The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1886-07-29

the dining room Window hung aWry; what
ever she saw told her that the enchanter Gold
had wandered off with his wand to other do
mains, and that his successor, Poverty, had
already marked all things for his own.
( II should just like Sophia to see this place.
' our moralist said ut would be lesson for
her" She spoke as solemnly as if she had
been the pensive and didactic Mr.. Hervey
walking among his tombs "A few months
ago everything was trim and shining with
money; now-and this is poverty, pious pow
ertyl" she said, with inexpressible scorn in
her face II hate poverty"
| The door opened, and instead of the man
servant of other days, well clad, well brushed
, and obsequious, there stood before her an ill
! dressed girl, whose skirts, tucked up on one
, side and loose on the other, told of work
hastily left. Mrs Barbara Temple noted the
red bare arm and the dirty finger nails; she
! lost sight of nothing, and all she saw turned
) into a moral lesson.
"l like to live," she thought; "but better be
dead than poor"
As she was going into the library Whit
, from the kitchen tickled her nostrils, but not
gratefully.
"Soup, suppose" she murmured again.
y well, have not to eat it, so need say moth
! ingl"
The part she had here assigned herself was
: none of the easiest and she felt she must be
discreet and guard her lips. Mr.. Brent adj
vanced to meet her, and tried to put on his
old CHEEKY smile, but the conspicuous failure
made the attempt more dismal than a plain,
honest sigh. Mrs. Barbara conversed with
her usual spirit and gayety for few minutes,
until the question came naturally:
"Have you any news of your sonp
"None since the vessel was last heard of, "
he answered. "At that time he was tolerably
well"
II liked that young man," she said II
never regretted anything in my life more sin
cerely than having to abandon the hope of
calling him a relation"
"Has your daughter abandoned iti" Mr..
Brent asked, with a faint smile.
"How kind of youp she thought; "you
have said just the word wanted"
"That question" she answered, "s one
which cannot reply to as readily as l should
wish. We know what young people are;
there is always a great deal of sentimentality
about them. 1t amounts to nothing In time
it wears off. While it lasts, however, it makes
their management difficult. OF course, you
are of my opinion, that the keeping up of
this engagement, even in the remotest way,
would be injurious both to your son and to
my, daughter No good can ever come of it,
and the sooner it is finally settled the better
for both of them. Don't you think sol"
81 do the poor clergyman replied.
He had no spirit left. Never a man Of in
dependent WILL he was now reduced to a
mere animated machine worked in matters
of this sort from the outside.
'AIy daughter has wild romantic attach
ment to your SON." Mrs. Temple continued.
"Now you can help me to put an end to this
affair. You only can put an end to it, but
you can do So"
II can, can ~ he replied.
Eyes tell Sophie that you do not approve
of it, and that you consider it likely to be in.
furious to Percival, which it surely will be.
Say with perfect truth also-you can-that
you are tolerably certain that even if she re-
manned constant to him he would not remain
constant to her. Just fancy, Mr.. Brent! a
young man at the most impulsive period of
life, thousands of miles away, and with no
hope of seeing her for years. Constant, in
deed! Why, in a fairy tale it would be too
absurd to be truel"
He sat before her, passive and receptive,
agreeing to everything, promising every
thing But, indeed, if the proud Sibyl and
the infexible Cioldmore, and the intellectual
Caroline had bent to her will, little wonder
if our poor rector bent, too, broken as his
nerves and will were by the one terrible
storm of fate. Whenever she asked him. "Do
you think sol" he answered, 81 think so."
Whenever she said, "Will you say so to
SophiaP he replied, II will say So" And
thus she faced him, energetic, full of plot and
will, talking fast, and with frequent action
driving her meaning home, An onlooker
might have thought the scene "a private mes
meric experiment, and Mrs. Barbara Temple
the strong and resistless operator, and poor
Mr.. Anthony Brent the helpless subject
around whose volition and reason another
mind was coiling itself in swift and powerful
folds.
$50" said our little mother, when this task
was done, "you are to set before Sophia the
facts of the case, and its probabilities. You
are to tell Sophia that Percival ought not to
marry her if he could, and that, in time, he
would not marry her even if he ought. In
terest, duty, affection, probability. Sophia,
1 shall hem you in, and force you to yieldl"
TO be Continued.)