Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-07-24

~ AAAH4s ~ WAa4 a M4 AkHLkAH
beg your pardon WhittakeF- quite
forgot"
"Hes, SIR, you did, said Whitaker, With
true dignity; but, nevertheless, If only in
order to show there was no l-feeling, TAX
ing the two haf-crowns which Frank ten
dered him.
Who was this man 90 anxious 70 ascertain
BeatTice's whereaboutsl Leaving out Of the
question bis ungentlemanly behavior to
VIII taker, instinct told Carruthers that be
was not Of the class from which Beatrice
drew her friends Spurious metal; no eigh-
teen carat stamp anywhere, be felt certain.
Horace and Herbert would look gentlemen,
whether dressed In the pink Of fashion or
~loungtng about In rags-not that they ever
did the latter-so, although he was too
modest to add his own name, would Frank
Carruthers. But this fellowl
Suddenly CarTuthers started from his un.
happy musings. Why had he let the man
goi Why not have forced him to say for
what purpose he wanted the addressl He
took his hat and ran quickly down the drive
and along the lane in the hope of overtaking
the man. He ran right down to the village,
but saw nothing Of him. Hervey had
caught a passing cab, and was now we'll on
his way back to B~lacktown, and carrying
the pleasant reflection that Beatrice's man
ner Of getting out Of her difficulty had put
him into a cleft stick, He began to wish he
had been contented with money, and fore
gone revenge, In the nineteenth century an
attempt at revenge proves a failure in ninc-
ty-nine cases out of a hundred.
Although Carruthers did not find the man
be wanted he found some one else-Sylvanus
Mordle. Sylvanus and his tricycle. formed
the centre of a sympathetic group Of VII
layers. Something had gone wrong with
the metal steed, and the curate, smiling as if
a foundered tricycle. was one of the greatest
unexpected blessings that can visit a clergy
man, was examining wheels, spokes, cranks
and chains. Various suggestions, some
prompted by rustic wit, were hazarded by
lockers on: "Got the staggers;' wants q
feed, poor thing" eight a fire under HRS,
sir" ETC., etc. Sylvanus took the jokes Of
his flock in good part, hut, presently looking
up, saw CarTuthers among the spectators.
He left his helpless machine, and the two
friends shook hands warmly.
"Here," said Mordle, turning to his flock,
''bring that affair to my house, some Of you.
Now, old fellow" to Frank, ''come and have
a chat. Heard you were to be down this
week. Come to my lodgings" He took
Franks arm and swept him away.
"Can't give you more than a cup Of tea"
he continued, tobacco and tea-that's the
worst Of being in the church. Can't dare to
offer a friend whisky until after 10 o'clock
at night. An enemy might go by IN
awares,"
He ratified on merrily, and appeared to be
in the highest spirits. This, of course, was
because be felt certain that Franks second
visit to Oakbury would not have been paid
had Beatrice remained an u~nattainable prize.
Frank only came again because he felt sure
that a second attempt would mean success.
"Lots to say to you-lots," jerked out Syl-
vanus as they entered his rooms. "Fan-
Shave writes me that you are going to give
up coaching. Want to hear all about it; but
wait till the teas made. Ever see me make
tear
Wonderful thing tea is" he continued.
"Cheap tea helps Christianity tremendously.
Great blessing" He put the already steam
ing kettle fully on the fire, and opened q
canister. 'T-I, Sylvanus Mordle, found
out the error Of modern tea-making. People
make it as they made it twenty years ago,
when it cost seven and six a ~pound-spoon-
full each head, one for the pot. l go on a
sliding scale, according to price" He abso-
lutely shoveled in the tea, and dashed the
boiling water on it. "Now two minutes,
and then pour, The aroma, the soul of the
tea, is caught. Taster'
Frank thought that even an aroma must
be cunning and subtle if it managed to es
cape this busting, energetic parson. The
tea was certainly good.
Now" said Mordle, stretching out his
long legs, ''ten me the news.'
During the process of tea making Frank
had been rejecting. He saw that be wanted
aid-more aid than Horace and Herbert
whose one idea was to conceal Beatrices
fight from the neighboring gossips, coult
give him. He knew that Sylvanus was true
as steel, and would keep the secret. HI
hoped to gather from him some useful partic
ulars as to Beatrice's everyday life during
the last few months. So he told Sylvanus
the news-the whole news.
And having told it, Frank Carruthers saw
what few, very few in this world have ever
seen; that was the Rev. Sylvanus Mordle
looking the picture of utter misery and self.
reproach. The change in the man positively
startled Carruthers.
cts been on my mind ever since" SAID
Mordle, dejectedly.
whats been on your mindl For mercy's
sake speak out If you have any clue to give. =
II have been very wrong. fought never
to have yielded. But l did | couldn'i
refuse" IL f.ta,
"Did whatl Pull yourself together and
tell me what you mean"
Mordle did SO, and gave Frank the whole
hiStory Of the expedition to Blacktown
Frank, who a few hours before had heart
all about the Rawlings claim, tried to relieve
Mordle's mind, and to a certain extent sue
ceeded. However, the curate still retained
the impression that the visit to the Ca
and Compassesn was in some way responsible
for the girls flight. Frank had some troubl,
to get him to promise to withhold his con
fession from the Talberts.
He resolved to find this woman whom Bea
trice had visited, and to learn what occurred
at the interview. He felt half inclined t.
: veer round to Horace's original theory, tina
Beatrice had fed to insure her pets safety
!, Perhaps the man with whom Whitaker hat
J struggled wRSa lawyers emissary. Beatric
might havo paid her mysterious visit in orde
to delay proceedings. II SO, her strange &C
was but an act Of folly, and all would com,
right in the end.
He tried very hard to take this view Of tn
] case, but he could not. No, there was more
much more, in the background, and he fel
that the man he had sasn held the key Of the