The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1885-02-26

not good for children, and the country
air suited Rupert to perfection. Mrs.
Poland almost lived upon these letters,
in which her little ones life was SO
infinitely and faithfully. depicted that
she was tempted to forget the dreary
waste of sea which lay between them.
In another year the colonel would re-
tire on a good pension, and then they
would be again united. Rupert had
had only one misfortune-his old ma
tive nurse was dead, but Mrs. Bradley
said that shs had found an excellent
substitute.
Onl y six months were wanting to
complete the colonel's term of service
when, by the same mail, arrived a
couple of letters from England, one IL
black-bordered envelope, addressed
in stiff, formal hand, and the other
from Or. Bradley. The colonel OPEN
ed the black-edged, letter and handed
the other to his wife. The first was
from lawyer CURLY informing the
colonel that his father and elder
brother had both been drowned on a
yachting trip.
''Good God; how awful!'' cried Po-
land. His father had beetl bis worst
enemy, and his brother had never
raised his little finger to help him.
But blood is thicker than water, and
the good man was grievously shocked
by the news. A he stared at the open
letter, he suddenly heard a loud
shrek, and starting round found that
his wife had fallen, fainting, to the
ground.
"Why, Bessie, what is the matter?''
he exclaimed, and then his eye fell on
the letter frem DR.. Bradley. Picking
it up he strove t6 revive his wife as he
began to read it. The first few senten-
ces turned his bronzed face white to-
the lips.
Rupert was lost! He and his nurse
had DISAPPEARED, and not a trace could
BIZ found of them: Detectives had
been set TO work still nothing had re-
suited from their e2ertions but vague
and unsatisfactory clews. Rewards
had been offered, and scores of children
had been inspected, but Rupert was
not among them. DR.. Bradley wrote
that he and his wife were almost be-
side themselves with anxiety, and
dreaded to meet Col. Poland, who
would never forgive them for having
been the innocent cause of this I'm
lookeh-for catastrophe.
Poland called the servants to take
his wife to her room, feeling utterly
stunned and helpless. One thing only
was clear in his mind-that he must
sail for England without a days de;
lay, whatever the cost might be;
and then he suddenly remembered
that he was now a rich man, and in
the bitterness of his heart cursed his
cruel fate, which ever seemed to mock
him with vain hopes Of happiness.
Presently the unhappy mother recover
ed from her swoon, and awoke to the
full sense of her misfortunes: The
colonel utterly failed to console her;
indeed, his own despair was too evil
dent to permit him to inspire either
hope or comfort.
perhaps he is found by this time, :"
he said.
mo, no!'' moaned the wife; s'they
would have telegraphed. I shall never
see him againr
On the misery of the return journey,
the journey to which the colonel and
his wife had looked forward so eagerly
for years, it is needless to dwell. In
six weeks time they were in England,
and had learnt all there was to hear of
their loss.
Not the smallest trace had been
found of the child and nurse, except
that the detectives were practically
certain that they had gone to London,
and there disappeared utterly. What
had induced the woman to take this
extraordinary step DR.. and Mrs. Brad
ley utterly failed to imagine. She had
always been steady, honest girl, and
the mystery was beyond their compre-
hension. So, with mighty effort, the
poor colonel forgave his friends and
settled down into a life spent in I'M
remittting, toilsome, and ever tantaliz-
ing search for the lost child. He
spared neither money nor trouble in
the one object of his existence. He
searched every work-house, hospital,
in6rmery and school in London, until
his eyes were weary and his heart sick
with disappointed longing. He made
fruitless journeys all over England in
search of fancied resemblance, or
led by the plausible tale of an impostor.
And after year so spent he was
forced to confess to himself that his
chance of success grew more and more
remote. Mrs Poland's health had
somewhat improved by the change of
climate, but she, too, had small pleas
ure in life so long as her son could not
be found.
The colonel's relatives laughed at
him behind his back for his useless per-
sistence.
"Of course the little beggar's dead"
remarked to his friends young Martin
Poland, who, by the way, was the
colonel's presumptive heir. Railways
was a weakly brat. Just imagine
spending your life in running about
from Poplar to Seven Dials, and from
Lands End to John O. Greats to see
every child in the kingdom who hap
pens to have light hair and blue eyes
It's positively irritating to see the head
of the family make such an idiot of
himself -
1T would be rather awkward for
you, too, if the child is found" sug-
gested a malicious old gentleman,
whose mission in life was to rub peo-
pie the wrong way.
"Oh, I should be too delighted re-
piled Martin. "But I'm afraid the old
colonel will be imposed upon, you
know, and adopt some scrap of human
ity that does not belong to him at ALL"
In spite, however, of such sneers,
Col. Poland and his wife hoped against