Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1885-01-08
A Hayward Ward.

1t is the business of the philosopher,
as the world knows, to find law and Or
der even in the most abnormal phenom-
ena to suggest, at least, an adequate eX-
PLANTATION of every enigma. For what
other purpose does he exist than to throw
light on the surrounding darkness? He
is q torch-bearer to humanity's igno-
rance. If now and again, by reason of
a pessimistic temperament or defect OF
training, the rays he sheds around inten-
sify rather than dispel the gloom, and
cast shadows as of Egyptian darkness
across mans forward path, surely he mis-
CONSTITUTES his mission.
But the wisest head is sometimes puz-
Zled, and the shrewdest explorer of the
all-environing mystery is sometimes con-
founded. A problem presents itself
which cannot be solved by any of tie
familiar processes. The why of some
suddenly disclosed fact is as inscruta ole
as the sphinx of the Eastern desert. 1t
was thus with Bernard Ralston.
Those who thirst for fame, as misers
thirst for gold, or coquettes Tor admira-
ton, would have found much to envy in
this young mans position. At an aye
when a statesman is currently supposed
to be studying his parliamentary primer,
and when a future general may still be
writing under the sarcasms of a barrack
room instructor, Bernard Ralston had
been welcomed into the front rank of
philosophical thinkers. His book on
Instinct, Conscience and Reason" was
read and criticised by the few, praised
and avoided by the many. The noisy
heterodox claimed him as a new and
promising recruit; and SO, also, to the
amusement of the onlooker, did the
stanchest maintainers of old landmarks.
He was fiattered, feted, and the lion of
his season.
1t was from this suddenly acquired
distinction that his embarrassment had
approached. The solicitors letter that
was the beginning of sorrows made this
clear. 1t ran thus
DEAR SIR: We have to inform you
that by the will of our late client, Mr..
Humphrey Power, you are appointed
sole guardian of his only surviving
daughter, Olive. AS this may be in the
nature of a surprise, we beg leave to
quote the precise paragraph of the will:
and L hereby empower Mr.. Bernard
Ralston to act in every respect as the
guardian of my child. l am sure that
Olive can have no filter or wiser pro-
tector, none better qualified to advise and
to regulate her life; and should he--as
earnestly beg-accept and fulfil this
charge, | give and bequeath to the said
Bernard Ralston, over and above such
reasonable expenses as he may have in
cured on my daughters behalf, the sum
of 5000 pounds sterling, to be paid by
my executors on my daughters 2lst
birthday, as small tribute Of my graft
tude."
The young lady is very considerable
heiress, in her 18th year, and at present
at private pension in France. Further
particulars will follow on your reply. We
are, dear sir, yours obediently,
FANsHAwE g. FITCH.
The gift of the proverbial white ele-
plant could have produced in no heart
greater CONSERVATION. What should a
retired and solitary student, of serious
pursuits and uncourtly manners, answer
to such challenge? If CleethOrpe hall
were large, it by no means followed that
he wanted more life within its bounds;
and q girl In her teens, mere child, as
with the sage wisdom of five-and.thirty
wears he considered her! How could her
presence by his freside be harmonized
with the quiet current of the life he
elected to live?
Yet. the bait of 5000 pounds was q
temptation. The glories Of Cleethorpe
hall had been sadly furnished through
the improvidence of Demands father
and philosophy is not particularly re-
munerative hobby to ride. Mr.. Humph-
rev Powers legacy, if not precisely for
tune, would be an assistance in the keep
ing up of the restricted Cleethorpe estab-
lishment.
The matter was debated long and
anxiously, and as the result Miss Olive
Power arrived at the hall one snowy Feb.
ruary morning. Slight of figure, win
some of feature, with merry, violet-tinted
brown eyes, and lips continually parting
in piquant smile over teeth of whitest
pearl, Bernard Ralston was forced to adj
NIT that, if he was properly to protect his
ward, his position might not prove a
sinecure. Neither did it.
The girls beauty attracted suitors as
clover-blossoms allure bees; and it was
soon an open secret in the countryside
that Miss Power, as well as being lone
ly and a lovely young thing, WAS rich
" dow8red one. This brought the some
times lugubrious voice Of Prudence into
reasonable accord with the chorus of
alteration.
But Olive was not minded to be an easy
capture for any of her wooers. With a
woman's instructive dexterity she kept
them at bay, and at twenty had escaped
the necessity of as yet refusing any offer
in formal and uneQuivocal terms. She
was developing taste for study which
half amused half interested her guar
dian. One evening he playfully rallied
her on her application to sundry big
tones in the library.
81 shall be accused of Transforming a
merry and bewitching young lady into a
blue-stocking-a disciple of my own dry
as-dust pursuits" he said; "some one
some day may have special cause to
blame me, fear"
A sudden blush was on the maiden's