The Red Cloud chief., 1881-11-03

anu eisewherei Inc means was nv
humble self.
The day after my arrival at Rock
hampton Jim proposed thai | should
drive with him on his morning round.
And" added he. ''wel call ut Mount
Grove on our way home" Mount
Grove was the residence OF Mr.. Spald-
ing; and two O'Clock found Us at the
gate OF a very nice villa residence over
looking the river. and standing within
its own nicely-kept grounds.
We were ushcred into the drawing
room, where we found assembled GER
tain persons whom Jim had not ex-
pected 10 sec. Mr.. Spslding received
me co~urteously. as also did Mrs. Spald-
ing. Miss Nellie greeted me most cor
daily, adding that she was much
pleased to make the acquaintance OF
DIR Brooke's old friend of whom he so
often spoke. In addition 10 the family
circle of three. il was clear there were
strangers present. These latter were
Mr.. josiah Blayden and his sister. MIR.
Hayden did not impress me favorably.
He wa a stout. florid-complcxionei
man. remarkable for the extreme
breadth Of his white waistcoat and for
the profusion of jewelry displayed
thereon.
"A safe man. my dear sir; a very
safe man." said Mr.. SpaIding TO me al
lunch. why, 1 suppose his turnover
is about half a million a year-the iron
trade. you know" added the old gen
tlcman by way Of explaining that Mr..
Blagden was one of the metal kings of
England
"Self-madc man, too" said Mr..
Spalding; began life as a foundry
boy"
From what / saw of Mr.. Blagden
within the next few weeks, his origin
guessed from the manner in which he
impaired the ..foundry-boy's' man
ncrs into the sphere in which his'indus-
try and success had led him. He was
essentially a vulgar man. who bullied
his sister. a meek, silent little woman
with Il good heart and a kindly nature,
as ] discovered later on.
As we drove home from lunch that
day Jim was strangely depressed. /
guessed his thoughts pretty accurately,
for he burst out into q TRADE against
Mrs. Spalding on our arrival at home.
81 shouldn't wonder. Regy." said he,
If that fellow Blagden has been in
vited down here as a sutton for Nelly.
He's a friend of Mrs. Spaldings 5, |
know, because she herself comes from
the Black Country"
.Jim's state OF mind. from the mo-
ment he preached this theory. may be
better imagined than described. For
the next three weeks l am bound TO say
that his temper was well-nigh unendur-
able. One evening at dinner at Mount
Grove, / felt half afraid he was going 20
infict personal chastisement upon Mr.
BlaCdcn, a feat | should have much re-
joiced to have seen skillfuliy performed.
after the iron-master's coarse invectives
against the medical profession, which
had been called forth during some ar
gument concerning doctors fees. Mel
ly's attitude toward Jim appeared 20
have undergone no p~crceptible change.
She was loving and gentle as before;
but I fancicd that Mrs. Spalding con-
trived dexterously TO keep Miss Blag-
den and Nelly as frequently together as
possible; and thus Jim's tcte-a-tetes
were reduced to a miserable minimum.
Worst of all, as Jim remarked to me
one day, Nelly had confessed that her
stcp-mother had on more than one occa-
sion limited that Mr.. Blagdcn's visit and
STAY were not solely prompted by rela-
tionship To her parents. Mrs. Spalding
was. i'm other words, a clever woman
PLAYING a nice little game of diplomacy,
and while keeping on the most friendly
terms with Jim, was, to my mind, fur
thering her own aims and ideas of q
matrimonial alliance for Nelly with the
elderly ~iron-founder. / know that most
of my readers will say that Miss Spald-
ing should have settled the matter for
herself, and have given Mr.. Blagden to
understand that his attentions were
unwelcome and hopeless. But, rs 1
remarked before, we are not all cast in
one mold; and the most loving natures
may sometimes be cOerced by what
seems 10 be their duty into sclf-sacri-
flee Of the most unreasonable kind,
and which n only entail misery in the
end.
So things went on ut Northampton,
with diplomacy at Mount Grove and
despair at No. IA High street, where
DIR. James Brooke announced his will
ingness to relieve the afflicted daily
from ten to eleven a. m, and from
six to eight p. m. / had been sitting
cogitating over matters one evening at
the Red Lion-Jim having been called
to a distant part of his parish-when
an idea, founded, l believe, on a quo
tation from an old French author, oc-
Cured to me The quotation was to
the effect, that .'when moral suasion
fails from any cause TO change an opin-
ion. it is lawful TO appeal to the most
trivial of our emotions" Happy idea!
thought l. shall see whether or not
| can work il out to the advantage of
DIR. James Brooke and-shall l add it?
to the confusion of Josiah Blagden,
Esquire.
NV plans were then rapidly matured.
Morning, noon and night find me busy
in the old church. l am hard at work
on a canvas in which the interior of the
edifice grows under my brush day by
day. There are no sounds of the ky
RE" now; nor are the jubilant strains
of MendelSsohn heard, rs on n bright,
sunny day not SO far gone by. Nelly
does not come to practice her old IA
vorites as of yore. Blagden, l know.
hates music; and painters, as he once
expressed tin shocking bad taste
are usually "a seedy lot" remember
Mr.. Josiah's white vest and cable chain.
with enough appendages attached
thereto to have set up a small jeweler
in \ thriving way of business. The
aisle and gallery of the church are now
complete in my pictare. 1 paint it as
1 sit in the aisle; in the distance You
can see the altar and chancel: and the
vicar. who looks in upon me OCCASION
ally, SAYS it is as like as can be. He is
curious, however. to know the nature
of the figures l have sketched roughly
in. There is a group passing dowa the
aisle from the altar-rails where the
vicar n still be seen at his post: and
there is a figure standing alone and sol
itary in a pew. As if facing the advanc-
ing party. The vicar cannot quite
fathom the design. The church he can
understand; but the meaning of the
picture puzzles him. l bid him wait
patiently for the solution of the mys-
terry.
When my study of the church was
completed, l went home TO the Red
Lion, and there l painted in nv figures.