Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-02-11
CHAPTER XVII.
THz WAGES OF SIN.

thence to Saratoga, where ne usually spent
a week or ten days Of every August. He
found very fast company there usually,
and enjoyed it, though he considered New
port far more genteel. Having made up
his mind very suddenly to go that night,
he had not engaged g room. On applica-
ton to the clerk, he was told there was not
a room lett, and he was going ashore, when
an acquaintance stopped him with the intel
ligence that he had secured room for
friend in Boston. who bad been detained,
and that Royden could have it.
What slight incidents determine our
destiny Twenty seconds later, and Roy
den would not have gone on that boat.
AS it was, he went.
Philip Royden had grown three years
older since the abandonment OF Christina.
Not that he had any remorse; remorse was
impossible to him. He had long ceased to
think of the girl he had deceived he had
never known anything of her attempt at
suicide, and if he had known of it, he
would not have been moved. After the
duel, he had reported to his chums and
Others that DR.. Archer had become enam-
ored of one Of his cast off mistresses, and,
feeling aggrieyed at discovering the truth,
had grossly insulted and maltreated him.
Royden had been injured morally more
than physically by the duel, because it had
augmented his already great vanity; made
him more courted, and therefore more dis
sipated. His financial troubles had in
creased likewise, and his father had re-
peatedly refused to pay any more Of his
debts. The two had had terrible scenes /;
Philip had pronounced his father, to his
face, an old lniaer and hypocrite, and his
father had called him a profigate and an
ungrateful sccundrel. The elder Royden
was the antipodes of miser he was very
extravagant, and always had been. b.
rigues was constantly drawing on him, and
his family expenses were beyond his means
Margaret was an exception; she never
spent the allowance he made her, and most
of what she spent was for Others.
When Philip Royden went on the Fall
River boat, he looked decidedly fast /; his
face was overfull, not to say bloated his
complexion was red, as if brandy had
mingled with Lis blood he had an over
bearing swagger, and an emanation of
coarseness. he ate his dinner on the boat /;
it consisted mainly of soup, a bit of chicken
and large bottle of champagne. He
seemed very nervous. When he left the
table he went to the rear of the vessel to
smoke. There Ehrlingen, the old friend of
Christina, saw him for the first time for
months. The last time indeed had been
in the girls rooms in Twenty. sixth street.
The German mechanic had been to New
port, where he had had job of work,
and was on his way home. He knew
nized Royden the moment his eyes rested
on him, Notwithstanding the change he
had undergone and the difference in his
dress. Royden, however, did not know
Ehrlingen. He may not have observed
him and if he had observed him, he
would not have recognized him, for he
plumed himself on completely Ignoring
what he called common people.
The German had good reason, as we are
aware, to dislike the American, of whom
he had been Jealous with adequate cause.
He had ceased to visit Christina on his
account, and after he had renewed his ac-
quaintance with her, was delighted to
find the insolent, unprincipled dandy, as
he styled him, no longer an obstacle and
a source of irritation. In conversation
with the girl, he learned that Royden had
abandoned her, and as she frankly avowed
that she had loved him until she had dis
covered him to be villain, it was impos-
sible not to infer the truth, which she,
without conveying it in so many words,
took no pains to conceal. She ardently
expressed her hatred of Royden. denounc-
ing him again and again as scoundrel,
who deserved any i'll that might befall
him.
By contrasting Archer's nobleness with
his baseness, she was doubtless induced to
deeper and stronger animosity toward her
betrayer. Her feeling for the good doctor
was more than admiration or love; it
amounted to something very ike worship.
She never tired of sounding his praises, and
to show his generosity and chivalry-not
from any vanity-she told her friend that
her preserver, as she was fond of calling
him, had offered to marry her.
This made marked impression on Ehr-
lingen, who said he would not have be-
heved that an American would or could
entertain the idea of doing such thing /;
for Americans did not possess the senti-
ment, the breadth and the power to love
which characterized the Germans. He
thought that the doctor ought to have been
a German, which was, to his mind, the
highest of compliments.
Not long after, as we have seen, he pro-
posed to wed Christina himself; but she
declined with gratitude and emotion, much
touched by this new and extraordinary proof
of his devotion. He urged her not to re-
fuse him peremptorily; but to hold his pro-
posal in consideration, and to this she
finally consented.
81 have loved you, Christina, from your
childhood, !" he said; "and I do not love
you less because you have been wronged by
q sceundrel. The wrong you have suffered
should establish fresh claim to my SYM
psthy and protection.
When Ehrlinger saw Philip Royden on
the boat that evening, all his hatred
revived; in fact, it was increased and in
tensifed by what he had learned since last
meeting him. Although naturally amiable
and peaceable, he was mettlesome on occa-
sion, land being upright and moral HIM
self, the absence of uprghtness and moral
ity in others aroused his Indignation. He
believed conscientiously that such a
creature as Royden ought not to be allowed
TO live; that he should be classeG with
mad dogs and venomous serpents; that on
account of his dangerous character he