Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1883-11-07

The squire was astonished, afterward4
bewildered. then indignant. Guppy sufS
gested that there might be a rival at ~
bottom of it.
''lmpossiblew roared the squire 4
lignantly,
Take 10 offence. 6fnire,'' expostuk
ated Guppy. II merely limited at th(
possibility of such thing.
II am puzzled at Florence s conduct
the squire admitted. '.She has alwnya
oeen so used to submitting to my wisar
rs in every ything-'
IF might suggest" meekly int6s
posed Guppy. Il should hint, at vefI
Mre, that the rival l have reference 8
was not outside of your own family Cit
,le."
"What?' queried the squire with
wide-open eyes, ''is it Jesse you atN
IRVING at?"
Il think, if you HAUNT been blind
sqnire. YOU would have seen it before
Ibis. Everybody else has noticed it,"
'Zonnds!' roared the squire in
empest; ''thcn have warmed viper
nto life t'lat he may sting me! He shall
cave the shelter OF my roof tonight.
ind for ever.
There was a family consultation; the
tacts iii tie case were elicted; the soft
,ear'ed-thc squire in his rage, said
'soft-headcd mother could see no
mpropricty in jesse loving Florence, or
Florence loving Jesse; but the outraged
squire, who took n more worldly and
practical view IF the matter, was mex
,rabic, ana young Somcfs was indig-
nantly driven forth from the only homo
he had ever known.
Mild. inoffensive Mrs. Burieigh stole
like thief into her sleeping-room,
weeping great tears as she went, and
smuggled out an old stocking in which
she had deposited her own scanty saw
ings, and throwing her arms impetu-
olsly around the son of her adoption,
she adroitly thrust stocking and all into
his oyercoat pocket.
The squire, frowning iueyorably in
the farther corner of the room, did not
detect the manGuvre. She did not
mean he should she dared not, for she
had felt the weight Of his tyranny for
thirty wears.
Don't forget your old mother and
Florence, darling she whispered be.
tween her sobs. 'I.et your poor old
mother know where YOU are, and how
you are getting along"
The angry flashes in Jesse's eyes
were subducd. and he bowed his head
on her shoulder. and wept for twenty
seconds.
Enough of that foolery!' roared the
squire from the corner. Let him be-
gone!"
You shall hear from me, some time.
mother. dear, and when you do, you
shall be proud Of me- he whispered
hoarsely, proud that you pillowed the
head Of the little unfortunate-not in
CRATE, as he called mc-upon your sacred
bosomr'
Then, turning to the irate squire.
with flashing, fearful eyes, he added
aloud, with a sweeping impetuosity and
dignity that made the stern tyrans
quail:
LAS for you, man---I will not own vou
or honor you with the name of father
| will yet live to bring you to Judgment
and to most bitter repentance OF this
days work.
His attitude at the conclusion OF this
full martyr and a prophet.
He turned TO look for Florence to
take his farewell, but she was not in the
room.
She had slipped out unpcrceived from
their midst.
For an instant he looked disappoint-
ed, and then Frightening as though q
happy thought had struck him. he
caught up his valise, and with a proud
and self-reliant air strobe firmly over
the threshold, out into the great world
which lay all unknown before him.
He passed down the shortest lawn,
and on reaching grove OF horse-chest,
nuts which shut out the view of the
house, he found Florence anxiousiy
, awaiting him.
Their interview was brief, their part
ing tender; but they were hopeful Of the
future, and promised eternal fidelity To
each other.
From that hour for five long years,
the prosecutions Of Guppy became con-
| slant and unremitting. and the squire
| abetted him with alternate threats and
| entreaties.
| But the heroic Florence was not to be
| moved.
When her prosecutors importuned,
| her invariable answer was:
Il shall marry Jesse if he ever re-
turns. If he never returns l shall never
marry" and from this fixed purpose
| they could not move her
Guppy and the squire, during these
| years had grown to be bosom friends. -
They were both actuated by the same
| selfish motiyes-money. worldly iniu-
ence. and power-and together the,
| plunged rccklessly into speculation tc
advance this object.
They invested everything in ven
ture in one of the luminous Wall-street
bubbles, and it burst with a grand ex
plosion, and the squire and Guppy, ane
/ all their worldly possessions, made bu
| small fragment OF the debris.
At this time they had not heard I
word from Jesse, but Florence did no
despair. She WAS yet young, only 81
and in her hopeful nature she could fint
many an excuse for his protracted sill
| ence.
The stern squire was completely crush
ed and broken.
To stem the current he was forced 4
levy heavy mort gage on the old home
stead that had never before sufecet
| from a like indignity. 1t was terribl'
"a singing wound to his oyerwecnin;
vanity and pride, and in six months
from the full habit Of an inficxible and
oyerbearing tyrant, he shrank into alb
solute leanness and inertia, and before
the expiration Of year, he had shrivei
led up into prematurely withered ole
1 man.
1t was now hard struggle with tn
Burleighs for a subsistence and to Ra,
the interest on the mortgage. Int
squire had lost all life and energy, ant
preferred sitting in the chimney corner
brooding drearlily over the past, 9
mixing, as of old. with the busy. strug
! Cling world.
Any one knowing him half-a-dozel
4 ,-o.rs ara w,nld have failed to rccOQ