Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-10-24

N''.' NcNftsSrrSu III v thtuV 0utst~'N
but . very insufficient ackno wledgmsot
OF his obligations to mo In the literary
department Of his book. With regard
to that book ] wish to point out two
things First, that there is an error on
the ,hre hundred aud fifth page, 10
which ! am stated to have died Of foyer
At Mabzamzavaboo, and thsre been
buried by faithful native servant, taf-
terwsrd brought 10 England to be
feasted and rewarded by my wife,
wish i could meet that DAtige,) for |
did not die, and never was buried, as
! am here now to testify. Secondly,
| beg the reader to notice the difference
of style between the pages preceding
this erroneous statement aud those fol.
loving it, the explanation being that
Lord Selcover had the use Of my notes
aud journals in preparing his book up
to the date Of my supposed death.
Afterssrd he hadn't. Further COM
ment is unnecessary.
| was left at Mauzamziva5oo by
my companions, sick of fever and in
the care Of q native servant. | was to
follow the rest Of the party to their
next halung place when sufficiently re-
covered. My recovery was slow and
my servant took fright. lie was un-
aware Of the nature of Englisbmen, and
imagined that We had been abandoned
by our friends far from his native krasl.
lie thought the matter over, and one
fine evening The weather always is IA.
yorable on these occasions) he decamped
with those things which he had been
taught to consider the most valuable of
my belongings-my medicines and my
manuscripts. When he overlook my
friends who were just thinking Of
ending to inquire why | did not Gene
on) he told deplOrablc tale of my i'll
ness and his devotion, Of the unkind-
ness OF the chief Of the village where
he was left, Of his desperate flight With
ne through the jungle, Of my failing
by the way, Of his efforts to save me,
Of my gratitude to him, aud dying re-
commepdation Of him to my friends.
lie described the exact situation Of my
grave and delivered up my notes and
journals.
suppose my friends were sorry, but
they did not 60 back to put up a tomb
stone. My admirable native gave them
such an account Of the war which had
broken out behind them and over
whelmed whole villages with desola-
ton that they decided to press forward
and leave the unhappy country to its
fate.
| soon guessed what had happened
when my native servant disappeared
with my belongings, and | heard no
more OF my friends; but ! found my
self in very awkward position, and it
took me months to make my way alone
out Of that savage country to the sea.
coast, civilization, and ships. did
not telegraph to anybody when |
reached telegraph station. | felt in
clned to appear unannounced, and to
see what had happened.
landed at Plymouth, aud the first
person ran against was my old friend
Dick Hodgson. lie looked at ME with
perplexity and without recognition at
first, then something like surprise, and
a comical dismsy came over his face as
he exclaimed, "By Joye, il it isn't
Tom Rodney. Then you're not dead
after all"
Apparently not" l replied testify,
land | should rather like welcome
from the first friend | meet after months
among the savages. Can't you say
you're glad to see me :"
"Ofcourse am :" and he put out his
hand with cordially " batit's aqueer
experiment coming back from the dead
like this, you know. Seen anybody
but me ~
"Not a creature" | said, disturbed
by his manner. "PerhOps something
is wrong. You can tell me whether
they are all well at home. | AN terri
bly, anxious to hear"
"Oh, yes, they're all well. First
rate, in fact ; | heard the other day.
Nothing wrong; certainly not"
"You are an old friend, Hodgson;
you will know whether they have been in
money difficulties through my pro-
longed absence 2"
:" Not in the least; quite the con-
trary, should say" lie spoke with
little embarrassment, and | thought
that his face was rather redder than it
used to be.
THAT is strange" I remarked ;
"but l suppose that Selcover would
behave handsomely"
"Oh, no doubt; no doubt he would.
Quite so. Selcoyer would be certain
to como down handsomely. OF course"
Then there was pause. We looked
at one another, and Dicks face grew a
little redder. Perhaps the sea air did
il.
care you staying here?" asked,
expecting an invitation to go with him.
" Yes, down here with my wife.
Well, goodbye; glad to have seen you
again." and he male off, in a mighty
hurry, as if afraid Of the conseq lences
of lingering longer.
had never liked his wife, Though |
had carefully concealed this fact from
her observatory and now put down
to her fault his want Of hospital
ity. 1t was her influence that had
changed him. Yet somehow or other l
felt chilled by the encounter, in spite Of
this explanation. | did not fancy any
more surprises, and l telegraphed to
nv club in London that should arrive
shortly also to my son.in.law to ap-
point meeting with him.
On reaching my sOn-in-law's office |
found him waiting for me, but his
countenance was gloomy in the ex
IRENE. There was no enthusiasm oil
delight in his manner. | might have
concluded that be was sorry to see me
home again, but for the folly OF such
an idea. We had always been on the
best Of terms /; it was, indeed, my pa.
rental influence which had induced
Clara, his wife, to overlook sundry OF
his personal defects for the sake OF his
handsome income. l might have un-
derstood his manner if he had had any
interest in my death, but the contrary
ha1 pavaY g.