Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-11-14
CHAPTER V.
SURRENDER

SURRENDER
NV chest. which had been carted back to
nv mothers house, l had removed that very
night to the ferry boat which communicates
with the terminus Of the railroad leading 10
New York. | went on the boat in the morn-
ing. before any other passengers came down,
and kept myself out Of sight. My leave
taking with my mother was n brief affair.
We had eaten a silent. comfOrtleSS breakfast
At its conclusion, taking my hat, l SAID,
well. mother. I'm off for good now.
Perhaps it was a preSentiment that my
words were true that a the change III her
manner. With a softneSS unusual to her she
said: But, my son, what are You going to
do: Where are YOU going"
Never mind now" lSaid. 1--WE talked
enough Def a of my plans. Now I'll keep
silent. I've an idea that talking things out
leads to bad luck. I'm going away, that's
all. So goOd-by."
She said nothing. took my hand and kissed
me. never recollectej having been klssed
by her before. She may have done SO when
/ was an infant. Favors of that sort are not
appreciated or remembered during hat ten
der period. This was not from lack OF ieeI-
ing or affection. 1t came OF that reserve and
repression of all external signs of emotion
bred in the bone way back through | know
not how many generations OF Puritan and
RoundLead ancestry. until not only had out
ward Sirn Of emotion been considered Us
bordering on an improperly, but the very
ability TO manifest it had been destroyed. 1t
was a turning Of the softer side OF human
nature inward and the harder outward, and
a.. ErnSt.r,, ,,ro larShnpSS md nn.Iaf1tN. NOT
Intentional, but the natural growth Of I'M
natural lives.
left the house, wondering if it was in the
natural order of events that proofs Of alice
ton. parental aud otherwise, must come ut
the last moment, like the best dish at dinner
being placed before one for a second AMI
then snatched away.
In q few hours | was in New York. Taking
a room at q hotel / shut myself therein. and
opened the packet received from Blanche. 1t
contained bills to the amount Of 800 and the
following note:
Il desire YOU to accept this money from me
as a loan, with interest at : per cent, for
three wears. This is business, you know. I'm
glad for your sake you did not 90 OIL the Ann
Mary Ann. You will 20 now TO California rs
a gentleman should. Mind you take a cabin
passage. Don't go in the steerage to save
dollars. 1t doesn't save them at all. There
was a Providence in hat pig, and Pell, too
pigs both-tO take you out of the ship. Shut
M on board Of her for five or six months,
eating their coarse food and leading their
coarse life, would have put you back as many
wears. When YOU got to California YOU
would probably have don as tive-siNthS Of
them will do-strike for the hardest and
coarsest way of making a fortune, by digging
and g~rubbiug-the very way not to make 1t
II there is gold there, mind you, its not for
those who dig for it, unless they dig with
their brains, and you can't dig with your
brains and work like n hOd carrier and live
ON bod carriers fare. SO, my dear boy, 1.-Two
like a gentleman and you will have a gentle
mans luck. BLANCHE"
So this was the promise had made-to
accept a ~pecuniary favor of a woman. The
umwritten code Of the time held this ~
hardly the correct thing, unless you married
the woman. when everything she had be-
came YOURS, and the favor, ii such, ceased
almost TO b. one.
Blanche had a few years previous been
left a few thousand dollars by an eccentric
uncle. who, possibly recognizing something
Of her independent spirit, said, when closely
questioned by some O~ver-anXlous relatives
rs TO his reason for 50 doing, that he be-
lieyed Blanche was a girl who could use her
W money for herself, and he wanted to
give her a chance. He didn't think, he
added. it was the fair thing that a girls
canital should be salted down until some
lazy loafer Of a husband came along TO uSs
il. and generally lose it He didn't care
what she did with her money, so that she
used it for her own pleasure in any and
every possible way except that OF handing
it over 10 a husband. Il give it TO you"
he remarked. mot TO the man who, not
content with robDlng You of your nan1s
wants YOUR money along with it. Lend
it, SPEND it. scatter it, DO anything with it,
except bring it, like n good little girl, to
the chuckle-head who wants to marry you
for it
Uncle John Seton was a nondescript in
opinion. and seemed TO take pleasure in hold
ing none that were popular. He had been 4
urivateersman-some said also a SLAYER, and
others a pirate-carried a bullet in one leg,
the mark Of which he was fond Of showing
without much regard TO time, place or fitness
Iresolved to use the money. She had been
diplomatic in not Offering it as a gift, and in
putting the transaction on a business footing.
To refuse it under the present circumstance
would result, | felt, in putting a great barrier
between myself and Blanche. 1t seemed as if
she said to me: Il am in this giving you the
| opportunity you need. You are no man If
YOU quarrel with the instrument put in your
hands because il does not come exactly Ill the
manner YOU would have it
! could see in Imagination, as clearly a.
though she stood before me, the way in which
Blanche would nave taken back from ME her
gift saw her calmly listening To my state
ment and as calmly receiving from me the
notes, and then continuing conversation on
general topics a. if the whole affair had not
o feathers weight in her mind But under
all that seeming Indifference | knew thee
would lie Indignation, disappointment AID
worse-the deliberate laying aside Of e feel
ing for Tue, something which l hoped 10 be
more than interust-n.ore than mere regard.
have said farther back that Blanche Sef-
ton loved Inc. But | felt that her love, il
once gained, could not be laid on the shelf, to
be taken on and of at pleasure. with the GER
tainty Of always finding it there. No. 1t
was a love only to be held By constant
effort.
bought, the next day, my cabin ticket for
San Francisco via the Isthmus