The Indianapolis journal., 1885-06-14

John Needham'S Double.
A STORY FOUNDED ON FACT. BY JOSEPH HATT0N.
"Cytie,n Cruel London" Three Recruits" Etc


people, because we can make sacrifices for each
other Our love has nothing of selfshness in it,
and while we have postponed our marriage for
the sake OF others, we are now, itseems to hurry
it on because we both love our dear Joe, and you
are miserable in his absence. Well, so am i, so far
as 1T is possible for man to be miserable under
the circumstances. You have got some strange
fancy into your dear little head about Joe, and
will not be satisfied without following him to
New York. take you at your word, and shall
write to Manchester by this post to fix my vaca-
tion and am glad to say my partners can well
afford to let me go. Business has prospered
with US, and the future is even more hopeful
than our most sanguine expectations. So sweet
Kate, my dear love and friend, we will become
Mr.. and Mrs Richard Woodville as quick as the
law and the church will let US, and then Hail
Columbia The hours are weeks until l get
your letter in the morning, my dear, dear Kate
Love to Aunt Dorothy, and heap of kisses for
you, one of which you can transfer to A. d., but
only one. Your own DICK"
my Dear, Kind Dick-Our dear Joe is dead
am sure of it-dead, and buried in that grave
in Kensal Green. Don't think me mad. Aunt
Dorothy says am she is very good to me. Dr.
Ware says the news of Mr. Needham's death,
coming upon Joeslett describing their meeting,
has upset my nerves. Lawyer Wood has put
the affair in what he calls it's legal and logical
shape, and laughs at me. But, oh! Dick, there
Is an instinct that is above logic, pain that is
beyond medicine Ny heart knows It's own sor-
row, and my heart mourns for our dear joe He
is dead, and that man Needham has gone to New
York in his place. Mr.. Green may have name
that suggests ridicule, and belief in supernat-
ural things that seem foolish. But have seen
Joe since he left us, and he was standing by the
white column in the church-yard. l said moth
ing of this until read Mr. Green's letter in the
Times, and then my heart, and soul, and
mind, all my being, were filled with the
revelation of Joe's death. It was on Saturday
night. You had just arrived by the mail from
~zl1 Il
a lovely night. There was a beautiful moon.
| looked out of the window to blow kiss in my
fancy far away to Joe, when the moonbeams
seemed to strike halo about that white column
in the church yard, and though it is quarter of
a mile away, distinctly saw Joe standing there.
He was in evening dress, and he looked towards
me and then turned sadly away. Whilst l
gazed transfxed, cloud passed over the moon;
and church-yard, column, the sad vision and all
vanished away Don't you remember that
was sad all the night? Don't you remember that
Aunt Dorothy gave me her smelling salts, and
that she was very angry because revoked at
whist Don't you remember that you said
looked pale and i'll the next day at church,
and that you put it down to poor Mr..
Luke's sermons Your cheering words,
Aunt Dorothys Kindness helped me
to begin to forget what had seen or fancied,
and Joe's kilograms on Monday quite cured me
until night, when the death of Needham shocked
me, and the letter of that member of Parliament
i
called the vision of Saturday night, and my
heart seemed to cry out he is dead; your broth
is murdered, the wretched man who was like
him has poisoned himp I could not shake it of,
cannot now even after your letter and assur-
ances, and the evidence at the inquest the iden-
thy, the letters, everything. / am a woman and
not logical; am woman and don't ask me to
reason. l love him; / ask my heart, does helive?
The answer is, No go into his room, touch
his coat, l look at his picture-does he live? l
ncIy NAt Dr. - 49, o1>.~A -
the summer wind means in the trees, my pigeons
come and nestle upon me as if they knew and
We're sorry. Two of the roses on the grave
where Joes heart was buried with hers he loved
SO land loved her dearly as I could love
and did love everything he loved), two of his
favorite rose trees are dying. and never saw so
red and angry sunset as that of last night
Now, dearest Dick, come back to Wyedale and
take me to New York That is if you care to
have so forlorn companion. have told you
all feel, and fear and dread; but am still the
business like little woman you say you admire,
and mean to be very shrewd and business-like,
and either to find Joe alive on the other side the
sea or to track his murderer down. So if this is
the sort of woman you care to marry, go to
Doctors Commons, get the license, bring it,and
my things are packed for our journey. And,
oh! if God should be so good as to spare us this
awful calamity; if He should reverse it, as He
can; if that vision and ali the rest should be
nothing but "a little disorder and an overwroug ght
my best friend, what happy, happy world it
will be! Come to your wretched, loving
KATE"
We gather from the next letter in the bundle
that Dick did procure the license that the couple
were married, and that they sailed as speedily
as circumstances would permit for the new
world.
From Richard Woodviue to Mrs. Dorothy Norbary.
NEW YORK HOTEL, New York City, u. s.
''My Dear Friend-We have just arrived, after
a stormy passage, and / write to advise you of
this, according to promise, but [ do little
more at present than to give you this informa-
tion Kate did not suffer from NAL de mer; it
turned out that was the worse sailor of the two.
If we should only find that all is well, shall
have very happy time. I need not tell you that
You know that; Wyedale knows it; everybody
knows it. The sea air and the change have
done her good Sometimes during the
voyage she seemed to forget all her
gloomy forebodings. She made friends with a
most agreeable American family living in the
Fifth avenue-father mother, two daughters,
and a son, very nice young people all of them,
father and mother as young as the rest, and
they have invited US to dinner. The weather is
exceedingly hot, and New York is almost like a
continental city. l think we shall like the
Americans, which will be quite in keeping with
my business experience of them gained in Man
chester, though know you are prejudiced on
account of the slave business, but every nation
has its peculiar institutions, and after ALL we
English endowed the States with this one to
which you and all of US now so much object 1t
is like me, you will say, to leave what may
seem the bad news of my letter TO the last
Joe is not here, and now I am sorry Kate did
not let me write mail ahead of us to say we
were coming. He left week ago, for the West
they think, or for of the summer resorts, the
hotel people don't know which They believe he
went West as he made some inquiries as to the
route to Chicago, AMI talked of going back to
England by way of San Francisco and Japan,
which means a tremendous journey, and a dan
gerous one across the plains. Kate bears up
we'll under this news. which. unless it is ex
planned to morrow by the lawyers in re the Nor
bury property business, is rather extraordinary.
/ wish we had written to hin; but sufficient fol
| the day The best news is that we have arrived
safe and well, Kate far better than when we
sailed; that this hotel seems very comfortable,
the people civil; and let us hope that Kate's