Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1886-04-21


= IN going away for bit, guv'nor,"
said the lad, who had WINGED a little |
at his fathers boisterous good humor,
and seemed half ashamed of his con-
duct. "Webster and some other fell
lows have hired yacht, and sail for
Madeira tomorrow
"By all means, my boy cried Mr..
Molyneux, secretly delighted that his
son should leave England for awhile
at this juncture; "and look here, Tom,
while you are away will settle mat
tiers with these friends of yours.
He produced rather a formidable list.
of names and figures as he spoke, and
Tom started with surprise, as well he
might, at perceiving how full and &C
curate was his fathers knowledge of
his peouniary embarrassments. The
old man cut short his sons confused
protestation of gratitude and apology
by saying, good-humoredly:
"Well, well, you must turn over q,
new leaf, my boy. Reasonable econo-
my must henceforth be the order of
the day, and1 hope, on your return,
that you will settle down and reside
permanently in the county"
He had it on the tip of his tongue
to hint that he must be prepared to
marry Lady Florence, but he wisely
refrained. Nevertheless, he was as full
of the project as ever, and after Toms
departure he spoke to Lord Labur-
mum more plainly than he had
hitherto done. His lordship, without
piedging himself, gave him an encour-
aging reply; and he resolved to bring
~ AO1r
his sons return. The consequence
was that the task of settling with
Toms creditors proved quite an
agreeable relaxation, and did not
cause him moments ill-humor.
But he was very much startled and
| disgusted on hearing that his solicitor
had been asked to accept service Of
writ on Toms behalf in an action for
damages for breach of promise Of mar
riage brought by Miss Fabian against
her faithless lover. The news upset
him considerably, for such scandal
would set all the papers gossiping
about his antecedents, while Tom
could hardly fail to cut q ridiculous
figure in the witness box. Old Mr..
Molyneux soon arrived at the conclu-
sion that the action must be COM
promised at any cost, for the sake Of
his own dignity, not to mention the
projected alliance with the Laburnums.
He rushed up to town in quite fran
tic state, and, disregarding the advice
and protestations of his solicitor, in
sisted that Miss Fabian claim should
be settled forthwith at any sacrifice,
in order to avert the danger of the
affair finding it's way into the papers.
He was successful in his main object,
but rich man as he was, he almost
groaned when he sat down to write
the check which Miss Fabian's advis-
ers demanded. The amount was rep
resented by no less than five figures,
and the worst of it was that he got no
sympathy at all from his solicitor,
who declared that by going to trial, or
even by holding out, he might have
saved the greater part Of the money
In spite of his great relief that the
threatened scandal had been averted,
old Mr.. Molyneux soon began to re-
greet the sacrifice he had made, and to
fret about his enormous loss. He was
not by any means q penurious man,
but, like all parvenus, he keenly appre-
ciated the value of money. He did
not mind what he spent so long as he
had something to show for his outlay;
but In this instance the result attained
was entirely negative. Everybody is
inclined to underrate q danger when it
has passed, and Mr.. Molyneux could
not help suspecting that he had been
too easily frightened. This uncom-
Portable reflection worried him a great
deal, particularly when he learned
that Lord Laburnum had made ar
rangements to take his family to the
south of France for the winter. This
did not look as if his lordship was
very anxious about his daughters
marriage with Tom, and old Mr.. Molly
neux was seized with an ominous fore
boding when he read the news.
Tom returned after an absence of
three or four months, and was evil
IDENTIFY not q little apprehensive of the
reception he would meet with. He
had received some angry letters from
his father, referring to the damages he
had had to pay; and he therefore ap-
peared nervous and embarrassed at
their first meeting. But the old man,
delighted at seeing him again, sought
to put him at ease by saying:
"l'm not going to alludeto what has
happened, my boy, I'm willing to let
bygones be bygones."
''You are very good, father, but
but"
"What is the matter ?" inquired old
Mr.. Molyneux, as Tom paused in con-
fusion
81 still cling to the hope that you
will consent to my marriage with Miss
Fabian" said Tom, desperately.
"Whatp' roared his father, with a
great start.
''You see, guv'nor," proceeded Tom,
''l'm In a much better position than I
was before l went away. Then, as
you Justly pointed out, | was in debt,
| had no capital, and l was altogether
dependent on you. But my debts are
now paid, and as for capital
'Well, sir, what about capital?" in
terrupted the old man, too much
amazed to be angry.
''There is themoney you paid to Miss
q