Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-16
CHAPTER XVI.
WARNING.

they term them are felt in their fullest force
wh.n first delivered wound in vital
part may cause at first but little pain People
are often represented as overwhelmed imme
diately by sudden news of any great misfnr,
tune.
So far as l know by personal experience
in such matters, the Overwhelming"
crushing" agOnizing process may hardly
commence with the reception of it, news
Its the prolonged mind working process
afterward that causes the misery. Its the
perpetual going over and over, not the same
ground on which your calamity is based but
the calamity itself, viewed in all manner Of
situations, with ever varying lights and
shades a mental operation in character kalei
dioScopic. The pieces are the same, but they
are ever arranging themselves in different
forms This may go on for days, weeks
months l believe that many nan or wo
man has said 10 themselves, when their great
trouble first fell on them Well | can bear
it, who found a week afterward that it was
too grievous to be borne with patience or
resignation The only means oi relief would
lie in diSmisSing the matter eatirely from
ones mind Unfortunately such matters,
with the great ma jority, will not be dismissed
They are guests unwelcOme. armed and
10 stay.
When are we to have the era of mental
atheism. when minds will arrive at such
strength and dexterity as to be able to tos,
off a trouble from the brain as they would
rubber ball from the hand and forget all
about il at pleaSGrei
| did not go home Immediately after
Blanches departure from the store. | spent
the afternoon wandering aimleSsly over
gulch. fat and mountains anywhere so that
| WAS out of sight and sound of human
beings | took no thought of physical exer
ton / fed at any sound of lahor-the
stroke of picks, the grating of shoVels, the
ralsping of pebbles in the rockers and plunged
from such indications of human presence
into the dense growth of chapparal
had not then met my deepest misery.
had Indignation to sustain me. ! was indig
nant at Blanche, that she also should have
tried and condemned me without a hearing
There is a certain buoyancy and stimulus in
Indignation 1t is several degrees above dis
enlargement and despair.
But the mind doesn't seem capable Of en-
tertaining fully more than one emotion al
once So, when my Indignation had worn
eff its finest edge other emotions commenced
their play. They seemed all desirous OF
having a ghackn at me
Pass over wonder at Blanche's sudden ap
pearance: at curiosity TO ascertain how she
heard Of me and the accusation against me-
and at the sudden recollection that the aunt
whom she had so frequently visited in New
York was by name Pratt and that probably
Jtdeliah was her husband. | came at Las!
TO my love for the former Blanche Seton, o.
EaStport; at my grief for its loss, and at my
despair as this last prop was thus 80 suddenly
AIKEN from me Everything solid seemed to
nave tumbled from under me. | was alone
and friendleSs amid suspicion, growing
prejudice averted faces. whispered lies, and
hack of all these stood the being on earth |
most loved, transformed at once from an
angel of mercy into an IMPLYING and mis-
AIKEN judge.
These were my thoughts for days and
nights They were my company-a numer-
cus and busy crowd They were kept alive
by the frequent sight of Blanche about
Pratt's cabin Mine was but three hundred
yards distant She had a house put up for
her own accommodation For assistants she
had every man on the Bar-save myself
The crowd was absolutely hungry to do
something for Miss Seton The area on
which her cloth h-covered house was erected
alongside of Pratt's was leveled as If 10y
magic. II Miss Seton wished a bowlder
pitched out of the way they were ready and
liable 10 remove a hundred Volunteers
went up the mountain, cut young saplings
and built her a fence. Pratt's well was
cleaned and deepened.
Fifty men with picks and shOvels cleared the
trail leading from her residence to the store Of
intercepting bushes AMI impeding bOwlders,
one evening after knocking of work from
the claims, a physical inference that in their
estimation, Miss Seton would probably want
often to go shopping" or possibly drop
down of an evening and have chat with
the boys. If Miss Seton had desired the
enormous bulk Of Scrub mountain to be re-
moved, l think the matter would have been
seriously considered In all this Mr. VIII
liam Setter was the ladys self-constituted
right hand man, and even while working on
his claim would be seized with spaSm of anx-
iety and sOlicitude in her behalf and rush up
to Pratt's in a chronic state Of fuss-abOut-
and-do-littleneSs
Why did i not seek an interview with
Blanche and endeavor 20 justify myselfl l
did make the attempt, or rather paved the
way for one l owed her three hundred dol
lars. l sent her the money with interest
due, through Rankin explaining TO him the
circumstances under which the debt WAS con-
tracted This of course, let Rankin il TO a
portion of my secret Fortunately, he was a
man who could keep secrets. He realized
that there WAS money in this kind of banking
also, and that cash and confidence often go
together
His manner toward me in this business was
serious and considerate He seemed to re-
Al II
and he was one Of the few with a mind in
herently judicial that demanded clear proof
before any conviction
/ felt for a while relieved after having in
trusted this commission to Rankin. He said
TO me nothing of the Pratt matter. But as
thoughts can be felt, l knew that he sympa-
thized TO some extent with my lonesome and
miserable situation
Blanche sent back, through Rankin, only a
formal receipt for the money. To my re
quest for an interview she made the follow
ing reply:
81 would prefer not to soc you under the
present circumstances.
BLANCHE SEXTON"
So matters went on for eight or ten days
Broener continued absent Did / find any
consolation in the thought that he might be
miserable in not finding Blanche at Marys
villel But at Blanchei His or-mine |
was about TO say. The man had been so reti-
cent on the subject and Blanche herself being
hermetically sealed against me, | WIS still in
doubt whether the woman next door was the
one had seen in the play or not
could not visit the store. That was no
place for me My work at the Bank" was
quite done. / kept at work on the river
claim. making six or eight dollars per day,
to which was perfectly Indifferent Worsa