The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1883-10-19

"What!" querWd the squire with
wide-Open eyes. lis it Jesse you are
driving at?"
Il think. if you hadn't been blind.
squire, you would have seen it before
this. Every body else has noticed it,"
..ZOundsw rOared the squire In u
tempest; ..then have warmed viper
into life that he may sting me! He shall
leave the shelter of my roof Tonight.
and for ever"
There was y family consultation; the
facts in the case were e.icted; the soft
hearied--the squire. in his rage. said
'.sott-headrr'- mother could see no
impropr.e;y in Jesse loving Florence, or
| Florence loving Jesse: int the outraged
] squire who took more worldly aud
! praciic:;! view uf the matter, was inex-
| rr,i, %: ..nL vo,n. S,mefs was indiG-
nantly driven forth from the only homo
he had ever known.
Mild, in0ffcnsive Mrs. Burlcigh stole
like u thief into her sleepinS-room,
weeping great tears rs she went, and
+mnggicd out an old stocking in which
| she had deposited her own scanty saw
ings. aud THROWING he- arms impetu-
! ously around the son Of her adoption,
/ she adreitlY thrust stocking and all into
! his Overcoat pocket. 81
The squire. frowning inevorably in
1 the farther corner Of the room, did not
detect the ,nanRnvre. She did not
mean he should she dared net. for she
had felt the weight of his tyranny for
thirty wears.
don't forget your old mother and
Florence. darling" she whispered be-
tweensher sobs. ''I4et your poor old
mother know where you are, and how
you are getting along"
The angry flashes in Jesse's eyes
were subdned. and he bOwe, his head
ON her shoulder, and wept for twenty
seconds.
Enough of that foolery!'' roared the
squire from the corner. LET him be-
gOne!'
lyon shall hear from me, some time,
mother dear, and when you do, you
shall be proud of me-" he whispered
hoarsely. ''prOud that you pillowcd tho
head Of the little unfortunate-nOt in
CRATE, as he called me-upon your sacred
bosomr'
Then, turning TO the irate squire.
with flashing, fearful eyes, he added
aloud, with sweeping impetuosity and
dignity that made the stern tyrant
quail:
''As for you. mani will not own you
or honor you with the name of father
| will yet live to bring YOU to judgment
aud to most bitter repentance OF this
days work.
His attitude ut the conclusion of this
whitening sentence was that of a youth
ful martyr and prophet.
He turned TO look for Florence to
take his farewell, but she was not in the
room.
She had slipped out unperceived from
their midst.
For an instant he looked disappoint-
ed, and then frightening rs though a
happy thought had struck him. he
caught up his valisc, and with 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 Il grove of hOrse-chest-
nuts which shut out the view of the
house, he found Florence anxiously
awaiting him.
Their interview was brief, their part
1 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 inyariable answer was:
Il shall marry Jesse if he ever re-
turns. If he never returns | 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 motives money, worldly intiu-
ence, and power-and together they
plunged recklessly into speculation to
advance this object.
They invested everything in a VEN
:ure in one of the luminous Wall-sirect
bubbles, and it burst with Il grand eX-
plosion, and the squire and Guppy, and
all their worldly possessions. made but
small fragment of the debris.
AT this time they had not heard !:
word from Jesse. but Florence did not
despair. She was yet young, only 81.
and in her hopeful nature she could ind
many an excuse for his protracted sill
| encc.
The Stern squire was completely crush
ed aud broken.
| To stem the current he was forced to
levy Il h.'ayy mortgage On the cd home
stead hal never before suffered
from q sc indi.ni:y. 1t WAS Il terrible
| IA >;irr.ny wound 10 his ovcrwrrrnI
vanity and pride, and in six months,
from the full habit of IN inileXible and
Gyerbearing tvran,. ne shrank into alb
so!ute leanGcss and inertia, and before
the expiration of year. he had shrivel-
led up into prematurely withered old
man.
It was now hard struggle with the
Burlcighs for Il subsistence and TO pay
the interest on the mortgage. The
SQUIRE had lost all life and energy, and
preferred sitting in the chimney corner,
brooding drcamiy over the past, to
mixing, as of old, with the busy, struy-
Cling world.
Any one knowing him half-a-dozen
years ago, would have failed TO recog-
nize him now. although almost the en-
tire change might have been said to be
the result of a single year,
Guppy had long since ceased to in-
perfume Florence, and for this glorious
respite the brave girl was heartily
thankful.
Guppy was intent on business. He
was comparatively a young man yet.
and could not hope to retire his fortunes
by marrying pauper He therefore
quietly Withdrew from the field. with
out offering to the impoverished squire
the slightest explanation of his conduct.
In this way was our brave heroine re-
leased from the thraldOm of Il double
persecution.
One day Florence returned from a
visit to neighbor, triumphant with a
new-iledged purpOse-a purpose char
acteristic of her selfdenying nature.
She had heard of a Young woman who
had earned a lot of money in year in
the new mills at Lawrence.
She announced her determination to
90 there, rs soon rs she could make
preparation. and earn the money with
her own hands to pay off the mortgage.
She might rs well he useful, she said.
as to pine away in solitude and in
ertia.