The Sunday tatler and Jersey City express. (Jersey City, N.J.) 1883-1886, 1884-12-28

/ HoWard?'
sNever heard Of them before, Are the.
| strangers to you?"
ENTIRELY SO"
ssNow good bye, old fellow; my traps ar
slowed away ON the train, and I had bette
| follow them. Take care of yourself amonl
I those mysterious strangers.
In the hustle and confusion at the sta
| ton Mr. Byron's satchel was mislaid; bu
he presently caught sight of the familia
object on q distant table, and felt inwardly
thankful for its ungainly proportions ant
the huge brass diamond which made it sc
easily recognized.
Al Portland respectfully dressed mar
in charge of a wagonette came forward t.
meet Mr.. Byron, and during the drive te
the Hall the former discoursed freely upoI
the existing state of affairs there. sor
and heir to the fine estate had arrived, and
there had been great rejoicing; but within
the past twenty-four hours their JOY had
been turned to mourning by dispatch
summoning the newly-male father no the
death bed of his only sister in Germany,
The young mother seemed to feel pre-
sentiment of misfortune, and she had in
sisted upon the baby's being baptized be-
fore the departure of its father The cler-
gyman of tho parish was temporarily aD-
sent; hence Mr.. Byron's hasty summons.
The ceremony would be performed in the
chapel connected with the Hall, and would
be very quite, being Witnessed only by the
father and grandfather of the child, with
possibly one or two guests.
After lunching in a. sombre richly-decor-
ated dining hall Mr.. Byron was shown to a
bedroom, with the intimation that his SER
vices in the chapel would be required in
an hour if convenient to him.
There was something strange and inter
esting about the fine old mansion, so late
ly the scene of rejoicing, and now silent as
an empty church. No members of the
family were visible, and the great house
seemed deserted, save for few silent
footed servants.
AS the time for the baptism drew near,
Mr.. Byon asked to be conducted to the
vestryroom. To make sure that every
thing was in readiness he opened his
satchel, when, to his CONSERVATION, instead
of drawing forth neatly folded surplice,
he held up before his astonished gaze u
doublet and hose of scarlet gray satin, such
as might be seen on the stage in ssAs You
Like It.
Tipson and the credulity of the worthy Mrs.
Minis The so-called unique bag had SO
many duplicates, and Mr., Willis Howard
had bought one that very morning to stow
away his fancy ball costume.
Here was predicamen tfor the Reverend
julius Byron In desperation he rushed
to the wardrobe in the yes ryroom. Vain
hope! Not shred of the other clergy
mans vestments hung there. What was
to be done? Even if in extreme cases the
church rules permitted the clergy to offici-
ate without robes in the sacred edifies-
and for the moment Mr.. Byron was too
bewildered to think whether this would be
permissible or not-how could he explain
the annoring mistake to these strangers !?
They, alseady SO troubled, would think him
a careless trifler-
In his perplexity he rang for a man who
had already waited on him.
rs there lady in the house with whom
| could speak for few moments? p Mr..
Byron asked
'sMy mistress cousin is here; but she
does not leave the invalids rooms for any,
thing just at present"
Then I will write my message in a
note"
He stated the case as clearly as he could
on paper, and dispatched the servant with
it. In answer the lady sent her maid to
inquire if search had been made eyery-
where in the vestryroem for a surplice. He
sent back that further search was useless.
After some moments OTTO him
terrible suspension the time was almost
come for him to appear in the chapel-the
the maid returned, and, with deep bushes
and nervous twitching of her apron hem,
began
My young lady told me to tell you, sir,
that if you would not think it any harm,
she would send you her. Oh, no I don't
mean that, sir She said / was not to say
who it belonged to, but she would cut the
bands off the sleeves and the lace from the
neck, and it would be long, and nobody
would notice that it was a nightgown, sir,
and. if you don't mind, SIR would go and
fetch it at once, for there is no time to
lose.
The girls concluding words were too true
and however much he might have hest
tated in cooler moments, he was thankful
now for any solution of the difficulty.
Tell your mistress that shall be very
grateful for the loan she proposes, if she
thinks the deception will not be dis
covered"
The servant vanished and was soon on
the spot again with snowy linen night
gown.
The neck at the back had been torn down
to admit broader shoulders. and a linen
handkerchief had been hastily stitched in
to hide the rent Most of the ornamental
mentation had been cut away, but enough
remained to prove that the garment be-
longed to lady of very dainty tastes.
Thankful for this semblance of sur
pliee, and too hurried to feel amusement,
Mr.. Byron artayed himself, entered the
chancel. and the services began at once.
He observed with sigh of thankfulness
that the chapel was very dark, and this en-
abled him to read without much nervous
ness. Two gentlemen came forward with
the baby and its nurse, and for brief time
during the service the young clergyman
saw indistiDctly- the slender figure cf a
lady standing in the dimly-lfghted iasle.
Before the end of the ceremony her feel
ings seemed to overcome her, for she left
the church sitting what might have been
sob, blt which sounded strangely like a
laugh.
What Mr.. Byron feared would be try
ing odeal was soon over, and he re-entered
the yestry-room with much lighter heart
than when he left it, While disrobing, a
name in indehble ink on the gown attract
ed his attention. Perhaps he should have
respected his fair benefactress' wish to re-
main unknown; but the temptation was
too strong. He turned up the light and
read the name Miriam Douglass under
the tucks and embroidery of herobe which
he had just discarded.
Was it coincidence, or had kind fate
led him to the shrine of his idol ? The un-
certainty was not to be borne.
'sWill you ask Miss Douglass if she can
grant me five minutes interview before 1
go? ne said to the girl who came, in great