Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-01-23

o special interest l knew not
1 confessed as l rolled over t, s'ear
that did not see nv way clear to hel
them. Little did think that the nor
row was to bring the m 'ans and n
man. The man was Josiah BlagdI
Esquire, iron founder, OF tho tirm Of
Blagden 4 Co., of B rmin2ham Nno
elsewhere the means was--ny huuibl'
i, self
The day after my arrival at Rock
hampton Jim proposed that | should
! drive with him on hiI m ming ro1n,.
| and added he owen cal ut NJ enf
Grove on our way hom'." Mount Grw
was the residence 0f Mr.. Spatling; M
/ two O'Clock found us ut the gnt, If
very nice villa residence. overlooking In
river, and standing within Its own iliceI!
kept grounds.
We were ushered into the drawing
room, where we found assrmb ell certai"
persons whom jim had not expected t.
SIC. Mr.. SpaldinR receiv' Il m urie
ously, as also did Ms. Sruld,n9. Ms
| Nelly greeted me mort cor ial v, add NJ
| that she WIS much pleas Il H. H. h. h.,
acquaintance of Dr. Br0oke's Id ir cnG
of whom he so often >poke. In adj to-
to the family circle of three. it was G eai
there were srang r. present Tn's
latter w,re Mr.. Jo.ilh Da2den and hi
sistr. Mr.. Rlagden did not impress III,
| favorably. He was n stout, ford com.
plexiuntd man, reu arkuble Tor the tx.
| IRENE breadth Of his white wa,srcoat and
for the profusion Of jewelry Displayed
thereon.
"a safe man, my dear sir; a very safe
man, said Mr.. SpaIding to me nj lunch.
"Why, suppose his tur;l-over is about
half a million year-the iron trade.
you know" added the old gen'l man by
way of explaining that Mr. Blaglen was
one of the metal-kings of England.
"Self-made man too, sal Mr.. Spa,d
ing "began life as foundry-boy."
From what 1 saw Of Mr.. B!agder
within tho next few weeks. his origin.
couldhave been pretty accurately guessed
from the manner in which he impaired
the "foundry-boy's" manners into the
sphere in which his industry and success
had led him. He was essentially q
vulgar man, who bullied his sister, O
meek, silent little woman, with good
heart and q kindly nature, as l discovered
later on.
AS we drove home from lunch that
day Jim was strangely depressed
guessed his thoughts pretty accurately,
for he burst out into a TRADE against
Mrs Spalding on our arrival at home.
al shouldn't wonder, Regy," said he,
"if that fellow Blagdeu has been invited
down here as o sutton for Nelly. He's
friend of Mrs Spaldings, | know, be-
cause she herself comes from the Black
Country"
Jim's state of mind, from the moment
ne broached this theory, may be better
imagined than described For the next
three weeks 1 am bound to say that his
temper was well nigh uncomfortable. One
evening at dinner at Mount Grove, | felt
aalf afraid he was going to inaict per-
sonal chastisement upon Mr.. B'agden
feat ! should have much rejoiced TO
have seen skiilfully performed, after the
iron masters coarse invectives against
the me'lical profession, which had been
called forth during some argument con-
corning doctors fees. Nelly's attitude
toward Jim appeared to have undergone
no perceptible change. She was loving
snd gentle as before; but I fancied that
Mrs. Snalding contrived dexterouiiy 10
! keep Miss flagden and Nelly as fle-
Guently together as possible; and thus
Jim's tete-G-tetes were reduced to mis-
cradle minimum. Worst OF all, as Jim
remarked TO me one day, Nelly had con-
f2s'ed that her step mother had on more
than one occasion limited that Mr.. Blag-
den's visits and stay were not solely
prompted Ivy friendship to her parents.
Mrs. Spalding was, III other words, a
clever woman, playing nice little game
Of dipiomacy, aud while keeping on the
most friendly terms with jim, was to
my mind flrthering her own aims and
ideas Of a matrimonial alliance for Nelly
with tue elderly iron 'ounder. I know
that most of my readers will say that
Miss Spalding should have set led the
matter for herself, aud hive tiven Mr..
u agden t. understand thai his atten-
tons were unwelcome and hopeless. But
Ms remarked before, we are not all cast
in owe mold; AMI the most loving no
lures may sometimes he coerced bv
what seems to be their duty, into self
sacrifice of the most unreasonable kind.
and which can only entail misery in the
end.
So things went on at Rorkhampton,
with diplomacy az Mount Grove, and
DIES mir at No. IA High street, where DR..
JameS Brooke announced his wi linguess
to relieve the afflicted daily from ten to
eleven n. H., and from six to eight p. M.
Ihad been sitting coeitating over mat
ters Que evening at the Red Lion-Jim
having been called Ia distant part Of
his pa:iShvwbeu an ia, founded,
believe, Oh q quotation from an old
French author, occurred. to mo. The
qri)tat on was to the effect that, "wheD
moral tuason fails from any cause tcr
change an opinion. it is lawful TO appeal
tn the most trivial Of our emotions.
Happy idea thought ]. ! shall see
,, whether or not can work it out to the
advantage of DR.. James Brooke and
shall 1 add it?-to the confusion Of
Josiah Blagden, Esquire. fI.l
My plans were then rapidly matured.
Morning, noon and night finds me busy
ia the old church. / am hard at work on
II canvas in which the interior of the
ediiice grows under my brush day by
day. There are no sounds Of the Ky.
rie" now nor are the jubilant strains Of
Mendelssohn heard, as on bright
sunny day not 80 far gone by. Nelly
do not come to practice her old favor.
ties as Of yore. Blagden, / know, hates
music; and painters, as he once ex.
pressed tin shocking bad taste--are
usually an seedy lot. l remember Mr..
Josiah's white vest and cable chain, with
enough nppendages attached thereto to
have set up small jeweler in thriving
way OF business. The aisle and gallery
of the church are now complete in my
picture. Ipaint it MS / sit in the aisle
in the distance you can see the altar and
chancel; and the vicar, who looks in
upon me occasionally, says it is as like as
can be. He is curious, however, tn know
the iature of the figures l have sketched
roughly in. There is a group passing
down the sic from tbs altar-rails where
the vicar eau still be seen ut his post
and there is figure standing alone and
solitary IN pew, Us if facing the ad.
vnmcing party. The vicar cannot quite
iathom the design. The church he can