Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-03-11
mY RoBBER.

con, this new and important queS
tion which had forced itself up0l
our lives and at last we had reached
a conclusion.
Perhaps to others it would appea
trivial. To us it was OF mighty mo
ment, for it threw open our door
to the admittance of a stranger-il
/, other and less enigmatical words, /,
lodger. a
We were alone in the world, Hell
en- and /, living in pretty cottag'
left us by our parents, just on the
outskirts of London, in one of ths
fashionable suburbs too; for our fa
q ther had possessed considerable
means, and he died believing oul
future well provided for.
Unfortunate speculations and
investments, however, had con.
sumed so much of our capital, that
without encroachment upon it fur.
ther, the interest would no longer
support Us.
For two years we had struggled
along in the vain endeavor to make
dollar do the work of pound,
until we had relinquished it as
hopeless, and with the future merg-
ed into a necessitous and pressing
present, the idea just expounded oc-
Cured to us.
1t was in Helen's fertile brain
that it originated. She was three
years my senior, but even that
made her but twenty-three. / was
very proud of her, for she was very
lovely, with a sad, far-off look in
the great brown eyes, whose secret
only knew.
She never spoke of Will Hastings
name. They had some foolish
quarrel just prior to my fathers
| death and soon after the. regiment
in which he was a captain was Or
dered to India.
| did not mean to spy upon Hell
ems movements. 1t was quite by
accident that, lying on the hall ta-
BILE, saw a letter addressed to him
in his London quarters, for the maid
| to give the postInan in the morn
ing.
[ said nothing of my discovery,
but / understood my sisters rest
less expectancy for the next few
days, every time it came the hour
| for the postman's rounds.
I shared it silently, but in vain.
We read one morning that the
regiment had sailed, but from Will
no word had reached us.
1t seemed strangely unlike him,
this hard unforgiveness-but Helen
had held out the olive branch-she
could do no more. Only even yet,
in the dead of night, when she
| fhnnohf yuoS olo0ninn TSnn1atipaQQ
heard her sobbing in her room.
But | am depressing from my
subject, and just now it occupied all
our thoughts. We were sitting
| together at the breakfast table
when we first fully appreciated our
own temerity at seeing before us, in
the Times, theadvertisement we had
inserted with such care.
"If he," the prOnoun referred to
the elderly gentleman for whom
| the advertisement was inserted,
"should walk in now, it would not
look inviting, would it ?" asked
Helen, forcing a smile and glancing
at the dainty table set out with
its sparkling glassware and rich old
silver.
The latter WAS small fortune in
itself-we could live upon it for a
year; but it was an heirloom. Hell
en- and / must have been in sad
want indeed to have parted with a
single piece.
"No," / answered cheerily. "Let
us hope that he will arrive at such
an auSpiciouS nOur as this.n
NY hopes were to be blighted.
| During the ensuing fOrty-eight
hours we had many candidates, but
on one side or the other some Obsta-
Gle was in the way.
Our hearts sank as we viewed the
situation. Which one of them
could we tolerate to share our home?
We had almost determined to give
it up-to struggle on yet a little
| longer-as we sat together in the
twilight on the evening of the third
day, when there came a quick, de-
cided peal to the bell.
Our little maid answered it. A
moment later, firm, manly tread
crossed the hall-a tall form stood
upon the threshold of the room in
which we were. The stranger bow
ed very courteously.
"May | enter?" he asked in
strange musical voice.
had been sitting on cushion at
Helen's feet, resting my head upon
her lap. / was cOnciouS that her
soft, clressing hand had produced
the widest disorder among my
loosened braids as / sprang up con-
fusedly; but, save that pair OF
eyes momentarily regarded me
from behind darkened spectacles,
our guest devoted all his attention
to my sister.
Quiet and dignified, as she ever
was she bade him be seated.
San elderly gentleman" our ad-
vertisement had called for-we
were alone, and so felt that it
would be more suitable; but was
this man young or old His voice
was young, his step was young, but
the spectacles he wore made him
appear both old and ugly. Besides
in this light it was impossible
to see.
/ struck a match and lighted the
lamp.
He gave sudden start and turned
| his head.
"Pardon me-" he said; "but 1
am suffering from acute inf1amma-
tion of the eyes. / cannot bear any
light"
"Put it out, my DEAR" command
ed my sister; and obeyed, my Gu
riosity all unsatisfied.
1 stood listening silently as he
and Helen talked. He was greatly
in neeI, he said, of quiet home.
Our advertisement had strangely
attracted him, and though perhaps
not as yet decrepit by age, he felt
he might be safely written down as
elderly, especially since this pain
ful condition of the eyes made it
impossible for him to do anything
save sit in darkened room.
His voice was in his favor GER
| tainly. His manner, too, was that
of a man well-born, well-bred. /
could see that Helen looked favor
ably upon him, and was not sur
prised when the arrangement was
closed between them.
Rising to go, he handed her his
card, upon it was written his bank
er's address.
"You can make inquiries there,
Miss Ray" he said, land unless
l hear from you to the contrary, l
will take possession on Thursday
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