Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1886-07-17
FORCED. APART
By W. CLARK RUSSELL
Axthor of the "Wreck Of the Grosvenor,"
"a Sailors Sweetheart" Etc.
XII.
Mr.. sTRANeF1ELD's CONSTRUCTION.

with inimitable wildness of amazement Her
face was pulled out with the force of her
surprise, and she drew no breath until a feel
ing of suffocation made her cry out.
"His wife-his uite, Jenny, do you say7"
she exclaimed, in a tone almost as deep as a
mans, searching meanwhile her daughters
countenance for any hint to make her doubt
the truth Of what she heard.
The girl fell upon her knees, with her hands
clasped above her head.
1--WE were married when I went to Syden-
ham" she said, in a voice that had lost nearly
all its sweetness my fear of father kept
me silent. But Cuthbert should have come
last night to claim me before thee and him,
and-Oh! my heart-where is he now, and
why has he left met"
With which, and with her fearless face in
her hands, she fell to moaning-in her
humble, needless posture of woe, a piteous
sight. Then mus her mother begin to
weep.
20, Jenny, what has thou been and donea
O, my child, what shameful counting has
made you stoop to this decit2 Alasl What
a strange, wild thing to dor And with
streaming eyes she poured forth her i~nterjec-
tions
Now, it befell that the servant, Polly, hav-
ing cast herself down upon a kitchen chair
to indulge in one of those aggravating fits of
whimpering, which seized her after every
collision with her mistress, overheard some
of Mrs. Strangfeld's startling CALCULATIONS,
to which she listened, with her mouth gradu-
ally opening, and her head slowly lifting out
Of the greatness of her arm sleeve; and being
a blockhead as well as a slut (for dirt and ig-
norance love each others company, and
m ko obox, ho1r, fo.osS,- - -
how smart was the watch she kept over the
interests Of the family, the draggletal sped
softly out Of the kitchen into the sh%ipwright's
yard, and, deaf to various personal remarks
on her figure called slyly to her by the work
men, ran up to Mr.. Strangfeld, and cried
out:
master, if you want a to do ye shall see 1t
In tn parlor! There's bin a man. and
missus is CALM Miss Jenny bad words; and
SIGH blubberin' as is goin' on might fill a
,copperl"
MI. Strangfeld looked down with a scowl
Of surprise into the seamy face of the hand
maid, and not choosing to risk any questions
In the hearing Of the mentor Polls excite
ment was something to balance a stout voice
upon-he sensibly concluded certain direo.
tions he was giving to one of the hands, and
walked to his house.
On entering the parlor he found Jenny
standing at the table, and her mother sob
bling in her handkerchief. He was a man
with a keen eye. but no sharpness of vision
did he need to know that he stood in the
presence of a sorrow the like of which had
never before darkened his home. In the
girls short recoil as he entered, the sudden
m%utinous flash Of the eye, that changed the
whole character Of the face, the swelling nos
tril and passionate resolution of misery in
forming the whole figure Of her, he read it.
For, in truth, in the blight and shock that
had come to her with the news Mr.. Saunder-
son had brought, fear of her father was lost;
her recol was an involuntary effort Of in
stinct; firm in her misery she stood now, and
her eyes were steady on her fathers face.
Though his wife heard him enter the room
she would not lift her head from the hand
kerchief. In her dread to tell him what
Jenny had done she gave.the mischief a more
sinister aspect than it need have worn by
preserving her weeping posture and silence.
He knitted his brows and clasped his hands
strongly, to preserve an evenness of voice
and subdue the dull pain in his breast. But.
do what he would, he looked a man striving
with might and main to prepare himself for
a shocking disclosure.
"Jane," said he, in a low, hard voice, "did
you not hear my footstepsa Why are you
crying, and what makes Jenny so white and
wild-looking7"
He had turned his shoulder on his daughter.
and gazed at his wife only.
"Oh, Michael" ~quavered Mrs. Strangfeld.
talking in her handkerchief. Jenny hath
done a mad thing. She has just now owned
it, and surprise makes a fool of me. But
thou must bear with her, Michael. Deceit
only is she guilty of-nothing worse, husband.
You will show her mercy, Michael; for is
not she our only childs And the Lords truth
lis in the saying, that stolen waters are
sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant"
"'But he knoweth not that the dead are
here, and that her guests are in the depths Of
hell, 7" quoted Mr.. %Strangfeld, in his deep
tones. "What has our child been doingp
There was a short pause, and then Mrs.
Strang6eld, removing her handkerchief from
her eyes, and piteously looking at Jenny,
feebly answered: "She has secretly married
the son of DR.. Shaw"
Now most certain it was that Mr.. Strang-
field had expected O worse confession than
this; for it is a truth not f1attering to the
sanity severity of such natures as his, that
their conjectures are apt to sink to the very
lowest deep of wrong doing, and stay there
until draw up again by discovery into
pertinent bearings. For a moment, there
fore, he was visited by a sense of relief; for
not instantly could his mind get quit Of the
foul idea so as to apprehend strictly the
meaning Of his wife's words. But when once
mastered, it brought with it q food Of
amazemen,; and as though he discredited his
hearing, as though his daughter had under
gone some physical Transformation that be.
wildered him utterly, he stared at her; then,
in q terrible voice, cried:
"Let me hear this from your own lips,
woman!"
"Father, it is true. am Cuthbert shaw's
wife"
He walked round the table to his chair a
though intending to sit, but still stood.
"When did you marry him?"
when I was at my aunt Rachel's."
"When you were at your aunt Rachel's!
That is three weeks since. Give me thu
day.
know the date. I forget" replied the girl,
trembling like one in an ague, yet neve,
shifting her feverishly lustrous eyes from
her fathers face.
"You will have to remember the date
name me the church"
ut was in London-I cannot tell the name
1 will think presently" and she pressed he,
cold hands to her forehead.
@You remember nothing-neither the dat
of your marriage, nor the church wherein
you were marriedp he said; and, looking
around him with a pathetic manner of un
certainty, he moved toward the door.
"Michael!" exclaimed Mrz. Strangfeld in
whisper, laying her hand On his arm, "wher,
art thou going7"
7 o fetch the woman's husband, and ex
anime him before thee. Let me go!" he an
swered, fercely, shaking her hand of.
8Oh, Michael, you will not find him-h