The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-07-03

hcavlng, WhllecrcSteu DlllOwS WnlCn iOlicu III
her Ieet would soon embrace her and free her
from her Indebtedness, Maud began to take
down her HAIR.
"Golng to swim =" asked voice close be-
hind her
She turned and beheld stranger standing
near at hand. At first she could not utter a
word. Presently, however, she SAID, In tones
that betrayed her intense excitement
"Oh, sir, do not thwart my purpose. de-
sire to put an end to my trouble-l wish 10
sleep beneath the wave!"
There isn't any wave there" said George
Adophus. THE canals dry. You'll break
your neck if you jump off this bridge"
"But want to find grave in the restless
deep. want the blue pillows to fold me IN
everlasting slumber, where the weeds grow
in sunless gloom"
But l tell you, my dear lady, there isn't any
restless deep anywhere around here. You'd
better put it off till the canal opens. Here
you are talking about sleeping beneath the
pillows, when the water won't be let on In a
month yet And besides, if you want to be
folded in everlasting slumber, 1t would be wise
for you to jump into well. You'd have q
sure thing then"
THAT would be horrblew exclaimed Maud,
with a shudder
YES" replied George Adophus "it would
spoil the we'll"
Maud felt that George Adolphus was right
True, he did not appear to enter very much
into the tragic spirit of the situation. lie
ought to have dropped upon his knees and
impored her to forget her trouble and sip a
little longer the nectar of lite. He ought to
have pictured to her imagination fair.haired
girl lying with palld face and marble form IN
the silent bosom of the canal where the dol
phin sports unseen and the mermaids comb
their locks in shadowy solitude. But he did
nothing of the sort lie told her to go home
and practice IN the cistern.
Maud thought the matter over for mo-
mcnt, then bursting into tears wrung the hand
of our hero and ran swiftly home.
George Adolphus stood upon the bridge and
watched Maud till she was out Of sight. AS
he stood there, wondering what it was that
weighed SO heavily upon the mind of the fair
young girl, he saw something glittering at his
feet. He STOPPED and eagerly picked it up. 1t
was a golden hair.pln of peculiar pattern. 1t
occurred to HIM ut once that it must have
been lost by the girl when she took down her
hair. He put 1t in his trousers pocket, think
ing that it would be a handy thing to pawn
for his breakfast The more he tried to forget
about this fair girl, and the previous circum
stances under which he had met her, the more
persisently they rose before HIM. Presently
he found himself laying plans to find out more
about her, and then it dawned upon him that
he was in love. He then tenderly removed the
hair pin from his trousers pocket and placed
it next his heart 1t was now getting very
late, and the police were beginning to & glance
at our hero, and so he turned into
for cheap lodging place.
VI.
Old Mr.. Muggleton, whom we lett at the
residence of Mauds father, wended his way
homeward filed with bitter disappointment
He had long regarded Maud with tenderness,
and had desired to offer her his hand and for
tune, and now he felt that he was rejected. He
had seen nearly four-score years OF bachelor
hood, and it was getting monotonous, He
dragged himself YEARLY and sadly home, and
retired to his couch in wretchedness
VII.
The clock had just struck II, and the town
was rs silent as the grave, when two villlanous
looking men, with mufiled faces broke open
the street door of large mansion where an
ancient bachelor lay dreaming OF Il supercil-
ious maiden who had declined to meet HIM in
her paror few hours before. The men pass.
ed safely into the house, and were soon stand.
ing by the bedside of the dreamer. A mo-
ment later swift blow fell upon the uncon-
scous millionaire but before 1t could be re-
peated the assassin was stricken to the floor.
His companion escaped. The police were sum.
moned by the servants, who had by this time
been aroused by the noise, and the captured
man was led away In irons.
"Who is this young man that has followed
these villains, and risked his own life to save
?" asked the wounded man.
My name is George Adolphus Clarendon"
was the prompt reply
George Adolphus," said the millionaire,
you have done II brave and noble deed. am
MORALLY wounded, and must die in a few
hours, but you shall be rewarded You shall
be my heir"
The next morning there was Grape on the
door of the Muggleton mansion, and George
AdOlphus Clarendon was millionaire. lie
had been suddenly landed IN the lap of luxury.
He could not have been more completely tax.
en- by surprise if he had suddenly succeeded
To the English crown And yet his magical
elevation to wealth and position did not so en-
gage his mind as to dispel certain memories
that were lingering there-memories that car
ried him back to the footbridge across the ca
nal. Who was the beautiful stranger that had
almost made the canal bridge bridge of
sighsy' Why had she sought watcry grave?
And if she wanted to rid herself of sorrow,
why didn't she jump off house instead of
hunting up dry canal, full of broken glass,
iron and old bootsY These questions were too
much for George Adolphus, In less than a
week he found himself in perfect fever of
mental excitement. He felt that he was rapid
ly growing worse. 1t did seem as If he could
not get that hair-pin near enough to his heart
lie thought of swallowing it, but changed his
mind and had it made into Il bosom-pin. In
another week the malady had obtained so com
plete u mastery over HIM that he began to write
poetry. lie could not even think in prose, and
when he read Il newspaper the lines all seemed
to commence with capital letters and end with
Il jingle.
Thus the weeks passed YEARLY 10y without
bringing the slightest intelligence of the own
er of the golden hair.pin.