The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-07-12

II doubt not she will: namely, that sh'
should do as every other young woman
of common sense and deicaCy wOulC
do, and wait until tomorrow, to ash
the consent of one who will then prob
ably be here, if he is not already ar
rived-her guardian, Mr. Andrew Suth'
erland."
Lieutenant Augustus burst out with
an oath, probably very mild in the
mess-rOom, but very shocking here To
two women's ears. Iillah crept farther
from him and nearer TO me.
"Ill not be cheated so.' stOrmed he.
"Come, child, you'll trust your cousin;
YOu'll come away tO-nlght?"-and he
tried to lift her on the car, which had
approached-th Irish driver evidently
much enjoying the scene.
mo, cousin; not tonight said the
girl, resisting. "Id rather wait and
have Miss Pryor with me, and proper
bridesmaids, and a wedding-dreSs, and
all that-that is, if marry you at all,
which wont unless Miss Pryor thinks
you will be kind to me. So goodbye
till tomorrow, cousin"
He was so enraged by this time that
he tried forcibly TO drag her on the car.
But wound my arms round my dear
child's waist and shreked for help.
Faith, sir" said the sturdy Irish
man, interfering, half In amusement,
half in Indignation, ''ye'd betther lave
the women alone. I'd rather not med
die with an abduction"
So Zillah was set free from the lieu
tenants grasp, for, as | said before, a
scoundrel is often great coward. |
drew the trembling and terrified girl
into the house-he following with a
storm of oaths and threatenings. At
| last forcibly shut the door upon him,
and bolted him out. Whether this in
dignity was too much for the valorous
| soldier, or whether he felt sure that all
chance was over, / know not; but when
| | looked out ten minutes after the coast
was clear. took my erring, wronged,
vet still more wronged than erring
| child into my bosom, and thanked
| Heaven she was saved.
The next morning Mr.. Sutherland ar
rived.
After this nights events have little
to say or rather | prefer to say but lit
tie, Of what passed during the remain
der of that summer We all travelled
to England together, going round by
Yorkshire in order to leave Mr.. Lee
Peers daughters at their own home.
This was Mr. Sutherland's kind plan,
that the two girls might be kept in ig-
noranCe Of the whole affair, and eopec-
tally of their fathers ill-dceds. What
they suspected | know not; they were
merely told that it was the desire OF
Zllah's guardian to take her and her
governesS home with him.
SO we parted at Halifax and | never
saw any of the family again. had no
scruples about thus quitting them, as |
found out from Mr.. Sutherland that l
had been engaged solely as governess
to his ward and that he had himself
paid my salary in advance; the whole
Of which, in some way or other had
been intercepted by Mr., lie poer The
money Of course was gone; but he had
written to me with each remittance,
and thus had lost his letters. That
was hard
| also found out, with great Joy and
comfort, that my Zillah was truly Ill
lah lie Poer-her fathers legitimate
daughter and heiress. All | had been
led to believe was a cruel and wicked
lie. The whole history of her father
and mother was one of these family
tragedies, only too frequent, which, the
actors in them being dead, are best for
gotten. | shall not revive the tale.
In late autumn Mr.. Sutherland sailed
for India. Before he quilted England
he made me sole guardian in his stead
over Iillah lie Poer, assigning for her a
handsome maintenance. lie said he
hoped we should all live happily togeth-
er-she, my mother and Until he |
came back. He spent a short time with
us all at his country seat-a time
which, looking back upon, seems in its
eight days like eight separate years.
ought to speak Of Zillah, the UNI
moved center Of so many cOnvolving |
fates. She remained still and silent as |
ever--dull, greved, Inundated. told |
her gradually and gently the whole |
truth, and explained from how much |
she had been saved. She seemed crate
full and penitent; it was clear that her |
heart had never been touched by love; |
she was yet mere child. The only |
evidence Of womanly shame she gave |
was in keeping entirely out of her |
guardians way; nor did he take much |
notice Of hor except in reproaching him |
self to me with being neglectful of his /
charge; but he had SO thoroughly trust |
ed in the girls uncle as being her best |
protector.
The only remark he ever made Oh I'll |
labs personal self was that she had |
beautiful eyes, adding, with half sigh, |
that he liked dark Oriental eyes
One day his mother told me something |
which explained this. She said he had |
been engaged to a young lady in India,
who on the eve of their marriage had |
died. He had never cared much for |
woman's society since, and his mother |
thought would probably never marry |
After his departure | learned the whole |
story. My heart bled over every pang |
he had suffered; he was so good and |
noble man. And when knew about |
his indifference to all women, felt the
more grateful for the trust he showed
in me, by making me Zillah's guard
ian in his absence, and wishing me TO
write to him regularly of her welfare.
The last words he said We're asking me
to 90 and see his mother often; and
then he babe God bless me, and called
me "his dear friend" He was very
kind always!
We had quiet winter, for my health
was not good-I being often delicate in
winter time. My mother and Xillah
took care of me, and | was very CRATE
full for their love. | got we'll at last as