Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-10-02

mannerz There are, perhaps, some stii
living who have survived the tampestBou
life Of the ordinary Beet street 'tnewspapa
man" Of twenty or thirty years ago; perhap
one or two among these remember Claud
Aglen-but be was 80 short 8 time withthen
that It is not likely; those who do remembe
him will understand that the a to SUCCESS
rough and thorny for all, for such as Aglel
was impossible.
But you will think every day Of it'll
IrisF' said his wife. "Oh, my dear, if
were only going with you And but for M
you would be at home with your father, vel
and happy"
Then in hissdream, which was also a mem
DRY. the old man saw how the young hus
band kissed and comforted his wife.
"My DEAR" said Claude, IF it were moi
for you, what happiness could have in thu
worldi Courage, my wife, courage and hope
shall think Of you and Of Iris all day and
all night until we meet again"
And so they parted and the ship sailed
away.
The old man opened his eyes and looked
about him. 1t was a dream.
SIT was twenty years ago" he said, sand
Iris was a baby in arms Twenty years ago,
and be never saw his wife again. Never
again. Because she died, Y he added after q
pause; ''my Alice died"
He shed no tears, being so old that the
time Of tears was well-nigh past-at seventy.
five the eyes are drier than at forty, and one
Is no longer surprised or disappointed, and
seldom even angry, whatever happens.
But he opened the letter in his hand and
-..I - o~.9n n,aaborfo.JY- t. .uo. ry,;fka,..
on thin foreign paper, and the creases of the
folds had become gaping rents. 1t was
dated September, 1886, just IS years bach
when you read these lines" the letter
said, II shall be in the silent land, whittier
Alice, my wife, has gone before me. II
would be a strange thing only to think upon
this journey which lies before me, and
which l must take alone, had l time left for
thinking. But I have not l may last a
week, or I may die in a few hours. There
fore, to che point
lin n small thing We deceived you,
Alice and my name is not Aglen at all;
We took that name for certain reasons. Per-
haps We were wrong, but we thought that
as we were quite poor, and likely to remain
poor, IL would be well to keep our secret to
ourselves Forgive US both this suppression
Of the truth. We were made poor by our
" voluntary act and deed, and because l
married the only woman l loved.
II was engaged to a girl whom I did not
love We had been brought up like brother
and sister together, but / did not love her,
though / was engaged to her. In breaking
this engagement I angered my father. In
marrying Alice l angered him still more.
II now know that he has forgiven me;
be forgave me on his death-bed he revoked
his former will and made me his sole heir
just as if nothing had happened to destroy
his old af~fection-subject to one condition
viz, that the girl to whom l was first en-
gagged should receive the whole income until
], or my heirs, should return to England in
order to claim the inheritance.
SIT is strange. die in a wooden shanty,
In a little western town, the editor Of a
miserable little country paper, 1 have not
money enough even to bury me, and yet if
l were at home, l might be called a rich
man, as men go. My little Iris will be an
heiress. At the very moment when I learn
that l am my fathers heir, I am struck
down by fever; and now l know that l shall
never get up again.
1t is strange. Yet my father sent me
his forgiveness, and my wife is dead, and
the wealth that has come is useless to me-.
Wherefore, nothing now matters much to
me, and l know that you will hold my last
wishes sacred.
"Idesire that Iris shall be educated as
we'll and thoroughly as you can afford; keep
her free from rough and rude companions;
make her understand that her father was a
gentleman of ancient family: this knowl
will, perhaps, help to give her self
respect. If any misfortune should fall upon
you. such as the loss of health or wealth,
give the papers enclosed to a trustworthy
solicitor, and bid him act as is best in the
interests of Iris II, as I hope, all will go
we'll with you, do not open the papers until
my. child's twenty first birthday; do not let
her know until then that she is going TO be
rich; on her twenty-frst birthday, open the
papers and bid her claim her own.
ITO the woman I wronged-I know not
whether she has married or not-bid Iris
carry my last message Of sorrow at what
has happened. do not regret, and | have
never regretted, that l married Alice. But
l gave her pain, for which l have neve
ceased to grieve. I have been punished for
this breach Of faith. You will find among
the papers an account Of all the circum-
stances connected with this engagement.
There is also in the packet my portrait,
taken when l was a lad Of IL; give her that
as we'll; there is the certificate of my mar
riage, my register of baptism, that Of Iris's
baptism, my signet ring "His arms
The old man interrupted his ~reading-''his
arms were: quarterly: first and fourth, two
roses and a boar's head, erect; second and
third, gules and Jesse between-between-
but | cannot remember what it was be-
tween--n He went Oh reading: "My
fathers last letter to me; Affects letters, and
one or two from yourself. If Iris should
uuhappily die before her twenty first birth
day, open these papers, find out from them
the owners name and address, seek her out,
and tell her that she will neve now be dis
turbed by ony claimants to the estate"
The letter ended here abruptly, as If the
writer had designed to and more, but was
prevented by death.
For there was a postscript, In another
hand, which stated: Mr.. Aglen died No
vember 25th, 1866, and is buried in the ceme-
terry Of johnson City, ILL.,"
The old man folded the letter carefully,
end laid it on the table. Then he rose and
walked across the room to the safe, which
stood with open door in the corner farthest
from the fireplace. Among its contents was
a packet scaled and tied up in red tape,
endorsed: "For Iris To be given to her
on her twenty-irst birthday. From her
father
ut will be her twenty first birthday" he
said, Sin three weeks. Then l must give