Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-08-07

with him.
Gin case you still refuse to give up the
child Mr.. Rawlings has instructed us to take
immediate legal action to obtain possession
of his son, and we are informed that proper
legal proof as to the identity of the boy will
be hereafter adduced.
"We are, gentlemen,
''Your obedient servants,
''BLACKETT AND WIGGENs"
No wonder that after reading the last para
graph, and realizing the fact that the man
with the terrible name meant to fight for his
offspring Horace CALCULATED: "The child
must be given up!" No wonder that Herbert
in his turn echoed his brothers exclamation.
Unimaginative as they were, a dreadful pic
ture of the consequences of resistance fixed
itself on the mental retina Of each.
But Beatrice was by far the most agitated
of the party. Her cheek grew white; the
hand which she mechanically held out for the
letter trembled. Herbert gave her the epis-
tolary bombshell, and whilst she read it the
two brothers gazed at each other in that
sadly calm and gravely reflective way at
times natural to men whose minds are made
up that particular path of duty must at all
cost be trodden to the end. When such
gaze passes from man to man it strengthens
the feet of each to tread the stony course.
Beatrice read the letter twice. Without
word she returned it to Herbert; then she
walked across the room to the fireplace and
stood for some minutes tapping her foot upon
the fender. Her back being turned to the
Talberts they could not see the supreme emo
ton shown by her contracted brow and in
every line of her set, white face. Had they
seen it they would have been more than sur
prised-they would have been shocked.
Strong emotion was a thing to be shown by
well-bred persons only under the most intense
provocation. In this case it was uncalled
for.
Presently the girl turned to them. ''You
have quite made up your minds to yield to
these peoples threaty' she asked. There was
a curious strained sound in her voice.
''We can do nothing else, " answered Horace.
Herbert nodded a sad assent to his brothers
view of the case.
'sNothing else!' echoed Beatrice with
touch of scorn in her voice. ''What right
can these people have to the boys It is not
theirs. Uncle Horace, Uncle Herbert, you
can remember how he was sent here. How
beautifully dressed he was-how thoroughly
cared for. Can you, can any one for
moment imagine him as belonging to such
persons? What are theys Pork butchers,
you Said"
"Purveyors," interpolated Horace, who
loved to be precise.
elbow is it possible he can be their childg'
urged Beatrice.
"People in any station of life may have
children, my DEAR" said Herbert, uttering
the truism like newly-found proverb H
Solomon.
''And, said Horace, speaking more to tEs
point, 'the broad fact remains that they
claim the child and are prepared to make
that claim good before the magistrates"
The most accomplished -of-all-trades
generally breaks down when he interprets
law-Horace was no exception. Had he
known that Messrs. Blackett and Wiggens
could only obtain possession of their clients
child by writ Of habeas corpus or some
such mysterious operation in civil court he
might have felt more inclined to disregard
the threat of immediate legal action As
it was, his ignorance of criminal law inter-
preted the vague threat as conveying the
awful terrors of a magisteria1 summons. His
mistake shows how much better it would be
for the general public if they consulted
solicitors in every emergency-and how much
better for solicitorsl
Before the magistrates, my dear Beatrice"
A "erl = dutifully accepting his
/ 0rother's vel s.Jh - :. low.
''Ten them to do so-teii~t'1~-1 to prove
their right" said Beatrice.
The brothers held up their long, shape1y
hands in horror. "My dear Beatrice" said
Horace, with the solemnity of bishop re-
buking curate, ''for heavens sake be reason
able-we only ask you to be reasonable. How
can we possibly appear before the bench and
contest this claims Fancy the talk-the ridi-
cule You must see the utter absurdity of
your suggestion-the utter impossibiity OF
cur compliance"