Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-08-28

Morningl No books: no idle, listless hours
for mt to-day. Plenty to do, plenty to think
about; all sorts Of arrangements to make.
Farewell to my moody, sullen life. Fare
well to my aimless, selfish existence. Hence
forward 1 should have something worth liv.
ing for-worth dying for, if needs be! Phil
ippa was coming to me to-day; coming in
grief, it is true; coming as a sister m to
a brother. All! after all the weary, weary
waiting, l shall see her to-day-to-morrow,
every dayl If q mans devotion, homage,
worship and respect can in her own eyes
r~einstate my queen, l shall some day see the
bloom come back to her cheek, the bright
smile play once more round her mouth, the
dark eyes again eloquent with happy
thoughts. And then-and thenl what
should l care for the world or its sneers2 To
whom, save myself, should | be answerable2
Then l might whisper in her ear: ''Sweet,
let the past vanish from our lives as a
dream. Let happiness date from to-day"
Although Philippa would grace my poor
cottage for one night only, l had a thousand
preparations to make for her comfort. For
t~unately l had a spare room, and, moreover,
a furnished one. Not that 1 should have
troubled, when l went into my seclusion,
hDOub BULL q oupCA AuAbJ 40 q SUCoVT SiAd11lDGIs
but as it happened / had bought the house
and furniture complete, so could offer my
welcome guest fair accommodation for the
night.
Summoned my solid man. l told him
that my sister was coming on a visit to me,
that she would sleep here tonight, but that
most likely we should go away tomorrow.
He could stay and look after the house until
l returned or sent him instructions what to
do with ii. William manifested no surprise.
Had 1 told him to make preparations for
the coming Of my.wife and five children he
would have considered it all a part of the
days work, and would have done his best to
meet my requirements.
He set to work in his i~mperturbable, me-
thodical, but handy way to get Philippa's
room in trim. As soon as this was done,
and the neglected chamber made cosy and
warm-looking, l told him to borrow a horse
and cart somewhere, and fetch the luggage
from Mrs. Wilson's. He was to mention no
names; simply to say that be had come for
the luggage, and to ask if the lady had any
message to send.
Then l sat down in the room which my
love would occupy and unused upon the
strange but unhappy chance which was
bringing her beneath my roof. l wished
that l had an e~nchanter's wand to turn the
humble garniture of the chamber into sur
roundings meet for my queenly Philippa.
l wished that l had, at least, flowers with
which l could deck her resting place; for l
remembered how passionately she loved
flowers. Alasl l had not seen a flower for
months.
Then I drew cut Sir Mervyn Ferrand's
letter, read it again and again, and cursed
the writer in my heart
William was away about two hours; then
he made his appearance with some boxes.
/ was delighted to see these tangible signs
that Philippe meant to keep her promise,
Till that moment l had been troubled by
something like the doubt that after all she
might, upon calm reflection, rescind the
resolution formed in her excitement. Now
her coming seemed to a certainty.
Nevertheless, William brought no mes
sage; so there was nothing for me to do but
wait patiently until she chose to cross my
threshold.
Although my pleasing labors of love were
ended, l was not left idle. There was
another task to be done to-day. 1 set my
teeth and sat down, thinking quietly as to
the way in which it might be best per-
formed. Tonight l meant to stand face to
face with that black-hearted scoundrel
known as Sir Mervyn Ferrandi
/ consulted the time table. His letter
named no particular hour; but 1 saw that if
he carried out his expressed intention Of
being here tonight, there was but one train
by which he could come; there was but one
way from Roding to the house at which
Philippe had been staying. he meant to