi
s,,osro of alarm. hut his father v