Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1885-05-30
SELECTIONS.
A HERO In DISGUISE.

| = =
A HERO In DISGUISE.
| was coming home from Cuba in
the winter of 1876. We had delight
full weather the first three days out
and everv passenger was OH deck
so | had good chance to observe
my fellow passengers and study all
their eccentricities, a recreation in
which l frequently indulge when
travelling. There was a bluff old
fellow OF sixty-fiye aboard who was
like Jeptha, in that he had one fair
daughter. He had formerly been a
shipmaster,and was as dictatoral and
domineering as if he were still ON
the deck OF his own ship instead OF
a passenger on a Havana steamer.
AS he was reputed to be wealthy,
many of the rude things he said and
did were passed over in silence by
the majority OF the passengers, who
cultivated his acquaintance assidu-
ously. His beautiful girl, about
twenty years old, l should Judge,
seemed utterly devoted to her faith
or. OF the other passengers the one
who most attracted my attention
was young man of about twenty
five or twenty-six, who, had theterm
been invented then, would have been
set down as a confirmed "dude.r
He was little, too picturesque in
his dress, however, for genuine
"dude," and the first day out of
Havana was languidly beautiful in a
white flannel suit and blue neck
tie, in the latter of which blazed a
scarfpin that might have been rub
les and might have been imitation.
After that he dressed more quietly,
but always elegantly. He had light
. ~
hair and mild blue eyes, a rather
English face and slender figure.
That young man seemed to be al
ways tired. 1t seemed to be almost
to much of an effort for him to walk
to the srnoking-room, after meals,
for his cigar. He always ordered
the best wine the ship afforded at
his dinner, Though | will do him
the justice to say that he drank very
little and threw his money around
as freely in "tips" to the walters
and in other ways, as if he had mil
lions at his back, whereas rnmor
said that he had not q penny. To
make a long story short, he was a
newspaper reporter, who had been
sent down to Cuba as correspondent
of the paper with which he was con-
nected, and was now ON his way
home to New York. While in Cuba,
he. had met the old man with his
beautiful daughter, and fallen vio-
lently in love with her. She had re-
ciprocated, but, alas, the father had
conceived most violent dislike for
the young man, and was taking his
daughter home, partly to get her
out Of the way of her suitor.
The name of the young man, /
learned, was Roderick Leighton !;
the old man bore the not uncommon
name Of Smith, and his daughters
name was Mary.
Here, said I to myself, are the
materials for romance. | will
watch developments.
Mr.. Smith made no concealment
Of his disgust at finding himself and
his daughter fellow-passengers with
the very man he wished to keep his
daughter away from.
The young lady, as l have said,
was devoted to Roderick Leighton,
and / was the witness of several
stolen meetings which the lovers
had together on the mo0n-lit decks
of the steamer, while Mr.. Smith was
comfortably smoking his cigar, and
talking politics in the smoking-room.
We left behind the summer wealth
er Of the Southern seas, and it grew
stormy and cold. Finally, we APP
preached the region where the
storms always hover off Hatteras.
The day before we passed Hatteras
was a terrible one. The wind blew
q gale from the northeast, and the
great waves came laundering at the
ship as if they were determined to
drive her under. Sometimes solid
masses of water came on board and
flooded the decks, and at other times
clouds Of spray were sent flying over
the vessel. She was pitched and
tossed about terribly, and most of