St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-06-30
AUTHOR AND GUARDIAN.

boston TRANSCRIPT.
AUTHOR AND GUARDIAN.
Tried to Marry His Maynard Ward
TO the Wrong MAN.
L
tits the business of the philosopher, as
the world knows, to find law ana order III
even the most abnormal phenomena, 10 sug-
gest. at least an adequate explanation Oh
every enigma. For what Other purpose
does he exist than to throw light on the
surrounding darkness? He is torch
bearer to humanity'S ignorance. Ii now
and again, by reason of a pesslmlst tenn
permanent or defect of training, the rays he
sheds around intensity rather than dlspel
the gloom, and east shadows as OF Egyp-
tan night across mans forward path, surely
he miSconstrueS his mission.
But the wisest head is sometimes puzzled,
and the ShrewdeSt explorer OF the all-enVl-
roning mystery is sometimes confounded
A problem presents itself which cannot be
solved by any of the familiar processes.
The why of some suddenly disclosed fact
is as inscrutable as the Sphinx of the east
en desert. 1t was thus with Bernard hal
ston.
Those who thirst for fame. as misers
thirst for gold, or coquetteS for admiration,
would have found much to envy In this
young mans position. At an age when
statesman is currently supposed to be study
ing his parliamentary primer, and when
future general may still be writing under
the sarcasm of barrack-room Instructor,
Bernard Ralston had been welcomed into
the front rank of philosophical thinkers.
His book on Instinct. Conscience and Rea-
son was read and criticised by the few, praised
and avoided by the many. The noisy he
terodoX claimed him as new and promis-
ing recruit; and SO also, to the amusement
of the onlooker, did the staunchest main
tanners of old landmarks. He was tlattered,
feted and the lion of his season.
1t was from this suddenly acquired dis
tinctiOn that his embarrassment had ap-
preached. The solicitors letter that was
the beginning of sorrows made this clear.
It ran thus:
DEAR SIR: We have to inform you that
by the will of our late client. Mr.. Humph-
rey 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
Bernard Raston to act in every respect as
the qua, dian of my child. am sure that
Olive can have no filter or wiser protector,
none better qualified to advise and to regu-
late her life; and should he-as earnestly
beg-accept and fulfill this charge, l give
and bequeath TO the said Bernard RalStOn,
over and above such reasonable expenses
as he may have incurred on my daughters
behalf, the sum of e5. 900, to be paid by
my executors on my daughters tWenty-frst
birthday, as a small tribute of my graft
tude."
The young lady is a very considerable
heiress, in her eighteenth year, and at pres
ent at private pension in France. Fur
ther particulars will follow On your reply.
We are, dear sir, yours Obediently.
VANsHAwE & FITCH.
The gift of the proverbial white elephant
could have produced in no heart a greater
CONSERVATION. What should a retired and
solitary student, of serious pursuits and un-
cOurtly manners, answer to such chal-
lenge? If Cleethorpe Hall were large, it
by no means followed that he wanted more
life within its bounds; and girl in her
teens, mere child, as with the sage wis
dom of five and thirty years he considered
her! How could her presence by his fire
side he harmonized with the quiet current
of the life he elected to live?
Yet the bait of five thousand pounds was
a temptation The glories Of Cleethorpe
Hall had been sadly furnished through the
improvidence of Bernard's father, and
philosophy is not a particularly remunera-
tive hobby to ride. Mr. Humphrey Powers
legacy. if not precisely fortune, would be
an assistance in the keeping up of the re-
stricted Cleethorpe establishment.
The matter was debated long and anx-
iously. and as the result Miss Olive Power
arrived at the hall one snowy February
morning. Slight of figure, winsome Of
feature, with merry, violet-tinted brown
eyes, and lips continually parting in a
piquant smile over teeth of whitest pearl,
Bernard Ralston was forced to admit 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 clio
yer blossoms allure bees; and it was soon
an open secret in the countryside that Miss
Power. as well as being lonely and a
lovely young thing, was richly lowered
one. This brought the sometimes lugubri-
GUS voice of Prudence into reasonable ac-
cord 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
all at bay. and at twenty had escaped the
necessity of as yet refusing any offer in
formal and unequivocal terms. She was
developing a taste for study, which half
amused, half interested her guardlen. One
evening he playfully rallied her on her ap-
plication to sundry big tones in the Ii
brary.
Il 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, 1
fear"
A sudden blush was on the maiden's
cheeks, and her glance fell. 1t was impos-
sible that she should misinterpret Bernard's
meaning.
There is Oswald Harbury to think of. :"
Olives guardian was bold enough to add.
Two shining eyes were momentarily up
lifted. Was the flash they gave one of in
dignation, of scorn, or merely of confusion
ut a betrayed secret? Bernard could not
guess.
1.-The nature of my employments can
make no difference, whatever, in any way
that can imagine, to Mr.. Harbury," she
answered. Then it seemed to Bernard a
strange transition-'Will you forgive me
for asking favor?" she went swiftly on;
81 should ike-oh, SO much!"-to help in
your work. Could I not copy out your
notes or revise proofs sometimes?"