St. Landry democrat., 1886-06-05

| Messrs. Lowe Il Carter, of Clement 8
Inn, had been his wife's solicitors, and
he naturally applied to them. The
senior partner was a man of genial as
pect, not at all legal in his looks; an
elderly man, with boyish frankness
of manner and smiling eye
Tregarthen told his story with saw
age brevity.
my wife, for reasons of her own,
has left me. You know that she made
| over to me the whole of her own fort
une.'
''In spite of my advice" said the
lawyer.
Precisely. am here to return it.
If you have no present knowledge of
her whereabouts"
"None in the world
"You may advertise, requesting her
to apply to you, and saying that her
fortune lies in your hands. = Ii you will
execute the necessary instruments |
will sign them before leaving town.
you wish the transfer to be abso-
lutte and unconditional?'
absolute and unconditional. Be
good enough not to mention my name
in the advertisement. She will re-
spond to the name of Miss Churchill"
Her stage name,n said the lawyer,
''before she married"
''You knew that?" said Tregarthen,
looking darkly at him.
1--WE knew that. Certainly. We ar
ranged her fathers affairs and were in
occasional communication with her I'M
til few months ago. Excuse me, Mr..
Tregarthen Men in my profession
hear good deal of domestic discom-
forts, and sometimes succeed in patch
ing up difficulty"
II shall not ask your mediation in
this case, SIR" Tregarthen answered.
II shall be obliged if you will delay
me as little as possible. l have no
other business in London"
He did not leave a pleasant impress
sion on the lawyers mind; and if he
had known it, or cared to know it, he
had a disagreeable impression to clear
away, to begin with. The lawyer had
heard Tregarthens unfortunate regi-
mental story from the one quarter in
which it was likely to be reviewed with
the least mercy. Colonel Pollard was
a client of Messrs Lowe & Carriers,
and when the Colonel told story he
had knack of telling it to his own
credit. In his narrative Tregarthen
shone as rowdy and traducer of
the sex, a roue, a boaster and black
guard.
The necessary documents were drawn
up and signed, the advertisement was
prepared and inserted and Tregarthen |
went back to his island. Before he left |
town he was asked one question by the
LAWYER.
'Do you desire to intrust me with |
any message to Mrs. Tregarthen in case
the advertisement should reach her and !
she should apply to us?''
'None," said Tregarthen. His heart
was sore and he was weary of the
world. There was no man in England
more unhappy, and the very necessity
of the case forbade him to repose con-
fidence in any man.
He went back and lived almost alone,
and loathed the world. There was no /
honor in man and no truth in woman,
and he had learned this bitter creed by
experience. To uplift voice for honor
was to call down ruin; to love was to
be betrayed; to be blameless meant
that the human rarity who dared it
should be stunned and hated.
For long time his books were
charmless, and day by day his hearts
auditor added despair to hatred, and
found the sum total to be misery.
After pause he learned that the law
Tregarthen, and that she had refused
to touch penny of the money from
his hands. This might have puzzled
him if he had been in the humor to be
puzzled by anything. AS it was, he
wrote icily back that the money was
none of his, but hers, and that she
might please herself about accepting or
refusing it. He, at least, had no claim
upon it. The men of law wrote once
more, saying that Mrs. Tregarthan had
again disappeared, and asking for in
structions. He had none to give, and
Miss Farmers fortune lay at interest,
and remained unclaimed
The clustering spring was back
again, and March was wilder than it
had been for many year. For three
lays one tremendous gale blew from
the west, and, gathering strength in
the great ocean spaces, poured such
tide upon the coast as had scarcely
been matched within the memory OF
living men. Storms of sleet and rain
swept over the island, and communica-
ion with the mainland was impossible.
1t pleased Tregarthen to be thus shut
put from the world, and the savage iso-
alton the tempest brought him was in
are consonanceswith his mood. The
nilder aspects of nature had ceased to
attract him, but this mad mingling OF
The elements drew him continuously
abroad, and he spent hours upon the