Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-16
R0THA'S HONEYMOON.

tanned his elderly cashier as he turned 10
leave the inner office.
i suppose young Chester's marriage
takes place tomorrow. DO you know
ANYTHING of the connection that he is
forming"
only good, sir. The bride. Miss
Glyn, is a daughter of my oldest friends
A truer-hearted girl than Rotha never
lived: and the praise. or blame, of
Chester's introduction to her rests with
me-"
That should indicate" said Mr.. Fres-
ton, smiling. that you estimate his
character highly"
Il have every reason for doing 50.
Thank you. Mr.. Gsscoygne. Kindly
tell Chester that wish 10 see him"
Rodney Chester, being Junior cashier
. TO Messrs, Finch & Preston, bankers,
seldom entered their private office.
Therefore il was with quickened pulses
he obeyed Mr. FrestOn's summons. That
gentleman greeted him pleasantly, albeit
he sighed half enviously, as he contrasted
his own gray hairs ard declining vIgor
with the stalwart proportions and hand
some features of the honest-eyed young
fellow awaiting his commands, every fiber
of whose being was tense with fuliness OF
life, power, and joyous anticipation.
so you propose visiting the Riviera,
Mr. Preston said, concluding few words
of congratulation and inquiry. is Nice
included in your route:
Probably we may se,' II; but Cannes
is our destination. a elative resident
there having offered uk his villa while
absent on yachting cruise"
Then will you execute a small COM
mission for the firm: My request may
seem somewhat unreasonable al such a
time. but it can only be entrusted 10 a
confidential agent Several years ago
a man named Warren became under
peculiar circumstances, our debtor for a
considerable sum, thereupon disappear
ing. Quite recently we have learned
that he now resides at Monaco, under
the alias Of Duval To recover that loan
will be your object. This paper" hand
ing 10 Rodney an envelope. contains all
necessary directions, a sum for extra eN-
penses, and cheque of which MIR.
Finch and beg your acceptance, with
our good wishes for happiness i'll your
2ew state"
- ended the mOmentOus interview.
But as he recalled it during his home
ward walk. Rodney Chester's whole de-
meanor underwent a change. The pleas
ure-fiush faded from cheek and brow,
introspective thought filmed his eyes,
the glad anticipation of marital dignity
dropped from him like a mantle.
Why should the name of Monaco, a
place he had never visited. ring in his
ears such warning knell, and chill his
veins with a terror vaguely apprehended?
Why? Because, as at the invocation of
Endor's witch the semblance of dead
prophet rose from vacuity, SO the ghost
of past believed by Rodney to be dead
indeed, rising at an unexpected word,
confronted him in the guise of living
possibility.
When Rodney entered Finch & Fres-
!. toms bauk in Glastonbury, his parents,
fondly solicitous for his preservation
from the dissipation of city life, placed
him with a widow who boarded a small.
but select, number of youths. These she
termed ~her boys" and labOred under
the delusion that she so surrounded them
with home attractions. influences. and
refinementS, as TO erect an Impalpable
but adamantine barrier between them
and coarser allurements. Deficient in
Judgment, and governed by impulse,
both by and in her boys" she was con-
stantly deceived. One of them. several
wears Rodnev's senior, Mark Eames by
name, unscrupulous and unprIncipled,
was vet possessed of singularly attractive
and persuasive power. His tolls were
spun with a spiders perseverance and
success. Subtly he enmeshed Rodney,
initiating him into the mysteries of
billiards, betting, cards and dice. Still,
not easily. 4 country wears son, trained
to a wholesome prejudice against games
of chance, it needed nicely adjusted
pressure, and much sarcastic ridicule, to
accomplish his object.
A night came when Rodney staggered
TO his lodgings weighted with gambling
debts amounting to what he deemed a
small fortune, granted by Eames but a
weeks grace, and possessed of no posi-
BILE means of payment.
STAY! was he not? Involuntarily his
hand clutched an inner pocket of his
coat, where. aforementioned till now, lay
by a strange coincidence the sum he re
quired. 1t had been intrusted to him by
an old parisbioner of his fathers for the
purpose of depOsiting in the Glastonbury
bank. Even in that moment of supreme
temptation, Rodney thanked God he had
SO far forgotten it. He had just returned
from a visit to his father. who was seri-
ously ill. Eames met him at the station,
and. seeing his dependency, under pre-
text of cheering his spirits, invited him
to a restaurant dinner, supplemented by
wine and cards. The results TO Rodney
we already know.
Again and again he repealed the devil
whispered suggestion to liberate himself
from Eames' power with this money, and
then labor increasingly for its repayment.
And he would have conquered had not
Eames. following him to his room, seen
notes, which. in self-distrust, he was
tening To place in security, pOunced
them like hawk, and, rapidly
nting them over. stuffed them into his
ket, while overwhelming Rodney
a torrent of opprobrious epithets.
.arful scuffie enSued, which alarmed
household without benetiting Rodney,
next day sought other rooms. De
lcing Eames involved inculpating
self, and mourning disgrace, dismis-
md ruined career. Eames, how
made divers efforts at reconcilia-