The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1884-05-02

pOtentlalltleS Tor gOOu, Out realtle5 Oh
accomplished evil, and we shrink from
importuning God for this man. who
never dreamed of importuning Him for
himself.
But to his son this CHASTITY, uncon-
scious face was more pregnant of mean
ing than that of any child could have
been, for here was that unmistakable
might have been to which his own life
had pointed till Madcap had come to
him to prove how
Men may rise on stepping stones,
of their dead selves to higher things,
for to this, or violent death standing,
was the end to which most of the Eyres
came. 1t seemed their lot to live a vie
oraQeuse, and die before the cup of life
was drunk to the last dregs; while with
Byron might each of them have ex-
claimed, II will work the mine Of my
youth to the last vein Of the ore, and
then-good night have lived, and !
am content"
Naughty, brilliant, with dark pc
culiar beauty as coveted by men as it
was dangerous to women, the fyres for
the last hundred years had been an
enigma to the world, and perhaps to
themselves; yet though their deeds were
eccentric to the verge of madness, none
could point to single instance OF in
sanity in the family, and as time went
on, the world gave up wondering, and
accepted the EyreS as q race of beings
too distinct from ordinary human be-
ings to be Judged by the canons that
ruled mankind.
There had been time when they diff
fered in no way from their neighbors,
by whom they were respected as folks
not too clever to make other people
look foolish, nor yet too virtuOus to
grudge pleasant vice or two to those
who could afford them; but with the
advent of certain Lady Sara Villiers
in the family, both the fortunes and
character of the Eyre family underwent
a striking change.
Her sons grew up wild and turbulent
as young hawks reared in doves nest,
perpleXing their quiet father by their
1awless ways: but when it was discover
ed that their eccentricity at home took
the shape Of extraordinary mental abil-
ity at school and college. their mother
glOried in them and their successes
more than ever and would tell her huS-
band how this marked increase OF in
tellectual power III the Eyre family had
come to it solely through herself. And
then it is said lie would shake his head,
and tell her significantly that the line
that divides the man of genius from the
mailman is thin as hair, and he would
whisper something in her ear ut which
she would turn pale, and later on UNI
lock from secret drawer letter that
she knew by heart.
Her portrait hangs in the west gallery
of the Hall-a brilliant gypsy face with
dark hooking eyes, and little scarlet
mouth in which pride and determine
ton Turk; and so wildly was her dark
beauty reproduced in her sons and their
children after them, that in the county
the resemblance of father to son in the
Eyre family gradually passed into q
prOverb.
character hencefOrth in the whole race;
it was as though the force. whether for
good or evil, that manifested itself in
them wrote itself as indelibly on their
minds as on their faces. so that what
the father had been it was safe to fore
tell the son would be; and up to the
present time, with one exception only,
this had invariably proved to be the
case.
Lady Sara lived to weep bitter tears
of shame, and see her pride laid in the
dust, and portrait OF him who laid it
there hangs beside her on the wall--a
slim young fellow, whose dark face is a
masculine copy of her own, but with
more heart in the eyes, and something
of the keen intellectual glance that dis
tinguished Madcap's husband, the pres
ent master of the Hall.
lie was Lady Sara's favorite grand
son, and his successes at college had
been so brilliant as to cause a certain
great man to single him out for his
fol ciH ar. 70
press an intention Of bringing him for
ward in public life at the earliest posi-
BILE opportunity.
Brandon, covered with honors and
excited by his hopes, retired in COM
pany with half dozen of his friends to
the Hall, there to indulge in those
amusements that, with the Eyres, in
variably alternated with periods of alb
sorbing study and intensest application.
On this occasion a great deal of high
play and drinking went forward, till
the young host, prOverbially unlucky at
games of chance, had lost a larger sum
of money than he could possibly repay
to Musgrave, man unpopular with the
rest for more reason than one; and on
certain night Musgrave won more
heavily than usual, his pocket-book
scarcely containing the banknotes he
cTalHlneQ lnlO IL, VOSeIner WIFI al "
U from Brandon for thousand pounds.
The poor lad-he was but little more
on passing Musgrave's room that
night, and hearing himself called.
paused to exchange few words with
his guest, who in his presence put the
notes away in an escrit0ire near his bed,
and Brandon noted with unconscious
accuracy that it was the fourth drawer,
and also the shape Of the handle, which
was different to that of the others; and
so, brooding heavily on his losses, he
went his way.
Next morning, as they sat at break
fast, Musgrave, as if by accident, pulled
out his pOcket-bOok, then made a sud-
den exclamation that drew all eyes up
on him. Good GOd!'' he cried, Il am
robbed. The notes are gone!"
impossible" said Brandon, rousing
himself. why, man, l saw you with
my own eyes place them in the escritoire
last night-the fourth drawer, l think.
remember noticing the HANDLE"
"Did II" said Musgrave, affecting to
look puzzled. II really forget. If you
remember the drawer and l don't, will
you do me the kindness, my dear fell
low, to fetch them for meY"