Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-12
CHAPTER XVIII.

mother, dear mother, the love that was
nursed,
AS hung DER thy bosom, chung around thee
first.
Twas the earliest link in loves long chain,
Twas the only one that will always remain
And as hour by hour, and day by day,
Some friends still trusted drops away.
Mother, dear mother, oh, dOst thou not see
How each link Of the chain draws me nearer
to thee"
When Mrs. lie Verrler reached the din
ner house she found her son awaiting
her. He threw himself on her neck and
went like child. ''My only FRIEND" he
said, ''here alone do l find the one unfail-
ing source of human love-"
"What distresses you, Arthur? You look
as if you had had hard tit of sickness.
What sorrow has come over you? Tell
me your grief and let me console you"
"And is it possible that you have not
heard, mother? Would that you could
console me. This is the first grief that l
have ever known, which even your love
was powerless to alleviate"
sSOmething dreadful has befallen you,
Arthur. What is the matter! Why did
you not come on to Glenside after meg
left Clare very i'll, in the care of a physi-
clan, too i'll to see any one, even me, and
l could not help thinking that her illness
was caused by your sending for me in the
way you did, and avoiding Glenside, for
she was taken sick the very morning my
letter came"
"Mother, can it be that you do rot know
that Glare is no longer anything to meI
She has requested me to release her from
her engagement"
"Requested it? Why, Arthur, surely
that is not so. Clare's heart and soul is
bound up in you"
''WOuld that they were. Once l fOndly
hoped it was the case, but have been
cruelty deceived. She must be heart
less firt, or she would never have treated
me as she has"
Some one has been instilling prejudices
into your mind against her, Arthur. She
is no 1irt, but a high minded noble girl"
''Then how is it that Mr.. Green has sup
| planted me in her affectiOns?'
"He has not, Arthur. l know some one
must have been infusing evil thoughts in
to your mind. Mr.. Green is nothing to
| her. l know what l say. She is the soul
| of truth. He is stranger and sicR-hel IS
| a gentleman and a schOlar-he has inter-
ested us ALL We should have been less
| than women if we had not felt sympathy
! for him, and we have all sought to cheer
and entertain him. He loves Clare, L
| have no doubt. The very ground she
| treads on is dear to him. 1t is not
week since he told me that if it had been
| the will of God to grant him health that
! he might have the privilege of forming
| such ties as oilers could, and making to
| himself home, that he should deem him.
| self blest, indeed, if he could erect do
nestle shrine and secure being as pure
| and lovely as Clare to preside over it. But
| ! look for no home on EARTH he said. The
portion appointed for my lot is nothing
| short of the rest of heaven. The inherit
! ance which awaits me is incorruptible
and undefled, and fadeth not away; it
cannot be very long ere l enter upon it,
! and it becometh me not to dream even Of
| fo~ming new ties to bind me to a world
must so soon depart from. But, although
l cannot seek Miss Honfleur for my own,
[ can, and do daily admire the surprising
| loneliness OF her character. My eyes
| could drink in the richebeauty of her form
and face without my heart becoming
| captive, but the developments of her moral
and intellectual and religious character,
her generous, hlgh-minded and unselfsh
! nobility of soul, commands not only my
esteem, but my admiration and love- "
she can at least appreciate her" said
Arthur. est is some comfort to think she
| will not throw herself away. But can she
be all that is noble and good? Once l
| thought her so, too, and even now with all
my bitter experience it is hard to think
| otherwise, yet if she were such, could she
nave treated me in the way that she hasp'
Mrs. LIE Verrier insisted to Arthur that
the conclusions which he had arrived at
Will I6RdIu w MI 0IGCn anu OldIG were
incorrect, that she was positive Clare had
no idea of marrying him, and during all
the time consumed in their journey, the
mother ard son argued the matter, always
leaving off where they began, each of
them fully pursuaded in their own minds
that the conclusions they had individually
arrived at were the correct ones.
Mrs. LIE Verrier eXerted herself to the
utmost to make her home as attractive as
possible to her son. She studied his COM
fort in every way. She daily adorned his
home, which was always cheerful and
neat with flowers. She contriVed luXuries
to tempt his appetite, and sought new
books for his table, reported to him in full
the leading events passing IN their own
and other lands, with which her extensive
and varied reading kept her familiar, and
Re was sOOthed in spite of himself. Her
gentle efforts, aided by the healing hand !
of time, alleViated in some measure the |
grief which had at first pressed so over
Whelmingly.
he went TO his daily duties with some
thing of his former cheerfulness, though /
he carried about with him a heart bleed |
ing and sore.
Many months elapsed, and Clare also |
was beginning to bear up little better /
under her heavy trouble. She mingled |
with the family at the table, and some |
times at the evening fireside, but as a |
general thing she spent her time alone. |
Mr.. Green had learned to do without her
society, for she never gave it to him now.
By some means, unexplained even to her.
self, she had come to regard him as in some
measure the cause of her severe disap-
pOintment, and this led her to shun him.
He was not the same to her in anything
but his pulpit ministratiOns; these she
enjoyed to degree which she had never
before. She looked forward to the Sab
bath as a day when words of comfort
were to touch her heart, and act like heal
ing balm upon it.
TO RE CONTINUED