The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-08-21
WRITTEN IN LETTERS OF GOLD,
BY ELLA DURAND.
CHATTER ].

Il nope your father 1flenu Will
come soon" said the landlady, glancing
toward the bed, and shaking her head
ominously, cor he'll be too late, as DR..
Mayfair said"
The girl whom she addressed
glanced at the sleeper, whose span of
life the doctors nat had limited to
hours, moved restlessly, and answered /:
"He cannot live long now"
There was silence again in that sick
chamber, only small, back bedroom
i'm 81 dingy London lodging house,
broken only 10y the subdued sobbing of
the beautiful, regal girl, whom the sick
man called daughter, and the labored
breathing of the dying man.
Lavater would have at once marked
out the tall, slender form, and strange
ly high bred beauty of Edith Fontenoy,
as an index OF wild, maynard spirit,
full of faults, impulsive, of proud,
passionate nature, full of noble in
stincts, impossible to drive, only to be
won and controlled by very strong
hand
Her father had never been able to
read her nature Alright; and, having
been left with his motherless girl at an
early age, spoiled her by humoring
her, when he should have been firm
and obstinate, when he should have
reasoned.
The landlady opened the door softly,
which aroused the sleeper, when he
asked eagerly in faint whisper, "Oh,
has he Gomez"
NO, papa!" exclaimed the girl softly,
"but it is near train time now, and he
must soon be here.
No necessity for that, however, for
even as she ceased speaking Broug-
ham dashed up the street and stopped
before the door. Steps were heard
springing up the stairs, and the land
lady's voice designating the room. The
door opened and a tall commanding
figure, In soldiers cape and military
cap, came into the room.
"Oh, Eric, Eric is it you-you at
iast? Oh, God, L thank thee" And
the sick man threw himself into the ex-
tended arms of his friend.
ooh Marshall, Marshall, why did you
not let me know OF this should have
helped you long ago." said the other,
q ring of deep reproach in his tones.
81 felt ashamed to! You see it was
lost by little speculation, calculated
TO add to my daughters store, when l
should be no more. For you know,
Eric, when and you parted in India,
l received O wound which, at the time,
was not considered fatal, but which the
surgeons said, might prove serious, if
care was not taken to prevent its open
ing again. Well, l fell from my horse
last week and you see the result. This
is my daughter Eric, of whom have
written you so much, concerning"
Edith acknowledged the introduction
with little frigid bow, and immedi.
.ately left the room, retiring to small
room adjoining the bedroom, and
throwing herself YEARLY upon a stool
ut one of the windows, gave herself up
TO reflection.
Was this, then, the friend whom her
father had thought SO much of, and of
whom she had begun to imagine must
be above the ordinary standard of NOR
tails? Her large, violet eyes seemed
gazing on space, and her fair, jeweled
hands were locked together in her lap.
81 am dying, Eric, he resumed,
@and, ere L go, have one great re-
quest to make of you" He paused,
exhausted in his efforts, and, quickly
springing to the table, Eric Lennox
seized the reviving drops and held them
TO his lips. The dying man swallowed
them with difficulty, and, after mo-
ment's delay, treasured by the pressure
of his friends hand, he said: Il have
sufficient confidence in you, my dear
Eric, from our intimacy in former days,
- 30 -
family secret, but with the request that
you are not to disclose your knowledge
of it to Edith, or she would never for
give me. My daughter is now 10 years
of age, and at the early age of 16 met
the first love of her youth, one Earnest
Balfour. / greatly disapproved, and
strove every way in my power to seek
to convince her that it was only fancy,
the foolish fancy of youth upon both
sides, and / thought that / succeeded.
But ali, feor that after / am dead and
gone, he may come back again and
overpersuade my poor Edith, blinded
by love, and she will, doubtless, lead 0
very unhappy life.
Eric Lennox did not interrupt his
old comrade, but kept his face slightly
averted.
"Yes, Eric, old friend, am dying
and what will become of my poor, in
nocent, inexperienced darling? Viii
you promise, my dear friend, to take
charge of her, and keep her from the
wolf, who will be sure to seek her
My precious lamb, my darling childl 7
Col. Lennox did not answer imme
diately, but sat bordering over the case
and turning the probability over in hi
mind of taking charge of young CIR
but ten years younger than himself
His silence and averted face were unin
terpreted by the anxious parent for re