Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-02-18

1 c-
| which reflected dishonor upon our
name, could never. never forgive YOU
Nav, dear child he said. kissing the
| pale face which was raised pleadingly
| to his, lido not know how impossible
| it is for you to do a wrong? / only
| wish to prove TO you how irrevocable
is my resolution Every man has
SHELTON in his house, and / must not
grumble at mine / would ike TO lock
it in an iron safe, and throw the key
into the sea"
what. what.' cried Doctor Bax,
| who, coming into the passage with the
household cat upon his shoulder, heard
the last words of the uneompleted SEN
tence. What do you want to throw
| into the seas''
The key of the safe in which I
would like to lock my skeleton" re-
piled Reuben Harrild, with smile.
=. Trying to get awayS rom your skel-
etonr" exclaimed Doctor Bax, tickling
| the ears of the cat Pooh. rubbish.
As If You or any man could escape it,
No. no, nv friend. it will stick to you
| while you draw breath, and. as likely
as not, it viii follow you into the other
| world Just now you have house full
of old invisible bones. / warrant you
every mans skeleton has stepped out
of its cupboard to accompany its owner
to your Christmas party, and that there
| are a score Of them iostling up against
| US, if we could only see them. For
curiosity. now" he said, motioning
Laura and her father to the half-opened
door of the room where some OF the
elderly people were playing cards. and
most of the young ones playing forfeits
or
Winkworth there, sitting by himself
| what skeleton he has got, a perpet-
| ual day and nightmare 1t never leaves
| him. 1t perches upon his shoulder.
| ike the bird of ill-omen we read of:
| asLeave nv Loneliness unhroken.
| Quit the bust above my door.
| Take thy beak from out my heart,
And lay fern from On ny door;-
Quoth the raven "Neyermore"
And Stephens daughter. poor child!
| has not she skeletons Heaven help
| her, hers is the saddest of all. for it
stands at the portal of a girls bright
| est hopes, shutting out the light Look
at little Mr.. Ramage-Mrs- Rbmage is
| his skeleton-and is not she an awful
| one. hanging round a mans neck?
And you, my dear" he said TO Laura.
| ..vou have YOUR skeleton, and / have
/
| breast Electrically, and upset the cat
| Your skeleton. Doctor BaX." said
| Laura: why. what kind of one can
| that be?
"a tearing, staring. horrible, mali
| cious. wicked skeletonr' cried the doe
tor. so loudly that the eyes of every per-
! son in the room were turned upon him
| "A fearful. hideous. monstrous. hob
1 L = I fa.ff 1-sa
| what it i-in confidence. so that nobody
| shall hear" (He raised his voice to its
| highest pitch.) II love you. and you
| are going to marry another. II if be
not true. NAV this kiss / am going 20
| give YOU under the mistletoe be my
| last.''
But Laura darted away. and the little
| doctor. pursuing her. turned all the
| card-tables topsy-turyy and set the
| whole room in an uproar.
Oh. but it was merry Christmas
| party. despite the skeletons. and little
| Doctor Bax was the life and soul of it.
| Had an account been kept ii would
have been proved that he kissed every
| female in the house at least half dozen
| times over. Even Mrs Ramage sub
| mitted to the salute: and as for Miss
| Wymer. she stepped under the mistle-
toe Ike 3 willing lamb and smackec
| her lips after the operation
| There were two or three cozy little
| rooms on the lower floor Of the house,
| in which the guests found themselves
| almost by chance if they happened to
| stroll out OF the larger apartment
| where the chief merry-making was
carried on. In one of these, an hour
later. were Stephen Winkworth and
his daughter.
Take me home. father" said the
| girl II am weary OF this; want to
be at home
Il thought you wished to be here"
he returned. wistfully. 1T is gayer
than our dull house"
| Il know it is-but how can l be
merry, seeing what | see?" she ex-
claimed. fretfully. Il am like a baby
crying for toy which somebody else
has got"
Child whispered Stephen. bend
ing low. If William Fairfield loved you.
You would be happy"
DO not speak OF il, father sobbed
Alice. 1T can never. never be, Love
| can not be bought"
But it can be won and lost" he
muttered. in a tone so low that his
words did not reach her ears. If it
can be proved TO a man that the woman
he loves is false He stepped a
few PAGES from his daughter. and closed
the door 10 prevent Interruption My
| girls happiness may hang upon the
discovery 1 have made tonight. Shall
! let the opportunity slip from me? II
was destiny that led me from the house
an hour ago, to see-what? To see
this immaculate, spotless woman who
is engaged to marry William Fairfield
in the arms of another man. and TO
hear her make an appointment with
him at midnight. At midnight, by the
Lord, when no third person Is nigh &c
witness her disgrace," A low. scorn-
full laugh fioated on the air. unheard
by the weeping girl. This fair Great
ure, so outwardly honest. this paragon
of modesty and virtue. is Ike the rest
of her shameless sex-false. false TO the
backbone, Oh. my ladies, shame upon
YOU, Not for me. whose life has been
blasted by your treachery. not for me to
spare you! l would whip your false
bodies with whips made of your own
delicate hair-ay. every nrsther 5 daugh-
ter of you!"
There was bitter, biting ring in the
mans muttered tones, inspired by
memories which it was torture to re-
call.
But for nv daughter" he eontin-
ued, with . glance at the bowed. dis
torted form. The should marry this par
agon. and discover her treachery when
ii was too late 1t would be of q piece
| with the rest. and would add one &c